(for a version with photos, visit here: http://paminprogress.tumblr.com/post/33367438693/taliban

Throughout my stay in Pakistan, I have been noting similarities in the challenges faced by the people in the frontier regions here and in Gaza. Both populations are under daily threat by foreign drones (U.S. vs. Israel), the movement of both groups is tightly controlled, and both peoples are judged by…

Abdul was just 20 years old when he drove his father to the medical clinic one day for an exam. He dropped his father off, then left to run a few errands, saying nonchalantly that he would be back by the time the tests were done. But..he never showed up at the clinic. It was as if he had disappeared into thin air. His family agonized over what had happened to the young man, who – as the oldest son -- had worked as a laborer to support his parents and siblings in the wake of his father’s…

“I will never forget what the American soldiers did to my country, my tribe and my family. They violated our national sovereignty and our Islamic laws. They killed my son and my younger brother. They destroyed my home. If I see the soldiers who are responsible for this – if I have the opportunity -- I will kill them.” (translated from Pashto)

These are the chilling words of Kareem Khan, a Pakistani journalist from a tribe in Northern Waziristan, whose compound was destroyed by a…

My friends and family have gradually gotten used to the fact that the fight for Palestinian rights is my passion; they may not understand it totally, but they accept and even embrace it. A few have even occasionally asked me why I don’t just move to the Gaza Strip, where I have increasingly returned since 2009. (The answer, in part: I also want to be a part of my daughters’ lives.) 

I recently had the opportunity to view a docudrama called The Lady — a “re-enactment” of the political re-awakening and rise to leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi, now a member of parliament for the opposition party in Burma.* I had heard her story before, of course, but it didn’t hit home until I saw this film just how worthy she was of the Nobel Peace Prize, which she was finally able to accept in person, 21 years after it was first awarded. And, immediately upon the heels of…

Many people have already weighed in on the Kony2012 campaign launched by Invisible Children, but there are so many lessons it offers to other activists and cause-related NGOs that it is worth revisiting with a critical eye. After all, although we may not want to admit it (or we may think it is somehow of a higher order because of our good intent), advocacy of any kind is — by its very nature — designed to manipulate to some…

This second in a three-part series on the pitfalls of cause marketing/”white savior” activism. In my first post I examined the “pink ribbon” industry that has grown up around breast cancer. In this installment, I examine an emerging business model for “doing well by doing good” by combining for-profit business with a not-for-profit…

In the course of my 20+-year career, I have spent:

• three as a journalist reporting on the “underside” of corporations and local governments.  I was one of those reporters who refused to take calls from PR staffers (although I read every news release I received), keeping them carefully at arm’s length. I took very seriously what I perceived as my responsibility to be an investigative observer (in the tradition of Woodward and Bernstein), and didn’t want…

One of the most common myths is that all Palestinians are Muslims. However, Christians have a long history in Palestine, and they have been oppressed along with their Muslim neighbors. Recently, Keren Batiyov and I had the opportunity to interview Naim Ateek, founder of Sabeel in East Jerusalem, which seeks to unite all religions in seeking peace and justice. Take a look:…

The latest flotilla to try reach the coast of Gaza has been turned back — ships impounded and passengers deported — just like every other one since December 2008 (just before the launch of Israel’s massive attack). And although the effort was covered by some of the so-called “mainstream” media (ranging from CNN to The Guardian), the reporting is starting to treat the repeated forays as predictable events....

So....just what is the best way to keep fighting to open the borders in and…