Don’t Be Duped — Travel and Talk to People

Flying home, I’m pleased with what we learned and what we have to share. The montage to introduce our one-hour Holy Land special goes like this: “While Jewish Israelis and Muslim Palestinians have overlapping claims and struggle to share it peacefully, this land has a rich and fascinating heritage. We’ll visit Jerusalem, considered by both Israelis and Palestinians to be their historic capital; feel the modern pulse of urban Israel; eat and drink with Jews; and follow in the footsteps of Christ. In Palestine, we’ll harvest olives; visit a local home; see the Tomb of Abraham; learn to wear a scarf with style; follow pilgrims to the place of Jesus’ birth; bob in a very salty sea; hike to an ancient monastery deep in the desert; and feel the energy of an emerging economy. Along the way, we’ll learn about walls, settlements, and the challenges facing the region.” Reading that again, I can see the vivid images we’ll edit together.

While there are no easy answers, actually coming here and experiencing the Holy Land firsthand is the best way to gain context and understanding. Lots of people in the USA seem to think they already know the answers. They’ve learned about it on TV, or from other Americans.

I remember when I first went on a political trip. It was back in the 1980s, to Nicaragua and El Salvador. Seeing me off, my Dad (suspicious of communism) said, “Don’t be duped.” Now, after 30 years of satisfying my curiosity about our world and its challenges by traveling and talking to people, it’s clear to me: The people most in danger of being duped are those who stay home.

I hope that when our program airs (which we expect to happen in spring of 2014, nationwide on public television), you can enjoy, as we did, “The Holy Land: Israel and Palestine Today.”

To celebrate my homecoming tonight, I’ll give a live, free slideshow lecture at 7pm P.S.T. in Edmonds, Washington. You can attend in person (registration required)…or watch the live webcast from anywhere in the world (no registration required). Learn more at Rick Steves – Holy Land: Israel and Palestine Today.

Thanks for following my trip!

DCannon13Summer_0078One of my favorite sequences in the program is a montage of clips showing me connecting with various locals. The theme: Good travel is all about meeting people, talking with them, and learning. In the last few weeks, I’ve learned what Muslims think of Jesus while sitting on a carpet with an imam; talked about raising kids while sipping coffee with Israelis who live in a settlement overlooking the West Bank; and visited with a Palestinian refugee as he clutched the key his parents took with them when their fled their village in 1948, thinking the move would be temporary. I’ve roasted coffee with a Bedouin, talked with soldiers in guard towers, and gained insight into why a proud and independent young woman would choose to wear a hijab.

RS13Summer_0903Our guides were hugely helpful both in Israel and in Palestine. If you are traveling to the region and need help, they are all self-employed, licensed, and happy to schedule time with any visitor: Benny Dagan (dagantrl@inter.net.il) and Abie Bresler (center in photo above, abresler@zahav.net.il) work in Israel. And Kamal Mukarker (left in photo above, kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com) and Husam Jubran (hjubranus@yahoo.com) are ready to be your guides in Palestine. Thanks to Benny, Abie, Kamal, and Husam for some great travels.

RS13Summer_1021We finished our Holy Land special with this close: “In this land — so treasured by Jews, Muslims, and Christians — I’m reminded that the prophets of each of these religions taught us to love our neighbors. And the lessons learned traveling here in in the Holy Land can inspire us all to strive for that ideal. I’m Rick Steves. Keep on traveling. Shalom, Salam, Peace.”

RS13Summer_1047I had a miserable trip…it changed my pre-conceptions. People whose language always sounded to me like terrorists conspiring are actually gentle souls with big challenges. It seems to me there are two sure things: Violence doesn’t work, and neither the Jews nor the Palestinians are going to move. The only workable road is one of peaceful co-existence.

 

Comments

8 Replies to “Don’t Be Duped — Travel and Talk to People”

  1. Rick,
    “While there are no easy answers….” here are a few questions:

    – Did you expect to be talking to “conspiring terrorists? Really?
    – Did you ask any regular folk where Arafat has his billions of foreign aid dollars stored? Or where Hamas is using there tens of millions of F/A dollars today?
    – Why were you practically whispering in most of the clips in Palestine?
    – Will we eventually find out what Rula and The President were winking and nodding about in the special?
    – Did you speak with more than one Imam or Palestinian politician and, if not, why not?
    – And finally, I’m with Dude, were President Obama and Rula signing off on Obamacare for Palestinians?

