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Travel information Palestine.

Bethlehem, Gaza City, Gaza Strip - Qita Ghazzah, Hebron, Jericho, Jerusalem, Nablus, Ram Allah, West Bank.

Deir Rafat, Tulul Abul Alayiq, Herodion Jericho

The State of Palestine is not currently recognized by the United Nations or by any Cold-War-era NATO country.


hostels, hotels & inns, travel agency, travel guides, transportation / how to get to palestine

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Hotels in Palestine

 Al-Cazar
 American Colony Hotel
 Capitolina Hotel, Ramallah
 Commodore Hotel
 Jerusalem Hotel
 Mount of Olives Hotel
 Panorama Hotel
 Piligrims Inn
 Nativity Hotel
 St.Gabriel hotel
 Ramallah Grand Park 
 Srouji

 

 
Centrally located hotels ranging from small family run budget accommodation to world-class five star hotels.

Travel Agents / Tour Operators

 
Create your trip to Palestine - Flight, Hotel and Car



 Tours Nazarene Tours, Ramallah

Travel Guides Palestine / Related Books

Israel and the Palestinian Territories: The Rough Guide -  Shirley Eber, Kevin O'Sullivan, Daniel Jacobs (Editor)
... Positioned uniquely between Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and at the centre of three major monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - the Holy Land has been fought over since biblical times. Given its extraordinary significance, it often comes as a surprise, therefore, to learn that what is now Israel and the Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip together take up an area only one and a half times the size of Wales or slightly larger than the state of Maryland, and contain a tiny, yet fractious, population of just 5.5 million.
Packed into this small region is an astonishing range of scenery: from the sandy beaches of the Mediterranean coastal strip, inland to the green valleys of the Galilee and goat-tracked, olive-groved hills of the West Bank - largely unchanged backdrops to many biblical events; from the towering, snowcapped peak of Mount Hermon northeast in the Golan Heights, south to the Dead Sea - the lowest point on earth - and the lunar landscapes of the Negev desert, at whose southernmost tip lie the spectacular coral reefs of the Red Sea. It's home too, to some of the world's holiest sites; visiting them and the abundant historic monuments to its troubled past, you'll be walking in the footsteps of David and Solomon, of Jesus and Mohammed, and of the numerous armies - Roman, Crusader and otherwise - who have conquered the region. Add to the pot a handful of vibrant cities - primarily cosmopolitan Tel Aviv and the holy city of Jerusalem - and you have an unrivalled density and variety of things to see, often only a couple of hours apart....
Paperback 560 pages (December 1998); Publisher: Rough Guides; Language: English; ISBN: 1858282489.
Blue Guide Israel and the Palestinian Territories -  Kay Prag
Includes hotel and restaurant listings, provides a wide selection of maps, site plans and ground plans. The guide details Jerusalem, one of the great cities of the world, and each section on the rest of the area is divided geographically and along political zones.
Paperback 480 pages (March 29, 2002); Publisher: A & C Black (Blue Guides); Language: English; ISBN: 0713648449

Transportation / How do I travel to Palestine

 Tel Aviv Airport in Israel
 Amman Airport in Jordan
 Cairo Airport in Egypt

 Maps International  -   
Mapsinternational.co.uk is one of the largest map shops online.
 Online Maps of Palestine [ Uni Texas - Perry-Castañeda Library - Map Collection ]


Links 

 Travel Insurance  -  online travel and holiday insurance for UK and Irish residents

 Tourism Palestine
 Visit Palestine

 Palestinian National Authority

 Bethlehem  -  City of Bethelehem
Bethlehem is among the first towns in Palestine to have a municipal council. The elections to this Council took place for the first time in 1876. In that year, the seven quarters of Bethlehem ('Anatrah, Farahiyyah, al -Najajrah al-Qawawseh, al-Fawaghreh, al-Tarajmah, al-Hraizat and the Syriac) elected the first local council which consisted of seven persons representing all quarters.
 Gaza City
 Gaza Strip  -  Qita Ghazzah
The Gaza Strip is a narrow strip of land just northeast of the Sinai Peninsula
 Hebron
 Jericho
 Jerusalem
 Nabulus
 Ram Allah
 West Bank

