Tourism Activities in Palestine
TourismScan
Tourism Events in Palestine
Ecumenical Coalition on Tourism strongly supports all activities which help to promote and better understand Palestine and its people. In this edition of Contours we would like to bring to your attention the series of events taking place in Palestine and the Holy Land in 2011.
• The Nativity Trail
The Siraj Centre and the Alternative Tourism Group invite you to take a part in an extraordinary adventure. For twenty centuries, people have been telling the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. People of all faiths can identify with the young mother-to-be, Mary, traveling by donkey with her husband Joseph, all the way from the village of Nazareth in Galilee to a distant town - a journey of many long days and nights.
Now, 2000 years later, the modern-day city of Bethlehem - home of the Millennium - invites you to make a symbolic and historic journey commemorating that event by walking Palestine's Nativity Trail.
Walking the Nativity Trail will be an opportunity to meet a diverse range of people: Franciscan priests on Mount Tabor, Muslim clerics at village mosques, Greek Orthodox monks in desert monasteries, hillside farmers and their families, small-town shopkeepers and craftspeople, Bedouin shepherds watering their flocks at ancient cisterns, and many more interesting people (visit www.atg.ps or www.sirajcenter for more information).
• The Palestinian Summer Celebration 2011
The Siraj Center in Bethlehem invites you to come and celebrate Palestine! The Palestinian Summer Celebration is a unique annual program that gives people from all over the world the chance to encounter the life, culture, and politics of Palestine. Learn Arabic and study Palestinian history at Bethlehem University, spend time with local families and volunteer with a community organization (visit www.sirajcenter.org for more information)
• Inter-religious and Inter-cultural Explorations of the Holy Land 2011
Participants in this tour will explore the religious diversity and cultural richness of Israel and Palestine. We will investigate holy sites, listen to devotees, observe religious practices, delve into group beliefs and values, and ponder the religious experiences of the peoples of Israel and Palestine. Special attention will be given to the diversity of Jewish life, the vibrancy of Islam, and a selection of the indigenous Christian communities of Israel and Palestine (visit www.sirajcenter.org for more information).
• Abraham’s Path-Reconnecting the Human Family Step by Step
The Abraham’s path offers the travelers a rare opportunity to go beyond the stereotypes and the headlines, to get away from the conventional Holy land itineraries, and to explore for themselves the remarkable landscape, people and culture of Palestine (visit www.abrahampath.org for more information)
• Visit www.walkpalestine.com and www.bikepalestine.com regularly to keep up to date with various hiking and cycling trips in Palestine!
'Tourism can foster spiritual and cultural respect amongst peoples, while creating economic benefit to disadvantaged populations'.
Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary General
Regards,