It’s a cliche: Travelers come to the Middle East and are struck by the tension of a multidecade conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. For years, isolated pockets of quiet resistance in Jerusalem have tried to bring together people from both sides of the conflict, but the Oct. 7 attacks seem to have put a lot of that resistance on indefinite hold. But since then, one place is trying again to establish common ground between Israelis and Palestinians: FeelBeit, an event space and bar in Jerusalem. Located on the seam line between east and west Jerusalem, FeelBeit is an Israeli-Palestinian a ..read more

Inside Israel, criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu is widespread.  Some of the strongest critics come from former and current Israeli military, who say Netanyahu has no strategy or endgame for the war against Hamas — Nimrod Sheffer, a former chief of staff of the Israeli air force, is among them. Sheffer told The World that Israelis are enraged by the unprecedented attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and that’s driving the army actions much more than it should be.  “People are seeking revenge. They are looking for revenge first,” he said.  Sheffer said he’s hearing more and more officers ..read more

On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Yoaz Hendel was at home outside of Jerusalem when he said he heard the news about the Hamas attack in southern Israel. “No one called me. I took my uniforms. I told my wife that someone called me and I just ran away, went to take a weapon from one of the units very close to here,” said Hendel, a reservist with the Israeli military.  “And I took responsibility for finding Nukhba terrorists in the areas between Be’eri and K’far Aza.” Nukhba is the name of a Hamas commando unit that Israel says led the attacks. Hendel, a 48-year-old former special forces soldi ..read more

The biggest issue in Israel today is the fate of the 133 hostages still being held captive in Gaza. Demonstrators in Israel have held sit-ins and rallies — almost daily — demanding the hostages’ return.  Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, was one of the people taken hostage on Oct. 7 at the Nova Music Festival, and he is still being held. His parents Rachel Goldberg and Jon Polin have been relentlessly lobbying to get their son home. They recently went to the US to meet with top officials about the hostage crisis.  “I can tell you that right now, the word coming out of Washington is [that] th ..read more

On the outskirts of Ramallah, Palestinian farmer Youssef Shraiteh relies on water for cultivation and for his family’s daily needs at home. His 120-acre plot of farmland has a spring that the village has relied on for years, he said. Up to 60 family members used to grow vegetables, olives, citrus, and all sorts of other fruits on the land. And 30 years ago, the village was connected to a main water system.  But the water supply is erratic, he said.  “Sometimes the pipeline is only open one day every two weeks. And in the summer, every month or two, we experience pain.”  Youssef ..read more

Ahmed Hussein Al Jasem doesn’t remember much about the accident. He only recalls waking up in the hospital in pain. The 14-year-old tripped and fell from the fourth floor of a building under construction — where he was working as a laborer. Both of his legs were broken, his stomach was ripped open and he needed stitches on his head. Today, he can barely walk with the help of crutches. “I saw death with my own eyes,” he said, sitting on a white plastic chair in the courtyard of his home in the Syrian city of Raqqa.  “I saw death with my own eyes.”  Ahmed Hussein Al Jasem, 14, co ..read more

When first-year student Amaya Maze signed up for a beginning Korean-language course at the University of California, Berkeley, this year, she took her love for South Korean culture to a whole new level.  As a kid, Maze dreamed of being one of the first Black actors in a Korean drama.  She even memorized actors’ lines, watched a lot of YouTube videos and read Korean-language textbooks. But most importantly, she said, she watched a lot of Korean soap operas, or K-dramas.  Today, Maze is among a rising number of students gravitating to Korean-language classes on college campuses ac ..read more

On a recent day at the Holosiivskyi district fire station in southern Kyiv, firefighters and rescuers were running a drill to test their preparedness. They sprinted from inside the station to the firetruck, geared up and got ready to depart. Later, they checked their equipment and test saws, cutters and other high-power rescue tools. This equipment is used in situations where metal or other material needs to be cut or dislodged to save someone. First responders check equipment and test saws, cutters and other high-power rescue tools during drills held at the Holosiivskyi district fire station ..read more

On a hot afternoon in March, hundreds of farmers gathered in an open field in Delhi, India’s capital. Some sat in groups, listening intently to farm union leaders making speeches on a small stage. Others burst into angry chants. Their anger is laser-focused on one man: Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We are sitting here because we are helpless,” said Azad Singh, a farmer from Haryana, a state neighboring Delhi. “Our harvest is ready in the fields, but we are here out of helplessness.” Farmers gather for a mega rally in Delhi in March to demand legal price guarantees for their crops. They blame ..read more

In Israel, Palestinians and Arabs make up about 20% of the population. They have full citizenship and access to political power — like Palestinian Israeli politician Sami Abu Shehadeh.  Shehadeh is a former member of Israel’s Knesset and chairman of the Balad party, a political party representing Palestinians and Arab Israelis. The Balad party was voted out of the Knesset in 2022, and now, only five Palestinian Israeli lawmakers are in the parliament, out of 120 total members. Since the Israel Hamas war began, Palestinians and Arab Israeli citizens have been thrust into an uncomfortable p ..read more