Ahmed Masoud was raised amid the constraints of life in occupied Gaza, and took part as a stone-throwing schooolboy in the first intifadha.  But his perspective changed after he was shot during one of these incidents: he learned that resistance to the Israelis was not a childish game but a matter of life and death. 

He has subsequently thought deeply about the lessons of the past and present, and has come to believe that the only future for the Israeli and Palestinian nations is one in which they share the resources of the ancestral lands of both peoples in a spirit of unity, tolerance and peace.  His views will be examined in detail in a forthcoming article, which we plan to be one of a series involving perspectives from both Palestinian and Israeli viewpoints on the current conflict and its possible resolution. 

Ahmed is currently doing a PhD in English at Goldsmiths College, in which he is making a comparative study of the reactions of Irish and Palestinian writers to the experiences of conflict and occupation.  As an international student, his studies in the UK involve heavy expenses; anyone who wishes to attend a fundraising party in Clerkenwell on 2 March, to contribute in any other way, or who may want to find out more about his thesis should check out his website at: http://www.ahmedphd.org.