Identity Travel Israel - Newsletter October 2011

Palestinian UN Bid and the Inevitability of Change

As Mahmoud Abbas, Chairman of the Palestinian Authority marches assertively into the UN assembly to bid for a recognized Palestinian State, there is no doubt: Change is coming. To his denouncers Abbas says: "it is inevitable."

In today's diplomatic arena change is ever present. But New York is far from the streets of Jerusalem where Identity Travel is guiding a tour group through the ancient sites. For most Palestinians living here, and for their Israeli neighbours the thought of a Palestinian deceleration of statehood without a bi-partisan agreement is a petrifying concept. The unanswered questions and daunting challenge that lie in store are like darkness around a forbidding forest trail. Who can help but fear the violence that seems to lurk around every corner. Who dares contemplate the mere possibility that the wrong path has been chosen.

The tour group walks with me through the Arab Quarter of the Old City. The scenery of old stone and tourist mementos (for all faiths and denominations) has seen little change over the years. Talking to people here, one finds their opinions to be as diverse as their reflection. An old Arab market vendor with a long white turban and a thick moustache says "Why this? Why now? No good for business!" Down the pebbled alleyway a head covered Jewish woman with a long Jeans skirt says; "This country was promised to the Jewish people by G-d and no one has the right to give it away!" A soldier in uniform cuts her off: "Let them have it! Let them deal with their own problems, I would rather be out in Tel Aviv than spending my time in the checkpoint on the way to Ramallah."

Regardless, of their preference they all seem to rush and make their judgment: For or against, good or bad. But while there are pitfalls in every path, surely, each route we travel also has its merits - if only for the experience gained along the way.

It is important in these dynamic times to realize that every change entails an opportunity and a challenge. Every unknown future into which we stride cannot simply be labelled as better or as worse than the present – it is, however, simply different.

The current challenge to the status quo, whether it shall bring about real change or not for ordinary Palestinians and Israelis, will no doubt elevate the Israel-Palestine conflict back into the limelight of public discussion. A Palestine with 1967 borders, recognized or not by the international community, leaves an Israel with 1967 borders as its necessary partner. My tour group walks the invisible green line and we all wonder: Decelerations aside, what will happen next?

My guess; after all the dust settles at the UN, the Palestinians and Israelis will find no other choice but to return to the negotiations' table and there, as they will be forced to choose their path, they will face yet again the inevitability of change.

Identity's tour groups will keep strolling through Jerusalem's markets and asking people for their opinion, After all, the dynamic nature and extraordinary diversity of thought is Israel's most powerful tourist attraction.

Identity Travel Launches New Engaging Tour in Collaboration with Christian Friends of Israel

This tour allows participants to enjoy an intellectually stimulating first-hand experience of Israel, prior to attending the CFI conference.

Modi'in, Israel September 6th, 2011 - Identity Travel, a leading tour operator specializing in educational and politically-relevant tours, announced today the launch of its Engage Israel Tour in collaboration with Christian Friends of Israel. This enriching tour combines educational content and sightseeing to further the understanding of Israel's historical, cultural and political heritage. The itinerary includes eight days of touring seamlessly followed by the 4 day CFI Jerusalem conference.

This May 27th - June 7th integrates New and Old Testament heritage sites, Zionist sites and contemporary tourist attractions with diverse key note speakers and politically-charged workshops. The highpoint of this experience will be in Jerusalem where participants will join the Christian Friends of Israel Annual Conference.

Eran Kolran, Director and Co-Founder at Identity Travel Israel, says: "Identity Travel is delighted to be able to join forces with Christian Friends of Israel to promote understanding through travel. We have no doubt that our customers will see the conference as one of the highlights of the tour."

“CFI is welcoming Identity Travel to join our Annual CFI Conference in Jerusalem for 2012,” says Sharon Sanders, Executive Director of Christian Friends of Israel. "It has always been a highlight and unforgettable experience for Christians who love Israel to attend.”

CFI's conference has brought thousands of Christian supporters to Jerusalem over the past 26 years for in-depth teaching of God’s Word on Israel. The conference will include some of the world’s most distinguished speakers on Israel and the Church as well as Christian praise and worship.

About Christian Friends of Israel
Christian Friends of Israel (CFI), headquartered in Jerusalem is a charitable, non-profit, international evangelical Christian ministry registered in Israel with representative offices throughout the world. They are charter members of the Knesset Christian Allies Caucus and pioneers in the Christian Zionist movement.

