The Dawn of the 27th Year

It seems the Palestinian tradition is to celebrate ones birthday for a week. On Thursday evening I was so bloated with cake I couldn't imagine ever consuming edibles again. I did survive my birthday however and I must say I was very pleased with the hospitality. The best gift I received was by far the argilah that Summer gave me. While my mother I'm sure will hate it, I'll always have a bit of Nablus running through my lungs.

Tomorrow, I am giving a lecture to students of the Sharia Department. I am going to be discussing bias in the American media and the misperceptions that exist between Americans and Palestinians. I've been told that they are not likely to greet my presentation with open arms, but I'm looking forward to the experience nonetheless. Part of my conclusion is that both cultures must work together to breach the levels of government and media so as to bring forth a greater level of intercultural dialogue. I think technology must play a big part in this communicative process. Unfortunately, most Americans won't proactively take such actions, so the burden lies on the Palestinian youth who understand this problem.

We can all do more to allay the misperceptions that exist between our cultures, in fact we must. Most Americans have never met a Palestinian citizen and their perceptions are based only on what they hear in the media and the rhetoric of our government. The fact is that most people in the media and government have also never met a Palestinian person. We should base our perceptions of people not on what we see and hear from media reports but through real life interaction between cultures. Only then will we truly understand each other.

I'll be sure to let you know how the presentation goes.