© Lonely Planet Publications 270 www.lonelyplanet.com ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES •• Highlights 271 Israel & HIGHLIGHTS HOW MUCH ? Jerusalem ( p283 ) The Holy City, bursting with architectural, historical and spiritual Newspaper 8NIS the Palestinian Territories wonders that have been drawing pilgrims for millennia. Dorm bed in guesthouse 25NIS to 50NIS Tel Aviv ( p297 ) Jerusalem’s antithesis, a modern, European-styled metropolis with Internet connection per hour 12NIS a fantastic café culture and the Middle City bus ticket 5.3NIS Israel, or Palestine depending on your politics, defies the logic that size equals importance. East’s best nightlife. Museum admission 25NIS to 40NIS A tiny finger of land hugging the eastern Mediterranean, no bigger than the US state of The Dead Sea ( p327 ) At the lowest spot on New Jersey, the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria bear as much significance for the Earth, the Dead Sea lures with promises modern world today as they have for the past one or two millennia. of health restoration and a relaxing float LONELY PLANET INDEX on water. Litre of petrol 5.4NIS The same land that St John predicted would host Armageddon is today the land fre- The Golan Heights ( p326 ) An area of spec- tacular natural beauty, with scope for Litre of bottled water 6NIS quented by heads of state, each armed with ideas to prevent that event from occurring. leisurely hiking, cycling and skiing. Bottle of Maccabee beer 18NIS It’s the land of the Bible and Talmud, still considered by millions as the basis of Western Nakhal Gishron ( p336 ) Off the beaten track law, ethics and religion. And for many, it’s a spiritual centre par excellence: the Promised to magnificent desert scenery along the Souvenir T-shirt 15NIS to 20NIS Land of the Jews, the last place touched by Mohammed on his journey to Heaven, and Israel National Trail. Shwarma 15NIS the birthplace of Christ. CLIMATE & WHEN TO GO Israel and the Palestinian Territories may be renowned for their mystical past, disputed Israel and the Palestinian Territories enjoy a Israel would be made a great nation. After present and uncertain future, but there is more than what meets the international headlines. warm Mediterranean climate for much of the a period of prosperity in exile, the pharaoh year, although winter (November to March) Ramses forced the ‘migrant workers’ into Fascinating archaeological sites, a wealth of natural beauty spots and a cultural diversity sees plenty of rain and cool temperatures servitude. Some time around the 13th cen- matching anywhere else in the Middle East are enough for a trip in their own right. The in coastal areas and even snow in the high- tury BC, Moses led the descendants of the modern state of Israel, developed for tourism and equipped with stringent security, makes lands, including Jerusalem. Summer (April Israelites for 40 years through the Sinai (as travel both safe and easy to explore its sites and commune with its people. to October) is hot and dry with the peak reported by the Book of Exodus) and across months in July and August, when daytime the Jordan River back into their Promised Your religious, cultural and political baggage is best left at home – any militant precon- temperatures of 45°C aren’t uncommon. In Land. At this point, the lands were divided ceptions picked up during a lifetime of media exposure are bound to leave you off balance. the evenings – especially in the highlands and between the 12 tribes of Israel – descendants deserts – temperatures may drop as much of the 12 sons of Israel. So clear the slate. Then plunge in, stay informed, ask questions and listen to the voices as 30°C to 40°C below the daytime highs. Around 1200 BC, the Semitic civilisa- ISRAEL &THEPALESTINIAN around you. Most surprising are not the opinions you’ll be bombarded with, but the effects See Climate Charts, p643 . If possible, avoid tion known as the Philistines arrived and that this speck of land leaves you with long after you’ve left. visiting Israel during the Jewish religious established a coastal government between holidays (see p350 for details) when busi- present-day Ashdod and Gaza. The Israeli- TERRITORIES nesses close, public transport is limited and tes, threatened by the Philistines’ political accommodation prices double or triple. super iority, consolidated their disparate tribes under one king, Saul. Upon Saul’s HISTORY death, some Israelites supported his son FAST FACTS TERRITORIES The first inhabitants of modern Israel, the Ishbaal as successor, but the tribe of Judah Area 20,770 sq km; Gaza Strip and West Bank and the Gaza Strip were proba- supported King David, who became a local the West Bank 6220 sq km bly the Canaanites, who had migrated to the hero when he killed the Philistine Goliath ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN productive coastal areas from Arabia and and eventually conquered the city-state of Capital Jerusalem (disputed) Mesopotamia as early as the 20th century Jerusalem. There, in the 10th century BC, Country code x972 BC. (It’s believed that these Canaanites were David’s son Solomon built the First Temple. Languages Hebrew and Arabic Semitic – that is, descended from Shem, the This is at least one version of history. son of Noah of diluvial fame, but that seri- However, the history of the region is just Money new Israeli shekel (NIS); ously strains the biblical time line.) Around as much a battleground as any present- US$1 = 4.68NIS; €1 = 5.52NIS 2800 BC, Egypt claimed Canaan as part of day West Bank or Gaza refugee camp, and Official name Medinat Yisra’el its empire, and in a period of famine, the millennia-old events are constantly being (State of Israel) Israelites (descendants of Israel, grandson requestioned, reinterpreted and fresh Population 6.9 million; Gaza Strip of the patriarch Abraham) migrated to the claims made. This is a part of the world and the West Bank 3.8 million. Nile Valley for work. According to the Book where archaeology and scholarship have of Genesis, God had promised that there, serious political implications. 272 ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES www.lonelyplanet.com www.lonelyplanet.com ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES •• History 273 Israel & The Palestinian Territories 0 40 km ISRAEL & THE PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES 0 20 miles Few accounts written prior to the Roman document never determined the status or era can be considered absolute fact (see extent of this homeland, and from an Arab L E B A N O N p57 ), and millennia-old events are con- perspective it contradicted the McMahon DAMASCUS stantly being reinterpreted to fit current White Paper for Arab Independence, signed Mt Hermon political agendas. two years earlier, which guaranteed an Arab Tyre Metulla (2224m) Fast-forward a few thousand years, to the Kingdom to the Sharif of Mecca. Kiryat Shmona modern Middle Eastern conflict between In the 1930s Adolf Hitler rose to power in Rosh Quneitra HaNikra the Jews (said to be the tribe of Judah and Germany and set about fulfilling his twofold River THE GOLAN S Y R I A Nahariya HEIGHTS remnants of the scattered Diaspora or ‘lost dream of establishing a Third Reich and ex- Tsfat Rosh Pina Akko tribes’) and the Palestinians (who argue de- terminating the Jewish race, which he con- Karmi'el Capernaum Sea of scent from the Philistines). Many Jews claim sidered the root of the world’s problems. By GALILEE Galilee HAIFA Mt CarmelTzippori Tirat Karmel Tiberias Ein Gev the right to live in the lands now known as the end of WWII, six million Jews (1.5 mil- Beit M E D I T E R R A N E A N Atlit She'arim Nazareth Israel based on a historical lineage stretching lion of them children) had been murdered S E A Afula back to the kingdoms of Solomon and David in the death camps of Eastern Europe. Megiddo Irbid Deraa Caesarea Beit She'an Jordan and, before that, to the rule of the 12 tribes. Hundreds of thousands of Holocaust sur- Um Khadera al-Fahm Jenin Taking this perspective to its extreme, some vivors moved to British-controlled Palestine, SAMARIA Israelis claim (based on Old Testament writ- knowing now more than ever the importance Netanya Mt Ebal Mafraq (940m) ings) that ‘God gave Israel to the Jews’, and of Herzl’s Zionist dream. Palestinian Arabs Ra'anana Nablus that the land is theirs by divine right. felt ever more threatened and resented hav- Herzliya Mt Kfar SabaGerizim The Palestinian claim is based on cen- ing to bear the brunt of what they saw as Sde Dov Airport (881m) TEL AVIV WEST BANK turies of occupancy. Whether they are de- a European problem. In February 1947 the Jaffa Ben Gurion River Bat Yam International scendants of the Philistines or not, Arabs British decided to turn the issue over to the Airport Rishon LeZion AMMAN Rehovot Ramla formed the majority inhabitants of Palestine UN, which voted to partition the region into Ramallah Jordan Latrun Junction Jericho from soon after the ascendancy of Islam in Arab and Jewish states, and make Jerusalem Ashdod JERUSALEM Nebi Qumran the 7th century until the 20th century. an international city. Ironically, it was Hitler’s Bethlehem Musa Ashkelon For centuries Jews dreamed of returning Holocaust that did more to create the hope Herodion Kiryat to their ancestral homeland (‘next year in Je- for a Jewish state than any other factor. JUDEA Dead Gat Hebron Gaza Sea rusalem’ being a phrase uttered since the fall While the Jews accepted the proposal, the Ein Gedi GAZA STRIP Tel Arad of the second temple). But the idea was never Arabs rejected it outright.