Anyone wanting to be cheered up this week should go out and buy a copy of the National Geographic Travellers’ Magazine.
The Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities is advertising holidays in Palestine.
This profane offence, like Oliver Twist asking for more, has of course drawn the full fury of the Zionist Beadle and complaints are pouring into the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)
How dare they give the impression that Palestine is a country? And worse, that Jerusalem is part of Palestine?
More than a sin, it is a crime. (‘’ That boy will be hung’’ said the gentleman in the white waistcoat’ ) To describe Palestine as lying between the Mediterranean and the Jordan river without mentioning Israel ‘’echoes’’ racism, storms London blogger Richard Millet.
Meanwhile, with the begging bowl still empty, since persuading tourists into a land which for all its heartbreaking beauty (the grey olive, the hills of Jenin, the white-stoned Martyrs’ Cemetery……) is still dominated by Walls, Caterpillar bulldozers and unfriendly soldiers with guns, Oliver Twist goes further: Palestine (which doesn’t really exist) is a land rich in history with a tradition of hospitality.
History? Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, Nablus….. the litany of ancient cities claimed by the Palestinian tour is giving the Beadle indigestion.
And hospitality……………. indeed. The hospitality of those who have nothing or very little but will give all to the guest: the welcome, the extraordinary kindness……..Even the Zionist Beadle has not dared to assail the ASA on this one.
So where you might ask do people go if they want to have holidays in the Holy Land? An advertisement on page 11 in the Catholic weekly The Tablet for 8 January tells you: try logging on to www.WalkWhereJesusWalked.com. You sign up to the Israeli Tourist Board and go to the holy land of Israel, that’s all the places like Bethlehem, the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the City of David. (This last, presumably, doubles as spiritual and educational experience, given the current ethnic cleansing in East Jerusalem.)
But aren’t these sites part of the Palestinian West Bank? Why is there no single mention of Palestine?
A few brave souls mostly from the Amos Trust and Jews for Justice for Palestinians have been asking this question for years. But The Tablet and the Anglican Church Times, where the advert also appears, are fearful of the mighty Beadle’s anger and collude in leaving Palestine unnamed.
Palestine? Tourism? Economy? Impiety! Ingratitude!