About Identity Travel Israel
Identity Travel Ltd. is a pioneering educational tour operator headquartered in Modiin, Israel. Since its establishment the company has launched a variety of group travel itineraries for academic seminars, senior travel, Jewish and Christian tour groups as well as political activists. The company's mission is to promote understanding through educational travel. For more information see our websites http://www.identitytour.com and http://www.christian-tour.com

NOT ANOTHER PILGRIMAGE! New Christian Tourism

How many times have you heard of yet another pilgrimage to Israel? Ever since the dawn of Christianity, a modest but constant stream of dedicated believers have made their way to the Holy Land to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. After the Six Day War in 1967 Israel's tourism experienced unprecedented growth and achieved a staggering 2 million tourists a year. That’s when pilgrimages to Israel first became a marketable product – a business.

Many Christians have ventured here over the decades touring sites related to the life of Jesus or mentioned in the New Testament. Seeing the sites dating to this very specific 40 year era is in itself such a moving and fulfilling experience that tourists often felt no further need to expand the scope of their spiritual exploration. The tour operators, to their end, failed to provide innovation and thus pilgrimages were reduced to a sightseeing checklist devoid of any context or contemporary relevance.

Today's Christian tourist is no longer satisfied with the classic 'Walk in His footsteps ' pilgrimage. Many supplement the traditional sites with Old Testament sites and Jewish sites to get a better understanding of the backdrop to the birth of Christianity. Others take a wider view to Christian history, including its less convenient segments such as the Crusades. Most of all, Christians are interested these days in the political situation, the role and stance of Christianity on the issues of modern day Israel.

The Christian Tourism of today is a true exploration, offering a spiritual journey of discovery. A discovery of ancient roots ignored for millenniums, a discovery of the connection to the land, the people, and their fate – It is an exploration into ones identity and that, my friends, is the essence of all meaningful travel.
At Identity Travel we try to cater to this demand and we have created educational tours that offer self-discovery through history, culture and politics. Our agenda is to educate our customers and enrich their sense of place, time and identity. If our success is in any way a reflection of the extent of this new market, Israel's potential for growth as a tourist destination for the 'thinking Christian market' is infinite.

Camping Out in the Acropolis

Tour Groups traveling through Tel Aviv recently might have been very surprised. Down the street from the Theater and Culture Hall, right smack in the bustling central streets of Israel's largest metropolis, an endless row of colorful camping tents popped up like mushrooms. Young couples with guitars and homemade demonstration signs lay in the summer heat and humidity, men and women trying to gain attention for their worthy cause. Under the shade of the ancient sycamore trees that line the Boulevard, these demonstrations seems almost as out of place as the trees themselves. Here in a city whose residents are constantly reproached for their apathy and lack of conviction, no one thought a new movement would take to the streets.

The young rebels are protesting against the hike in real estate prices all over Israel and in Tel Aviv in particular. "We will be left with no option but to live in tents" they say. They are angry at the government who they say is not doing enough to restrain apartment prices or create new budgetary housing for students. Their rhetoric often strays to socialism although they would never admit to being socialists; often they stray to other vexing issues and seem to lose focus. Yet they seem to embody something far more encompassing then their own opinion, a notion almost universally felt and expressed.

Walking between the tents this week I couldn't help but think of Tel Aviv's modest beginnings. In Patrick Geddes's town plan blue prints from 1919, which are the foundation of the city plan till this day one finds a social utopia, a city where green urban gardens serve all classes of citizens, and shade and benches are provided for everyone's pleasure, where intimate residential blocks are weaved together to form a wider communal form of city life. The apex of this plan was to be situated on the top of the hill just off the main boulevard, an urban acropolis that would serve both as city hall and the city's cultural epicenter with theaters and concert hall. Geddes's Acropolis is today where the youth demonstrations are held.

Around the thousands that came to the acropolis to manifest their discontent the Bauhaus international style buildings for which this city is famous seem but a shadow of their glorious past. The international Bauhaus style was an ornament-less functionality-first school of architecture that became popular in Tel Aviv in the 1930's because it provided affordable and practical housing . Their white exterior gave the city its reputation as the White City.

Today the white exteriors are covered with black and grey soot, many of the old sycamore gardens where cleared away to make room for modern high-rises, and although we they are far more rich than they were, Israel's working class find much less time to engage in cultural activities at Gedes's Acropolis.

