Destination: Palestine

Lots of tourists go to Palestine, but I’d estimate that 90 percent of them do it as a strategic strike from Jerusalem to Manger Square in Bethlehem (about six miles away) to see the Church of the Nativity. They then return directly to Israel without spending a single shekel in restaurants or hotels. Obviously, there’s much more to experience in this country.

In eight nights in Palestine, we are spending four each in Bethlehem (for sights in the south) and Ramallah (for sights in the north). Each city is like a suburb of Jerusalem, but because of the political situation, wall, and checkpoints, they are a long one-hour drive apart (barring delays, which are routine).
Just across the wall from Jerusalem stands Bethlehem. No longer just the little town of Christmas-carol fame, Bethlehem is a leading Palestinian city. From the rooftop of the highest hotel in town, we found the perfect wide shot to establish the city. Book covers featuring Bethlehem show a delightful town capping a hill with spires and minarets. This was pre-growth spurt and would be impossible to film today, as the city sprawls and is almost indiscernible with greater Jerusalem.

I want to encourage travel to Palestine with this program. While it’s probably a bit too edgy for most Americans, it’s amazing how after a couple days in Palestine, you feel right at home. I recently walked from San Diego over the border into Tijuana. Walking through the wall from Jerusalem to Bethlehem feels much the same. Of course, if you’re Mexican or Palestinian, it’s a different story. But for the American, just flash your passport and try not to get your sweater dirty on the turnstile. At first, we were nervous here with our big camera. But it soon became clear that Israeli guards don’t really care what happens on this side of the wall. I walked through one way (back into Israel) and waited for a gang of Palestinian workers (who have special permission to do menial labor in Israel) to get off a bus. Then, with our camera rolling, I joined them filing through the turnstile back into Palestine. The travel nitty-gritty: Your passport is all you need. Palestine uses Israeli currency. Just walk across the border and haggle with the taxis… and in $5 and 10 minutes, you’re looking at the church marking the spot where Jesus was born.

The little town of Bethlehem has a very cool Arabic vibe, especially in the early evening. Bethlehem’s skyline is a commotion of both crescents and crosses — a reminder that the town, while almost totally Arab, remains a mix of Muslims and Christians. While Palestinians are Arabs, not all Palestinians are Muslims. In fact, about 350,000 are Christian. And both Christians and Muslims are drawn to Bethlehem. For some reason, Palestine (while east of Israel) is one hour earlier. It’s pretty late in the year, and we are out of light and done shooting here by 5:00.

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.

When traveling in rough lands, I always wear sturdy shoes. In my town, curbs at intersections are turned into ramps so people won’t trip…and other curbs are painted yellow, just in case. You even get goofy little red flags to carry when crossing the street. But in a country like Palestine, you’re on your own. There simply isn’t a strong ethic of “don’t litter.” Broken concrete, rusty junk, and piles of crumpled plastic blanket the roadsides. Excuse the wind buffeting on this clip as I give you a little tour from the perspective of my shoes — which follow me wherever I go.

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

The West Bank is small (about 30 miles wide and 80 miles long). Every place we’re visiting for this episode is — barring delays at checkpoints or other disturbances — within a 90-minute drive of Bethlehem.

Introducing Palestine to our American television viewers, we’ll begin our new episode with this montage: “We’ll visit Jerusalem — sacred to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and considered by Palestinians to be their historic capital. We’ll harvest olives, make a home visit, see the tomb of Abraham, learn to wear a scarf with style, follow pilgrims to the place of Jesus’ birth, bob in the Dead Sea, hike to an ancient monastery 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.”

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.

After a week in Israel, it’s time to cross into Palestine. My goal is to show Palestine as a place that’s exciting and educational to explore. We’ll hit the tourist attractions, as well as address the obvious political issues. And, while we want to respect the past and present of this land — just as we do with any country we make a show about — we’re being careful not to get drawn into big debates or to take sides. Instead, we’re aiming for what you might call “dual narrative” journalism: Giving voice to reasonable and rational people from both sides of the thorny issues, to let viewers make up their own minds.

We have decided not to include Gaza in our work. Frankly, I’m not comfortable traveling to that Hamas-controlled area, and wouldn’t necessarily recommend it as a “tourist” destination. Instead, our take on Palestine focuses on the West Bank.

