It's not the first place on my travel wish list, but you have to hand it to writer Rebecca Sinderbrand for heading to a place like Palestine (AKA Hamastan) to experience first hand the state of affairs there. In this piece in online Magazine Slate she takes a look at post-election Palestine and talks with folks on the street to find out how Palestinians are dealing with the future of their country/land/poltics following the surprising (to the Bushies anyway) victory of the militant group Hamas in the recent elections. Some, it turns out, are not so happy. One guy wonders whether the much stricter Hamas will impose Sharia law, thereby making it much harder to drink beer (a valid concern in my book). But others are ebullient, and some apprently see the election as a rebuttal to American efforts to influence the region, saying "Why do they think they can tell us what to do? Do they listen to our opinions of their leaders? You think we get a say in what America does?" Perhaps another valid point. Either way, I enjoyed this piece more than I have many of the others I've read about Palestine and the Palestinians since the vote.

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