Perhaps the youth procession in Tel Aviv expresses our nostalgic longing to the social ideals this city was founded on. Even if it was only a utopia and was never realized, at least we once aspired to build a better more socially just society where every person can afford a roof over his head, a night at the theater and some pleasant shade under the old sycamore trees.

Glenn Beck Preaching to the Choir in Israel

Popular and controversial American TV commentator Glenn Beck arrived in Israel. Speaking at a meeting of the Knesset Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee Beck Said: "We have created a system of politicians who are afraid to tell the truth. Instead they're telling people what they think they want to hear," said Beck, recalling that he mistakenly viewed Israel as a hostile, war-torn nation before actually visiting himself.

When asked why he retired his show on Fox News Beck said "I was tired of preaching to the choir".

Beck touches on an important issue. He complains that the only people who tune in to his show, are people who already agree with his opinion, people who subscribe to the gospel he preaches.

Becks gospel like any other is a narrative, a story. People are storytellers and the stories are the way our mind views history and justice. It serves as a framework for our human experience and the foundation of our moral, social and national values. Although truth may be predominantly the premise of the stories we choose to tell ourselves it is seldom an entire and all-encompassing truth.

However flawed our perception of the world may be, we are inclined to strengthen our conviction with the embrace of like-minded individuals and communities. We find people who agree with us, at least to some extent, and surround ourselves with their soothing voices of solidarity, adding our own to the mix to the constant sound of their applause.

It is in this spirit that chairman MK Danny Danon (Likud) invited Glenn Beck to share his support of Israel with the Knesset committee and the reason he was so lavishly praised by its members. "It isn't a coincidence that you're a religious person [and support Israel]," said Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely. "This conflict isn't territorial. If it was, it would have been solved a long ago".
Hotovely continued: "This is a religious battle led by Islam. We can't ignore this basic truth. It's important that we stand behind a historical truth: We're not just here because of Zionism, but because of the Bible."

As an Israeli, I believe in this truth, in our right to be here, in our just cause, in the danger of fundamental Islam and yet it does not suffice me to hear this truth alone. If its truth we are after it cannot be partial it must be inclusive, it must include the Palestinian story, the Muslim story, the Christian story, the Jewish story. It is not history and fact that lend importance to these stories but rather the abundance of people that believe in them and live their lives by them.

On August 24 Beck will host a "Restoring Courage" rally in Jerusalem. He said thousands are expected to attend, including 70 prominent world politicians and four US presidential candidates. Beck said he hopes the event will help Israelis see that they are not alone, even if the mainstream media tries to make it out as though they are.

Glenn Beck is right about mainstream media covering only the stories in line with their school of thought. But the reason Glenn Beck is still preaching to the choir is that he acts in precisely the same bias.

What is needed in order to achieve true change is not more preaching but rather more listening. Not bigger mega-phones and rallies but rather bigger and more sensitive ears and hearts. if we seek a truth that is more inclusive we can find a narrative that leads to peace, a story with a happy ending.

Identity Travel Israel's 'The Traveller' Newsletter June 2011

Obama and Netanyahu Battle Like Prophets

This week the world was treated to a spectacular event, a champions' competition of an ancient sport, practiced since Homo Sapiens uttered their first spoken words. Two of today's leading orators collided in a match of prose and rhetoric excellence. Obama and Netanyahu sharpened their pens, cleared their throats and battled!

Oratory is a subtle art. In Judeo-Christian tradition it is widely associated with the prophets Ezekiel, Amos and Joshua, and lest we forget Jesus. These men stood in turbulent times, faced their people and spoke with conviction, eloquence and a determination to change the wrongs of their society.

It would perhaps be interesting to note the similarity in the content of their speeches. All of the aforementioned prophets lectured on morality and religion. Standing at the city's gate, they reproached sinners for their religious hypocrisy and for using their temples as refuge while committing immoral acts against their fellow human beings. They contended that human solidarity and social justice are of greater importance than religious fervor.

"Away with the noise of your songs (of praise)! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"
Amos 5:23

Here we are in turbulent times once again, glued to our TV screens and listening to the new leaders of men, political leaders. Obama and Netanyahu disagree on many issues, however, the Israel-USA alliance stays strong because of the core values they share. The belief in certain unalienable rights that amongst them are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness is key to democracy. As the USA looks for Middle Eastern countries to adopt these values Israel still stands alone as the only democratic state in the region.

