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	<title>The Olivebranch Network</title>
	<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net</link>
	<description>Bringing the Middle-East to the West</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:49:59 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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	<item>
		<title>Iraq: What is Going On??</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today I continue from my last post trying to make sense of he latest developments in Iraq. Is Iraq still getting safer or are there cracks appearing in the new security situation? Also, read about the latest developments in Mosul and what one blogger said to a Arab taxi driver.
There are few images that can [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/12/iraq-what-is-going-on-2/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>So I Left</title>
		<description><![CDATA[When it was time for me to leave the place where I have lived all my 28 years, I couldn&#8217;t help wondering what exactly am I going to miss. Now that it has been almost two months away from home, I think the picture could not be any clearer.
Maybe it&#8217;s premature for me to tell, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/11/so-i-left/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Iraq: Awakening</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
Can it really be true? Dare I say it? Iraq is actually getting safer? What with a new movement called &#8216;Awakening&#8217; throwing Al-Qaeda out of Baghdad suburbs; Reports that violence is markedly down; Iraqis returning in droves; could George Bush&#8217;s surge really be working? Iraqi bloggers investigate and give the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/11/iraq-awakening/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Healthwise</title>
		<description><![CDATA[My friend described contestants of Fear Factor and other stunt shows as &#8220;sissies&#8221;, &#8220;Baghdadis ace them all,&#8221; she said. I couldn&#8217;t agree more; average Iraqis may not climb mountains but they do ride buses, which at some point of Iraq&#8217;s history were targeted the most. No Iraqi would swallow slimy worms, they are not a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/09/healthwise/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
Humiliation at the hands of the Jordanian border police; belief restored in Iraq; a report from the Iraqi city of Arbil and a life in the week of one Iraqi blogger are some of the esential tales I bring you today. Also find out what is really happening in the [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/08/landing-at-the-iraqi-blogodrome-16/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>WE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
(3adma announcing the victory of the Iraqi football team in the Asian Cup) With Iraq, very much the underdog, winning the Asian Cup I have another football special today.
(Baghdad Connect suggests a new Iraqi Flag)
You know, a few years back an Israeli, seeing that I was reading a book about [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/we-woooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>The Iraqi Football Team (bringing together the Iraqi people)</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Today was a different day, a really nice day. We, Iraqis, achieved a great success. We won the football games to reach the finals and qualified for the semi-final round for the second time for the first time in 31 years. The Iraqi team qualified to the same round in the Championship. The Iraqi team [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/313/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Next Door to Armed Men</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have never been emotionally attached to any of the flats or houses my family have moved into. Moving was so recurrent in our lives that reduced playmates and neighbours to nameless blurry faces that are better forgotten, because after all, to them I don’t even look familiar.
One of the bad experiences I had as [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/next-door-to-armed-men/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>An Adventure</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This post was written by Sunshine for her blog &#8220;Days of my Life&#8221; and cross posted to the Olivebranch Network
Thursday, April 28, 2005 
In 2000-2001 I had a problem with my eyes called Diplopia. It happened in school and I would see near objects doubled. Anyway, the ophthalmologist at the time recommended some eye exercises. [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/an-adventure/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Landing at the Iraqi blogodrome</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
Politics is the order of the day this week. Events in Iraq can be confusing at the best of times - so why not let Iraqi bloggers put things straight. But it is not all dry subjects, I also have snipers in Baghdad, two weddings and a funeral. And, if [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/landing-at-the-iraqi-blogodrome-15/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Days Gone By</title>
		<description><![CDATA[This post was written by Fatima for her blog &#8220;Thoughts From Baghdad&#8221; and cross-posted to the Olivebranch Network.

Bilal and my oldest the night before we left Baghdad.  December 2006.
My husband is here from Baghdad for a short visit. We spend a lot of time at his parents house with his cousin &#8216;A&#8217; who is [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/309/</link>
			</item>
	<item>
		<title>Landing at the Iraqi Blogodrome</title>
		<description><![CDATA[(Cross Posted from Global Voices Online)
There is a lot on the menu in my post today. Reactions to the Iraqi bomber in London, the siege of Adhamiya, stories of exile, a little politics. And Chikitita borrowed a camera this week and took some snapshots of her daily life. I&#8217;ll be dotting these around my post [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://olivebranchoptimism.net/2007/07/landing-at-the-iraqi-blogodrome-14/</link>
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