T R AV E L E R F AV O R I T E
T H E H O LY L A N D : P A S T, P R E S E N T, A N D F U T U R E
• Hear a unique dual narrative on history and current events from Israeli and Palestinian guides. • Explore ancient Caesarea Maritima with National Geographic Explorer Beverly Goodman. • Meet Israeli and Palestinian politicians for an insider’s view of the Israel-Palestine conflict.
join a local pastor at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, home to the tomb of Jesus, according to tradition. Ascend the Mount of Olives, and take in a panoramic view of the domes, spires, and golden stones of Jerusalem’s old city. American Colony Hotel | Meals: 1B, 1L, 1D DAY 3 I JERUSALEM Venture into the ruins of the City of David and speak with its Israeli administrators, then meet residents of the nearby Palestinian neighborhood who oppose the excavations. Get an insider’s perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from an Israeli politician, and travel to Ramallah for the rare opportunity of hearing from a high-ranking Palestinian Authority official. American Colony Hotel | Meals: 1B, 1L DAY 1 I TEL AVIV, ISRAEL/JERUSALEM Arrive in Tel Aviv and transfer to Jerusalem. Relax at the hotel before our reception and welcome dinner tonight. American Colony Hotel | Meals: 1D DAY 2 I JERUSALEM Begin the day on the Temple Mount, capped by the shining cupola of the Dome of the Rock. Speak with an imam from the Al-Aqsa Mosque, then meet a rabbi at the Western Wall. Later,
DAY 4 I JERUSALEM Trace the turbulent history of the birth of the state of Israel. Meet with a Holocaust survivor at the moving Holocaust memorial of Yad Vashem, then travel to Ein Kerem, where Christian tradition says John the Baptist was born. Hear our Israeli and Palestinian guides tell their divergent narratives of the village’s role in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Tonight, gather for a discussion with Israeli and Palestinian peace activists from the Bereaved Families Forum. American Colony Hotel | Meals: 1B, 1D
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DAY 5 I BETHLEHEM AND THE WEST BANK Travel to the Gush Etzion settlement bloc to hear the viewpoints of Israeli settlers. Continue to Bethlehem and visit Manger Square; then, at the Church of the Nativity, descend into the cave revered by many as the birthplace of Jesus. Walk through a nearby Palestinian refugee camp, and learn how murals and graffiti have been used to depict the refugees’ struggles. Stop at Herodion, a volcano-shaped hill and fortress built by Herod the Great. Over dinner, take in a musical performance by a group of Israeli and Palestinian musicians. American Colony Hotel | Meals: 1B, 1L, 1D DAY 6 I JERUSALEM/JERICHO/DEAD SEA Meet with an environmentalist from Friends of the Earth Middle East, whose efforts to foster Arab-Jewish cooperation through environmental stewardship were featured in the special April 2010 “Water” issue of National Geographic magazine. View the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Israel Museum, then drive down through the Judean Desert to Jericho to visit the archaeological site of Tel Jericho. Settle into our hotel, located in the Ein Gedi kibbutz on the shores of the Dead Sea, and learn about the kibbutz movement. Enjoy time on your own to float in the Dead Sea, stroll the hotel’s botanical
Clockwise from above: Two of the Holy Land’s most sacred sites, the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall, shimmer as evening descends on Old Jerusalem; Hasidic Jewish men gather in prayer at the Western Wall; salt sediments accumulate in the hypersaline waters of the Dead Sea; a boat awaits its next voyage on the Sea of Galilee.
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