These websites were recommended to me by Angela Godfrey-Goldstein from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. She is a veritable fountain of knowledge on Israel/Palestine situation, something she has dedicated her life to, and I know that she would be grateful that I have shared these sources of information with you.

So, Angela recommends:

www.peacenow.org.il – Angela also particularly pointed out the articles and speeches section of the website, which contains some brilliant information and informed writing

www.ir-amim.org.il – particularly good for information about Jerusalem and the Jerusalem divide

www.ochaopt.org – the UN Occupied Palestinian Territories website. The maps on this website are undoubtedly the best available

www.arij.org – the website of the Applied research Institute. The ‘Eye on Palestine‘ section gives updates on new physical developments – e.g. new settlements being built, new checkpoints installed, new sections of wall being built etc

www.btselem.org – a human rights based information centre with regular updates, similar to Eye on Palestine but with a human rights basis

www.fmep.org – the foundation for Middle East Peace. The maps on this website are also particularly good

http://www.nad-plo.org/ – the Negotiations Affairs Department of the PLO.Great for information and quotes, as well as a database of Frequently Requested Documents

www.icahd.org – the website of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Home of physical information and updates, maps and project information. Particularly useful with relation to house demolitions

A large number of those are .il Israeli websites. Please note that they are not all “leftist extremists” with “warped viewpoints”, most of them are Israeli citizens who disagree with the occupation and its methods.

I hope that you have picked up something from this computerised jotting pad, I think that I have certainly gained some more insights personally from writing it.

Now I understand that the politics of the Middle East is difficult to comprehend, especially when you haven’t visited the places, and I hope that I have been able to explain some of what I understand from what I have seen. I have visited Israel a number of times, and i have gained a little more insight each time, although I would certainly not say that I am an expert, and my understanding is not perfect. That said, if anybody does have any questions for me do feel free to contact me anytime, and I will either try to respond myself, or more likely provide you with the email address of a relevant expert who has some idea what they’re talking about.

Right. Now that’s out the way let’s have a look at today. Unfortunately I have nothing really to report of today. No handy observations or bashful assumptions. Very strange indeed. Alas, dear reader, I seem to have picked up some sort of eastern cold (despite the relentless heat), so my observations today are largely based around the ceiling of my hotel room and a lounger by the pool. Not quite the political/social commentary that you’ve come to know and love.

One funny thing I did hear today, from a pensioner taking a dip in the Sea of Galilee (probably about 60), was; “ooh, it’s mingin!” From the mouths of babes and OAPs…

I’ve put some pictures of a sunrise on the Sea of Galilee up – http://tinyurl.com/p62juu – if you’re interested

Right, so I’ll write in a couple of days and give some websites you might be interested in.

For now though, thank you for joining me on this journey, and see you all soon. I’ll be back in my normal post and back as the Campus Bulley from Monday.

Adieu

Clare Short was, for a long time, a core member of the Labour Party. She may now be an independent but she surely retains similar opinions. As such I shouldn’t liker her. In fact I didn’t like her.

Until last Sunday, when I was made aware of a speech made by Clare last week. This speech has filled me with not just respect but almost reverence for the (now) great woman. The speech I am talking about is the introduction of a paper at the UN International Meeting in Support of Israeli-Palestinian Peace.

I have now learnt that Clare has been an outspoken critic of Israeli policy for some time, in 2007 she called for boycotts against Israel like those against South Africa during apartheid. This had unfortunately evaded my notice, but her phrasing last week most certainly has not.

Clare’s paper must be available somewhere online – I can’t find it at the moment but I’ll let you know..
Meanwhile I have picked out some phrases which I think illustrate it brilliantly:
“this is an apartheid system more cruel that that imposed on South Africa”
“Palestinians are suffering terribly both within historical Palestine and as refugees outside”
“the Palestinians are hemmed and surrounded”
“Gaza is a prison which is the most densely occupied place on earth”

The list of phrases goes on and on. Whilst it seems bizarre to sit by the tranquil see of Galilee and write about oppression it is unfortunately the situation of this country. Clare’s words may be impressive and incredibly bold, but she has no great influence anymore. Whilst the Palestinian lobby here remain confident that Miliband is sympathetic, I am not convinced.

What remains clear is that at this time when international pressure is needed, and international pressures aren’t comfortable to act, Clare Short’s is a voice to listen to.

