Reporters on the Job

• PASTA AT HOME: For Israelis and Palestinians, the return of open conflict (page 1) means an immediate change in lifestyle. Palestinians in the West Bank continue to be under occupation, but that is likely to tighten, bringing curfews that confine them to their homes. For Israelis, it will also mean staying home, voluntarily. "Before Tuesday's bus bombing, for the first time in nearly three years, you could see people returning to the malls and American tourists visiting the Arab part of Old Jerusalem. Teens were returning to the ice-cream parlors and cafes in downtown Jerusalem," says Monitor correspondent Nicole Gaouette.

She recently took her two children to a spaghetti restaurant in Jerusalem geared toward kids. "I was planning to take them again this weekend as a treat. But it's going to be pasta at home instead."

• GONE SETTLEMENT HUNTING: Reporter Ben Lynfield first called Dror Etkes, an Israeli who maps the location of settlements (this page), a couple of weeks ago.

"The Israeli government was offering new financial incentives for people to move to certain settlements. I went to look at one, asked around, and still couldn't find the part of the settlement that was expanding. It's harder than you'd think. Sometimes there's one or two kilometers of open land separating one part of a settlement from another with the same name. I called Dror and he knew exactly where it was," says Ben.

David Clark Scott
World editor

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