Things all came crashing down around my mind today. I tried to spend some of the day writing a reflection on my first month here in Palestine, no longer just focusing on the series of events but trying to think about what it all actually means, the emotions have been piling up in my head. While doing this I was reading a book on the history of the WALL and perusing articles written by a journalilst who currently has been staying at Ibdaa and writing for Inter Press Services as well as producing small segments for her independent radio program in Berkeley, CA. I attended one of her radio interviews this week with one of the founding members of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel.

Putting all these separate pieces together and combining the emotions that I was reliving through my own personal reflection and the scenes broadcast on the television here at Ibdaa last night where some of the Palestinians were watching a movie filled with senseless violence and by 11pm my hands were shaking and my mind was in shambles. I had to leave the restaurant and put away my writings but the thoughts still stayed with me long into the night. I slept uneasily and have yet to re-open the writings, to pick the temporary scab off the wound that has formed.

I hope to be able to post those reflections here soon, if I can bring myself to read through them again. I'm tired. It has been an incredible month, but so intense, so emotional and so educational.