TRAVEL PALESTINE

Easter in Palestine

travelpalestine — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 10:26:47 +0000

Thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world together with Palestinian Christians converge on the Old City of Jerusalem to celebrate the Holy Week of Easter.

Holy Week festivities in Jerusalem begin on Palm Sunday, one week before Easter Sunday, with a pilgrim procession from the Mount of Olives to the Old City.

The Palm Sunday procession follows the same path that Jesus took on his triumphant return to Jerusalem. Two thousand years ago, Jesus rode on a donkey as followers laid palm branches along his path. Today, pilgrims march on foot, waving palm fronds and olive branches.

On Good Friday, pilgrims retrace Jesus’ procession toward his crucifixion along the cobble stoned Via Dolorosa. This reenacted march along the Stations of the Cross features many of Jerusalem’s most historic Christian sites.

During the Via Dolorosa procession, pilgrims can be seen carrying large wooden crosses and reciting prayers at each of the fourteen Stations of the Cross.

Their procession begins at the Sanctuary of the Flagellation, where Jesus was scourged and judged, and ends at the Church of Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus was stripped of his garments, nailed to the cross and died.

According to Catholic and Orthodox Churches, Jesus was buried in the chamber of the sepulcher and later resurrected from there, making the Church of the Holy Sepulcher a focal point of the modern day pilgrimage. Protestant denominations believe Jesus was buried in the nearby Garden Tomb.

The “Light” Celebration takes place on the Greek Orthodox Holy Saturday at the Holy Sepulcher, and spreads to all the Palestinian towns and villages. It commemorates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Holy Light.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarch fasts all day that day to celebrate this feast. He prays near the Tomb from early morning until 2:00 pm when the light appears.

In Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour, the “Light” is received at St. Elijah’s Monastery on the road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and it then is taken in a procession to the churches in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala where believers would be waiting for it in order to start their celebrations.

On Easter Sunday, pilgrims and Palestinian Christians celebrate together. Special masses, vigils and services are held throughout the Old City, including more than twenty separate masses conducted within 24 hours at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Christians in Bethlehem hold candlelight prayers at the Church of the Nativity.

During Easter week, Jerusalem’s Old City accommodates the six Christian sects who are represented in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher: Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, Egyptian Coptic, Ethiopian, and Syrian Orthodox.

The Eastern and Orthodox churches follow a different calendar than the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. This year, the Roman Catholic and Protestant celebrate Easter Sunday on April 8th, while the Eastern and Orthodox churches have their celebration on April 15th.

This natural scheduling difference often helps reduce territorial tension in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. The Church also gives each denomination its own space and separate schedules for permitted prayer times.

Sufi Trails – Exploring the Hidden Heritage of Palestine

travelpalestine — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 07:15:29 +0000

From

Hidden in the mountains north of Ramallah, on the hilltops and in the old Palestinian villages, lies a scattered network of Sufi shrines and sacred sites that go back to remote pre-history. The Sufi Trails are designed to help you explore the landscape – to walk the paths through the oak forests and olive groves, to discover the story of these forgotten sanctuaries, and to meet the kind, welcoming people who live in these villages today.

Wadi Natuf

The Sufi Trails have been designed to take you into a landscape unseen by most travellers. The trails connect some of the most beautiful Islamic shrines and historic towns in Palestine, and pass through some of its finest countryside.

Starting and ending in the lively university town of Birzeit, with its restaurants and cafés, these tours can be adapted to meet the needs of the discerning visitor. Walk as much or as little as you like, from a full day’s hike down the spectacular Wadi Natuf to a gentle stroll around the Ottoman streets of Deir Ghassaneh. Picnic under the shade of the olive trees, or enjoy a home-cooked meal with a Palestinian family. However you travel, the experience will captivate you with the beauty and hospitality of these hills.

The Deir Ghassaneh Trail

Shrine of Sheikh Al Qatrawani at the entrance of the village of Atara

This route takes you to the historic Palestinian village of Deir Ghassaneh and allows you to explore the unspoiled beauty of the surrounding countryside. Built on a ridge in the hills north of Ramallah, Deir Ghassaneh commands spectacular views across to the coastal plain and the Mediterranean Sea. In the old heart of the town you can explore the fortified mansions of the Ottoman nobility, visit a museum of rural folklore, and share home-cooked Palestinian food made by the members of Deir Ghassaneh’s thriving women’s association. An hour’s walk beyond the village is the shrine of Al Majdhub – one of the most beautiful and evocative medieval Sufi sanctuaries in Palestine.