  2. I was delighted to hear from a friend of your recent trip to Palestine/Israel and of the live stream last night. Even thought it ended after midnight EST, I watched it in its entirety. I am grateful to you for your willingness to spend time in Palestine and to define some of the issues those beleaguered people face. There is far too little of that in the U.S. press.
    I don’t know of the constraints placed upon you by your producers or your network but I was impressed with what appeared to me to be a reticence on your part to go into the oppression issues that the Palestinians face under the occupation. If felt to me as if you were saying that its not to bad living under the occupation. I was aware that you used “terrorist” repeatedly during the program when referring to Palestinian violence against Israelis albeit sometimes admitting that “one [person’s] terrorist is another [person’s] freedom fighter. To the Palestinians, the IDF are terrorists as well. There was no mention of the hundreds of Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli violence and the hundreds of Palestinian children languishing in Israeli prisons, many for only having been in the wrong place at the wrong time and/or being the children of the wrong parents. When you spoke of the olive harvest, you did not speak of or show any of the numbers of Palestinians who have had their groves destroyed by the Israeli government or who can’t get to their groves for the harvest because the separation wall cuts through their property and cuts them off from access to the groves. I could go on and on, but I hope that you will address in more depth some of these issues that continue to obscure the possibility of peace for both Palestinians and Israeli’s. Again, I thank you for raising the issues you did in the live stream last night, especially the emphasis upon our responsibility as U.S. citizens to know the issues on both sides as millions of U.S. tax dollars are going to support much of the occupation and the military action. I look forward to see the broadcasted shows in the spring.

  3. Rick, thank you and your organization for making this presentation available to all. You are to be commended for your courage to open up the discussion with the use of the name Palestine.

    Rick, you talked about Palestinian Muslims, but you didn’t mention much about the Christian community. These descendants of the first Christians are a minority, but an important minority. Palestinian Church leaders are eager to meet with Americans to have serious discussions about their situation and what they are accomplishing. I think it is important for non-Arab Christians to hear their message.

    Also, the Wall painting by Banksy isn’t a little girl shaking hands with an IDF member, she’s patting him down just as she has seen members of her family patted down.

    Great presentation. Thanks.

    Suzanne Zimmerman

  4. Under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinians promised not to claim statehood until negotiations were successfully concluded. So when they claim “non-member observer state” status they are breaking their word, with the help of the United Nations. For others to treat their area like a state is to award double crossers.

    During the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority promised not to promote terrorism. In 2001 under negotiations headed by President Clinton, the Israelis offered them much of Jerusalem, 90 percent of the Judea and Samaria (aka the west bank), and all of Gaza. Arafat turned them down. The Israelis gave peace a chance; they found out that the Palestinians raised their children to become suicide bombers. There are legitimate reasons the Israelis are cautions about security.

    “President” Abbas’s elected term of office ended years ago. Gaza, controlled by the Palestinians, is a hellhole. The Palestinians hold most of the responsibility for their plight. They could end their oppressive situation by accepting Israel’s right to exist. They don’t want any deal that won’t lead to Israel’s destruction. Over the last 75 years, the Palestinians turned down multiple chances for independence; as one diplomat said, they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

    In spite of the above, much of the world views the Palestinians as victims. It is like reading “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and feeling sorry for Simon Legree. If the Palestinian’s

  5. Anonymous #2: For the sake of argument, let’s say you’re right. The fact still ranmies though, that we have two peoples here, vying for this same area of land, and neither group is going anywhere. So, do we continue to squabble about whose narrative is more correct, whose claims have greater validity, or do we try to work with the facts as they are today and try to reach a compromise that will be the most rewarding and the least painful for both sides?I believe that there are people on both sides of this equation who realize this, even if we’re not currently at a point in time where it is possible to remedy the situation.Oh, and by the way, I’d really appreciate it if in the future, you didn’t try to tell me what I “must” remember, or what I “need” to do. The people who know me will tell you that I don’t generally respond well when ordered to do something. You are more than welcome to disagree with me or other commenters here, and I pride myself on maintaining a forum where all sorts of people feel comfortable leaving comments. Indeed, we have had some pretty amazing exchanges around here. I do not, however, tolerate insults or patronizing attitudes, so I’d be grateful if you didn’t resort to either when making comments in the future.

  6. Go Rick! Thanks for being out there encouraging connection, exploration and compassion. You invite us to change ourselves by discovering and in so doing
    we change the world..one person at a time.

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