The more issues we put out, the more we, ourselves, learn about and appreciate the beauty and wealth of Palestine. In fact, this is one of the main reasons we keep going. There’s simply so much to be proud of in Palestine.
The rich content of this August 2019 issue of This Week in Palestine is merely a snapshot of Palestinian cities and towns as viewed from their respective municipalities. Whole books could be written on each and every Palestinian city and town, but we bring to you in this issue an amuse-gueule, an appetizer, if you will, of the cities and towns featured. It’s worth mentioning that Palestine boasts the oldest and the newest inhabited cities in the world – Jericho and Rawabi, respectively.
We would like to thank Rawabi Municipality for sponsoring the current August 2019 issue of This Week in Palestine themed A Municipality and a City. Our gratitude is extended also to every author and municipality that has contributed to this rich edition. Our In the Limelight and features sections are as usual filled with captivating content. Ahmad Battaah, mayor of the town of Ajja, not too far from Jenin, is our personality of the month. Among his many achievements, Battaah created a National Observatory for Sustainable Development in the town of Ajja to advance Ajja’s services, infrastructure projects, and sustainable development. Samer Rashed, a Palestinian composer and viola player from Jerusalem, is this month’s featured artist. Our book of the month is Keeping Faith with Hope: The Challenge of Israel-Palestine by Dr. Harry Hagopian. Bassam Almohor suggests that we visit The Hidden Paradise of Ein Dara. Two exhibitions are featured in this issue: The Moon Is a Sun Returning as a Ghost – Noor Abuarafeh’s Solo Show, curated by Lara Khaldi and held at Al Ma’mal Foundation for Contemporary Art, and Contemplative Contrasts, curated by Bahaa Abudaya and held at Gaza ART in Gaza City. Finally, our Newly Released section also has two features: Doroob, a must-have, locally produced navigational application and a video entitled Stallions of Palestine, which is about Abdel Naser, a young Palestinian horse breeder.

We wish you all a pleasant end of summer.