International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) have been present in Palestine for more than 60 years and have evolved over time to adapt to the needs on the ground. Most INGOs that work in Palestine are well coordinated with local bodies, working together in order to add value to Palestinian society. These organizations understand that the agenda must be set first and foremost by the communities they serve. 

When Emily Jacir was a kid, she told her family she wanted to become an artist and they panicked - not because they thought a life in the arts would be difficult but because they thought it might be dangerous. "They'll kill you, too," they said. Jacir's family wasn't just being melodramatic. In the context of Palestinian society in the late 1970s, to be an artist, literary figure or intellectual with a public profile was indeed something of a risk. 

The birth of the municipality of Ramallah, which is now celebrating its centennial anniversary, was in the year 1908. The centennial celebration will not only be limited to the municipality but will extend to include the whole of the city, whose age is much greater. The municipal council recognised that its centennial could be an opportunity to highlight the city of Ramallah as a distinct Palestinian city - politically, economically, and culturally - and to invite tourism and investors. 

"My goal is to remove the psychological barrier Israelis have against working with Palestinian companies," Tahboub says. "Our people have a good command of English, good managerial abilities, a familiarity with Israeli and Western culture and knowledge of the computing field. In addition, we are in the same time zone. Everyone knows it's possible to do business with Palestinians in the field of stone and marble, or textiles. They didn't know it was also possible to do IT outsourcing," he adds.  

The International Center of Bethlehem (Dar Annadwa) and the Swedish Christian Study Centre in Jerusalem (BILDA) are preparing once again to welcome young, arts-focused Palestinians and Swedes to Ad-Dar Hall for the annual Dandanat Music Festival. From its beginning in 2005, Dandanat has been a place of cultural and artistic exchange between young people from Palestine and Sweden. Each year, a new group of young artists gather together to interact  

May 2008 marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Nakba - Arabic for catastrophe, the expulsion of the Palestinian people and creation of the state of Israel. However, the Palestinian Diaspora decided to commemorate it with a different image: sharing and performing hip-hop. A commemoration concert was recently held here at the Civic Center Plaza and it was free and open to the public. 

I was only six months old when this story happened, but I learned about it a generation later. I was moving house in Berkeley, California, and my father was helping in the effort. As I carried a small - by then almost antique - carpet into our new house, my father saw it and said, "Oh, so you ended up with the Moshe Dayan carpet." My ears pricked up, "What do you mean?" "This is the carpet Moshe Dayan sat on when he came to a meeting at our family home." 

Looking over the photographs selected by Amani Shaltout, our dedicated archivist, my eyes linger on the faces. What happened to the old man being helped aboard a departing boat? Where is the young woman staring out at us from the back of a Haganah truck? There is almost a uniformity to these images. The faces inevitably express fear, confusion, sadness.