After numerous weeks in Israel and the West Bank, I actually went back into Gaza for a second time and another three days. I finally left at 8am, going once again through the immense security to enter Israel. It’s so tight right now with all the recent killings on the Gaza border. On the Israeli side, I had no option but to take a taxi for 150 USD, direct to Tel Aviv airport; ouch that hurt the old pocket.
Inon Dan Kehati is an ex-Israeli Defence Force soldier. He was recommended to me by a friend, so I personally met with him in Jerusalem. We spent two hours together talking and drinking coffee. However, due to time constraints and other commitments at the time, this interview was done via Skype, after I had left Israel.
Taking a break from our everyday routine can have huge mental health benefits and it doesn’t need a big holiday to make the difference.
To get a real feel for division between Palestinians and Jews, I was told by friends in the West Bank to go to Silwan, a predominantly Palestinian neighbourhood on the outskirts of Jerusalem’s old city.
I’ve often fantasised about finding a massive stash of cash and then battling courageously with the moral dilemma of whether to hand it in to the police or keep it and go slowly crazy worrying about the money’s nasty owner tracking us down.
As mentioned last week, it’s the Israeli settlements that seem to inflame Palestinians most in the West Bank. Combine these settlements with armed-to-the teeth IDF soldiers, put there to protect said settlers, it’s a powder keg, just waiting to go off.
It is frightening to think the millennium babies all come of age this year, but are they more advanced or better off than those of us that came of age in the 80s?
“Settlements”, or as some of my Jewish friends call them, “communities”, are groups of houses built by Israel on land it has occupied since the 1967 war. These settlements are more controversial than religion, checkpoints and even the blockade of The Gaza Strip.
With today’s adult lives packed to the maximum, it’s easy to think back to our childhood wishing for easier times to return. But is being a child or a teenager really so easy these days?
What is the first image that springs to your mind when you hear the words refugee camp? I’d guess something along the lines of people crossing borders as they flee war, then ending up living in white UN tents in the desert?
The things we take for granted? Oh, after my time in the Gaza Strip, it dawned on me, just how much we really do take for granted in our everyday lives.
Professor Ewan Gillon, chartered psychologist and clinical director of First Psychology Aberdeen discusses stress in men for Stress Awareness Month.
I’d been to this refugee camp in Gaza a couple of days previously, and even inside this very house. Muhammad, one of Rami’s guys, is related to Shadi and his family who live here. And I’d been invited back by Shadi to share a meal with him. Feeling guilty about eating what may be precious food, I was told: “Its OK, Shadi has a job, don’t worry, you’re not taking their last food.”
At certain times each day, it was just Rami and me, but we were always at some point joined by others he knew. A great bunch of guys who I got to know well.
This was supposed to be a column all about fishermen, but I’ve simply got to let you know about this instead . . .
Well you will gather from the title I’ve done lots of business training.
Professor Ewan Gillon, chartered psychologist and clinical director of First Psychology Aberdeen, discusses the benefits of de-cluttering your life to boost mental health.
Fascinated by the lives of others, George R Mitchell gets under the skin of a country, often uncovering the dark corners of culture, politics and people. He now has 25 years of off-grid travel and 85 countries under his belt, and he’s in no mood to stop just yet...
It is estimated that 1.25 million people in the UK have an eating disorder.
I was based in the West Bank, Palestine, where there’s been an increase in violence over the past few months.
With January now over, I am looking forward to a good 2018.
Note to self while writing this column: George, be very careful not to offend the majority of people who read this, as most will have smartphones and use social media to some extent.
Do we believe everything that we read about Donald Trump?
We’ve said goodbye to the festive season and most of us are now settling back into our usual routine.
The festive season can be chaotic, and for some, a simple ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year’ text or social media post is all they can come up with to show they are thinking of friends and family.
The Scottish Law Commission has launched an attempt to introduce more control over the ‘Wild West’ of social media, where anything no longer goes.
The festive season may bring with it the joys of good food, gift-giving, and spending time with the family but it is also a time where many people feel stressed and under pressure to have the ‘perfect Christmas’.
Movember is here which means over the next few weeks you might start to notice a huge number of the city’s male population sporting moustaches.
I was fascinated to learn of a special dating event being held in Aberdeen for adults with learning difficulties.
Most commonly diagnosed in children, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), is a condition whereby the individual suffers from restlessness and may struggle to concentrate.
The UK is now a ‘smartphone society,’ with over 80% of the population having access to one.
There are a huge number of experiences and emotions people go through when living with Alzheimer’s.