After I got back from spending the day at the Muqata with Rinat and Dani, Allison called and asked me about what I'd seen and done.

One of the things I mentioned was this: I sat in the Muqata, just a few metres away from Muhammad Abu Tir, who belongs to a political party that is committed to Israel's destruction, alternately listening as the newly elected legislators were individually polled regarding a certain issue, and carrying on a conversation with a group of Israeli and Palestinian reporters.

We spoke in Hebrew. In the Muqata. Within earshot of Hamas members - many of whom also speak Hebrew, including Abu Tir.

And nobody thought this was strange. I didn't even think it was strange until I started recounting the day's events to Allison.

Lately I feel as though I keep telling the same story over and over again - just with different scenes, plot and characters. The politicians do their shtick, the media report selectively on the bits that will appeal to their readers and viewers, and behind the scenes the real story is...so different.

And the crazy thing is that hardly anyone believes me. It's really incredible - people who have never been to Ramallah warn me that it's very dangerous there.

But have you been there? I ask.

I don't need to go there! I watch the news and read the newspapers! And what about the lynch? (the invariable response).

Uh huh.

I suppose it's like a soap opera - you know, the kind that runs on for years, with people dying and new characters being introduced every so often, but nothing really changing. Not really.

My grandmother used to love the soaps. She spent hours watching them, every day. I think that she, like so many other fans of the genre, found comfort in the clearly defined roles - bad guy, good guy, evil mother-in-law, gold-digging girlfriend. No need to think, question, or analyse. The cheesy acting didn't matter.

I wish people would stop reacting to "the situation in the Middle East" as if they were watching a soap opera, and start analysing it as if it were - oh, I don't know: a Bergmann movie?

Am I being obscure, here? Or do you know what I mean?