MER Article At the Station of a Train Which Fell Off the Map Grass, dry air, thorns, and cactus on the tracks There, the shape of the object in the absurdity of non-shape is chewing its own shadow There is nothingness there, tied and surrounded by its opposite Two doves flying over the roof of an abandoned room at the station The station is like a tattoo whic Mahmoud Darwish • 5 min read
MER Article Mural I will walk in my footsteps down the old path through the sea air no woman will see me passing under her balcony I have of memories only those necessary for the long journey Days contain all they need of tomorrows I was smaller than my eyelashes and my two dimples So take my sleepiness and hide me i Mahmoud Darwish • 2 min read
MER Article In the Labyrinth of Solitude Our territory is inhabited by a number of races speaking different languages and living on different historical levels…. A variety of epochs live side by side in the same areas or a very few miles apart, ignoring or devouring one another…. Past epochs never vanish completely, and blood still drips f Peter Lagerquist • 21 min read
MER Article Time in a Bottle Olive oil has been a central element of Palestinian agriculture for centuries. It is a relatively durable food commodity, unlike fresh produce such as strawberries or tomatoes, which rot quickly in the sun. Unlike wine, however, olive oil does not improve with age, and is best consumed within a year Anne Meneley • 15 min read
MER Article The Road to Hebron Back before the 1991 Gulf war, Palestinians could move fairly easily between the cities and provinces of the West Bank. The trip from Ramallah, in the north, and Hebron, in the south, lasted 50 minutes at most. These days, the luckiest traveler will spend something like two hours on the road. Khalid Farraj • 6 min read
MER Article Stealing Time “They are stealing our time. Everything takes so long!” Muna lamented, referring to the Israeli system of permits and checkpoints that governs daily mobility in the West Bank and makes the normally short trip from Ramallah to Jerusalem a nightmare of delays. She had just been granted a one-day permi Julie Peteet • 5 min read
MER Article Dromocratic Palestine Toward the end of January 2008, residents of Gaza living under a suffocating Israeli blockade managed to punch holes in the wall separating Gaza from Egypt. For a few days, thousands of Gazans were able to cross into Egypt and purchase needed supplies before Egyptian officials, bowing to US and Isra John Collins • 11 min read
MER Article Claiming Jewish Communal Property in Iraq On June 23, 2008, representatives of Iraqi Jewish communities in several countries met in London to form a new group, the World Organization of Jews from Iraq (WOJI). According to a press release issued shortly after the meeting, the purpose of WOJI was to “protect, preserve and promote Jewish commu Michael R. Fischbach • 11 min read
MER Article Separating Image from Substance in Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, its image in need of polishing in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, has opened itself up to foreign scrutiny of its notoriously poor human rights record. Members of Congress now make regularly scheduled stops in the kingdom; in February 2008, the Saudis welcomed a second two- Christoph Wilcke, Clarisa Bencomo • 9 min read
MER Article From the Editor (Fall 2008) It’s easy to forget, but the United States has a pressing year-end deadline to meet in Israel-Palestine as well as in Iraq. At Annapolis in November 2007, President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged to “make every effort” to hammer out The Editors • 3 min read
