Next week my wife and I will be embarking on a political pilgrimage of the Middle East, touring Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip), Syria and Lebanon with former Ambassador Edward Peck and the Council for the National Interest Foundation.
Previous delegations have interviewed those involved in Middle East politics from across the entire political spectrum. Interviews are set up in every country with officials from U.S. embassies, UN representatives, respected government officials and opposition leaders. I expect our visit to the region to be no different.
For example, last year in Egypt one group interviewed the current Prime Minister Ahmed M. Nazif, Essam el-Erian, spokesperson for the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo, as well as the Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Moussa. The most recent delegation in May 2008, crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah Crossing. They became the first international group to enter Gaza through Egypt since May 2007, when the international boycott of the Hamas government began. While in Gaza, the delegation met with and interviewed Ismail Haniyeh, the current Prime Minister of the Hamas-led government. Every visit to Israel includes meetings with members of the Knesset and various government officials, as well as journalists.
I will be posting in this space throughout the trip with my reactions to the opinions of political leaders as well as ordinary people.
It should be interesting to be in this part of the world right after the US elections and hear the reactions of Middle Easterners to the outcome. Since the only country where this race is even close is the US, should Senator Obama hold on to his apparent lead, Americans will probably be a lot more popular than we have been in the past few years.
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