Challenging preconceptions of the Middle East, in Lebanon and Gaza

Available for over a year

The Beirut district of Haret Hreik is a stronghold of Hezbollah, a group listed by some as a terrorist organisation, with links to Iran and the Syrian government. In Lebanon's fragile patchwork society, it is considered a no-go area. Jane Beresford visits a family there, and discovers there is more to Haret Hreik than Middle Eastern conflict. Palestine faces many challenges - continuing friction with Israel, a blockade, economic worries, to name a few. Simon Cox travels to Gaza to train journalists there, but finds they have far more to talk about than doom and gloom. Indeed, some of them are determined to entertain their audience. (Photo: A Palestinian child helps farmers harvest strawberries from a field in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip. Credit: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images)