"Israel is not what is wrong with the Middle East, Israel is what is right about the middle east"
Benjamin Netanyahu

"Palestinians leaders will not achieve peace or prosperity if Hamas insists on a path of terror and rejection"
Barrack Obama

Netanyahu and Obama reproached the Palestinian authority for its reconciliation with the religiously violent Hamas organization. They both share the fear that religious fervor would undermine the advances towards democracy in the Middle East.

Many more eloquent speeches would undoubtedly be sounded on Palestinian statehood, but the prayer for democracy and peace in the Middle East will go unanswered until Arab leaders speak of human decency and generosity before prayer and martyrdom. Then the Palestinians and all of the Middle East might enjoy Justice and righteousness like a "never-failing stream".

Identity Travel Israel's 'The Traveller' Newsletter March 2011

War of Words, War of Worlds

Saturday's gruesome murder in Itamar, an Israeli West Bank settlement, horrified Israelis. A Palestinian perpetrated a violent murder killing a mother, a father and three children, the youngest of whom was a three-month-old infant.

As opposed to other terrorist attacks this attack did not yet instigate a war of weapons but rather a War of Words.

Israel is demanding an apology from CNN over its coverage of Saturday's terrorist attack in Itamar claiming it was "tendentious and deceptive."

The CNN report stated: "Five members of an Israeli family were killed in the West Bank early Saturday morning in what the Israeli military is calling a 'terror attack.'" Israeli officials contested the quotation marks around the term terror attack stating that there should be no argument on the fact that this is a terrorist attack.

The report went on to say: "According to a military spokeswoman, an intruder entered the Israeli settlement of Itamar near the northern West Bank city of Nablus around 1 am, made his way into a family home and killed two parents and their three children."

The report rephrased the IDF's official statement that noted forces were searching for a "terrorist" using instead the words "intruder" and "assailant". I myself remember many articles that called a suicide bomber, a freedom fighter.

Why is terminology such a controversial issue? Or as Shakespeare put it "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

To answer this question we should consider another article that hit the wires recently.

In Rome Pope Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ. He deconstructs one particular Biblical account which has the crowd saying, "His blood be on us and on our children" — a phrase frequently cited as evidence of the collective guilt Jews bore and the curse that they carried as a result.

The phrase, from the Gospel of Matthew, has been so inflammatory that director Mel Gibson was reportedly forced to drop it from the subtitles of his 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ," although it remained in the spoken Aramaic.

The reason for Pope Benedict's interest in this debate could be traced to his childhood, when he was forced to join the Hitler Youth. As an adult he has made improving relations with Jews a mission and has visited the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Poland and Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Years of blaming the Jews for the death of Jesus along with newer anti-Semitic propaganda may have led to the extermination of Jews in World War II.

Words and terminology motivate people to action. Language has cultural and practical consequences. The Pope understood this. Israel has become aware of this and is now asking the world media as well as global leaders to unequivocally denounce these most recent attack.

One of the workshops we run on our tours is an exercise in the vocabulary of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What is the language used in your local media to describe the conflict? How do you reconcile between terms such as apartheid wall and separation fence, terrorist and freedom fighter, targeted killing and assassination?

At the end of the workshop we show a clip and deconstruct the phrasing of each sentence. By choosing our words we choose our moral ground, our social values and our identity – In effect our world is made up of words.

How were the Itamar "killings" reported in your part of the world?

An Earthquake in Egypt.

Egypt is in turmoil. The people are revolting against their oppressor. They chant as so many before them "Give me liberty or give me death!"

This chant echoes in my mind as I travel to Beit She'an excavations. Beit She'an Hill, houses some of this region's most important archaeological finds, including artifacts from Egyptian, Roman, Byzantine and Muslim eras. These same rulers ruled Egypt for millenniums and I have to wonder what influence they must have had on the Egyptian people and their ideas of liberty, faith and government.

I walk into the ruins of an Egyptian Royal administration center and travel back in time to the age of the Pharaohs. These kings were believed to be deities, their reign divine. The reign of the Pharaohs did not bring with it much liberty, in the Jewish bible the escape from Egypt is also the attainment of liberty and is a cornerstone to millenniums of Jewish philosophies on personal and national freedoms. From the corner of my eye I spot the ruins of an ancient synagogue and think how relevant the story of Exodus must have been as the Greeks took over this town and brought with them the first raw form of democracy.

