PALESTINE - ISRAEL - JORDAN - SINAI

Off the beaten track tours • Visit sites • Meet locals • Discuss Human Rights & Politics

Outsourcing US Foreign Policy

– by Fred Schlomka – President Trump must be really desperate. The administration’s ‘Peace to Prosperity Workshop’, scheduled for 25th June in Bahrain, seems to be lacking in willing participants and so they are resorting to desperate measures, including outsourcing the organising of the Workshop to a private company. The recent flood of random ‘personal’ […]

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Palestinian cities are ghost towns between settlements, on Google Maps

 The notorious, massive Qalandiya checkpoint lies in the center area surrounded by three roundabouts. Qalandiya is the scene of relentless ethnic control, murders by the IDF, violently suppressed protests, and a major cause of the impossibility of normal civilian life and movement. On GoogleMaps, the checkpoint does not exist. – by Tom Suàrez, of Mondoweiss […]

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Ottoman clocktowers

– by Alexander Jones – Sultan Abdul Hamid II became the ruler of the Ottoman Empire on the 31st of August, 1876. 25 years later, to celebrate his silver jubilee, 144 clock towers were built in important cities throughout the empire. Celebratory towers were built from Tipoli (modern day Libya) to Damascus (modern day Syria), […]

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Movie review – Heart of Jenin

– by Alexander Jones –  Each week we take a look at a different film dealing with Israeli and/or Palestinian issues. This week we examine The Heart of Jenin, a documentary by German director Marcus Vetter and Israeli-American Lior Geller. It was originally released with the German title, Das Herz von Jenin, in 2008 and […]

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How safe is Israeli democracy?

– by Alexander Jones –  Israeli Prime-Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was reelected last month, making him the longest serving leader in the country’s history. Despite accusations of very serious corruption, and a recommendation by the Attorney-General to indite him, a significant majority nevertheless voted for him and his right-wing bloc. This gives him a powerful mandate […]

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Interview with Icelandic Eurovision band Hatari

2018’s winner Netta Barzilai frequently claims that neither she nor Eurovision is political. Haifa-born, Berlin-based musician Rasha Nahas says that Palestinian artists do not have this privilege. In truth, there is no escaping the politics and Icelandic Eurovision entrants Hatari discuss this and their time on tour in Hebron in this interesting interview.

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What is Eurovision and why is it so important this year?

– by Alexander Jones –  On May 12, 2018, Israel’s Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision Song Conquest with her song ‘Toy’. Tradition holds that the winning country will host the competition the following year, so 2019’s edition will take place next week in Tel Aviv. Non-Europeans are usually puzzled by what the contest is all […]

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Avenge But One Of My Two Eyes

– by Alexander Jones – This is the fourth in a series of reviews of Israeli and Palestinian movies. You can also read about Five Broken Cameras, The Gatekeepers, or In Between, and please let us know what you think in the comments below. Although shown at the Cannes film festival, Avenge But One of […]

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Meet the Settlers

Our ‘Meet the Settlers’ tour takes visitors to the same settlement New York Times documentary maker Iris Zaki visited. Join one of our tours to understand this issue better, just like she did.

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Top 10 most beautiful religious sites in the Holy Land

– by Alexander Jones –  Most people visit places associated with miracles and spirituality on a trip to the Holy Land. Regardless of your own faith, this list presents the ten most beautiful religious sites which you can visit on your next trip to Israel and Palestine. 10. Abuhav Synagogue (Safed – also known as […]

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Mandelbaum Gate

No man’s land – by Alexander Jones –  For nearly 20 years Jerusalem was a divided city. An international border ran right down its middle and one of the only places where crossing was possible was at the Mandelbaum Gate. Today almost nothing remains of this remarkable place but its story is as fascinating as […]

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In Between

Welcome to the third in a series of film reviews which will highlight some of the most interesting issues facing our region. Watching movies and reading books about somewhere you visited is a great way to reminisce and avoid forgetting the places you went, the things you saw and the people you met. It’s also […]

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