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Playstation, basketball and sometimes even the Ramallah library popular way of beating the heat for both local children with nothing to do and their parents. Still waters Advertisement Ziad, 13, and his friend Hisham, 12, stand at the edge of the pool and carefully plan their joint jump into the water. "One, two, three," they say and jump in, but their timing is less than satisfactory, and Hisham lags behind his friend. The school year begins in only five days, and the boys say the only thing they miss is their friends. "We don't want to go back to school. During the school year we don't have many chances to play together," Ziad explains. "It's best when there's no school, and we do whatever we want." Together with their friend Bilal ("He's sick today, so he didn't come), they usually play basketball nearly every day, watch hours of television and play with their Playstation, and once a week they go to the pool at one of Ramallah's famous hotels. Ziad and Hisham sit at a plastic table near the beautiful pool and try to understand their parents' attitude to summer vacation. "I think my parents would like to see me back in school already," Ziad says. "I know they're not happy with the fact that I'm not doing anything and that all I do most of the day is watch TV." Hisham disagrees. "I don't think it bothers them. I'd do the same things during the school year. At the start of vacation, I went to the library a lot and read quite a bit, so I'm doing important things." Hisham and his family vacationed in Jordan. "We were at Al-Quds Hotel for a week. We went to the mall a lot, and also swam in the pool." In the final analysis, it seems that, even though he won't admit it, Hisham misses school a little. One can assume that so do his parents. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Tears of joy Shahar Zubari's bronze medal was Israel's first of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 'Germ of corruption' Mahmoud Ahmadinejad repeats his prediction that Israel will be wiped off the map.

Read & React Ahmadinejad: Israel is a germ of corruption that will be removed Responses: 139 Israel warns nationals of Hezbollah kidnap threat abroad Responses: 37 Sheetrit: Israel must not attack Iran, except in line of defense Responses: 26 Meron Benvenisti: Israel's greatest fear is a one-state solution Responses: 72 More Headlines 00:40 U.S. to Syria: Do not meddle in Russia-Georgia conflict 19:04 Livni: Time is running out for peace talks with Palestinians 16:28 State orders West Bank fence rerouted in favor of Palestinians 02:26 ANALYSIS / Fence relocation is acknowledgment that route is politically motivated 02:46 Prosecution to seek immunity for Talansky in U.S. 02:45 Barak: I'm not worried about being removed before elections 01:47 Study: Babies in womb during Six-Day War more likely to have schizophrenia 00:10 IN PICTURES / Olympians display their body art 00:26 Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer leads master class for N.Y. children 21:32 Life of top television presenter threatened, possibly by 'psychic' interviewee 22:28 Jordan urges world to press Israel to halt E. Jerusalem excavations 02:09 Israeli terror victims sue Chinese bank for funding Hamas, Islamic Jihad 19:47 Israel removes West Bank roadblock outside Ramallah 01:08 Happy birthday, Mr. President! Peres marks his 85th with trip to Negev Previous Editions Select Day 21 aug 20 aug 19 aug 18 aug 17 aug 15 aug 14 aug 13 aug 12 aug 11 aug 10 aug 08 aug

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