Middle East conflict

James Bennet is the former Jerusalem Bureau chief for The New York Times. He recently returned to the Middle East to cover the death of Arafat and the jockeying for power among the Palestinian factions.

James Bennet just completed his 3-year stint as Jerusalem bureau chief for The New York Times. He wrote the cover story for this week's New York Times Magazine: "A Nation Unto Himself: Where is Ariel Sharon Leading Israel?"

Beilin is the leader of Israel's social democratic party, a member of the Knesset and a former government minister. He was an initiator of the 1993 Oslo Accords, and 10 years later, was an architect of the Geneva Accord, a framework for peace between Israel and Palestine. Beillin has written a new book, 'The Path to Geneva: The Quest For a Permanent Agreement, 1996-2004.'

The New York Times' James Bennet discusses the situation in the Middle East following the Israeli military's assassination of the founder and spiritual leader of the militant Palestinian group Ham

McGeary's article "Inside Hamas," in which she interviews several leaders of the Palestinian militant group, appears in the current issue of Time magazine. On March 22, the Israeli military assassinated the group's spiritual leader, Sheik Ahmed Yassin.

Shehadeh is the author of the new memoir When the Birds Stopped Singing: Life in Ramallah Under Siege. His previous book is the memoir, Strangers in the House: Coming of Age in Occupied Palestine. Shehadeh is a founder of Al-Haq, a pioneering, nonpartisan human rights organization.

Horovitz is editor of The Jerusalem Report and author of the forthcoming book Still Life with Bombers: Israel in the Age of Terror.

Journalist Joshua Hammer is Jerusalem bureau chief for Newsweek. His new book is called A Season in Bethlehem: Unholy War in a Sacred Place. Hammer stayed in Bethlehem for two years and writes about the Israelis and Palestinians living there. The book includes Hammer's account of the 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity. The standoff between the Palestinians and Israeli military forces lasted over a month.

Journalist James Bennet of The New York Times. He's been in the Middle East covering how the crisis there is affecting both Israelis and Palestinians.

He is a professor of International Relations, International Law, and Middle Eastern Politics at Boston University. He's also the author of the best-selling book, A Peace to End All Peace: Creating the Modern Middle East 1914-1922. The book details how the geography and the politics of the Middle East were shaped by decisions by the Allies during and after World War I.