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Every Thursday Make a Reservation
Departure time: 8am (08.00)
Return: 4pm (16.00)
Departure location: Olive Tree Hotel, Jerusalem
Cost: Shekels NIS 295
not including lunch, entrance fees
or cable car to Mount of Temptation.
This fascinating tour visits Jericho and areas of East Jerusalem intended to become part of the Palestinian State, and rarely visited by tourists. On the trip to Jericho you'll see checkpoints, sections of the Separation WALL, and Ma'ale Adumum, one of the largest settlements in the West Bank. In Jericho you'll pass the luxurious Casino/hotel built by President Arafat, and visit a refugee camp across the street. Then on to the ancient excavated city, and the monastery on the Mount of Temptation with an incredible panoramic view of the Jordan Valley.
Jericho is one of the oldest excavated cities on the planet, dating back over 10,000 years. The local springs created an oasis in the otherwise arid Jordan Valley, and formed the basis for the successive settlements there. Modern Jericho is a sleepy town of about 15,000 people, and an outpost of the Palestinian Authority within an area over which Israel maintains firm control.
After leaving Jericho you'll head back up the hills towards Jerusalem and enter the Palestinian area of Azariya, on the Palestinian side of the Separation Barrier. You'll see daily life and historical sites in East Sawahreh, Jabel al-Mukaber, Abu Dis, and Bethany. There will be an opportunity to see the unfinished Palestinian Parliament building, Lazarus Tomb, the church at Bethany, and the Mount of Olives terminal - the only legal way for local Palestinians with permits to enter Jerusalem.
The tour includes an overview of the situation in Azariyah and Abu Dis, including discussion of the new Palestinian roads being built by Israel that will foreclose the possibility of efficient transport or territorial contiguity between the Southern and Northern West Bank. You will visit the 'Container Checkpoint', the only 'legal' passage for Palestinians between the North and South West bank.
The differences between the lives of Israelis in the settlement of Ma'ale Adimum and the adjacent Palestinian areas will be apparent, and the plight of the Jahalin Bedouin will be explored. The Jahalin lost most of their land to Ma'ale Adimum and today live a precarious existence in ramshackle 'unrecognized' villages constantly under threat of home demolitions and renewed evictions by the Israeli authorities.
You will return to Jerusalem on Palestinian public transport to Damascus Gate of the Old City.
