Right after the 9/11, things all over the world change, and our view of the Muslim world became a narrow window, a window that was allowing us to see only the terrorist acts the "Muslims" were perpetrating against us. It became clear who the terrorist were...
We saw images in the news, where Muslims were celebrating the pain and chaos that their "Jihad" has caused our people. It was scary, I remember watching live in the news the first crash of the plane that turned into flames and melted down the Twin Towers, it was a hard thing to watch, but at that time, It was impossible to believe, it was for sure, a bad joke While I was hearing as an echo the news, a second plane is seen on the screen, and the chaos grew.
I remember the disbelief of the hole thing, everyone was calling everyone, and for days all we talk and hear was the thousands of people who died, images of the buildings burned, it just looked like a movie. It was a hard thing to digest, and for weeks I remember being sadden by all this.
As I was in my own process of looking into doing something more meaningful in my life, I joined a delegation with the Christian Peacemakers Team (CPT) the year after 9/11.
It was quite an experience as I was still apprehensive about the Muslims, I was excited about the opportunity to go to the Holy Land, and at the same time I was scared as one can be.
I was going to the Arab world, where Muslim presence is very significant. What if they bomb our plane, or maybe kill us while doing the delegation!
Before I continue, lets review a little time table about Israel/Palestine

• The State of Israel was established in 1948
• At that time 5 Arab armies, in support of the Palestinians attacked the new state, Palestine was defeated and Israel gain more territory
• As a result of this war almost 8000,000 Palestinians became refugees in their own land.
• In 1964 the Palestinian Liberation Front (PLO) was formed and the Palestinian got some governing authority.
• In 1967 Jewish and Arabs engaged into another war that lasted 6 days. With this war Israel gained control over Gaza and West Bank.
• In December of 1987, the first "Intifada"(up-rising) took place. The uprising was started as a false rumor from a misunderstanding outbreak that was used as a pretext and soon this "Intifada" became a well organized rebellion manipulated by the PLO.
• In September of 2000, the second "Intifada" took place after a group of Israeli police stop some Palestinians coming back from work and hold them for no reason at all, then the soldiers beat the Palestinians to death.
  

Then came the attacks of 9/11, and in September of 2002, I made my first trip to Israel/Palestine. What I witness there, was a totally different story.
To be Con't...