I want to get my hands dirty...

Over the past few months I have been diving head first into the impossible task of beginning to grasp the complexity of the conflicts within the region of the Middle East. It has been a daunting task in which one new piece of information generally only results in more questions and often, even more confusion. While sitting at a computer or reading a text has provided the words by which I can now dialogue, I feel limited, held back. Writings are biased and I often think I am getting "jipped" on information from both sides of the story. In the Middle East it seems as though it's one religion against another, ethnicity's at war, and a clash of cultures resulting in the possibility that a man can be your neighbor one day and the next, your bitter enemy. My head is left spinning and I have given up the notion that there are any simple answers. It is at this point that I am beginning to realize what an opportunity I have been offered to go to this area and learn first hand from the people who's lives are daily effected by the immense conflicts which plague the Middle East. Until that day comes when I can board the plane, I will continue to read with an open-mind, any and everything I come across which can provide another vantage point, another set of ideas, or another notion of what exactly is going on. I have provided links to websites I have found helpful in my ongoing quest to understand and embrace this culture.