Palestine: A Hope

I still have one-and-a-half days of touring to report on. Re-entry from this trip has been tough, and I think that my brain is still half-way across the Atlantic. But on this Fourth of July, as the United States celebrates its independence from England, I keeping thinking about the Palestinians and their struggle for their own independence. Colonial patriots fought against the Redcoats, a superior fighting force but one that represented a government an ocean away. The English would have described General George Washington's ragtag forces as "insurgents," even "terrorists," if those words had been part of the 18th century vocabulary. But they prevailed, and 234 years later, America still celebrates July 4 as a day of freedom and liberation.

The Palestinian people want no less. And count me among those who want it for them and hope that they too will have their own Independence Day to celebrate, and that they and their Israeli neighbors will find a way to co-exist in peace.