During my undergraduate days at the University of Lagos, I read a book titled From Beirut to Jerusalem written by Thomas Friedman, an American journalist and author. This book gave me my first youthful insight into the complexities of the Palestinian nationalism and the interplay of struggles for legitimacy in the Middle East. Friedman is Jewish and had studied Hebrew language as a child. He earned a Master’s degree in Middle East studies at the Oxford University. Thereafter, he became a reporter and worked as Jerusalem Bureau chief for New York Times. His insight and deep understanding of the realities in the Middle East as espoused in the book was quite illuminating and it helped galvanize my interest in the Palestinian struggle.

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