Land of Milk and Honey

During the summer i had the pleasure of travelling around Israel. It's an incredibly beautiful country and one of those rare places of living history, where you're surrounded by streets and buildings which are thousands of years old. I have to say that it is the nicest, friendliest, and most inspiring country i have had the luck of visiting. We even ventured into the borders of Syria and Lebanon during our travels, at one point parking next to a sign warning of "military fire" and climbing an abandoned, bombed mosque.

I was desperate to go back this summer but unfortunately, the political situation in Israel means it is not currently an ideal holiday destination. The Government website warns that "there is a general threat of terrorism", and to stay away from Gaza, the border of Lebanon, and the entire West Bank. Most disconcertingly for a would be tourist it is warning to be incredibly vigilant in the Old City of Jerusalem, a city which i loved during my visit, due to the recent unrest.

It is not suprising that there are currently Government warnings on travel to Israel, with the unrest on temple mount, and most recently Israeli air strikes into Lebanon, it is not difficult to foresee the situation getting worse in the very near future.

Moreover, on Monday Israel signed into law a Bill which legally distinguishes between Christians and Arabs. This demonstrates, the continued religious and cultural tension in the country. This Bill is particularly troubling for a human rights activist as it suggests that your religion can de-certify you from being a race. Why is an Arab only allowed to be a part of the culture if they are a Muslim and not a Christian? It is the start of a slippery slope if we can start picking and choosing the members of our race as a result of their religion; is that not how the holocaust started?

Surprisingly, it was Christians who largely supported this bill believing it would increase their employment opportunities and wanting to be "recognized without being lumped together with any Arab party".  The Bill was interestingly opposed by the majority of Muslims in Israel who argued that it undermined the Arab culture within Israel. Regardless of which group was advocating this bill, it is still another form of segregation to divide the country rather than uniting the cultural groups.

Israel is currently a country with ever increasing cultural strife and the growing threat of war with Lebanon. Moreover, there is a general danger of terrorism which means that no part of the country is currently safe. However, one should not discount future travel to Israel when it is safer. It is a country that you cannot help but fall in love with. Furthermore, the people there, both Palestinian and Israel, are some of the friendliest and most accommodating people in the world, to tourists that is.

My thoughts and prayers are with the country that things might settle back down to security again in the near future.

Sources:

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24463/Default.aspx?hp=article_title
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26332089