Tourism and Terror: a Case Study: Israel 1948-2012
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International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Volume 2 Issue 1 Tourism and Terrorism Article 5 2014 Tourism and Terror: a Case Study: Israel 1948-2012 Erik H. Cohen Bar Ilan, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp Part of the Tourism and Travel Commons Recommended Citation Cohen, Erik H. (2014) "Tourism and Terror: a Case Study: Israel 1948-2012," International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage: Vol. 2: Iss. 1, Article 5. doi:https://doi.org/10.21427/D7CX2P Available at: https://arrow.tudublin.ie/ijrtp/vol2/iss1/5 Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. © International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage ISSN : 2009-7379 Available at: http://arrow.dit.ie/ijrtp/ Volume 2(ii) 2014 Tourism and Terror: A case study : Israel 1948-2012 Erik H. Cohen School of Education, Bar Ilan University [email protected] Israel is a popular tourist destination which has been afflicted by varying levels of terrorism against civilians over the course of its history. A longitudinal analysis of data pertaining to tourism and terrorism is undertaken to examine how terrorism affects patterns of tourism. It is found that on the macro-level, tourism to Israel continues to grow although it experiences periodic declines corresponding with times of high terrorist activity. National and religious subpopulations of tourists react differently to terrorism at the destination. Overall, Jews are proportionally more likely than non-Jews to continue to visit Israel during times of conflict, but this varies among Diaspora communities. Moreover, among US Jewish tourists, the strongly religious populations represented a greater percentage of visitors during years of high terrorism. This preliminary analysis explores how internal structural features of the Jewish community (such as Jewish educational settings and family ties to Israelis), external factors of the home country (such as anti-Semitism or the economic situation) and national and cultural value orientation affect tourism patterns. The impact of these factors on tourism deserves continued research. Keywords: tourism, terrorism, Israel, nationality, Jewish Introduction: tours was founded (Cohen-Hattab, 2001, 2004; Gefen, Tourism And Terrorism in Israel 1979, 2013; Marzano, 2013; Stein, 2009). In 1949 a program of group tours for Diaspora Jewish youth was Israel offers an interesting case study of how launched. This program, which later came to be known international tourism is affected by political instability. as the Israel Experience, has brought over 410,000 Neither tourism nor terrorism is new to this region. Jewish youth from more than a dozen countries to Israel has always been a tourist destination of sorts. For Israel. More recently, other similar programs have been millennia, a small but steady stream of pilgrims was developed, notably Taglit-birthright Israel which since drawn to the religious and historical sites of the Holy 2000 has brought hundreds of thousands of Jewish Land. Throughout this long time, too, the area youth on free ten-day educational tours, and MASA underwent numerous political upheavals, as successive which sponsors educational tours lasting six months to kingdoms, empires, crusades and revolts fought and a year. All three programs share the goal of enhancing overturned one another. the relationship of Diaspora Jewish youth to Israel (Cohen, E.H., 2008, in press). Parallel to this, other In modern times, tourism was seen as part of the nation types of tourism to Israel have developed including -building project. Even before the founding of the recreational and educational tours, and pilgrimages to State, tourism was recognized as important both as an Christian and Muslim sites (Collins-Kreiner, 2006; industry and as a key method for strengthening the Stein, 2002). Currently, direct and indirect income connection of Diaspora Jews to Israel. Beginning at the from tourist activity represents about 8% of Israel’s end of the 19th century, the Zionist movement Gross Domestic Product (Beenstock, Felsenstein & advocated and organized tours as a means to support Rubin, 2013; WTTC 2013). the emerging Jewish Yishuv and a way to advocate eventual immigration. Beginning in the 1920s, the Also since its founding in 1948, Israel has been Zionist Tourist Information Bureau organized tours and involved in cyclical conflict and war with the published guidebooks and itineraries, and an neighboring Arab countries and with the Palestinian association for training Jewish guides to lead such population. Terrorism is one aspect of this violence. ~ 13 ~ Cohen Tourism and Terror Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the UN, Fleischer, 