One of my highlights during April was hiking in the West Bank. A group of hikers was trekking the Nativity Trail from Nazareth to Bethlehem and I joined them for a day, beginning at the Huwara Checkpoint at Nablus to the hilltop village of Duma just a little North-east of Ramallah. It was about 20 […]
I had an interesting weekend helping Lonely Planet TV and National Geographic with an episode of their upcoming 13-part series of travel programs. They are producing each show with Lonely Planet Authors. For the Israel/Palestine episode, Amelia Thomas was the host. I met the video crew a little south of Be’er Sheva in the Negev […]
The Palestinian Agricultural Development Association is hosting an Olive Oil Festival on the 18th-19th March. The venue is the Al-Shaheed Na’eem Khader Center at the Agricultural Relief headquarters in Al-Zahabdeh in Jenin. The Governor of Jenin, Mr, Musa Qaddoura is co-sponsoring the event which is funded by the European Union The opening of the event […]
Back in the 1999s the tour buses clogged the parking lot of Sebastia in the Northern West Bank. Not any more. This ancient Roman city, and the adjacent modern Palestinian village are victims of Isreal’s encapsulation of Palestinian areas though hundreds of checkpoints, barriers, and restricted roads. The tourists used to come mainly from Israeli […]
Editorial from Fred Schlomka:Hopefully some of the tourist traffic generated from this public relations campaign will result in some people visiting the Palestinian Territories. Unfortunately the entire tourist industry in Israel seems to steer people away from the West Bank, and tour agencies and Israeli guides often advise visitors not to to there. TOURISM MINISTRY […]
Most tours to the Negev are pretty standard fare. However there is much more to the Negev than visiting a staged Bedouin tent where a dutiful Bedouin employee will serve tea. The vast majority of Bedouin have long since given up living in tents. Most of the 165,000 Nevev Bedouin now live in shantytowns, or […]
It’s hardly the time to be advocating tourism to Palestine and Israel when dozens are being killed daily in Gaza. Please download and distribute the flyer on the left.Click here to view a larger image.Download the flyer I won’t elaborate on the Gaza situation other than to say that I fully endorse the message on […]
Yesterday’s visit to Kalkiliya was a fascinating window into life under Occupation. Kalkiliya lies at the westernmost tip of the West Bank, just 12 kilometers from the Mediterranean at the narrowest part of Israel. A small private group from England, organized by ToursInEnglish.com, spend most of the day in this beleaguered town of 45,000. After […]