From the Roman amphitheater in Beit She'an, I walk through a Byzantine street fully equipped with period columns, and into a Byzantine basilica. In Egypt The Byzantine Era brought with it rulers believed to be the messengers of god on earth and their colonial rule enslaved the Egyptians until the decline of the empire.

I continue my time travel experience in Beit She'an to the 7th century when the Muslim conquerors took over. Here as in Egypt the local population could choose to convert to Islam or be considered second class citizens. When Umar conquered Egypt from the Byzantine Empire, Islam offered them the same deal. To the local inhabitants this meant that by becoming Muslims they would gain many more freedoms. They would subscribe not only to a faith but to a nation, a class and an ideology.

Back to modern Egypt, although it is ruled by a strong tyrant the power on the ground is divided. The government and military on one side and the Islamic clergy on the other.
The most apt manifestation of this is the rise of The Muslim Brotherhood, a fundamental Islamic movement established in the 1920's. During Mubarak era they have become the only well organized opposition.
Disenfranchised and poverty stricken the Egyptian people are rebelling; they chant words like freedom, and change.

But the Egyptian people have never really experienced freedom in the way that western countries have, and that makes the west very worrisome of the type of change they plead for.
If democratic elections were held today the Muslim Brotherhood are likely to take over and bring with them a religious government based on Shariah (Islamic) Law. What that would mean is a loss of that all-important separation of church and state, and with it the loss of many of the essential personal liberties enjoyed by the average Egyptian.

In Beit She'an the story ends with an earthquake which shattered the city's neglected Greek-Roman foundations. The marble floor and Greek columns, so associated with democracy today have mostly collapsed or disappeared. The city perished and was never rebuilt.

In Egypt the country's foundations are shaking, will the ruins provide a breeding ground for democratic ideas and government or for a faith based dictatorship?
Will it be liberty or death?

Ben Gurion's Fruitful Christmas

While Europe looks like its heading into an " ice age", Israel can only dream of a white Christmas. Here the sun still shines the young flock to the beaches and stay to bathe in those warm shafts of light till sunset.

As fun as this may sound to those who are cuddling in front of their fire places or clearing out their icy driveways, for Israel this sunny winter is a real problem. Israel is drying up. The Sea of Galilee has decreased significantly in size and the Dead Sea has sprouted new islands in its salty waters. Farmers have lost much of their crop and have to keep innovating to save on precious water.

Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister was well aware of this problem and was known for his vision of making Israel's barren southern lands flourish.
These winter days are always the best time to go south and hike in the vast desert plains of the Negev. The sun isn't scorching hot, but pleasant. Water finds its peace in rocky hideouts and crevices. One could go top off their tour by visiting Sde Bocker, Ben Gurion's modest Home.

Walking through the household you can see Ben Gurion was a man of action. He saw things as they might be not as they are. His roots were in German's icy soil but when the UN suggested a Jewish state that was at the most part a barren desert land he jumped at the offer.

His grave today lays at a panoramic mountain top, his favourite place in the desert. I can imagine him looking out, and picturing in his mind's eye a flourishing green community.

He wasn't far off, Israel's Negev has sprouted the city of Beer Sheva, originally dating back to the Israelites of the 10th century BC, It now boasts a modern well-respected University, theatre, sports stadiums and a population of 200 thousand. The Negev has a new ecological tourism industry that’s growing steadily. And Israel is the only country in the world that has ended the previous century with a surplus of trees, planting more than destroying.

Come to think about it, the forestation of Israel is a beautiful example of Israel's tendency to plant positively and constructively despite its problems and short comings. From the ashes of the holocaust rose a state, from the war of the Middle East rose its military might, from the desert sun sprouted agricultural innovation, from lack of natural resources an economy based on intellectual power and from dependence on oil an explosion of green novelties.

Any problem along the way is just a seed to a solution.

Ben Gurion must be smiling in his grave, the desert of Israel, once barren and underdeveloped has become green with innovative spirit and new ventures. 

So if you are snowed-in, think of a hike in Israel's desert and driving nearby through the Tuscan like wine country of Lachish, think of sleeping in an ecological Bed and Breakfast in the midst of the dry landscape, a gold palace compared with the modest lodging of Israel's first PM in the Kibbutz of Sde Bocker.  Think of floating effortlessly in the waters of the lowest sea on earth or warming up to the sunset rays on the banks of the Mediterranean.

When I think of all that Israel has managed to do by daring to dream and thinking constructively I get a warm feeling in my heart.

Have a warm Holiday season.

