Fantastic Destiny

World Traveling News

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Two more faces of Palestine: the capital and a small town with no major landmarks from antiquity

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I still have one-and-a-half days of touring to report on. Re-entry from this trip has been tough, and I think that my brain is still half-way across the Atlantic. But on this Fourth of July, as the United States celebrates it independence from England, I keeping thinking about the Palestinians and their struggle for their own independence. Colonial patriots fought against the Redcoats, a superior fighting force but one that represented a government an ocean away. The English would have described General George Washington’s ragtag forces as “insurgents,” even “terrorists,” if those words had been part of the 18th century vocabulary. But they prevailed, and 234 years later, America still celebrates July 4 as a day of freedom and liberation.

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Wadi Qilt, a final desert drive and the last checkpoint into Jerusalem

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Wadi Qilt, a final desert drive and the last checkpoint into Jerusalem

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Jericho and the Dead Sea: Palestine’s hot pocket

Before this day, I had never heard of the Umayyad people, let along of Caliph Hisham bin AbdulMalek, whose empire stretched from the Pyrenees to India some 14 centuries ago. The palace was destroyed — not by a marching army like like the Jericho city walls, but by an earthquake. Today. the sprawling palace ruins just north of Jericho contain pillars, walls, mosaics and the stone frame of onelovely reassembled quatrefoil window said to have inspired shape of the rose windows in French cathedrals. A small museum holds artifacts unearthed at the site.


Jericho Resort Village, where we had lunch, is a luxury property by any standard — at least judging from the immaculate lobby with.polished stone and gleaming woodwork. Simon Awad of the Environmental Education Centre gave a presentation about threats to wildlife in Palestine, where he said that 537 bird species, 110 mammals and 2,953 plant species have been recorded — not really surprising  since it lies at the junction of Africa, Asia and Europe. It is a migration corridor for some 500 birds and habitat to indigenous species and winter visitors. Habitat is continually threatened by dwindling water flow in the Jordan River Valley and Israel’s practice of burning bushes that provide food and protection for the birds in the name of security.


It is therefore not surprising that environmental awareness is not a Palestinian priority. EEC is seeking to correct that with awareness-raising among Palestinians, youth education, community activities and hopefully  a growth in eco-tourism. Symbolic of the political problems that impact the environment is that when Israel sought to designate the Palestine sunbird as its national bird, it had to be pointed out that it was already the official bird of Palestine. It seems that Israel wants everything that would be Palestine’s: as much of its land as it can pepper with settlements, control of its water, control of the Palestinian people to move about their land — and now, their national bird.


Lunch was served in a large swimming-pool-view dining room, where an formal white-draped U-shaped table had been set up as if for a wedding party. The salads, as the regular array of dips, spreads and cold vegetables are called, were followed by two imposing pilafs, one with eggplant and one with cauliflower plus chicken or lamb.


In the afternoon, first toured the excavations of ancient Jericho, built in a spring-fed oasis in the desert. we went for a dip in the Dead Sea, stopping en route to Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the winter of 1946-47 by two Bedouins. I can’t tell you the name of the facility that we used for our dip into the saltiest, lowest-elevation lake on earth, but it included a shaded lawn, changing rooms, indoor and outdoor showers, snack bar and wooden pier leading out to the warm salty, mineral-laden water. It’s a kick to just float in this remarkable sea, but I was mindful of the terrible degradation it has suffered. With less Jordan River water to replenish it, the sea has shrunk. The water level has reportedly been dropping three feet  per year and also shrinking in surface area, causing sinkholes to appear along its banks. Mining and extractive uses, ssewage and effluent from fish farms further degrade the lake. While Dead Sea water and mud havetherapeutic effects, there’s nothing healthy about the crud allowed to flow into it. Since it is located between Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian controlled land, hopes of mitigating the environmental crisis are slim.

For dinner, we rode six-passenger gondola cars from a bottom station next to the old Jericho archaeological site to a stony shelf high on Mt. Temptation, where Jesus is said to have fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. We didn’t fast but feasted on the terrace of a multi-level restaurant, cafe and row up small shops set into caves in the cliff. A monastery also occupies the shelf, but it was not open when we arrived. We watched the sunset and the full or nearly-full moon rise.

We overnighted at the InterContinental Jericho, the best hotel of the entire trip — including the InterContinental Bethlehem where we stayed at the beginning. Stunning woodwork, attractive public spaces and really nice guest rooms made this a traveler’s oasis in a geographic oasis. Oh, to have had a half-day of downt-time there! Read the rest of this entry »

From the lush Galilee to the parched Negev Desert

Galilee is the name of a huge lake and lush agricultural area in northern Israel and Palestine. It and the Jordan River Valley are the two nation’s breadbasket. Olive trees grown in dry, rocky soil, but just about everything else grows in the Galilee. Christian pilgrims head for the Church of Beaitudes, an octagonal church set amid beautifully landscaped grounds on the north end of the lake. This enchanting locale was were Jesus is said to have givwn the Sermon on the Mount, Nearby, in the fshing village of Cana, he performed the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes.

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