Palestine Think Tank

In the coming weeks, PTT readers will see some new features to the site which will make it more interesting, more enjoyable and more useful.

The first change you can already see if you scroll down to the lower portion of the centre column. It is a new feature section called Arabian Coffee House. It will collect articles that deal with issues that may not be strictly political, but social, ethical, cultural, about Arab Identity and the role that Arabs play in the scenarios of the Middle East but not only. It will be especially attentive to what is happening in the media and in inter-Arab groups that affect the lives of Arabs particularly living in the West. As usual, courteous but passionate discussion is encouraged and the topics to be addressed will run the gamut. The core writers of this section are women, but it is not limited to them, but its flavour is already intended that of frank discussion between people who share their thoughts in a coffeehouse, where the conversation is lively, free and strong. It is especially focused on women, but not exclusively because it was designed with several of our women friends in mind who are outspoken yet warm to friends and respectful to strangers, full of integrity, passion and wit, radical (in their own words, and knowing them, it's true!) and committed to speaking their minds on many issues. Their posts fit into any and all areas of this site, but creating a new feature space to highlight these voices has been in the plans for a long time, and in this moment of housekeeping, we are delighted to make the thought become reality.

We are accepting, (as always) submissions to this section as well as to the others.

Another upcoming change is the addition of a feature section in the centre column called Website of the Week. We will take you to a different site each week. As many know, PTT is affiliated with quite a few sites although we have yet to set up links (this is the difficulty of limited time to dedicate, but this hole will get filled in too) our contributors on the whole are also affiliated with sites. The visits to the site will entail a brief description and whenever possible, a short interview with the editor. I am currently compiling a brief interview to send out to some favourite sites, and when these filter back, week after week, we will take our readers to the places we love and admire. At this time, I ask as well for webmasters, bloggers or editors who might like to be featured at some time, to send your contact info to the contact address so that we can look through the site if we aren't already familiar with it. Sometimes there are hidden gems that we don't know about or follow due to time restrictions. Readers are also requested to leave in the comment section their suggestions for sites and to even write their own site reviews. If we have a collection of reviews, we can put them up together with the Website of the Week post, which will point other readers to the direction of the more interesting aspects of the site, tell us about its history or any particular details that they find important, and will make the site even more useful and entertaining, time of course permitting, as these innovations will require more work.

There will be other changes on their way after the summer, (which will be slower than usual, but still active) including questionnaires and polls, more interviews, and a contest. We will also ask our readers to help us create a list of what kinds of strategies should be implemented for Palestinians to throw off the occupation, what the basic issues are that can be worked upon together and what suggestions we all can make to creating an alternative to what is happening now. The editors intend upon encouraging co-creation and community of those who frequent the site, and the creation of a sort of Statement of Intent, Manifesto, List of Demands, Wish List, Statement of Priorities, etc., that reflects the ideas of those who support the cause could also be used as a base for outside activities.

Change is never easy, at times it's a bit painful, it takes work and effort, but with your help, those dedicated to PTT can make the changes smoothly and improve the site all the time. A heartfelt thanks to supportive readers and friends who make the work pleasure, and to unsupportive readers and friends, thanks for making the pleasure work.