The Question: The producers of the movie "The Kite Runner" had to evacuate three boy actors from Afghanistan because they were involved in a scene portraying homosexual rape. Who's at fault here: the movie producers who exposed the boys to danger, or the Afghan culture that threatens them?

Tel Aviv - This is a sensitive topic, especially in the era of political correctness. Nevertheless it is important to address. I would rephrase the question and add another one. Why were some Muslims in Afghanistan so angered by scenes from a film depicting homosexuals in their country? Because there are no homosexuals there? Give me a break. It reminds me of the funny and absurd remark made at Columbia University a few months ago by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran: something to the same effect of "we don't have homosexuals". I tend to believe that the question, however, needs to be broadened beyond Afghanistan borders .Why are we witnessing (almost) always Muslims who show a lack of tolerance to forms of western culture?

It’s true that one can find racism, hatred, zealotry, intolerance and vengeance in the Old Testament and the New Testament as well as in the Koran (and, I assume, in the scriptures of Hinduism, Buddhism or Shinto). The writings of monotheistic and non-monotheistic religions are a wonderful mixed bag which can be used to justify any hypothesis, cause, or ideology: love and hate, social justice and exploitation, peace and war, tolerance and intolerance – and all in the name of God.

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The Question: Is Christmas a bigger event in your country than it was ten years ago? Is this a sign of Westernization or just commercialization?

I drove today to Bethlehem. I wished to repeat my sensation of the special atmosphere, the feeling of joy that I experienced nearly thirty years ago at the Church of Nativity. It’s a short 50 miles, slightly more than an hour’s drive. But traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Bethlehem is like going into another orbit. Thirty years ago, on a very cold, subzero night, Bethlehem was an open city expressing its vividness and vitality. For me, a young Israeli Jew who had just finished his three-year compulsory military service, the visit was magical. The big square in front of the church and the surrounding streets were filled with a diverse crowd of ten of thousands of devoted worshipers and pilgrims, rubbing shoulders with young lovers and hippies from all over the world. There were no fences, no barricades and only a few Palestinian police officers were present.

Don't misunderstand me. I am not idealizing what I felt and saw then. The town, as well as the rest of the West Bank, was under Israeli occupation, which began right after the 1967 war.

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The Question: What was the biggest news story in your country last year [in 2007], and why?

The continued shelling of Israeli towns and rural communities near Gaza by Hamas could have been a natural choice for the most significant event in Israel in 2007. No less important and with far-reaching ramifications for the future of this country was the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which recently stated that Iran had halted its military nuclear program in 2003. These events have generated the lion's share of local and international media. Almost like in a Pavlovian experience, Israel is always identified with and seen through the magnifying glass of foreign and security affairs.

But I’ve decided to select the impact which globalization is having on our society as the most important, the most formative event of 2007.

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