Blog

Sebastia is waiting for Tourists

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 […]

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Israeli Tourism Ministry Boost Public Relations

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 […]

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Negev Tours to meet Bedouin

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 […]

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Israel Attacks Gaza – Travel & Security

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 […]

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Kalkiliya – A forgotten corner of the West Bank

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 […]

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Getting Towed in Ramallah

What a day! It started off OK. I picked up my friend Tamer in Azariya and drove to Ramallah. As usual the downtown area was chock-a-block with traffic, and I suggested we park before we arrived at the usual gridlock around al-Manarah square. We were lucky. A van pulled out of a spot and I […]

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Review of a Private Tour

by Fred Schlomka – Today I had an interesting group of five visitors from Switzerland. I picked them up at their Tel Aviv hotel in the early morning and proceeded to Route 5, a large four-lane highway which thrusts deep into the West Bank, due east of Tel Aviv. En route we stopped in the […]

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Palestine & Palestinians New Guide Book

This guidebook has been completely updated by the Alternative Tourism Group for the 2008 edition. It’s a real gem. Now available for online purchase. Publishing this Guidebook marks an important turning-point in presenting Palestine to visitors. The ATG (Alternative Tourism Group)  presents the country from the inside. The guidebook covers such key topics as the […]

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Taybeh Oktoberfest 2008

The Taybeh OktoberFest was a great success with thousands of people attending the festivities. The guests included officials from the Palestinian Authority, the United Nations, and diplomats from various embassies. Palestinians came from all over the West Bank and Israel, and a large contingent of Israelis came from Tel Aviv. This was truly a great […]

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On Tour – Gridlock in Ramallah & Flowing Traffic in Nablus

Fred SchlomkaRamadan is now over and the festivities of Eid have concluded. The streets of Ramallah were full of people decked out in their holiday finery for the end of the holiday. Participants in the Ramallah tour last Thursday were surprised to see the varieties of beautiful Hijabs (head coverings) worn by many women, demonstrating […]

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Wall Graffiti in Bethlehem

Fred SchlomkaOne of the most interesting aspects of any Bethlehem tour is seeing the grafitti on the Israeli West Bank Barrier which almost completely surrounds the city. Whether you take a guided tour or a public bus, wandering around the neighborhoods where the wall is ever present is truly a profound experience. The grafitti generally […]

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