Shrine of Al-Khawwas

Some of the places that you will come across on this tour include the Shrine of Sheikh Al Qatrawani at the entrance of the village of Atara, the Sanctuary of Nabi Saleh, and the Shrine of Al-Khawwas.

The Deir Ammar Trail

Shrine of Al Majdhub

The Deir Ammar Trail is a fabulous day’s walk from the medieval Sufi shrine of Nabi Ghaith down along the remote Wadi Natuf. The valley gives its name to the pre-historic culture of the Natufians – a people who lived in the eastern Mediterranean some 12,000 years ago, and who may have been among the first humans to cultivate plants, domesticate animals, and build permanent settlements. The track takes you through the hidden gardens of the village, where you may well be invited to drink tea under the orange trees. The walk ends at the natural springs of Ein Zarqa, from where you can leave by road back to Birzeit or Ramallah.

The Nabi Anir Trail

The Nabi Anir Trail is an exploration of rural Palestine that takes you into villages and archaeological sites that most tourists never see. From the living communities of Deir Ammar and Beitillu we walk out towards the abandoned village of Nabi Anir, where we find the ruins of a Byzantine church and the natural spring at Ain Ayoub.

Al Majdhub

Each one of these trails will reveal a new and fascinating world.

• Discover the historic Sufi shrines and sacred sites of rural Palestine, as well as the neglected features of this historic landscape – Byzantine ruins, Roman aqueducts, Ottoman water mills and olive presses.

• Enjoy the beauty of the landscape – flowers and herbs, olive groves and oak forests, wild animals and birds.

• Encounter the local people, learn about the living traditions of the villages, and taste the wonderful food.

Your support for Sufi Trails’ local guides and drivers is an important contribution to the economy of rural Palestine.

For more information, contact: Rozana Association, Birzeit, Old Town.

Telefax: +972 2 281 9850, Web: www.sufitrails.ps, e-mail: info@sufitrails.ps

Experience Palestine

travelpalestine — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:00:47 +0000

Experience 100’s of life-changing experiences in your next trip to Palestine.

Experiences by theme:

Archaeological Art Bethlehem Biblical Christian

Culture Dead Sea Eating Event Folklore

Historic Islamic Jericho Jerusalem Nablus

Nature Tour Walk Wilderness

travelpalestine — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:46:22 +0000

Jericho Page

Jericho: Palestine’s Winter Escape

travelpalestine — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:00:56 +0000

Jericho is the ideal destination for a temporary break from the winter cold and offers respite from the grey. Jericho is easily accessible from Jerusalem, Bethlehem or Ramallah. Its proximity and dramatic difference provided a facile escape from the cold wintry weather prevailing over the mountains of the West Bank. Jericho’s winter escape season would start in early December, and remains as long as possible, until the Greek Orthodox Easter or the end of the Nebi Musa seasonal festival the beginning of May.

The winter of Jericho is short-lived and spring comes the first week of February. Its short winter, however, is mild. Night temperatures rarely drop to seven degrees centigrade. Day temperatures hover in this balmy, sunny oasis.

In addition to its warm winter, Jericho, on the other hand, is technicolor. Jericho’s citrus yields a dramatic range of varied hues of green. The citrus fruits ripen in winter and modulate in color from bright luminous yellow to rich succulent orange. The summer parched landscape, now wet, reveals pink, yellow, and ochre pigments that, in the play of light and shadow, acquire dramatic hues of purple blue. The orange orchards and the vegetable plantations-zucchini, green beans, peas, and eggplants-extended into the endless horizon. The pastel pink Mount of Temptation perched nobly at the edge of the oldest city on the earth.

The tastiest oranges grow in its orchards. From early February until mid-March, lemons, oranges, grapefruits, pomelos, and bitter oranges soak the entire Jordan valley with their fragrance.

In Jericho, you can enjoy taking long hikes in the fields, riding bicycles or riding the lowest cable car in the World. It is a place where you can feel warm and carefree. You will be enchanted with the open gurgling stream, the chirping birds, and the bellowing of the flocks of sheep grazing in the fields. Outdoor restaurants line the main street leading from downtown Jericho westward to the Mount of Temptation.

