Israel

November 21, 2013November 27, 2013

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!

One 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.

Our 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.

We 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.”

I 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.

November 20, 2013November 27, 2013

What’s Your Occupation?

While the Holy Land’s troubles are no joking matter, sometimes a little humor can help defuse the tension. I couldn’t help but chuckle at this joke: An Israeli diplomat, when filling out the customs form upon entry in the USA, misunderstood one of the questions, Where it said “Occupation?”, he wrote, “No, just visiting.”

Israel needs to protect itself. That’s obvious and understandable. And there’s a terrible history of terrorists, desperate extremists who will die to kill, and countries that swear they will not rest until Israel is pushed into the sea.

At the same time, one thing that virtually all visitors to Israel and Palestine eventually grapple with is the irony of Jewish people who were so cruelly treated through history — and especially during the horror of the Holocaust — now playing the strongman.

As observers from a distance, we can’t really get an honest picture of the reality here. I might see a news clip of Palestinians destroying a synagogue. It looks so hateful. And then I learn that during a land swap, Israel agreed to give back land upon which they had built a luxurious modern settlement. And, before retreating, they destroyed every building in the settlement except the synagogue. When hardscrabble Palestinians, so poor and needy, walked into their land, they saw only rubble except for one building — and they got mad and destroyed it. It’s ugly both ways.

Today, I sense a commitment among Palestinians to grow beyond violence. (They really have no choice.) In fact, the main job of Palestinian security forces is to support the Israeli forces in keeping angry, pent-up teenagers calm and out of Israeli prisons.

On the other side, among Israelis I met in Palestine (mostly security forces), I noticed a kind of occupier’s vengeance. It’s something most Israelis would not condone, but it’s done in their name nevertheless.

Israelis believe Palestinian children are taught in school to hate Jews. And Palestinians believe Jewish children are taught to hate them. I asked a Palestinian if schoolbooks teach children to hate Jews. He said, “As a parent raising my family under Jewish occupation, it’s my challenge to teach our children not to hate Jews.” I hadn’t considered that angle. But just being a tourist here for a week, I can understand the toll it must take on any “love thy neighbor” person to live in a land where they say, “Mere existence is resistance.”

While edgy political art is commonplace here, I was particularly struck by this mural (in Bethlehem) of a little Palestinian girl shaking down an Israeli soldier. It was only later that I learned it was by the famous British street artist Banksy.

I’ll continue this Holy Land series until November 21st. Then, to celebrate my homecoming, I’ll give a live, free slideshow lecture on Thursday, November 21st at 7 p.m. 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.

November 16, 2013January 8, 2018

One Case Where an Arab Israeli Has More Rights than a Jewish Israeli

When filming, I spend a lot of time sitting in the car while the crew is getting a particular shot. In the Holy Land, there are fascinating things to observe wherever you pull over. And with the luxury of a local guide at my side, all of my questions can be addressed. Roughly a fifth of all Israelis are not Jewish, but Arab Israelis — mostly Muslim. While they have equal rights on paper, most Arab Israelis would say they feel like second-class citizens. But in this clip, our guide Abie explains how, in one interesting way, Arab Israelis have more rights than Jewish Israelis.

If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.

November 16, 2013November 27, 2013

The Security Fence, the Anti-Terrorism Barrier, the Wall

The troubles of the Holy Land have taken a toll on both sides. While one man’s terrorist may be another man’s freedom fighter, the fact is that in recent decades, both sides have suffered terribly: Palestinians have killed Israeli Jews, and Israelis have killed Palestinians.

Since 2003, Israel has been building a wall around the West Bank in the name of security from terrorism. While Israel calls this the “Security Fence,” most Palestinians think of as a degrading and illegal land grab. Israelis would say that it’s been effective — noting that in the three years before it was built, suicide bombers killed 293 of their citizens; in the three years after it went up, that number dropped to 64. Since its construction, terrorist attacks have dwindled. Palestinians would counter by saying that this decline is not because of the wall, but because Palestine, its president, its security forces, and its people have all realized that violence is a losing strategy. Palestinians assure me that if anyone really wants to get through the wall (which is far from finished), it’s very easy to do.