 Bible Places  -  Bethlehem
 Deir Rafat
The importance of the site of the convent of Deir Rafat is attributed to old Christian writings on the life of the Virgin Mary. There are many sites in Palestine that recall the Virgin Mary's life, such as Nazareth, Ein Karem and Bethlehem, but Deir Rafat mentions all the secrets of the Virgin Mary's life.
Deir Rafat is located some 30 km off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, on a hilly area overlooking the Soreq valley. The area became accessible with the construction of railroad tracks from Jerusalem to the coastal plain during the Ottoman rule. The land for the convent was acquired in 1855 but the Latin Patriarchate was not able to register it in its name due to an Ottoman law at the time that forbade this. It was only after the end of the Ottoman rule in Palestine that the Patriarchate was able to do so.
The construction of the convent started in 1925 and Don Maurizio Gisler, a Benedictine monk and one of the most famous architects at the time, was commissioned for building the convent and orphanage.
In addition to being a place of pilgrimage, Deir Rafat also became a place of retreat for the clergy and a summer vacation spot for the students of the clerical institute of the Latin Patriarchate.
The orphanage ceased its operations in 1940, during World War II. In its place now stands a boarding school for needy girls.
 Tulul Abul Alayiq  -  Herodion Jericho
The settlement remains were uncovered along Wadi Qelt, among them aqueducts, pools and a mound.
The intensive excavations carried on this mound since 1973 have produced new information about the Second Temple period in Jericho. The most important discoveries are the winter resort of the Hasmonean and Herodian rulers who resided in Jerusalem. During the Second Temple period, the city's houses extended throughout the entire valley of Jericho, which received its water supply from the nearby springs. The location of the winter palaces in the western part of the valley was apparently chosen because of its proximity to Jerusalem. The palaces were defended by some forts built over the city.
Herod's three palaces in Jericho are seen as a single unit divided into stages: all three palaces probably coexisted in the last years of the reign of Herod. The first was apparently built when Cleopatra of Egypt was still the ruler of Jericho (35-30 BC). After the earthquake of 31 BC and the death of Cleopatra, Herod built his second palace on the Hasmonean Palace (30-25 BC). The third palace is dated to 15-10 BC and could perhaps be associated with Agrippa's visit to Palestine in 15 BC.

 Nazareth 2000 
 Palestine Chronicle
iInternet magazine, dedicated to addressing issues and offering perspectives rarely seen in mainstream western media. These issues include the plight and welfare of Palestinian refugees, as well as other displaced and oppressed people around the world.
 Palestine Daily
 Palestine Information Center
 UN  -  Question of Palestine

Cuisine  -  Palestinian cooking

The Palestinian kitchen forms part of the "Greater Syrian" kitchen, bearing a lot of resemblance to Lebanese, Syrian and Jordanian cuisines, but it has a distinctive taste of its own. The distinguishing Palestinian flavour is the sour taste that comes from lemon, pomegranate juice, or yoghurt. In addition to summac, the other herbs used are thyme, mint, basil and rosemary. These combine to create sweet-sour and bitter-sour dishes that are purely Palestinian [ according to Sufian Mustafa, a chef who wrote in The Jerusalem ].

Classic Palestinian Cookery -  Christiane Dabdoub Nasser
This cookbook features a rich variety of dishes characteristic of the eastern regions of the Mediterranean and their culinary cultures. It is a collection of over 100 recipes - salads, soups, one-dish meals, stews and desserts - which represent traditional Palestinian cooking but also expose possibilities for a wider and more eclectic cuisine. This is also a contemporary cookery book, aware of the need for more health-oriented and less time-consuming recipes while preserving the heritage handed down through the generations. The culinary experience is enriched by the incorporation of anecdotes, excerpts and illustrations of cultural and celebratory traditions from diverse groups, both Christian and Muslim, mostly from the Bethlehem area, but also from different regions of Palestine.
Paperback 224 pages (October 1, 2000); Publisher: Saqi Books; Language: English; ISBN: 0863565484
Taste of Palestine: Menus and Memories by Aziz Shihab, Jean Rosow [ Illustrator ]. Paperback - March 1993.
The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos. ASIN: 0804819823