Of course, for some ardent supporters of Israel, simply going anywhere in Palestine discredits us. In fact, even using the name “Palestine” will alienate many people. Sadly, these are the people who, I believe, need to travel here the most.

I debated what to title the show. Many conservative Jews and Evangelical Christians, believing this is the land promised to the Jews, use the biblical name “Judea and Samaria.” The non-loaded “Palestinian-Occupied West Bank” or “Palestinian Territories” would be the cautious choice. But in recent years, many West Bank leaders are demonstrating a commitment to non-violence and, in some cases, acknowledging that Israel has a right to exist. The United Nations, seemingly swayed by this moderation, recently voted to grant Palestine (with that name) “non-member observer state” status. And I’ve decided to follow the example of the international community. I am naming our show with a proud and unapologetic “Palestine: Yesterday and Today.”

I’m anticipating some turbulence as we produce and air this show. Thankfully, I’m on public television, which provides our nation journalism and media that do not need the blessing of corporate advertising. (It would be extremely difficult to get most American corporations to buy advertising on a program dealing with this fiery issue.) We’ve never done this before, but we’ll include this little disclaimer: “The difficult issues Israelis and Palestinians are grappling with over this contested land are beyond this scope of this travel program. And, I know, just talking about this place upsets some people. But, as a travel writer, I’m OK with that.”

It’s difficult for Israelis and Palestinians to connect in any way. Most young people from one side of the divide have no chance to meet their counterparts from the other. They are completely reliant upon media, parents, and schooling to shape their opinion of the young generation of the people they are destined to share their historic homeland with. I enjoyed introducing my Israeli and Palestinian guides to each other at any chance I got. This photo is taken at a restaurant parking lot in a zone in the West Bank under Israeli control. As people with both Israeli and Palestinian license plates can come here, it was a handy place for my Israeli guide, Abie (in the middle), to hand us over to our Palestinian guide, Kamal (on the left). As both of them are interested in “dual narrative” tourism, they swapped cards. (After our show airs, I plan to feature a page on my website to promote the work of all our guide friends. And at the end of this series of postings, I’ll list the contact info for all of our guides.)

Just as on my scouting visit in April, our first night was in Bethlehem’s wonderful Tent Restaurant. All the players gathered: my crew (producer Simon Griffith and cameramen Karel Bauer and Dean Cannon), our two Palestinian guides (Kamal Murkurkur and Husam Jubran), and officials from the Palestinian tourist ministry (who were supportive of our work even though they had no budget to cover any of our expenses other than to provide a car). Waving the script while drinking a Palestinian beer, we were all jazzed for an adventure. (By the way, while Muslims don’t drink alcohol, Taybeh is a Christian-owned brewery and Kamal is a Christian Palestinian. Husam, a Muslim, prefers to suck on his hookah.)

Palestine is a poor country, and the main activity is going out to eat dinner, to sip a fancy fruit juice or coffee, or to suck a hookah. While there’s no waterfront for family outings in the West Bank, hotels have swimming pools that are popular. And for fancy events or family festivals, former palaces survive today as hotels (like this Sheraton Hotel) to provide a nice venue. These beautifully attired women were happy to pose with an American next to their country’s flag.

My dinner with Rula Ma’ayah, the Palestinian Minister of Tourism — a smart, earnest, and hardworking young Christian Palestinian woman — was full of insights. When she arrived, everyone lavished attention on her, referring to her as “her excellency.” It was interesting to spend an evening with a cabinet minister of a little country whose job was tourism, but whose work was so full of political considerations. The conversation was even better than the food. Rula told us fun anecdotes about being President Obama’s private guide during his recent visit and being all alone with him and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Church of the Nativity (on the site where Jesus was born). Although instructed not to be political, she chose a political bit of scripture to read…and got a discreet thumb’s-up and a wink. During our visit, Rula was on a torrid schedule. She was off to Malaysia the next morning, as promoting tourism from Muslim states is most productive for Palestine. She explained one of her big challenges: Israel allows Palestine to have no airport, and residents of Muslim countries that don’t recognize Israel can’t fly into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport (just an hour’s taxi ride to most major Palestinian cities), so most visitors must fly into Amman in Jordan. But the Israeli-controlled border between Jordan and Palestine (near Jericho) routinely shuts down without warning and for no apparent reason. This means that Muslims from the outside world find it next to impossible to make plans to attend any meeting, event, or convention within Palestine.