Andrew Stelzer: Radio & Print Journalist
Sameeh Hammoudeh–Free in Palestine at Last

I ask Hammoudeh how his life has changed in the past six months; his answer comes quickly and with a smile.

“Freedom is good,” he responds. In the living room, 16-year-old Hanan is sitting on the couch, watching the just-launched English language Al Jazeera TV station.

“They go to the store by themselves and to the supermarket,” adds his wife, smiling from under her white hijab.

Ramallah has some of the benefits of a small town, but being forcibly transplanted from the strip malls of Temple Terrace to a war zone on the West Bank has been far from easy….

This story and accompanying sidebar were published in Creative Loafing Tampa in December 2006.