Abu Elias, a father of four, earns his livelihood by farming a small plot of land just outside the center of Jericho, West Bank, October 2012. (Evan Bryant)
9:38 am ET -Abu Elias, a Jericho farmer, cultivates cucumbers, eggplants, ingenuity, and a good sense of humor.
Middle East (View all)
- With air strike on Gaza, Israel tells Hamas 'get it together'
- Iraqi government takes 10 TV stations off the air for 'incitement'
- Kerry makes headway with Middle East peace, but violence flares
- How an obscure council became Egypt's decisionmaker
- Israeli first responder searches for the good among Sderot's rocket-pocked streets
- Syrian regime's core supporters begin to drift away
- What's in the Internet videos posted by Tamerlan Tsarnaev?
- Dancing around the conflict in Ramallah
- Israel shoots down drone, Hezbollah denies it's theirs
More Middle East
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Israel seeks another type of coexistence – between tourists and the earth
Although an economic boon, tourism can be a destructive force for the environment. Israel, filled with religious tourism destinations, is exploring ways to make pilgrimages sustainable.
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Outside the camps, Syrian refugees face further hardship
With 74 percent of Syrian refugees living outside camps, life is a daily struggle to find affordable housing, jobs with living wages, and schooling for their children.
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Tunisians yearn for the good old days of a strongman
Tunisians still revile ousted leader President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, but admiration is rising for his predecessor, who had strongman tendencies of his own but also helped Tunisia flourish.
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Hagel goes to Israel bearing gifts of radar and Ospreys
The US will give Israel advanced radar systems, more powerful missiles, and aircraft never before sold outside the US. Together, they could diminish Israel's sense of threat from Iran.
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Canada alleges Al Qaeda plot from Iran, but Tehran's involvement unlikely (+video)
Shiite Iran and Sunni Al Qaeda have long had a hostile relationship. While state involvement appears unlikely, Tehran has less control over the country's far east.
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The trials of an Israeli Arab prosecuting Palestinians
Israeli Arab Arin Shaabi's job as a military prosecutor for the Israel Defense Forces puts her in the difficult position of handling the cases of fellow Arabs, earning her hatred from some.
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Environmentalists tap Palestinian schoolchildren to clean Jerusalem's holy valley
Six Olympic-size pools of trash and sewage are dumped in Kidron Valley, which abuts Jerusalem's holiest sites, every year.
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First West Bank marathon highlights barriers to Palestinian movement
Marathoners observed a moment of silence for the victims in the Boston attacks before running a landscape scarred by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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Syrian rebels intensify rocket attacks into Lebanon
Rebels fighting the Syrian government are shelling villages on the Lebanese side of the border in order to curb a Lebanese group's efforts to help the Syrian regime.
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How stable is Iraq? 13 candidates killed ahead of elections
Iraq's provincial elections tomorrow, the first since the US withdrawal, are considered a strong indicator of the country's stability. Pre-election violence does not bode well.
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