(Downstage center, a chair with a small table in front of it. The table holds a laptop. There is no light on this level of the stage other than the glow of the computer. A sits in the chair, face illuminated by that glow, reading e-mails aloud. B stands behind with a newspaper unfolded.  Above them on a balcony, C, a young girl, dances.  Music:  Ofra Haza's "Slave Dream" from the album Desert Wind.)
 

A
Thursday, 21 June 2001
HI
FIRST IM SORRY FOR BEING LATE WITH THE E-MAIL
IM 14 YEARS OLD i live near jenin in a town called zabadeh
I HOPE THAT WE WILL BE FRIENDS SOME DAY
MABY YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW ME BETTER AND THIS WILL HAPPENED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT FOR SURE I WONT TO SUCCESSED LIKE YOU AND BE ADOCTOR
and don’t forget that your hope larger than life
 

(A looks up and reacts as B reads, cutting B off at the end with the date of the letter.)
 
 

B
Chicago Tribune, August 29, 2001
Editorial.
The front pages of the Chicago Tribune and other news publications have not as of late shown any Israeli citizens picking up pieces of flesh from blown up babies in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem or Haifa.  This is a direct consequence of the Israeli authorities' conduct in preventing suicide bombers access to Israeli towns. Israel has exhibited the restraint called for by the US government-
 
 

A
Sunday, 1 July 2001
hi I hope that your summer would be o.k.
hay listen I dont know were do you live
would you tell me
I was busy from the start of this year with studying and preparing my self to be a MACROBIOTICS DOCTOR THATS WHY IDONT EAT MEAT.
i like you though i dont know you its amazing bye
 

(A looks up and reacts as B reads, cutting B off with the date of the letter spoken louder this time.)
 
 

B
Gulf Daily News, November 5, 2002
Amnesty raps Zionist crimes.
The human rights group Amnesty International accused Israel yesterday of war crimes, saying there had been unjustified killings and maltreatment of Palestinians during an army offensive in Jenin.  The army reoccupied Palestinian West Bank cities in April with the declared aim of-
 

(C's movements are now directed more towards A.)
 
 

A
Wednesday, 27 Mar 2002
HI SI S
how are you we are in the lent time and im feasting now easter will come soon

(C looks at A.)
 

marthim -the one who gave me adress -asked if we still corrosponding and i said we are agood friends actually we are sisters

(A turns and looks at C. A moment. They turn away again.)

IM HAPPY 4 U AND YOUR FULL LIFE
I WAS TERRIBLY DOWN  BUT A FRIEND HELPED ME THROUGH
HIS NAME IS DIFFICULT FOR U TO SAY

(C looks at A.)

this year were so bad for me was it for you?

(C looks away and keeps dancing.)

send me soon
 

(A reacts as B reads, putting her hands over her ears, and cuts B off even earlier, saying the date of the letter more loudly.)
 

B
San Francisco Examiner, November 25, 2002.
Israeli forces rolled into Bethlehem, in the West Bank just south of Jerusalem, early Friday after a Palestinian suicide bomber from Bethlehem blew himself up on a Jerusalem bus the day before, killing 11-

A
Friday, 2 Aug 2002
HI h r u ?
2 MONTH AGO WE ALL SAVED INORDER TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET IN OUR HOUSE I USUALLY WENT TO A COFFE INTERNET AND I PAID TOO MUCH MONEY BUT IM NOW SENDING U THE EMAIL FROM MY HOME AND BELIEVE ME ITS MUCH CHEAPER
i would like to tell u that my father had a jewish friend and she was a peace group member and dad was with her while dying in the hospital and people came to see her and cried on her because she knew what love means AND DAD ALWAYS MENTION HER

(A smiles.)

i told u i believe in peace and that im not happy cause of the corrent situation...the most important thing is WHAT UNITES US THAT IS WE R HUMEN
SAY HAY TO YOUR FAMILY
 

(C stops dancing as B begins speaking, stands still and looks at A as A reacts to the news headlines.  B speaks louder and louder.  At the end of B's speech, A almost shouts the date of the letter in relief.)
 

B
New York Times, November 15, 2002
Where the Violence Is Deadly and Daily, a Palestinian Camp Mourns Its Slain Children
Posters of children killed by Israeli army gunfire covered the walls of the alleys among the bullet-scarred buildings of this refugee camp today, a reminder that two 2-year-olds were shot dead there in three days this week.  An 8-year-old boy died of wounds received last month in the daily violence here, along the border with Egypt.  This evening, another camp resident was killed-
 
 

A
Sunday, 24 Nov 2002
dear sister
im writing to u to say that we are not corrosponding since awhile im sorry for not sending u e-mails but the curfew is stopping any kind of our lifes we are having finantiol problems and we are so anxious

(C reaches out to A.)

i save ur emails ALWAYS and i read them when im blue cause of the violence i see all over
this is life as u know

(A looks up at C, stands up, walks to a point under C and reaches back.)

i realy miss u
 
 

A and C
peace
 

(C dances again. A watches. End.)