This morning we took a trip to a point over-looking the majority of the city of Jerusalem. As we walk down the cracked stone steps, we heard the muzzein's call to prayer as the valley filled with a deep bass humming. There we met our tour guide Yuval, who was actually a soldier under the command of our very Madrich Amnon Ophir. We were quickly taken to a quaint area covered in pine cones and a cool shade, where we began to learn about the history of the area. Yuval begins by telling us why he enjoys being a tour guide and how he gets "excited about people coming here and getting excited".

The 800 holy sites that are contained within the single square kilometer of Jerusalem connects the three central religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In a situation that seems like it should be called coexistence, the religious area teeters on a powder keg, that could be easily ignited by any extremist group. The area has remained generally peaceful for the past couple of years, but hasn't always been that way. We learned how the central conflict began on November 29, 1947 when the UN divided "Palestine" into an international zone and a religious zone. Upset with the division, the Arab forces invaded on May 15, 1948, and the war wasn't ended until November 30 later that year.

What followed was a series of smaller wars, formations of demilitarized zones, and the annexation of the present day West Bank by Jordan. Once Israel declared its independence in 1948, fought the War of Independence, and the 6 Day War in 1967, the Green Line was established to distinguish the Israeli borders from 1948 to 1967 with the attempts at compromise, and attempts to form a long-lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians that have yet to bear fruit.

All this history was visible to the eye as we sat on the various mountain tops on the just east of the old city of Jerusalem.

Today AFUWOFI  visited Gush Etzion. We visited  Rabbi Michael Unterberg, who had recently  fulfilled his lifetime dream of making Aliya. He and his family currently reside in Efrat, which is part of Gush. Rabbi Unterberg explained to us that he chose this community, in part, because of the areas history. Thousands of years ago, David was a shepherd in the fields that surround his home.

Khaled Abu Toameh is an Arab Muslim Palestinian Israeli who started his career as a journalist one week after graduating high school. He first worked as a field reporter then became a correspondent and later an editor for an Arab newspaper. Khaled Abu Toameh then studied at Hebrew University. Afterwards he took a job as an International correspondent for the Jerusalem Post. He initially did not return to the Arab newspaper so that he could be a journalist and not be limited to government propaganda.

 Khaled Abu Toameh explained that it did not matter to him that he worked for a Jewish organization because the Israeli government offers freedom of the press and does not harass journalists for voicing controversial opinions. He said that as long as he could express his opinion he did not care for whom he worked.

Khaled Abu Toameh takes international journalists into Gaza, explaining that there is less freedom of speech and press in Gaza and people are very suspicious of strangers. Because of his work with international journalists in Gaza Khaled Abu Toameh has written for many international newspapers and has received several international awards for his news coverage. He has been working for the Jerusalem Post for 13 years and during the Second Intifada he reported on the situation in Gaza because Jews could not enter safely.

Khaled Abu Toameh has been able to successfully report on the situation in Gaza because the Palestinian government in Gaza does not boycott the Israeli media; rather they understand that they can more effectively send a message by talking to media sources. Ironically, more Israelis boycott Israeli media than Palestinians because they feel that the media is too anti-establishment. Khaled Abu Toameh pointed out that Ha-Aretz, the leading "left-wing newspaper in Israel, publishes stories that are more anti-Israel than they are anti-West Bank or anti-Gaza. He continued to say that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is as much the media as it is on the ground and that Palestinian demonstrations have often been canceled because the media was not present.

 Khaled Abu Toameh observed that since the peace process began in 1993 the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel has gotten worse. The PLO originally stated, after its formation in 1964, that its ultimate goal was to destroy Israel. They fought militarily until 1992 and when they could not destroy Israel by military means opted for political compromise through the two state solution. The Oslo Agreement was designed to establish such a two state solution.

PLO support in Gaza collapsed and the people of Gaza, through a democratic election, voted Hamas into power. The PLO fled to the West Bank and took power there. It became the Palestinian Authority (PA) and currently the PA controls the West Bank with support of the IDF. On a basic level, the difference between Hamas and the PA is that Hamas still calls for the complete destruction of the state of Israel while the PA is willing to work out a compromise with a two state solution. Ultimately, Khaled Abu Toameh said that right now we have a three state solution. It will not hold as a permanent peace plan, but it is the current situation

Q&A with Khaled Abu Toameh

Q: Why didn't the peace process succeed?

A: People and organizations gave money to the PLO to prepare the Gaza Strip for statehood. The government was corrupt and stole the money, so the people lost faith in the PLO and the PLO collapsed in Gaza.

Q: How did the Hamas take power in Gaza?

A: When the Palestinians lost faith in the PLO they turned to more radical ideals like those of the Hamas and when they had an election they proceeded to vote for the Hamas.

Q: How did the PLO get to the West Bank?

A: When the Hamas took power the PLO fled the Gaza Strip and the Israeli government aided them in crossing into the West Bank.

Q: How has the PLO become more successful in establishing themselves in the West Bank?

A: Since the PLO took power their donors have held them more accountable and have wanted to see the result of their support. As a result the PLO has invested in infrastructure to benefit the Palestinians in the West Bank.

Q: Are there restrictions on Palestinians living in West Bank?

A: Yes, but the restrictions have significantly reduced the number of terrorist attacks.

Q: What are the main issues for Israeli Arabs today?

A: The three main issues are employment, infrastructure and public funds.

Q: How do you respond to the idea that Israel is an apartheid state?

A: Israel is not an apartheid state.  There is discrimination, but there is in any society and every government has its strengths and its flaws.

Q: How do Israeli Arabs side overall in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

A: They go both ways since it is mater of our state versus our people.

Q: What do Israeli Arabs think about living in Israel?

A: Despite the problems they are much more comfortable living in Israel than they would be in any Arab country or state.

Q: How are Gaza and the West Bank viewed internationally?

A: They are often incorrectly perceived as part of Israel .Some people think that Israelis occupy Gaza, but all Israeli Jews pulled out of Gaza in 2005 and if anything, Gaza is "occupied" by Hamas.

Q: How do you and your family associate yourselves with Israel?

A: We are Israelis. We are much more immersed in Israeli culture and society than in Palestinian culture or society.

Q: What are some of your concerns for your children?