It’s hard to argue against the land grab case. If the fence or wall was simply for security, as claimed, it would have been built along the internationally recognized border that was defined by the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993. But it’s generally well to the Palestine side of that border. In fact, it’s nearly twice as long as the border it claims to defend — gerrymandered in order to protect settlements, aquifers, good farmland, and holy places within the West Bank for Israel.

Walls are ugly. They may be necessary, but they represent a diplomatic failure. While it can look almost pretty from the Israeli side, the wall is unfinished and depressing from the Palestinian side.

Restrictions and regulations necessary in the days of suicide bombers and violent resistant survive. For example, it’s much cheaper to get your car repaired in Palestine than in Israel because the standard of living and wage scale are so different. (The Israeli per capita GDP of about $33,000 is more than ten times that of Palestine’s.) But, of course, this could be a devious way for a bomb to be planted and imported into Israel unknowingly by the Israeli owner of that vehicle. So it’s forbidden.

This map is a popular poster you see around Palestine and in pro-Palestinian publications. It illustrates quite graphically how Israeli control of the region is growing. Israelis remind us that Arafat turned down a chance to have a solid two-state option, and that the Second Intifada made the aggressive Israeli approach unavoidable. There is an internationally recognized border with a solid and viable West Bank, but Israel has created a system of designated areas that gives complete control only to "Area A" (18 percent of the land in the West Bank, with about 55 percent of the people), while Israel controls the rest (Areas B and C, used for settlements, natural resources, and the major roads enabling Israel to, when necessary, lock down the country and isolate the cities of Area A). The last map (far right) shows why Palestinians compare their control of the West Bank today to Swiss cheese ("Israel gets the cheese, and Palestine the holes"). — This map is a popular poster you see around Palestine and in pro-Palestinian publications. It illustrates quite graphically how Israeli control of the region is growing. Israelis remind us that Arafat turned down a chance to have a solid two-state option, and that the Second Intifada made the aggressive Israeli approach unavoidable. There is an internationally recognized border with a solid and viable West Bank, but Israel has created a system of designated areas that gives complete control only to “Area A” (18 percent of the land in the West Bank, with about 55 percent of the people), while Israel controls the rest (Areas B and C, used for settlements, natural resources, and the major roads enabling Israel to, when necessary, lock down the country and isolate the cities of Area A). The last map (far right) shows why Palestinians compare their control of the West Bank today to Swiss cheese (“Israel gets the cheese, and Palestine the holes”).

November 15, 2013November 27, 2013

Night Ride to Ramallah

Palestine’s time zone is an hour earlier than Israel’s, so it gets dark early — and during our visit, we invariably found ourselves driving after dark. While I wouldn’t do that in Egypt, we felt very safe on the road at night here. The biggest hazard was speed bumps, placed every 200 yards whenever passing through a town — for the safety of kids who don’t have parks and generally play in the streets.

Every so often, we’d cross a checkpoint. When approaching some checkpoints at night, those with green Palestinian license plates (as opposed to yellow Israeli plates) must turn their headlights off and cab lights on. Sometimes guards were vigilant, peering into the car. Sometimes they were looking for trouble…until they saw an American passport, their search stopped, and we were waved through. And very often, bored guards hardly looked up from their iPhone games. Passing through towns, the sidewalks sparkle as headlights hit broken glass.

Lights were instructive. In the countryside, there were no streetlights unless we were under an Israeli settlement or military base — in which case, the highway was well-lit, including powerful spotlights on the light posts facing away from the road, illuminating the land nearby. In the distance, the faint flicker of lanterns and makeshift dangle lighting marked off-the-grid Bedouin camps. And you could identify Palestinian towns on the horizon by the joyful green lights of their minarets.