In April 1999, the Millennium Photo Project launched on the internet. The idea was to bring together photographers from around the world to document the passing of the millennium. Photographers in more than a hundred countries, both amateur and professional, submitted thousands of photographs from New Year's Eve. The result of their hard work is a stunning hardcover coffee table book entitled "Dawn of the 21st Century".

The millenium in the holyland started with a dream of many young Israelis and Palestinians - a dream of peace.

2000 doves were freed into the sky of Bethlehem by young Palesitinians from the roof of Bethlehem's municipality . Today these same young boys are throwing stones and being shot with rubber bullets.

As an Israeli, I was so exciting to climb to the roof of Bethlehem's municipality with the help of Palestinian policemen to capture the magical moment in the same spot that it all started - the nativity church where Christ was borm 2000 yers ago. I felt it was a historical moment in many senses - a jew, surrounded by moslems and christians in the same place where Christianity began; an Israeli (ex-soldier), standing on the roof together with smiling Palestilians police officers and 2000 white doves, the symbol of peace, in cages, waiting to be freed into the holylands' sky.

The celebration went on the whole night - young Palestinians dancing and smiling and me, an Israeli photographer, smiling and dancing with them. Today, only two years after, this night looks like an impossible dream, this photo looks like an impossible dream - this photo could only be taken on that particuler moment. Today I could not even enter Bethlehem - no smiles, no dancing, no white doves - only haterd and bloodshed. Maybe I never took this photo, maybe I only dreamt it ?

Kobi Israel