Tiberias itself is both poetic and profane, biblical and brash. The largest town on the Sea of Galilee Tiberias is the centre of Christian pilgrimage to the region, but it is also a young town which is slightly reminiscent of the nicer parts of Kavos or Ibiza. Tiberias, therefore, is trying to be something it’s not. It’s forcing itself to look like a Mediterranean resort and ignoring it’s main tourist group; geriatrics visiting the base of Jesus’ ministry. Again this is a great example of Israeli politics, a country trying to be something it isn’t and ignoring the people this affects. Tiberias and it’s forgotten pilgrims is a metaphor for Israel and it’s forgotten (and shafted) Palestinians.

So Tiberias we now have some sort of image of. It’s a beautiful place, by the way. Cool breezes long beeches and a lovely sense of stillness. Especially after the harassment of Jerusalem.

The other thing which may interest you is the Kibbutz which I visited today. This particular Kibbutz (a Jewish community) was in the Jericho wilderness near the Dead Sea, and had some ancient scrolls worth seeing. Whilst there, however, I also heard the verbal spew masquerading as ‘history’ which was spewed at us by a young 25 year old Jewish hippy kibbutz dweller.

Whether by personal ignorance, self assertion or indoctrination it seemed to be the belief of this 25 year old speaker that before the kibbutz there had been no one in the area for 1500 years. He understood nothing of Palestinians, ignored their presence in the land for centuries and instead argued that the desert was empty after the Jews left.

The ignorance was palpable

Right. Something entertaining from today. Erm. The watch seems to be working again (I know you were all worried!) I bought a Lute yesterday, which is proving to be difficult to understand. Anybody who knows what a Lute should be tuned to the order of please do let me know!

Tomorrow to Nazareth to visit some sort of ancient historical reenactment place.

Sleep well.

I’m sure the vast readership that this blog commands was worried about my absence yesterday evening. I unfortunately fell asleep in the early after noon and was as such incapacitated from writing to you all as usual. This does mean that we’ve got twice as much to cover.

Before we start, I am reliably informed that I have picked up some welsh readership (you know who you are). I hope the following makes sense: na arwydda chan ‘r chriba ai toothbrush fel eto!

So tomorrow morning I will be traveling to Tiberias in the north, the next part of the fun-filled journey that we’re all enjoying! The title, by the way, is in Arabic, meaning “Let’s Go Tiberias.”

So yesterday I visited the Al Shurooq School for the Blind in Beit Jala. It was really quite sad, I’m not entirely sure I can convey it in so few words, but imagine a school full of young blind Palestinian children, many of them with mental issues as well. On my flickr page – http://tinyurl.com/ord4bh – there are some pictures of a young Palestinian child who both lost his sight, and his grasp on reality after his family were stopped at a checkpoint as they tried to rush him to hospital with meningitis. This story not only represents the sadness and tragedy of the school, but also the disaster and danger of the Israeli checkpoints.

Yesterday also meant lots of pictures of the wall in Beit Lehem (Bethlehem. Meaning house of bread or house of meat), as well as a few ‘covert’ pictures of a checkpoint that we got stopped and turned away from. These images will be going up on Flickr as soon as I have time to look at them.

Today I had a couple of interviews with Angela Godfrey-Goldstein and Michael (Mikado) Warschawski. I talked with Angela mainly about the wall, settlements and maps, an article on this info will undoubtedly follow soon. Michael was something of an inspiration. Military prison 3 times, prison once, interrogated by the head of the secret police and founder of 2 different organisations and a political party. Michael had an incredible story and his political observations were brilliant. He believes that colonialism is the root of it all. An article on him will follow as soon as I can get my head around it.

On the Saga of the Lax Pari, yesterday the screen smashed, the back exploded and the digital section stopped working. Excitingly I was able to repair the back and remove the fickle second hand at the same time, bringing the analog section back into play. Today, however, the analog section seems to be varying between fast and slow at a whim. Time, it seems, is no longer of the essence!

I hope you’ve enjoyed Jerusalem, do check out the pictures – http://tinyurl.com/ord4bh – I’m sorry they’re a bit arty, it’s sort of my thing. Normal ones will go up when I get around to it.

See you in Tiberias!

Secondly I would like to point out how impressive it is that you are still reading this blog, considering the phenomenal Roses coverage which I have spent the last half an hour catching up on.

Right, so on to today. Today was a day of two parts; firstly the harrowing and tiring experience of Masada, an ancient fortress in the mountains by the dead sea, and secondly the relaxing peace and calm of a dead sea spa and the swimming pool that accompanies it.

Masada has an amazing story to it, which, frankly, I can’t be bothered to transcribe here. It is quite interesting and if you are interested in hearing the exciting story of the unconquerable fortress which was conquered, do check out the wikipedia.

