I always like to read blogs from people with radically different viewpoints than mine. It's said the best way to appreciate your own culture is to visit those of other people. Since I can't travel right now, this is the next best thing. So:

Where is Raed is a well-written blog by a regular-joe (jh'oe?) kind of someone living inside Iraq. I'm sure he'd be surprised to hear me say it, but to me he is the "Arab street". Well, the Iraqi street anyway. Ok, his street.

I'm pretty sure "Salam Pax" (which, in my extremely creaky language skills, I think translates to "peace" in both Arabic and Latin) is a pseudonym, but who knows. I only hope he's taking appropriate precautions, because the impression we get over here is anyone voicing true and honest opinions tends to get bundled off and "disappeared" with alarming regularity over there.

On the other side of the Jordan, we have Middle East and Morality, written by a self-professed Israeli lefty who I think represents a widely-held viewpoint we're not hearing... a citizen of Israel who really, really wants peace, but is now sick to death of the Palestinian leadership's unstated, but no less real, goal of "sending [them] all back to Poland".

Both are very well written, and very different. I only wish MEM would update more often, and I worry that WiR hasn't. Enjoy!

Both blogs brought to my attention through Lynn Unleashed, who is rapidly becoming my dealer of choice when I'm looking for a high-quality blog fix. :)