Mark Patinkin, longtime Providence Journal columnist, is the author of “The Holy Land at War: A Journey Through Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.” Over the decades, Mark has traveled abroad to write about the Lebanon civil war, the first Intifada, the collapse of European communism and now war in the Middle East. Mark was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for international reporting and has honorary degrees from Rhode Island College and Johnson and Wales University. Mark grew up in Chicago, graduated from Middlebury College and currently lives in Providence.