The dead sea really is a bizarre place. I’ve personally been in the sea before, but I was persuaded to go in again this time. To me bathing in the sea seem remarkably reminiscent of wallowing, as tourists young and old float around, idly bumping into each other and proclaiming that they’ve finally completed one of their life’s aims. Lovely.

Politically I have nothing of interest to report today, except to pass on that Captain Benjamin Rutland, having felt that my interview schedule was too left wing, is trying to persuade me to arrange a meeting with some more right wing Jewish commentators. Top of the list at the moment is Dr. Jonathan Spyer.

Instead of unfunny t-shirts or amusing overheard comments, today I feel like I should share with you the Saga of the Lax Pari Watch. The Lax Pari watch is a watch which I bought in the Souq (the arab market) for 50NIS (roughly £10). I needed a watch for the fortnight as I had left mine at home and I was more than happy to fork out the £10 for this one, especially as the guy originally wanted 350NIS (roughly £70). This complacency was probably my first mistake.
The watch has both a digital and analog interface, and the day after I bought it the second hand fell off and the light stopped working. This is when thing truly began to unwind. The second hand has managed to jam itself between the minute and hour hand, halting the analog watch completely.
The digital part of the watch is 5 minutes slow, and the alarm seems to go off at will. The buttons no longer work and the strap likes to break off. It may not have been the bargain I originally thought.

Right, I’m going to get a drink. Sportsmen, good luck. Bloggers, good luck. Everyone else, get supporting!

So unfortunately for your lovely selves this is only going to be a very short one from me today, it’s nearly midnight and I’ve been writing up an interview for some 3 hours, so bed is calling.

So. Today is probably a day some of you are actually interested in.

This morning I met with Captain Rutland of the Israeli Defence Force. A very lucky man who is in charge of soldiers who are mainly attractive young woman. The Captain was very nice and very friendly. This of course is his job, but fear not dear reader, I was not sucked in by his witty puns, amusing one liners and attractive staff. Not at all. We discussed tactics, Gaza, national service, the wall, world opinion and the media. Do check out a copy of the interview in Nouse in print on Tuesday, or on the web Tuesday evening. It is rather Israeli one-sided though. Not much of a spin you can put on an interview with an Israeli Captain.

In the early afternoon I went for another extensive wonder through the Souq, Jerusalem’s large arab market. I love the souq and I though today I’d pass on a couple of funny t-shirts I saw (I didn’t here anything funny today, so this is the replacement):
Israeli Defence Force: It’s so secret even I don’t know what’s going on
Israeli Defence Force: Uzzziiii Does It

ok. so not that funny.

This evening I met with Shir Hever a leading economist from the Alternative Information Centre. An incredibly intelligent and genuinely really nice guy. My pitiful understanding of economics meant that Shir spent quite a while takine me through the Middle East’s military history before we looked at the current issues. I did learn a lot from Shir, and it’s written down upstairs, but I can’t go into it now because I need to go to bed. He raised some fascinating points and picked holes in a lot of what Rutland said. The interview will follow, I’ll keep you informed.

Right. I’m going to bed now. You kid’s have fun.
(sorry for any typos/ spelling mistakes. my eyes are slowly giving up)

So here’s a brief history lesson:

I’m sure most people will know, especially anybody who is willing to get this far in this blog, that Jerusalem is a major city for 3 religions; Christianity, Judaism and Islam.

Christianity is of course based around the teachings of Jesus, who spent the last, and possibly most significant, moments of his life in Jerusalem. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre is one of hundreds of churches in Jerusalem, but it is significant as it stands close to the sights believed to be both the death and burial places of Jesus.

Judaism is a very old religion, and Jerusalem has been the centre of the religion for thousands of years, with the head temples standing here. The Western Wall (also known as the Wailing Wall) is largely remnant from the 2nd Temple, built circa 19BCE.

The Dome of the Rock is the oldest Islamic building in the world. The dome was constructed in the hope that it would “house the Muslims from cold and heat” and was also significantly built on the site of the Jewish 2nd Temple, after Jerusalem was overthrown by the Byzantine Empire.

As well as being sensationally interesting this little History lecture, and the accompanying picture which I lovingly prepared, show just how ridiculously close all these places are. Imagine that York Minster is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, then Bettys is the Dome of the Rock and Evil Eye is the Western Wall.

Well thats enough history for one night, here’s the amusing quotes I overheard today:
“I can’t believe they have trains, I thought they’d use Camels”
“Try and get a picture of the little man with the camel, he’s in the funny costume and everything”
(from a random American women in a cafe) “and after that he filed a sexual harassment charge. I never liked that workplace anyway!”

Well that’s enough fun for tonight. Tomorrow I’m off to see the IDF, ICAHD and the AIC. Lots of interviews. Feel free to post questions for interviews. Or to post at all, just so I know someone’s actually reading this far!