History of Palestine

 Question of Palestine  -  UN website
History of the Palestine question, The issues [ glossary ], Chronological review of events relating to the question of Palestine, Map collection, The Question of Palestine and the United Nations, and much more
 History of Palestine  -  WWW Virtual Library
A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples -  Ilan Pappe
Ilan Pappe's book is the story of Palestine, a land inhabited by two peoples, and two national identities. It begins with the Ottomans in the early 1800s, the reign of Muhammad Ali, and traces a path through the arrival of the early Zionists at the end of that century, through the British mandate at the beginning of the twentieth century, the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, and the subsequent wars and conflicts which culminated in the intifadas of 1987 and 2000. While these events provide the background to the narrative and explain the construction of Zionist and Palestinian nationalism, at center stage are those who lived through these times, men and women, children, peasants, workers, town-dwellers, Jews and Arabs. It is a story of coexistence and cooperation, as well as oppression, occupation, and exile. Ilan Pappe is well known as a revisionist historian of Palestine and a political commentator on the Israel-Palestine conflict. His book is a unique contribution to the history of this troubled land which all those concerned with developments is the Middle East will be compelled to read. Ilan Pappe teaches politics at Haifa University in Israel. He has written extensively on the politics of the Middle East, and is well known for his revisionist interpretation of Israel's past and as a critic of Israel's policies towards the Palestinians. His books include The Making of the Arab -Israeli Conflict, 1947-1951 (Taurlls, 1992) and The Israeli-Palestine Question (Routledge, 1999).
Paperback 333 pages (November 3, 2003); Publisher: Cambridge University Press; Language: English; ISBN: 0521556325
 Palestine History  -  website van Esam Shashaa
Photo Gallery, Intifada, Cities: West Bank | Jerusalem | Hebron | Bethlehem | Jericho | Nabulus | Ram Allah | Gaza Strip | Gaza City | Palestine Flag and Anthem and more
In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story - Ghada Karmi
Another explosion. The taxi started to move off. But through the back window, a terrible sight which only she could see. Rex had somehow got out, was standing in the middle of the road. He was still and silent, staring after their retreating car, his tail stiff, his ears pointing forward. With utter clarity, the little girl saw in that moment that he knew what she knew, that they would never meet again An intimate and personal narrative of the devastating effect of the events of 1948 on one nine-year old Arab girl whose family was forced to leave all that they held dear; their affluent home in Jerusalem, the family dog Rex, and their beloved servant Fatima. Suddenly they were refugees, living in Golders Green - ironically the Jewish area of London - where Ghada grew up feeling displaced, frustrated and lonely, feelings that eventually contributed to her politicisation.
Paperback 451 pages (April 21, 2004); Publisher: Verso Books; Language: English; ISBN: 1859845614

Music  -  Palestinian music / Culture & Entertainment

I Saw Ramallah -  Mourid Barghouti, Ahdaf Soueif
In 1966, the Palestinian poet Mourid Barghouti, then 22, left his country to return to university in Cairo. A year later came the Six Day War and Barghouti, like many Palestinians living abroad, was denied entry into his homeland. 30 years later, he was finally allowed to visit Ramallah, the city he had grown up in. A rickety wooden bridge over a dried up river connects the West Bank to Jordan. It is the very same bridge Barghouti had crossed little knowing that he would not be able to return. "I Saw Ramallah", his beautiful account of homecoming, begins at this crossing, filled with its ironies and heartaches. In half bemusement, half joy, Barghouti journeys through Ramallah, keenly aware that the city he had left barely resembles the present-day city scarred by the Occupation - and he discovers in this displacement, that the events of 1967 have made him permanently homeless. Lyrical and impassioned, "I Saw Ramallah" is a profound reflection and lamentation on the conditions of exile.
Hardcover 208 pages (March 1, 2004); Publisher: Bloomsbury; Language: English; ISBN: 0747569274
 Reem Kelani
 Zaghareed: Music From The Palestinian Holy Land by El-Funoun. ASIN: B00000I0E7
Since 1979 this intrepid troupe of singers, musicians, and dancers has worked to revive the folk music of Palestine. Far from being a dry academic exercise, El-Funoun have become a vital part of the cultural identity of the Palestinian people. Zaghareed is a concept album based on the music played during a traditional wedding ceremony. It subtly challenges the traditions of arranged marriages and of the woman's place in society, within a context of beautifully played Arabic music. Instrumental pieces feature qanun, oud, buzuq, flutes, and reed instruments, and various percussion. The vocal songs join the voices of women and men, at times singing in contrast to one another, at others raising their voices in unity, celebration, and perseverance. -- Jeff Grubb, editorial review Amazon.com
 
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