Washington, DC -- APN welcomes today's announcement that Special Envoy George Mitchell will be brokering indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. APN welcomes the involvement of Arab governments in the process that lead to today's announcement.

The graduation ceremony of the class of 2002 at Jerusalem's Anglican International School was a heartbreaking experience.

Most of the graduates, sons and daughters of Jerusalem's diplomatic and foreign community, were on their way to Europe or the US, leaving behind Israeli and Palestinian friends engulfed in raging violence, which at the time seemed endless. The school is located on Hanevi'im Street. It connects East Jerusalem with the center of West Jerusalem. During the Second Intifada, the street was known as "suicide alley." Several Palestinian suicide bombers walked up the street to downtown West Jerusalem to blow themselves up. In one case, a suicide bomber detonated the explosives he strapped to his body just outside the neighboring French School. Body parts flew over the fence into the schoolyard.

Last week, I wrote a blog post about the absurdity of drafting Israeli tourists to become "hasbara (propaganda) ambassadors" for Israel.

Yesterday, Israel's Hasbara Ministry launched a new web site, in Hebrew, to supply the Israeli traveler with ammunition against defamers of Israel abroad.

As an Israeli, I find this site offensive.