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Israel and Palestine - a complicated relationship

Ten days in a complicated region, 11/2019

By Beyond All Maps - Portraits of our Planet by Thorsten Mehret

December 19^th, 2020

ITINERARY

Together with a good friend we decided to check out Tel Aviv together over a long weekend and I added another week to explore Jerusalem, Palestine and the Dead Sea region.

We spent four nights in Tel Aviv, then I took a bus to Jerusalem for another four days. After that, I took a rental car to drive to Masada for one day, and finally to Lod for the last night close to the airport.

Israel and Palestine - a complicated relationship

MOTIVATION

Looking across the Dead Sea towards Israel, two years ago in Jordan, I wondered how different this neighbouring country is, which defines itself as a liberal democratic country and nation state of the Jews. Well, and different it is, not only compared to Jordan but also within its own borders. There is Tel Aviv with a tech loving liberal, young hip party and start up scene and Jerusalem, a much more conservative city, holy city of the big three monotheistic world religions and an always especially controversial subject in the never ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And of course there is Palestine with Gaza and the West Bank, occupied by Israel after the six days war in 1967 from Egypt and Jordan and an ongoing source of continuous conflicts, as the Palestinians are longing for their own independent and sovereign state based on the 1967 defined green border line.

Tel Aviv

Tel Aviv has the reputation of a hip, liberal and easy going party city and it lives up to that reputation. Definitely one of my favorite cities in the world. There are plenty of bars, cafes, restaurants and clubs all over the city, attracting many young people. The weather in November was perfect for me, around 30 degree celsius during daytime and still T-shirt warm during the night. That's why life happens mostly outside. At the beaches, some people were even swimming. Distances between the different neighborhoods are close. There are plenty of e-scooters and rental bikes around, perfect to discover the city if someone is tired of walking.

It took me a while to make up my mind, were to stay. I finally opted for the Florentine neighborhood and would definitely do it again. It’s quite central, within 15 min. all relevant neighborhoods can be reached and it has one of the best nightlife scenes in TAV.

Whereas Tel Aviv is a rather young city, founded in 1909, Jaffa, now part of it, was an important port city already around 1000 AD. A lot of money was spent to renovate the port area, which is now a tourist attraction. Another well-known attraction is the daily flee market.

Jaffa flee market

Tel Aviv street life

Tel Aviv street art - it's plenty and can be found almost everywhere. So just walk around and keep your eyes open.

There are plenty of markets around. Whereas Sarona market is the upmarket version, Carmel market feels more authentic.

A must-do in Tel Aviv is walking along the promenade, watching beach life.

Sunset atmosphere

Tel Aviv is famous for its nightlife. Sunset of course is best spent in one of the beach bars. Great areas for restaurants and bars are Jaffa, Neve Tzedek, Florentine and especially the Rothschild Boulevard (also for clubbing).

I can't remember having seen so many people with dogs walking around in a city. Fortunately, the excrement management seems to work somehow.

Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Tel Aviv black and white

Some typical local food, humus, shatshuka and a dish called upside down in Palestine.

JERUSALEM

Arriving by bus (after just one hour) in Jerusalem, the difference to Tel Aviv becomes immediately apparent. Plenty of orthodox Jews are walking in the streets, easily identified by their black robes, hats and curly hair. During the four days in Tel Aviv, I saw just one of them.

When it comes to living history, the old city of Jerusalem will not disappoint you, if you can cope with the many huge tourist groups in the often narrow streets. During the night, the atmosphere completely changes, as hardly any people can be seen in the streets: almost creepy!

Western Wall

Actually the most holy site for Jews. Access is allowed to everyone. There is a men’s and a women’s section. Man have to wear a Kipa (provided for free) or at least something to cover their head.

The status of Jerusalem is complicated. Until the six days war in 1967, East Jerusalem was part of Jordan, together with the West Bank. Whereas Israel today considers and handles the whole city as impartible capital of the country, the UN and the Palestinians see East Jerusalem as the future capital of an official, independent Palestinian state. The tensions coming with that situation can be felt and seen in the city. The streets are full with cameras and police or military guards at strategic points.

