Non-mediated Accounts

Natalie d'Arbeloff on Mid-east bloggers:

To read non-mediated accounts of what life is really like in Beirut and Baghdad and Palestine and Israel, go to the bloggers on the ground. Thanks to Velveteen Rabbi for the link to Mazen Kerbaj (Beirut). There's Rafah (Gaza), riverbend (Baghdad), Allison (Israel). This item from ("American Jews call for ceasefire in Lebanon") is not one you'll find in the mainstream media.

Maybe if bloggers worldwide get to know each other as human beings, beyond the glut of received opinions, ignorance and misinformation, there might be a chance, eventually, for peace based on genuine friendship, across the barriers of geography, culture, religion, ethnicity, nationality and the politics of revenge.

(See also the fascinating/bizarre photos from "The World's Biggest Sand-sculpture Festival".)