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Length: 3 hours (Jerusalem departures)
Departing Ra'anana at: 7.00am (07.00)
Departing Jerusalem at: 8.30am (08.30)
Departing Kalandia Checkpoint: 9.00am (09.00)
Departure Locations:
Ra'anana-Yad Lebanim (bus stop on Ahuza Street)
Jerusalem-Olive Tree Hotel
Kalandia Checkpoint (Jerusalem side)
Cost: Shekels NIS 170
Learn about the facts on the ground in East Jerusalem. Visit settlements and Palestinian neighborhoods. This tour is intended for anyone interested in expanding their knowledge of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, to go a little beyond the 'Them and Us' discourse, and to learn from a guide who has in-depth knowledge of the issues and an alternative perspective. The tour includes a coffee break with an in-depth briefing illustrated with maps.Participants from Ra'anana receive an added bonus of a tour en-route to Jerusalem via route 443 past Modiin where the road enters the West Bank and becomes 'Israeli Only'. After picking up the participants in Jerusalem. The tour travels up the seam line road dividing east and west Jerusalem, past the settlement neighborhood of French Hill, turning onto Route 1 then back along a segment of route 443, passing several settlements. Route 443 slices through the western side of the Palestinian Beit Hanina neighborhood where house demolitions are a common occurrence. Passing the main checkpoint into Jerusalem the tour continues to pick up additional participants from Ramallah at the forbidding Kalandia Checkpoint, the only 'legal' way that Palestinians with permits can enter Jerusalem. The adjacent 8-meter high concrete separation barrier divides the neighborhoods or Kufr Akab and Ar-Ram which are part of the Jerusalem municipality.
From there the bus travels through the Palestinian neighborhoods of Ar-Ram and Beit Hanina to the largest Jerusalem settlement, Pizgat Za'ev. There is a brief stop at the Palestinian village of Anata surrounded by the Wall, to view the 'Fabric of Life' (Arabs only) roads being built. From there the tour continues to a cafe on Route 1 where the half-hour briefing will be conducted. We will then drive through Ma'aleh Adumim, one of the largest settlements (pop. 35,000) in the West Bank, visit the outlying outposts of the town, and learn about the displacement of the local Jahalin Bedouin.
From there the tour returns towards Jerusalem on Route 1 seeing the segregated Palestinian roads that eventually will enable the Israeli government to deny access to the 'Israeli only' settler roads. We will travel to the southern part of Jerusalem to the settlement of Har Homa, a strategic community which straddles a hill between the Palestinian villages of Sur Bahair and Beit Sahour, thwarting any expansion.
Throughout the tour your guide will give descriptions and analysis of the impact of the Jewish settlements on the nearby Palestinian neighborhoods, and place the discourse within the context of the re-framing briefing provided during the first part of the tour.
There will be opportunities for questions and discussion during the tour. Be prepared for many of your preconceptions about the conflict to be challenged.
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