To get a better understanding of the whole situation and what it means for the daily life of the Israeli and Palestinians, I highly recommend a day tour to East and West Jerusalem with "Green Olives Tours". One of the best and most interesting city day tours I ever had! The guide was an Israeli and explained in an extremely interesting, analytical and professional way the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the past to now, while we were exploring different spots around West and East Jerusalem. Highly recommended!!!

The infrastructure and public services in the Muslim neighborhoods of East Jerusalem are significantly inferior to the ones in West Jerusalem. New building permits are hardly ever issued, and if, they cost up to the price of the house itself. Illegal buildings are demolished consequently. As the average birth rate in the Muslim areas is higher, this causes significant living space problems. People living here have a residential status with the benefits of Israeli people, but this status is lost if someone moves to the other side of the Wall, where living space is less of a problem. Losing the residential status means not only losing the social benefits, but also access to Israeli territory, which of course everyone wants to avoid. For taking a flight e.g., now the closest accessible airport would be Amman in Jordan.

The City of David - Where it all begun, at least according to the Israeli interpretation.

The most impressive YMCA I have ever seen.

Church of the Holy Sepulchre

This church in the Christian Quarter contains the two holiest sites in Christianity: the site where Jesus was crucified and Jesu’s empty tomb. It can get extremely crowded, so you better come early. The church opens already at 4 am. When I arrived on Friday 6 am a mess was conducted and it was already busy.

Temple Mount with Dome of Rock and Al Aqsa Mosque

The mosque, as important as it is to Muslims, is a bit dwarfed by the fascinating and colorful Dome of Rock, right next to it. The access to the Temple Mount is restricted to some days and time slots for non-Muslims. There is only on entry gate, and queuing for up to one hour is not uncommon. Best to come early at 7 am.

One of the best views over the city for just five NIS can be enjoyed from the top of the Austrian hospice.

PALESTINE WITH BETHLEHEM

It was clear to me not to take a standard historic tour in Bethlehem. I was more interested to see, hear and learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, so I booked a so-called "alternative tour", again with Green Olive Tour. They are focusing on the Mideast conflict. The guide was Palestinian, and although he had a clear opinion about the Israeli politics, he tried to explain and show, based on many examples and facts, how Palestinians suffer from the occupation. Of course it was biased, but I think it's important to listen to different positions in order to understand this complex situation at least a bit better.

We stopped at the impressive Mar Saba Monastery in the desert, then we went to the Aida Refugee Camp. Afterwards, we visited the Banksy Walled Off Hotel and the Separation Wall. Finally, we went to Bethlehem to visit the Nativity Church, the place where Jesus was born.

The Walled Off Hotel, owned by the British artist Banksy. The hotel also contains a small but very interesting museum about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The day after I arrived in Jerusalem, Israel killed the Leader of the Islamic Jihad, Baha Abu al -Atta, by an air strike in Gaza City. The answer were around 200 rockets targeting Israel, some all the way to Tel Aviv. Fortunately, non of them was fatal, but the fear of a new intifada was a topic, everyone looking how the much stronger Hamas (compared to the Islamic Jihad) positions in this situation. Beside some frequent military jets flying over the city, Jerusalem was not affected, but in Bethlehem we witnessed signs of smaller riots. Fortunately, the situation didn't escalate further the next days.

In the Aida Refugee Camp, still many refugees of the 1967 war and their descendants live. We listened to the explanations about their living situation, given by an administration official. We were surprised of the many concrete buildings, as we had expected to see mainly tents. But of course, as the camp is so old, tents were more and more replaced by concrete buildings over time, letting the camp now appear like a poor neighborhood. People are not allowed to go back to their home villages. "But they are free to go elsewhere, but living in the camp is for free, that's why they don't go", that was an Israeli argument I heard later that day.