Remember what the Holidays are all about?

We wanted to take this opportunity to remind everybody who is enjoying this holiday season where it all began. We want to thank all of our customers and readers for allowing us to take part in their memory of ancient times. We are sure that the past has a message to impart to us all. Whether you have experienced a tour of this land or simply reminisced of its glorious past;  feast, celebrate and remember to let the history resonate through the millenniums and into your life today.

We are certainly reminded of our mission during these festive times: Promoting understanding through travel.

Season's Greatings,
From all of us at the Identity Travel Team

The Good Fire on the Carmel

Fire and black smoke plumes over Mount Carmel. The media in Israel is playing the blame game: was it a selfish youth that started the fire? Did people not care enough about firefighters? Where was the government? A Rabbi is interviewed and hints that this is a punishment by god for the sins of Israel.

I am reminded of a previous time when the Carmel was up in flames. Back then Elijah challenged the other faiths and the fire and brimstone were materialized by god to light his alter on the Carmel.

While smoke from the Carmel still darkened the skies Elijah finds refuge in a widow's home. Although food was scarce and would not suffice even her family's apatite the kind widow offers her last loaf of bread to Elijah.

She gives to a stranger selflessly and her did is rewarded her " jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land. " (KINGS 1:17)

I am reminded of this story because one of the dead in this week's fire was a 16 year old boy with that same altruistic selfless spirit. This young man was a volunteer in Israel's fire brigades.  As news hit the waves that a fire had unleashed its flaming wrath on the pastoral communities of Mount Carmel, our protagonist dropped everything and ran to the rescue. He hoped to save the lives of strangers.

When the fire began the boy was attending his Civics lesson at school. He burst out of the classroom dramatically and headed towards the flaming horizon. This boy didn't need to attend a civics class to know what civic responsibility is all about. When he heard the call for help he felt a burning passion, a fire in his bones and in his heart and was willing to risk his life for the collective good. This type of good fire is what citizenship is all about.

In the bible, the benevolence of the gentile widow is contrasted with Israel's sinful collective and she serves as an example of a Good Samaritan. I hope young people in Israel today will remember this young fire fighter and that his flame will catch like a brush fire in all of our hearts so that we could become good smartens.

  

A Storm Over Nazareth

Storm over Nazareth

Last week in Nazareth, Israel, stormy weather approaching, an Arab Israeli citizen, Sheikh Nazem Abu Salim, the Imam of Nazareth, was arrested for inciting violence. In the backdrop a historical reconstruction of the town reminds us that Nazareth was once a Jewish city in the heart of a Roman province.

Nazareth, 1st Century AD
In those turbulent times the governing power was Rome, and the Jewish people were the ones in conflict with their government. Some Jews argued then, as this Israeli citizen argues today, that one must take arms against injustices and fight for his belief with force.
Meanwhile a Jewish boy grew up in Nazareth, and became a preacher. He preached of tolerance, of benevolence and of turning the other cheek. His name was Jesus. His crucifixion would mark the beginning of the Christian faith. Soon after, the faith was adopted by a regional empire: The Armenian Empire. The Armenian people stood fast to their faith for 18 centuries even when they were conquered by the Mongols and under Arab rule in the 13th century.
Nazareth, 19 hundreds
By World War I, the Ottoman Empire was the dominant Muslim power and it was set on destroying these ancient people. Genocide followed.
Many Armenians fled from turkey and ended up in Israel, some in Nazareth. A small community of Armenians still lives here till this day. The underground Jewish organizations, living in Palestine under Ottuman rule heard their stories of mass killings and coupled with the new laws issued for Jewish deportation they realized that the Jews might be next. This contributed to their decision to change sides and assist the British as they conquered the Middle East.
After the Second World War and the genocide perpetrated against European Jews, many Jews came to Israel.  The British, attempted to prevent the influx and fell out of favor with both Jewish and Arab residents. At the end they divided the land in accordance to its population. As Nazareth was mostly Arab it was supposed to be under Arab rule. However war broke and Israel conquered the town.

Nazareth, Today
Nazareth is a prominently Arab city and many Arab citizens don't approve of Israel. Salim is one. Salim called for a Jihad (Muslim holy war) against the state of Israel and called it Satan. He gave sermons and circulated leaflets to the worshipers at his mosque telling them to act against the state. 
There it is, a full circle. History is a storm. You may be basking in the sun one minute and shattered on the rocks the next. The question is what you do when that storm arrives.  The winds of change have put the Jewish people in power and Salim chose to fight this change with violent conviction.
The question we must ask ourselves is where history will carry Nazareth tomorrow. Where will our hometown be tomorrow? We must remember that our place may change and that our actions of violence as well as those of benevolence will become our legacy for better or worse.
What legacy do you want to leave behind ?

