"Islamic Ziyāra and Halal hospitality in Palestine”. Al-Ḳuds “Jerusalem”, al-K̲ h̲ alīl “Hebron” and Bayt Laḥm “Bethlehem" between the years 2011-2016 Dr. Omar Abed Rabo and Dr. Rami K. Isaac Abstract This chapter goes over the importance of Palestinian cities for the Islamic and Halal tourism sector, and dissects the issues and problems that prevent this type of tourism from flourishing in recent years, due to political and economic instability. In addition, this chapter suggests new concepts in the Halal sector, such as Halal volunteer-tourism, which could be a positive addition to the sector of tourism in Palestine. While Palestinian cities have historically been central locations for Islamic pilgrimages because of the vastness and wealth of holy sites in the area, when compared to other cities in the region that are experiencing extreme growth in the tourism sector, Palestinian cities have so far been unable to reach their potential as prime Islamic and Halal tourism locales. Keywords: Al-Ḳuds al-Kh̲ al̲ īl, Bayt Laḥm, Islamic tourism and Ḥalāl tourism Index Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 4 The historical background of Islamic visit to al-Ḳuds, al-K̲ h̲ alīl and Bayt Laḥm .............. 7 Concept Notes ................................................................................................................... 13 Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in al-Ḳuds, al-K̲ h̲ alīl and Bayt Laḥm ..................................... 15 Tourist arrival, hotels and accommodations ..................................................................... 21 Ḥalāl food.......................................................................................................................... 25 Islamic tourism phenomenon in Palestine ........................................................................ 27 Which places Muslims tourist can visit: al-Ḳuds, al-K̲ h̲ alīl and Bayt Laḥm.................... 32 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 34 References ......................................................................................................................... 36 INTRODUCTION Over the past few decades, international tourism activity has shown substantial and sustained growth in terms of both the number of tourists and tourism receipts. While the world tourist arrivals and tourism receipts have been growing substantially over the years, world tourism markets witnessed some important changes in the direction of tourism. This has been clear in the increase observed in the relative share of the developing countries, including the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) member countries, in the world tourist arrivals and tourism receipts. As group, the OIC countries attracted 174.7 million tourists in 2013, compared with 156.4 million in 2009. International tourism receipts in the OIC countries also recorded a significant increase of about $20 billion during the period 2009-2013 and reached $144.1 billion as of 2013 (OIC, 2015). Islam is one of the world’s major religions (Esposito 1999) and has an estimated one- and- a-half billion adherents. These are concentrated in the 57 countries belonging to the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and there are sizeable Muslim populations in other nations around the world (OIC, 2017). Over the last two decades, Islamic life style market has been growing as shariah’h complaint products and services (e.g. halal food, Islamic tourism and Islamic finance) have become an important component of the global economy. With an increasing awareness and expanding numbers of Muslim tourists around the world, many tourism industry players have started to offer special products and services, developed and designed in accordance with the Islamic principles, to cater to the needs and demand of these tourists. Nevertheless, despite attracting significant interest across the globe, Islamic tourism is relatively a new concept in both theory and practice. Islamic tourism activity remained highly concentrated in Muslim majority countries of the OIC, which are currently both the major source markets for Islamic tourism expenditures and popular destinations (OIC, 2015). Nonetheless, several countries around the world and in the Mediterranean region paid attention to this tourism growth, and this interest in the tourism sector attributed to the growing numbers of Muslim tourists to various destinations across the globe. These countries have built a service infrastructure equipped with facilities that provide services to Muslim visitors (restaurants, resorts, accommodation, flights, etc.) in accordance with the principles of the Islamic s̲har̲ īʿa law. Travel is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors in the world, with an estimated growth rate of 4.8% against the 3.8% industry average (Dinar Standard, 2012). In 2015, it was estimated that there were 117 million Muslim international travelers. This is projected to grow to 168 million by 2020, where the travel expenditure by Muslim travelers is expected to exceed 200 billion USD (Crescent Rating, 2015). Recently, a new report compiled by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has revealed the world’s fastest growing tourist destinations for 2017 – and the results throw up a few surprises. One of the fastest growing destination is Palestine (Haines, 2017). Earlier this year the street artist, Banksy, opened a boutique hotel in Palestine’s West Bank, which, in hindsight, appears to have been a sage move: tourism in Palestine is booming. According to the UNWTO, the occupied territories of Palestine witnessed a 57.8 per cent rise in international arrivals so far this year. Overlooking the Israeli West Bank Segregation Wall (Isaac and Ashworth, 2012), Banksy’s politically-charged Walled Off Hotel has likely helped raise awareness of tourism in Palestine, which is on course to welcome more than 630,000 holidaymakers by the end of the year. The numbers of tourists in general and Muslims in particular do not match the religious status of cities, which can receive more than one million Muslim tourists annually. This chapter deals with Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in three Palestinian cities: al-Ḳuds “Jerusalem”, “al-Kh̲ al̲ īl” Hebron and BaytLaḥm "Bethlehem", but before we present the status of Islamic and Ḥalāl tourism in the three Palestinian cities. This chapter will present the tourism situation in these Palestinian cities and the religious value of visiting the three cities for Muslims according to Islamic teaching [sh̲ ar̲ īʿa law] and Islamic cultural heritage. In addition, this chapter will raise questions about the forces that affect the tourist situation in these cities, which leads to an increase in the number of Muslim tourists or decrease in numbers. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF ISLAMIC VISIT TO AL-ḲUDS, AL-K̲ H̲ ALĪL AND BAYT LAḤM Those who dig into the Arab and Islamic history of Palestine will find great interest in the three major tourism cities of the country, and will join hundreds of companions, some of whom spent their lives in Jerusalem and died there, and the well-known ʿulamāʾ, or intellectuals and religious scientists, referred to traditionally as the: faḳīh, muftīun, muḥaddith̲ un,̲ mutakallimun etc., who came to Jerusalem to pray in the holy sites and to study in al-Aqsa Mosque (Abed Rabo, 2012 Pp. 147, 151, 154). From the beginning of the 8th century, Muslim visitors and pilgrims came to al-Ḳuds, al-Kh̲ al̲ īl and Bayt Laḥm to pray in the holy places. The places visited in al-Ḳuds were concentrated mainly on the al-Aqsa Mosque, and in al-Kh̲ al̲ īl the visit focused in al-Masjed al-Ibrahimi and in Bayt Laḥm, the Church of Nativity. In Islam al-Ḳuds is the land where Allah took the Prophet Muhammad on a night journey from al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca to al-Masjid al-Aqsa in al-Ḳuds, which blessed its surroundings, and means the whole land of Palestine is blessed. Based on the night of the Isrāʾ a special traditions were circulated and established special literature "Literature in Praise of Jerusalem" "The Faḍāʾil literature" (Athaminah, 2013 p. 93-108), was speared in the Umayyad period in an attempt to encourage pilgrimage to al-Ḳuds and to pray there (Elad, 1995 p. 63). In his book “Faḍāʾil al Bayt al-Muqaddas”, Abū Bakr al-Wāsiṭī (d. after 1019 A. D). Presents an early tradition which dated to the first quarter of the 8th century. He wrote: “He who comes to Bayt al-Muqaddas [Jerusalem] and prays to the right of the rock [on the Haram] and to its north, and prays in the place of the Chain, and gives a little or much charity, his prayers will be answered, and God will remove his sorrows and he will be freed of his sins as on the day his mother gave birth to him…” (Al-Wāsiṭī. 1979 p.23). During the beginning of the eighth century most of the Muslims who went to Mecca to perform the Ḥadj̲ d̲ j̲ ̲ also came to Jerusalem before or after the Ḥadj̲ d̲ j̲ ,̲ either to do the iḥram from al-Aqsa or to sanctify their pilgrimage. The most frequent Duʿāʾ(addressed to God) among the Muslims is the sanctity your Ḥadj̲ d̲ j̲ ,̲ which is an indication of the phenomenon of sanctifying the pilgrimage, and is preferred by Muslims to be done in Jerusalem. Those who can perform the Ḥadj̲ d̲ j̲ ,̲ visit Jerusalem to sanctify their pilgrimage and if the pilgrim does so, his pilgrimage has been completed. Some pilgrims came to Jerusalem before the