In the winter of 2006 we have visited 3 countries in the Middle East,
Kuwait, Egypt and Israel

Kuwait is a modern country, wealth and prosperity are everywhere.

Kuwait- a country that at one point had the highest income per capita in the world.

Documenting the 1991 destruction of a Kuwaiti village just a few miles from the border with Iraq.

Far at the horizon, on the Iraqi site, things are not quiet.

Kuwaiti society is composed of roughly 900,000 Kuwaiti citizens and over one million of guest workers.

Interview with the former Minister of Culture and Communication of Kuwait, a man of western wiews.

A part of the Kuwaiti schoolgirls accepted us easily, the rest, in the background could not look Jason in the eyes.

Egypt

Cairo at night. Seems glamorous, but Egypt is one of the poorest countries I have ever seen.

The Egyptian government has a tight control on the country's economy resulting in low investments and high unemployment. The birthrates are also very high, Egypt is adding about 1.3 million inhabitants each year. While the country's surface is vast, 95 percent of the land is virtually useless desert.

After the few attempts at the life of western tourists, an omnipresent tourist police makes the streets safe for westerners. Also the population seem to be quite friendly. At times we pretended to be Canadians, it seemed like the safe thing to do when you get dirty looks.

Cairo seemed safe, but one can not be too careful. An un-settling feeling followed me all around.

The CIA website reports about 50% illiteracy rate among Egyptians. We found that to be possibly true, most children live in dire poverty.

Filming over Cairo. The smog and sand storms make the air quality very bad. There is almost no vegetation in Cairo, so there is a lot of carbon monoxide that is not cleaned out...

Egyptian Police.

A little "Tourist Moment". We took a day off at the Pyramids.

A trip in the countryside brought us to a Camel farm. Pretending to be Canadians that like Camels, we got a lot of insights in the life of the ordinary Egyptians.

While most of the crew never made it past a fourth grade education, one young man spoke English very well. He just said he learned in school, and he seemed very interested in the Western life style.

A mausoleum devoted to the war with Israel of 1973. According to the Egyptians, Egypt has won the war, despite the fact that they did not regain the Sinai and the Israel's Army almost took Cairo. Go figure.

We make a new friend, Abdulah. He helped us document one of the poorest areas in Cairo. He was very interested in our views and perceptions, and had a lot good opinions about the US. He was highly disappointed with Egyptian president Mubarak and the mis-governance of his country. He asked us keep his identity private. Independent journalist and the people who help them are routinely detained and tortured in Egypt.

A man who had a hard life. Some sense of serenity and acceptance was often found in Egypt.

A moment for us. In the middle of the Sinai desert on the way to Tabba and the crossing to Elat (Israel). We were reliefed to be getting out of Egypt in the next few hours.
A fact to notice, the hate for Israel runs so deep that no road signs were installed that would read Israel, or Elat. The best we found was "International Border".

At Tabba, there was a lot of Police. Understandable after the bomb that killed over 30 people just a few months ago. Taba International Airport was absolutely deserted.

Israel

Filming establishing shots from Mesada. At the horizon - Jordan.

A new generation of Israelis.

The Wailing Wall is attracting a large number of religious Jews.

New Jewish settlement in Palestinian territories.

The mausoleum of Yarssir Arafat in Ramalah. The construction has stopped due the lack of funds.

Life in Ramallah seems normal. However lot of residents are worried about the fights between Hamas and Fatah supporters

The wall. Most Israelis seem supportive of the project, they think it will bring peace. They even quote statistics of decreased suicide bombers in the areas that have been fenced.

Palestinian settlements. Despite all the wars and oppression, life seems to be a lot better than in Egypt.