Archive - October 6, 2022

Last week I wrote about the Arabs and Jews I met when researching my novel, The Hotel Shalom; about the dusty town of Nablus with its jobless, hopeful boys, and Elon Moreh, illegal but thriving, with neither side talking to the other but with enough violent remedies to go around. This week, I thought I’d say something about the Christians who are also everywhere in that part of the world, some born there – 47,000 Christians in Palestine, 177,000 in Israel, at last count – and some come from other parts of the world, especially evangelical America, to wait for the rapture like carrion eaters perched on barren branches above a battlefield. When I went to do my research I stayed in the “Palm Guest House” in East Jerusalem, just outside the Old City’s Damascus Gate – it’s my model for the Hotel Shalom – and in Christian guest houses inside the . . .

Peace Corps OIG receives Award for Excellence at the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s 25th Annual Awards Ceremony 10/5/2022 7:19 PM WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Peace Corps Office of Inspector General (OIG) received an Award for Excellence at the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency’s (CIGIE) 25th Annual Awards Ceremony held at the Ronald Reagan Building Amphitheatre on October 14th. Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior, delivered this year’s keynote address. Each year, CIGIE’s Awards highlight the outstanding achievements of inspector general staff from across the federal government, including numerous examples of strong interagency cooperation among offices of inspector general to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs and operations. CIGIE presented the Award for Excellence in Evaluations to a Peace Corps OIG team member, Erin Balch, for her “excellence in conducting a challenging evaluation for the  Review of the Facts . . .