In East Jerusalem, we saw how ideologically-motivated Jewish settlers, backed by the Netanyahu government, are settling in Palestinian neighborhoods around the historic basin. The settlers and their supporters are trying to create a ring of Israeli strongholds around the Historic Basin in the hope of preventing any future effort to divide Jerusalem. Hagit Ofran of Peace Now and Danny Seidemann, the utmost experts on Jerusalem, took us on a "connect-the-dots" tour around the Old City of Jerusalem, showing us settler strongholds in Sheikh Jarrah, the Mount of Olives, and Silwan. Each one of these friction spots might ignite a fire that would not only scorch this holy city and its surroundings, but would very likely send flames throughout the Middle East and beyond.

In downtown Hebron, we saw how the market that used to the 170,000 Palestinian residents of the city and dozens of adjacent villages has been taken over by several hundreds of Israeli settlers. We met with members of TIPH, the Temporary International Presence in Hebron. This unarmed force of international observers was first established in the mid 1990s, following the Oslo accords, to help reduce friction between Israelis and Palestinians in Hebron. These European observers have become a part of the bizarre landscape in Hebron. We asked one of them, a Swedish volunteer, how The Palestinians and the settlers treat them. The Palestinians are appreciative, he said, the settlers don't speak to them, and the children on both sides throw rocks at them.

We met Issa Amro, a Palestinian activist. He is trying to organize demonstrations against the closure of downtown Hebron to Palestinian traffic (and, for the most part, to Palestinian pedestrians as well). He is currently trying to bring to Hebron an exhibit created by Breaking the Silence, a group composed of Israeli veterans to draw attention to their experiences as occupiers in the West Bank. It turns out that the organization, which was started because of the soldiers' experiences in Hebron, has shown its exhibit almost everywhere but in Hebron.

We met with the US Consul General in Jerusalem, Daniel Rubinstein, and with the Washington Post's Jerusalem bureau chief, Janine Zacharia. We also met with Israel's leading political columnist Nahum Barnea, of Yedioth Ahronoth. All three, separately, spoke about the impact of events in Egypt on Israeli-Palestinian relations.

On Tuesday night, we met with Israel's leading constitutional law expert, Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). Kremintzer told us how the Institute, a think tank, found itself acting as an advocacy organization in recent months, desperately working to block Knesset bills that chip away at Israel's democratic character. He mentioned a couple of current bills that the Knesset is likely to consider soon. One of us made the mistake of asking for more examples. It triggered an avalanche. Interestingly, Kremnitzer said that the IDI is making tremendous efforts to recruit America's organized Jewish community to raise its voice against some of the bills and against the overall trend. Several American Jewish groups have. Other important ones refuse. Most refuse, as a matter of principle, to criticize official Israeli policies even if these policies are detrimental to Israel's future, Kremnitzer lamented. Welcome to APN's world.

In the coming days we will have a chance to talk about these issues with members of the Israeli cabinet and with Knesset members.

Later this week we will meet with Palestinian leaders in Ramallah.