On my trip to Israel with a group of Silicon Valley bloggers last year, I broke away from the pack and spent an afternoon driving through the occupied West Bank, from Jerusalem, past Bethlehem, through the settlement of Kiriath Arba and into the ancient city of Hebron, where Jews and Muslims both revere the resting place of Biblical figures Abraham and Sarah.
Mikhael Manekin of Breaking the Silence, a remarkable human rights organization founded by veterans of the Israeli military, served as a lieutenant in the Golani Brigade during the second intifada. On a still, languid afternoon, Manekin, 28, gave me a tour of life on the ground for Palestinians in the West Bank, such as the requirement to take a 20-kilometer detour rather than crossing an Israeli street, or the restrictions that prevent residents of Hebron from exiting through the front doors of their own homes. (The Israeli military prevents Western journalists from entering Gaza, but comparable restrictions exist for Palestinian residents of Gaza.)