2002; Sönmez, 1998). For example, since defines terrorism as many terrorist attacks in Egypt (particularly in the early 1990s) were directed against tourists (in multiple any action …that is intended to cause death or cases specifically against Israeli tourists) and political serious bodily harm to civilians or non- unrest and violence have continued, the ‘shock’ to combatants, when the purpose of such act, by tourism has been relatively significant and long-lasting its nature or context, is to intimidate a (Aly & Strazicich, 2000; Fielding & Shortland, 2011; population, or to compel a government or an Sönmez, Apostolopoulos & Tarlow, 1999; Wahab, international organization to do or to abstain 1996). Even so, tourists continue to visit Egypt with from doing any act (UN, 2004, p. 52). over 1.1 million international visitors in 2012 (WTO, 2013), including Israeli tourists (Uriely, Maoz & Terrorism is thus differentiated from acts of war which Reichel, 2007, 2009). target military combatants. It also differs from crime which is not motivated by an ideological goal and The current article looks at the relationship between serves no political purpose. While high crime rates terrorism in Israel and tourism to Israel from the may discourage tourism to a given area, criminals inception of the State through contemporary times. It nevertheless depend on the continued influx of tourists. takes a longitudinal macro-approach, considering the In contrast, terrorists aim to disrupt or destroy the large phenomenon of international tourism to Israel government, society and/or economic system of which across six and a half decades. Additionally, it looks at tourism is a part (Mansfeld & Pizam, 2006; Tarlow, micro-trends such as fluctuations in tourism during 2006). particular time periods, visitation patterns from various home countries, and the relative prevalence of Jewish Waves of terrorism or major attacks may cause tourists tourists as a sub-population of international tourists. to decide against vacations in countries or regions This contributes to discussions on the influence of perceived as affected. This is especially true for those national and cultural value orientations on tourism considering a first trip to a destination. Nevertheless, behavior (Hsu, Woodside & Marshall, 2013; Schwartz, tourism to popular destinations tends to recover when 2006). stability is restored. Thus, repeated acts of terrorism have a more lasting and negative impact on tourism Methods / Sources of Data than do single events, even if the latter claim more lives. Further, the perception that the government of Data on international tourism to Israel were provided the targeted country is adequately addressing the by the Israel Ministry of Tourism. Each year the total security risk helps restore tourists’ willingness to visit number of arrivals to Israel was recorded. From the in the future, yet heavy-handed military retribution early 1960s, international tourists’ home country was may also discourage tourism (D’Amore & Anuza, recorded. Additionally, beginning in the mid-1990s, 1986; O’Connor, Stafford & Gallagher, 2008; Pizam & the Israel Ministry of Tourism began surveying a sample of incoming tourists, providing demographic At least nine people have been killed and more data on visitors - one question pertained to religious than 40 others injured in suicide bombing on a affiliation. From this sample, the percentage of tourists who were Jewish was extrapolated. Those who bus in northern Israel. Sunday, 4 August, 2002. identified themselves as Jewish were also asked to define themselves as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform or unaffiliated. From this sample the percentage of Jewish tourists in each of these four denominational categories was extrapolated. 1 According to the NGO B’tselem (2009) between September 29, 2000 and January 31, 2007 there were 4016 Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, 41 killed by Israeli civilians and 268 killed by Palestinians. These figures do not differentiate between unarmed civilians and members of terrorist organizations. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2171227.stm Additionally, 53 citizens of foreign countries were killed by Palestinians and 10 by Israeli security forces. ~ 14 ~ International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Volume 2(ii), 2014 Figure 1:International tourism to Israel, 1949-2013 (Israel Ministry of Tourism) The numbers of Israeli civilians injured and killed in Despite its overall growth, tourism to Israel underwent terrorist attacks were recorded by the Israel Foreign dramatic fluctuations in tourism over the decades, as Ministry. These figures include Israeli-Arab citizens seen in Figure 1. A few key events are indicated. but not Palestinians in the Palestinian