Iraq
Palestine
I was born and raised in Beirut, Lebanon, my mother is Palestinian,
and I have a strong affection for the Middle East as a whole. Today's
political troubles often overshadow the region's charm, hospitality,
and
terrific food -- yet these attractions are very real. An on-line
cultural resource concerning life in the eastern Mediterranean, with a
particular emphasis on Lebanon, can be found at the al-Mashriq website.
High-quality, non-polemical political and social analysis can be found
at the Middle East Research and
Information Project.
My parents, and many of our relatives and friends, taught at the American University of Beirut (AUB). You can take a virtual tour of the place here.
Unfortunately, the mainstream U.S. media do a poor job of informing the public about this increasingly important part of the world. For a quick corrective, I recommend Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), a watchdog group that reports media inaccuracies. The Middle East is only one of their areas of coverage, but they cover it, as they do other matters, with clarity and fair-mindedness.
Middle East Report and Middle East International (UofCer's look here) provide news and analysis about the Middle East of a caliber not available from mainstream news sources. Highly recommended.
On a lighter note, here is a roadsign that was apparently actually posted in Lebanon, and that conveys a sense for the endearing zaniness of the place.