Most tourist visiting the Palestinian area from Israel just come to Bethlehem to visit the Nativity Church, the birthplace of Jesus. Accordingly, people sometimes queue up for hours to get a glimpse of the specific marked birth place (or was is thought of being the place) within the church. Honestly, although I was curious to visit such an important biblical place, the rest of the tour was much more interesting.

In the morning, I took over my rental car from AVIS. It was an rather old Nissan Micro full of dents and scratches. Must be by far the oldest vehicle in their fleet, I guess. First, the agent tried to mark everything on the paper, but after a while he gave up and made crosses all over.

After 45 minutes, I already reached Qumram. In 1946, a Bedouin boy found a cave when searching for a lost animal. In this cave, he found scrolls with biblical texts more than 2,000 years old.

EIN GEDI

Ein Gedi is a popular nature reserve at the Dead Sea with hiking trails and waterfalls. I took the one hour loop trail to David’s waterfall. The water cascades along the way over several smaller waterfalls and pools. A nice green oasis surrounded by dry bare land. The loop was very busy with people. Just across the Dead Sea in Jordan lies Wadi Mujib which I visited two years ago. For me, the clear winner in this competition! Pictures see here.

MASADA

Masada is an ancient fortification sitting on top of an isolated rock plateau. Herod the Great built the fortress 37 to 31 BC, including two palaces. From 73 to 74 AD, during the first Roman-Jewish war, Masada was under siege by the Romans. Once it was clear that it couldn’t be held anymore, all rebels (around 1,000) preferred to commit mass suicide, rather than ending in Roman slavery.

Today, Masada seems to be place of mass pilgrimage for all Israeli people as well as tourists. Especially the sunrise on top is highly promoted. As the cablecar only goes as of 8 am, the only way to participate in this event is by a 60 min/300 meter ascent, taking the historic Snake Path. That was my plan, and therefore I booked an overnight stay at the Masada Youth Hostel in order to start the climb at 5 am.

Well, the weather forecast for the morning was less than promising: cloudy and even rainy, so I finally decided to sleep longer and to take the cablecar instead. A wise decision, as at 8.30 am the sun showed up the first time behind a thick dark bank of clouds on the horizon. Fortunately, there was no rain. Nevertheless, I felt sorry for the early morning hikers. For the next two hours, I explored the different ruins and viewpoints on the top. I was especially stunned by the huge steep ramp and the siege tower the Romans built to overcome the fortress. The impressive ramp is still visible today.

THE DEAD SEA

Ein Bokek is the Hot Spot for the Dead Sea tourism. It’s an artificial resort village, and as that it is not extremely appealing. However it has by far the best beach I have seen around the Dead Sea, including the Jordan side. There is nice sand, easy access, lifeguards, showers and what's best: everything for free! Therefore, it's a great place for your floating experience.

I refrained from this experience, as I rather wanted to spend my time finding great photo spots around. I had seen fascinating pictures of the Dead Sea, though an Internet research didn’t bring up useful information about the exact locations. In Jordan, I could’t find the Dead Sea scenery I was looking for, as access to the shoreline was very limited. Fortunately here, not far away from Ein Bokek, I was lucky.

Half an hour from En Bokek lies this huge potassium factory which gives a cool photo opportunity, especially at the blue hour. There is an unmarked viewpoint that can be reached by following a short but dusty gravel road opposite the factory complex.

Final Verdict

For the way back to the airport I used the rather unspectacular highways 31 and 6 and had an overnight stay close to the airport in Lod. Note that highway 6 is a toll road, which I was not aware of, until I found later a 15 EUR surcharge by the car rental company on my credit card slip.

Nevertheless, overall I enjoyed this trip not only for the vibrant life in Tel Aviv, the walking on the deeply historic ground in Jerusalem, the bare but fascinating landscape around the dead sea but also as an opportunity to learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which so often is a topic in the news but still seems hard to understand.

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