A Scary World and the Myth of the Lone Bomber

Bomb in Turkey! coordinated attacks in Iraq! printer-bomb found Yemen plane! Iran weapon ship stopped on its way to Africa! What a scary place our world has become.

How has this happened? Where did we go wrong?

Terrorist bombers have existed for decades. Israel used to be a focal point for fundamental Islamic terror organizations. With the birth of terror bombings a new myth emerged.

Media reported of a bomber, crazed and oppressed by the forces of occupation. This troubled soul was lead to a desperate act of violence as defiance; Whereas the bomber is perhaps reproachable, the media pleaded, his act is but a red flag to encourage us to look at his desperate cause.

This was what we would call "The Myth of the Lone Bomber". Why a myth?
As we can learn from terrorist attacks the world over this is almost never the case. Take for example the attack on Mike's Place, an Israeli Bar a few years back. This young Muslim bomber was a British college dropout who was unemployed and yes, he was desperate. However here is the route he underwent before finally committing his desperate act:

Indoctrinated in Jihadist Islamic Ideas through his local mosque, he became an activist in London. Recruited as an Islamic soldier to Bosnia fighting for the Mujahidin, he then flew to Syria, then to Pakistan for combat training, passed the border and met with Al-Qaida in Afghanistan, fought allied forces, then flew back to London and once more to Syria from which he was supposed to be taken to Iraq to combat allied forces yet again, but his mission changed and he was handed over to Hamas.

This is where his Jihadist ideology would finally be transformed into action but not before Hamas would drive him through Jordan across the border to Israel to research possible bombing targets, then invite him back to Gaza for more mental training, recording his farewell tape and receiving his already prepared trigger and explosives.

Luckily this man did not manage to carry out the attack, his bomb did not go off. His partner yet another desperate soul with a similar route was the one that ended up committing mass murder as an act of defiance in Mike's Place.
Not Exactly a one man show, is it?


What is clear from all the current events is that there is a network surrounding the bomber. The bomb itself is just the most apparent part of the network, the tip of the Iceburg.

This network provides the ideological doctrine, identifies and recruits , trains, transports, smuggles weapons and explosive, engineers the bomb, plans the route, provides documents and takes care of media relations after the attack.
Yes it is easier to recruit people who are desperate and yes the occupation is one of the reasons that a lot of people are desperate in the small Gaza strip but why are British Muslims desperate not to mention Iraqis, Saudis and Yemenites, Turks, and Kurds?

Should we look at London's underprivileged class as a breeding ground for terror because it inspires desperate bombers? We think not.

We believe that this myth of the bomber being just a symptom of desperate plight as oppose to a fanatic ideology and network of terror, rewards terror organizations such as Hamas and Hizballah and encourages them to continue utilizing terror as a means to an end.

If terror is allowed to be an effective tool to voice an opinion in Israel, than why not in Iraq or for that matter England or the United States.

At Identity Travel we encourage people to plead their case through dialogue, and to travel throughout the world, meeting other people with other views, listening and constantly reassessing their own opinions.

After all, as Mark Twain said "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness".

New Newsletter: Identity's - The Traveller

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Roman Pipedream: Letting Ideas Flow

This weekend we joined one of the tour groups on a day tour to the Alona reserve near Zichron Yaakov in Israel. It is the site of 2000 year old Roman ruins, the remains of an aqueduct system that brought water to enable the expansion in the port city Ceaseria.

At a certain point the water was transferred in underground passageways. The Romans dug piers, and connected them with caves. They calculated the angle carefully and the water ran down hill.

This is a fun little trail. We walked through cool underground caves, water up to our waist and everybody marveled at the ingenuity of Roman engineers.  After all it was a time when people believed in pagan gods and prayed to idol statues, and there in the midst of all this, mathematicians and engineers were constructing complex structures and putting the laws of physics to use for mankind.

Being students of history, we have to remind ourselves constantly that ancient people were not dumber, or primitive necessarily. In almost every possible sense, Ancient Romans, Cananites, Israelites, Babylonians and Egyptian were like us. The brain had not significantly evolved over 3 millenniums.  However, the norms, concepts, beliefs and way of life predominant in the time of the ancients were completely different in comparison with that of modern western societies. Most of the ancients, like most of us were unable to transcend their time, their world.

