June 29, 2009
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PALESTINIAN ELECTION MONITOR
What is the matter with the poor is Poverty; what is the matter with the rich is Uselessness. (George Bernard Shaw)
Date 6/21/09
To: YYY
Re: Palestinian Election Monitoring
You might be interested to know that I was to have been an election monitor at the Palestinian elections back about January of 2006. I am a Board member of the Nonviolent Peaceforce of Greater Boston and was all set to go. I was to leave on Thursday and then go for two days of training with Jimmy Carter’s election monitoring center. However that Tuesday, I found out from the travel agent (in Palestine) that the airline had never entered my booking reservation when the travel agent had sent it a couple of months prior. As a result, I did not have a reservation after all and it would have cost me an additional $800 to get a reservation with such short notice.
I do not regret many things in my life (although there are many things I could regret if I wanted to). But this is one of the few that I regret. I was so excited at the prospect of being a part of that historic election and then to have all my plans crumble right before I was to go. I wish now I had paid the additional $800.
David
