I have no interest in going anywhere near the middle east even though I have family in Ramallah. Our family has told us in the past (when they were visiting US) that they weren't sure if they'd be able to go home!  Sometimes they just close it down and say you can't come home right now.  Other times they were not allowed to leave.

My cousins just went there for a month to visit relatives and had a very good time site-seeing but something happened that completely ruined their trip (I do not talk to them a lot so I only know the snippets they say on their website)  Anyway, one of them was separated from the rest (I don't know why) for like 1/2 the trip!  And the point of my story is, my family members were actually born in Ramallah and yet they themselves had to deal with stuff like this.... so who knows how they'd treat someone who isn't even related or part of the culture.

Oh and the first things my cousins said after their trip is how much they are grateful for living in the US and how they took so much for granted in the US that they won't anymore.  They even joked about destroying their passports b/c whatever happened was just that bad!

To me, I'm not going any place that makes up laws at the drop of a hat and can do whatever they want.  I'm with Bob, there are plenty of places in the US and Canada to explore.  I'll go to he Caribbean but I won't do Mexico (and not because of swine flu but  because I feel they don't have strict enough laws to protect travellers).  I'd like to visit Australia someday and I'd be up for seeing England and Ireland but that's about it.