Looking at the current events throughout the world and specifically in Israel, We always try to keep this in mind. Israel is a micro-cosmos of a world debate about ideas on religion, society, human rights, culture and nationality. It is the kind of debate we encourage in our Educational tour.

In order to have a civilized fruitful debate it is important to remember that different societies have taken different paths and over generations had nurtured different ideas and that those ideas have become the reality for them. Yes our society is no different, and we also find it hard to transcend our "facts of life".

If we avoid labeling societies as primitive or people as evil, we can have a true exchange of ideas, a true debate and perhaps we could nurture a more collective inclusive culture. If we are not afraid to let ideas flow between us  we may be able to connect the peelers of our society like the arches of the aqueduct.  Then we may find that other people aren't all that different from us.

Economic Peace: A Tale of Two Cities

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way."

-A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens

Yes, sometimes we look from those summits in Washington to the conflict in Israel and our eyes darken and it feels like the worst of times, like we are all going to hell, Arabs, Jews and all the rest. However there are places where we feel it is the best of times, an epoch of belief with  everything before us.  One such place is Rawabi.



Rawabi 3D illustration



Rawabi is a new city to be constructed by Palestinians for Palestinians outside of Ramallah. The new venture is one of hope, forward looking sentiments of a bright tomorrow. Colorful  3D animations already display the bustling city streets, green parks and historic view while the founders promise high education, ample business and employment opportunities. A pink vision for the future Palestine.



What do the Israeli's say about all this?  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he supports Rawabi's construction. Going back to 2008 Netanyahu said "We must weave an economic peace alongside a political process, that means that we have to strengthen the moderate parts of the Palestinian economy by encouraging rapid growth in those area, growth that gives a stake for peace for the ordinary Palestinians."



Not very far away are our headquarters in a city named Modiin. Modiin had quite similar beginnings. It is a modern planned city with the highest environmental standards of urban planning and a design for future growth. The city rose from nothing in 1993 and today is home to approximately 80,000 people.



Modiin, Israel



As Jerusalem became more orthodox and hard-lined many of its Jewish moderate communities moved to Modiin. And I wonder whether Rawabi would be an escape for the moderate Palestinian, an oasis of economic peace in the midst of political turmoil.





Moderation is profoundly simpler when the fundamental elements of life such as education, employment and community are provided for. Luckily moderate people have a tendency to build and innovate. So in Israel and in Palestine moderate people will continue to build cities where they can nurture their peaceful way of life and where they will feel at home.   

The Great Iranian Leader or Honestly, Who Throws a Rock?

As Iran's President tours Lebanon heading to the Israeli border to ceremoniously through a stone at what he refers to as "the evil Zionist regime" I reminisce on the days of Ancient Persia and its King Cyrus.

The empire over which Cyrus ruled was the largest the Ancient World had ever seen and may be to this day the largest empire ever. The image of Cyrus has survived throughout history as more than a great man who founded an empire, but as a conqueror that was tolerant, benevolent and magnanimous.
Perhaps some of the positive sentiments that we have for this king were seeded when he ended the Babylonian Exile and let the Jews return to their conquered home land.

Today Persia is no longer the crown jewel of the world, but its leadership is still striving to hold influence over the entire region. It does so by supporting militias in Lebanon and Palestine, by providing oil to Russia, strengthening relations with Syria, Turkey and of late Colombia and it is aggressively pursuing nuclear capabilities.

Whether their endeavor will bare fruit is still unknown. But the interesting question is what type of Middle East is Iran promoting. What cultural contribution will they have? what would be inscribed in history as Iran's cultural legacy? 

Women in chādors  (a cloak covering  the body and head) , totalitarian government systems,  fundamentalist religious rule and persecution, weapons of mass destruction (like those used in the 80's during the Iran-Iraq War).

Perhaps Iran would be forgotten but its leader remembered for eternity as a heroic figure who threw a stone over a fence at his enemy?

Tolerance, Benevolence… these attributes belong to Ancient Persia and have been lost in the sands of time. I doubt King Cyrus would have condoned a petty symbolic action such as that of Ahmadinejad, because King Cyrus was indeed a great leader.  His greatness as a ruler was an extension of his character as a man, a great man to be favorably remembered over millennia.