Shalom

This image is a pretty good metaphor for Jerusalem; a city of culture collisions where you can go out at 3am and buy a fake Rolex out of a back door in a 500 year old alley, and pick up a Crusifix, Star of David and copy of the Quran from the same store.

There is no place in the world quite like Jerusalem, a city that has undoubtedly seen more blood shed over it’s giant stone walls than any other still standing. And yet it doesn’t really feel threatening in any way. I took a walk through the Souq this evening, the large arabic market quarter. At 9.00pm I was expecting it to be pretty scary; tiny narrow roads and hidden dark doorways and alcoves. In actual fact I walked for an hour, and, aside from one group of Palestinians in a shisha bar that wanted to know how I got my hair to curl, I got nothing but politeness in all areas of the city; Arab, Jew and Christian.

Anyway, enough of the political stuff, I’m sure some of you are just reading because they want to know how my flight went and that I’m OK (I know for a fact that my mum reads this blog). My flight was brilliant. Very quick. I watched Valkyrie. Not so quick.

In case any of you don’t know, I’m paying my way in Israel by working part of the time as a leader on a pilgrimage. This does mean that I am privy to some of the hilarious observations which the older members of the group occasionally make. I’ll try to include a few of the best here. My favorites from today were; “don’t they have a lot of trees”, “it’s not very clean” and “you have to try and remember that people actually *live* here.”

What fun. Have a good night. See you tomorrow!

Unfortunately the mounting pressure of approaching exams has meant that I haven’t been able to justify taking a break to write. Fortunately I can’t take another minute of the discussion between Glaucon and Thrasymachus, so I’ll take this opportunity to share some details.

These aren’t all of the interviews and meetings, just some of the ones which I am more excited about. The reason I’m telling you now, by the way, is so that (for the particularly political of you) if there are any questions you might have for anybody I can pass them on.

Captain Rutland – An Israeli Defense Force Spokesperson. If there are any questions people want asked I expect they are for the Captain. Unfortunately I have had to discuss questions before the interview was arranged, so do feel free to offer questions but I can’t promise they’ll be answered

Michael Warschawski – Founder of the Alternative Information Center. Former leader of the Marxist Revolutionary Communist League. A Founder of Yesh Gvul. Sentenced to 30 months prison in 1987 for “providing services for illegal (Palestinian) organizations.” Writer, journalist and activist

Amir Mizroch – Amir is the News Editor of the Jerusalem Post, one of the main newspapers in Israel

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein – Action Advocacy Officer for the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Angela’s main concerns are with the Israeli settlements throughout the Occupied Territories, and the destruction of Palestinian property which is often a part of that. Angela has offered to take me on a tour of the walls and the ‘tools of occupation’

Shir Hever – Alternative Information Center leader and economist. Part-writer of the Economy of the Occupation. An important analyst of the Israeli/Palestinian situation

Dr Dalit Baum – Project Coordinator, Who Profits from the Occupation. Leader in The Coalition of Women for Peace. Dalit is recognised as a brilliant Middle Eastern analyst, and I am meeting her on the recommendations of Shir Hever and Angela Godfrey-Goldstein

I am hoping to meet with Dr Hanan Ashrawi, whose staff have agreed to help organise an interview, but I am currently trying to overcome transport problems

You’d think, therefore, that the Idiom would be pretty popular amongst zionists, and not so big in the Palestinian sector. Surprisingly this doesn’t seem to be the case. In 2007, when I was first lucky enough to visit Israel and the Occupied Territories, I noticed that this title was used proudly by all sides of the dispute. In an area where land is such a controversial commodity I remember being amazed when the Palestinian bus driver proudly proclaimed “Welcome to the Land of Milk and Honey” as we drove through the desert.

Hopefully that little trip down memory lane puts this blog in some sort of context. The blog will be following my travels in Israel and the Occupied Territories during Weeks 2 & 3. Whilst in Israel I will be conducting a number of interviews for Nouse, meaning that I will get to meet some pretty exciting and unique people. I’ll be publishing details of some of these interviews as we get closer to the trip, and as more and more details become available.

This blog by the way is not political. It may raise political issues or my reaction of what I’ve seen on a day to day basis may seem political, but the blog itself is not political. There is no motive in writing this, except that I hope to share my experiences.

I’m glad we’ve got that out the way.

So please feel free to join in and ask questions or whatever in the comment forums. I’ll also be twittering my way through the middle east – jbulley1 – so if that’s you’re kind of thing feel free to join in.

Updates on interviews and meetings to come.