Roots Tourism–Whose Roots?

Abstract

Israel is the contested homeland of both the Jewish-Israeli and the Arab-Palestinian peoples. In the practice of tourism, Israel highlights sites of Jewish history and tends to neglect those of Palestinian history. Many of the Palestinian villages and heritage sites were destroyed by Israel in 1948 and onwards, or were gradually dilapidated due to lack of official care. Large-scale Palestinian roots tourism does not exist, due to the impossibility of most Palestinians to gain access into Israel. This paper explores an unusual form of roots tourism: the encounter between Jewish-Israelis and Palestinian depopulated villages that are located today within the boundaries of Israeli tourist sites. The paper demonstrates that the villages are largely ignored or marginalized in the information given to the public. The tourism authorities therefore underestimate the roots of the Palestinians in the country and portray an overall picture of a Jewish country, with very minor Arab heritage.

Oppressive pines: Uprooting Israeli green colonialism and implanting Palestinian A’wna

“…I argue that these conservation projects act as green conduits for processes of ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and land grab (B’Tselem, n.d. ; Kadman, 2010: 57). I call these landscapes green colonies, inspired by the term ‘green settlements’ (Agence France Presse, 2012), to better capture the colonial nature of these areas (Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (CJPME), personal communication, June 22, 2018).…”

“…Another example is its adoption of Western or modern environmentalism (Grove, 1995;Kadman, 2010). For millennia, human societies globally sought and established healthy relationships with non-humans.…”

“…This article explores Israel’s appropriation of environmentalism, particularly its formation of ‘protected areas’, comprising national parks, forests, and nature reserves, for colonial ends (Kadman, 2010). I refer to this form of cooption as green colonialism (Klein, 2016).…”

Tourism as a Space of Possibilities: Reconciliation Tourism Enterprises in a Conflict-Ridden Destination

“…Studies tell us that international visitors to Israel and the Palestinian territories assign a range of meanings to their visits. Some devote the visit to showing solidarity with one side, while others are more interested in simply learning what they can about the conflict (Brin 2006; Kadman 2010).…”

“…Studies tell us that international visitors to Israel and the Palestinian territories assign a range of meanings to their visits. Some devote the visit to showing solidarity with one side, while others are more interested in simply learning what they can about the conflict (Brin 2006;Kadman 2010). Isaac and Plantenkamp (2010) suggested that international volunteers in the West Bank can generate hope among Palestinians by raising international awareness of the Palestinian cause.…”