Jerusalem – Travelscribe

I was very pleased to be asked by TIME Magazine to write a piece on Christmas in the Holy Land (Palestine and Israel), based on interviews with prominent citizens there. My priority was to talk to people representing the three Abrahamic faiths, each of whom in some capacity work at bringing the different religions and communities together.

After much research and avid networking I managed to find five such individuals, from Nazareth (in Israel) and Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Ramallah (in Palestine) including the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, and the first female mayor of Bethlehem, Vera Baboun, who were kind enough to give me some of their precious time despite being hugely busy with national and international commitments. I really hope you enjoy reading their thoughts.

And here’s the PDF version, which has better photos.

Sunset in Bethlehem 3 — Sunset in Bethlehem, from the roof of the convent of Brigettine Sisters
© Gail Simmons

This is (probably) my last post of 2011. It’s been an eventful year – uprisings and revolutions in the Middle East have brought many frustrations – but also new opportunities. As well as writing purely about travel I have branched out into more in-depth features: trying to tell the stories behind the news. One of the stories I heard is that of an old Bedouin sheikh who I met in the desert, near Jerusalem in Palestine. He hosted me overnight in his goat-hair tent, and recounted memories from his childhood over sweet tea and bitter coffee. When he dies, a whole way of life will die with him, as the Bedouin are being ‘resettled’ – not only in Palestine, but throughout much of the Middle East. Here, in 500 words, is his story.