“Well it’s the same room but everything’s different; you could fight the sleep but not the dream” – Neil Finn.
Backpacking in Hebron, Palestine: 2 sides to the same city.
I loved touring Palestine and Israel a few months back and having been interested in the political situation there for a long time, I headed to the city of Hebron. Hebron has for many years been a “flashpoint area” in the Israeli- Palestine conflict. My day tour was expertly organised by Abraham Tours and we arrived in Hebron by bus. We had the added benefit of getting a tour of the H1 Palestinian Side in the morning, with a Palestinian guy. Then after lunch we got a tour of the H2 Israeli controlled Side in the afternoon, with a Jewish Israeli guy.
Touring H1 and H2 both the Israeli and Palestinian Controlled Parts of Hebron, Palestine
I have a ton more stories to come on both Israel and Palestine, just not the time at present to get them all written up and posted due to ongoing backpacking and horrendous internet in Iran. But I have written a cool article on my visit to Hebron for Lisa and George, who run the excellent site We Said Go Travel.
You can view the entire article here, hope you like it: Both Sides of the Hebron Divide.
Backpacking in Hebron – H2 the Israeli Side
Wow, that by far is the greatest blog entry you wrote (RE: Hebron). I can’t (but I can) believe the nerve of those people being so rude and disrespectful in the Mosque. How comparable was this situation to the one you experienced growing up in Northern Ireland? Or is there really no comparison here?
Thanks Ray – ironic that it’s not even on my own blog then isn’t it!? But I will get a report up on Dont Stop Living on this tour as well at some point. I was gutted at the rude gesture in the Mosque – apparently that rarely happens by the way – we just caught it that day. The situation is similar – divided streets and walls, but the Palestinians are hemmed in here and have no freedom at all – everyone in Northern Ireland has a bit more freedom than that. Safe travels. Jonny