The art of travel writing in Israel (Part II)

Looking back over 15 years of writing and promoting Israel as a travel destination, continuing from part one.

Welcome to the BBC
In 2012 I was overjoyed to become a father for the first time, but due to the high cost of living, I was also embarking on a career in hi-tech and travel writing became a side-project. At this time, the BBC acquired most of Lonely Planet and I was commissioned to write a series of articles for BBC Travel. My first piece was on kibbutzim, called Kick back on a kibbutz.

“In a country of hi-tech start-ups, the kibbutz remains perhaps the most influential idea to come out of Israel,” I wrote. “Almost half of Israel’s 260 kibbutzim, from the Golan Heights down to the Arava Desert, now offer hotel-style rooms.” I interviewed Ze’ev Shabetai, son of the founders of Kibbutz Beit Oren on Mt Carmel, who said: “The ideology of kibbutzim from the beginning was not only to be agricultural, but it could also be a place of industry and even tourism.”

The Negev was also being developed as an alternative, adventure destination, and I made sure it was included in the top ten regions of 2013: “For decades the Negev was regarded as nothing but a desolate desert. But today this region is a giant greenhouse of development. Think eco-villages, spa resorts and wineries.”

I added: “Whether you go off-road by 4WD, bicycle or on foot, you’ll be sure to discover a sense of freedom in the desert as you pass craters, canyons and caves.”

For the BBC, I wrote a piece on my favourite place in Israel, Maktesh Ramon, called Israel’s mysterious Grand Canyon: “Tiny Israel has a gigantic secret that many travellers have never heard of. But word is slowly spreading about Maktesh Ramon, a vast lunar landscape hidden in the heart of the Negev desert.”

I learnt that the word ‘maktesh’ comes from the Hebrew for ‘crater’, but it was not created by a meteorite. Indeed, a more accurate definition of a maktesh is an “erosion cirque”, providing a peek into the earth’s crust.

I wanted to show that Israel was much more diverse than it appears on the news. So I wrote a piece on the Druze tribe, who mostly live in the north, called Israel’s Forgotten Tribe. “Contrary to popular belief, the Holy Land is not just home to two peoples – Israelis and Palestinians – but a diverse mix of cultures,” I added. “Minority groups in Israel include the A-B-C-D-E of Arabs, Bedouins, Copts, Druze and Ethiopians.”

For once, the BBC, notorious for its fierce criticism of Israel, actually had something positive to say. A BBC watchdog site wrote: “The author is to be commended for having avoided the inaccuracies all too frequently promoted by many journalists when writing about the Druze.”

Hummus, hops, and hiking
No travel writer can cover Israel without mentioning its food, and I wrote an entire article on Hunting for hummus. “Tubs of hummus – cooked, mashed chickpeas mixed with garlic, olive oil and lemon – fill refrigerators all over the globe, but where can the best be found? One contender for the gold medal is Israel, where, despite political differences, locals have embraced this Arabic dish as their own.”

Photo by Mor Shani on Unsplash

Surprising to some, the Holy Land was also home to micro-breweries, which I covered in the Holy Land of Beer. “New micro-breweries are opening all over Israel, turning the ‘land of milk and honey’ into the ‘land of malt and hops.’” I even mentioned the famous Palestinian brewery, Taybeh: “Beer has no borders, and Taybeh has proved to be a surprising hit in Israeli bars, particularly in Jaffa and Tel Aviv.”

One of my favourite pieces, Walking with Jesus in the Galilee, covered the newly-opened Jesus Trail. While researching, I interviewed Maoz Inon, Israeli travel entrepreneur, who founded the Abraham hostels and this new hiking trail. “Inon is a man on a mission,” I wrote. “For Inon, tourism could create more than just income and build bridges for peace. ‘We want to promote the Middle East as one destination – like Southeast Asia or South America,’ he said. ‘My hostels give a free night to any traveller who passed through Syria, Iraq or Lebanon. Why? Because we believe they are real hardcore travellers.’”

