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Dialogue of Civilizations

my experiences leading students to Jordan, Egypt, Oman, Turkey, the Balkans, and beyond

Jeddah, rewind

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January 11, 2012

Here's my brother Samer Abu-Ghazaleh, the mastermind, mover-shaker, and energetic leader of our first-ever Northeastern Alumni event in Saudi Arabia.

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Srebrenica - connecting Anne Frank (1945) to Srebrenica (1995)

July 18, 2016

Enroute from Sarajevo to Belgrade, we made the most important visit of our program thus far, to Potocari Memorial of the Srebrenica massacre/genocide of July 1995. Our visit occurred 21 years almost to the exact day when the killing fields of Srebrenica ended.

You can't get there (Serbia) from here (Kosovo) - go to Montenegro!

July 22, 2011

“You can’t cross this boundary from here [the Kosovo “border”/Administrative boundary]. You’ll have to go to Montenegro and then enter Serbia from there.” Thus sayeth the Serbian policeman at the boundary/border, yesterday (Thursday) around 3:30 pm. The reason? We had a stamp on our passports that read “Republic of Kosovo”, which Serbia does not recognize as independent nation-state (nor do a small number of nation-states of the international community – Russia, Spain, Greece, and 6 other members of the EU). “Kosovo is Serbia.” What he was proposing was for us to “re-enter” Kosovo (1/4 th of a mile back from where we came); return to the town of Mitroveca (where we just left 90 minutes ago); cut over to the West, and enter Montenegro (another 90 minutes-2 hours); then drive to the Montenegro-Serbia border (another hour); then drive until we catch up with the road we could have been on – only one hour from the point on the map where we were standing that ver

(Remember me?) Back in Amman, Jordan Dialogue 2016

May 22, 2016

'been a long time without posting ... time to get back in the game! I'm in Amman with students on my "Jordan Dialogue 2016"! Had to stop in Beirut (thanks APSA-MENA!), prior to joining up with my group here in Amman. I want to give a shout-out to Mr. Charles, Ms. FaHu, and Lt. Briskin plus the inimitable Dr. Shakir for leading the group here ahead of me. Now we're all together and my first day with everyone was a trip to Ajloun Castle after they all toured Jerash ... Note - I was standing right in front of this group, but they insisted on using the selfie stick! And I found a kindred spirit with a nearly matching hat. Plus, a non-selfie with the amazing Farhana. Ajloun Castle - built by nephew of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyubi ( Saladin ), in AD 1184-1185.