My six day experience in the Middle East

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7489.474

BMJ 2005;330:474 (26 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7489.474

Education and debate

My six day experience in the Middle East

Deborah Cohen, student editor¹

¹ studentBMJ

The studentBMJ editor travels to Israel and the occupied territories,trying to make sense of an impenetrable situation. This is herdiary

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

I'd always meant to go to Israel but somehow had never got roundto it. So I jumped at the chance when I was offered the opportunityto go on a press trip to Israel and the Palestine territoriesoccupied by Israel with Médecins du Monde (MDM), a Frenchmedical organisation that has several projects dotted aroundthe area. Admittedly I was nervous about going but convincedmyself that if it were all that dangerous MDM wouldn't riskthe lives of its staff—after all, many non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) have withdrawn from Iraq. But what botheredme more was how I'd report what I see, and if people disagreed—andthey're bound to—that I'd be dismissed as pro-Israeliand a Zionist or pro-Palestinian and a self hating Jew.

Saturday

Accompanying me is Andy Aitchison, a freelance photojournalist,and Michelle Hawkins from MDM UK. We've communicated daily onthe phone, trying to arrange the . . . [Full text of this article]