Unholy war
The future seemed bright for Tel Aviv and tourism, then catastrophe struck. In the summer of 2014 the two-month Gaza War, which the IDF called Tzuk Eitan, claimed the lives of over 2,000 Palestinians and 70 Israelis. Thousands of rockets were fired at Israel and the tourism industry took a huge hit. It took a couple of years for Israel’s tourism and many people’s mental health to recover. 

But like always, the tourists came back, and so did touring rock bands like the Rolling Stones, Radiohead, and Guns n’ Roses in 2017. At around this time, I was approached by BBC History to write the main article for their Treasures of the Holy Land special.

Photo by Benjamin Recinos on Unsplash

“In every era, emperors and kings have been allured by the Holy Land.” The intro began. “This small strip of land has been conquered by the Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans and the British empire, to name but a few. Each conquest made its mark, leaving behind many historic sites of significance.”

It listed ten important historic sites including the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, and the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem. “Whether or not this is the birthplace of Jesus, the Church of the Nativity is a remarkable heritage site. It’s the oldest continuously operating church in the world, commissioned in AD 326 by Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother. Constantine famously converted to Christianity, thus changing the face of the Roman empire.”

And of course the Western Wall: “At first glimpse, the Western Wall, called HaKotel in Hebrew, looks just like any other fortress wall. Yet, for 2,000 years it was the symbol of Jewish yearning.”

Pandemic and a distant peace
Then, in 2020 Israel’s tourism came to a complete standstill with the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Amazingly, as the world gradually opened up, Tel Aviv was selected as the eighth-best city in Time Out’s Global Index of 2021.  

This time I wrote about Israel’s resilience: “Tel Avivians are a hardy bunch. When Covid hit tourism, this high-tech hub hit the Reset button. The pandemic caused the ‘city that never stops’ to take a well-needed pause. Spaces like Dizengoff Square and Park HaMesila played host to picnics, gigs, screenings and talks. After the lockdowns, Israel led the vaccination race and before long locals were back sipping cappuccinos in cafes and doing yoga on the beach.”

And most recently I contributed to Lonely Planet’s Joy of Gardens book in 2023, on Haifa’s Baha’i Gardens: “A shining red-golden dome sits at the top of a kind of stairway to heaven. You climb one step after another, passing immaculate terraced gardens, with the sparkling Mediterranean below – it can only be Haifa’s breathtaking Baha’i Gardens.” I interviewed Nabil, the garden administrator, who quoted a Baha’i teaching: “The world of humanity is like a garden and the various races are the flowers,” he said. “These gardens represent the transformation that we want to see in the world.”

“The world of humanity is like a garden and the various races are the flowers.” Photo by Piotr Musioł on Unsplash

Sadly, any peaceful vision appeared to be torn apart by Hamas on October 7, 2023. There were more than 1,200 murder victims, including peace activists like Vivien Silver, as well as Bilha and Yakovi Inon, parents of Maoz Inon.

In response, Maoz Inon has paired-up with Palestinian entrepreneur and founder of Mejdi Tours, Aziz Abu Sarah. Together, they have held inspirational TED talks and held an emotional meeting with Pope Francis. Like them, I share the view that tourism can promote peace and grow the economy. Yet much depends on the path Israel will take with its neighbours. Right now there are few non-Jewish tourists and even fewer flights.

Today, the current Israeli government is too narrow-minded; in their isolationist world-view, Israel is alone and must fight for its survival. But if there’s one lesson I’ve learnt, it’s that people on both sides of this conflict are resilient. Some people have given their whole lives to the kibbutz movement or interfaith dialogue and have seen it all fall apart. Yet somehow they carry on.

This time, the ‘Day After’ recovery will need wider changes in society, democracy and security, perhaps with regional partners like Egypt, Jordan and the UAE. If diplomacy prevails, the Sinai-Negev-Petra route could be one of the world’s great backpacker trails. The Dead Sea, Jordan River and Lake Galilee could be a protected area of beauty, the north of Israel could be a hiker’s paradise, and Tel Aviv could thrive.

Until then, all I can do is hope that the war will end, the hostages and tourists will come back, and one day I could write for a travel magazine called Incredible Israel.

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Related books:
Rhyme Travels: A Guide to the World in Rhyme (2023), by Dan Savery Raz
Joy of Exploring Gardens (2023), published by Lonely Planet