Apart from its wonderful landscape and pleasant weather, Jericho’s ancient history will astonish you. Jesus’ third temptation took place here. King Herod had built his palace here. Hisham, the son of Abd el Malek Ben Marwan, who had built our Dome of the Rock, had built his winter palace in Jericho, Hisham’s Palace. Ruins of settlements as early as 10.000 B.C.E are traced at Tel-Al-Sultan. Monasteries for all denominations proliferated in Jericho. For attractions in Jericho please click here.

travelpalestine — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:35:14 +0000

Nablus Page The Samaritans

travelpalestine — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:50:08 +0000

Jericho Page

Christmas Eve and Night in Bethlehem: the Chronicle of a Religious and Social Event

travelpalestine — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:13:31 +0000

Post by Custodia.org Blog

Bethlehem, 24th – 25th December 2011

This is the chronicle of the Holy Night of Bethlehem: it is such a long night that – so to speak – it begins in the day. In the heart of the Holy Land, the religious aspect entails a very complex sequence of rituals, protocols and social and political life that cannot be separated from one another.

1) The Prologue in Jerusalem The Holy Night of Bethlehem begins in Jerusalem. Around midnight, the notables of the parish of Jerusalem, led by their mukhtar, Mr. Jakob Amer, go to the Latin Patriarch to accompany him to Bethlehem. The Patriarch Fouad Twal receives them with the canons, the parish priest of Jerusalem, Father Feras Hejazin and the Bishops William Shomali and Kamal Batish, who after the customary speeches and greetings, will individually wish everyone a Merry Christmas.

2) The procession to Bethlehem A long procession of cars (more than sixty), escorted by the Israeli police, reaches the Greek Orthodox monastery of Mar Elias, which marks the border of the parish of Jerusalem. Here the mayors of the neighbouring villages of Bet Sahur and Bet Jala are waiting for them, together with members of their communities and Father Ibrahim Faltas, in charge of the protocol with the Palestinian National Authority for the Custody of the Holy Land. This is one of the rare occasions when cars with Palestinian number-plates are allowed into territory under Israeli control. After greetings, the procession continues, to stop once again at Rachel’s Tomb (the original boundary of the municipality of Bethlehem) where the representatives of the Catholic associations, led by the parish priest of Bethlehem, Father Marwas Di’des, are waiting. Everybody then gets back in the cars and, having got through the last diaphragm of separation, the long procession of cars – now numbering about a hundred – slowly moves towards the Basilica of the Nativity. It is a great day of celebration for Bethlehem and all its inhabitants are in the streets for a walk, to meet, exchange greetings and greet from the pavements the Patriarch and the other ministers who come to celebrate Christmas here. Christians from other towns such as Jericho, Jerusalem and Ramallah can also be met here, where they have come to experience this joyful atmosphere with their friends and relatives in Bethlehem. For Bethlehem, Christmas is a manifestation of collective identity and a moment of self-representation as the Patriarch also underlined in his homily in the Midnight Mass: “We can be proud because, of all the continents and all the places in the world, God chose our land, Palestine, this place, as the birthplace of the Saviour.”

3) The arrival in Manger Square and the Patriarch’s entry into the Basilica of the Nativity At last the procession arrives in front of the Basilica of the Nativity, ninety minutes late, which has caused some discontent amongst the ministering priests who, lined up punctually in the square according to the strict protocol of the status quo, had been waiting all this time in the cold, but especially because of the delay the scheduled liturgy of the First Vespers of Christmas will have to be cancelled. Amidst a great crowd of photographers and journalists from all over the world, the Patriarch is greeted by the town’s authorities, including the mayor, Victor Batarse, the governor Abdelfatah Hmayel and the chief of police Khaled Tamini. This is followed by the solemn entry into the Basilica. In front of the “Door of Humility”, there are the introductory rites presided by the Guardian of St. Catherine’s Convent, Father Stéphane Milovitch, attentively followed by the representatives of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian Churches.

4) Conclusion of the entry of the Patriarch into the Church of St. Catherine and procession to the grotto of the Nativity The Patriarch and his entourage enter the Basilica of the Nativity and go into St. Catherine’s Church through the cloister of St. Jerome. The liturgy is concluded with the greetings of the parish priest of Bethlehem and the blessing by the Patriarch. After a short pause, it is time for the procession to enter the Grotto of the Nativity, presided by the Guardian Father Stéphane, with the assistance of the Patriarch, Mons. Fouad. Against the background of the beautiful Latin songs of this procession, the star marking the place of the incarnation of the Word and the manger where the Child Jesus was laid are incensed.

5) Dinner with the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas Every year the Friars Minor of the Custody of the Holy Land invite the President of the Palestinian National Authority to Cssa Nova for Christmas dinner and this convivial moment is now traditional, becoming an element of the protocol of the Christmas events in Bethlehem. In the absence of the Custos of the Holy Land, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa (engaged in the liturgical celebration in Nazareth) it was his vicar, Father Artemio Vitores who acted as host. Speaking in Italian, with Father Ibrahim Faltas translating into Arabic, Father Artemio recalled the meaning of Christmas for St. Francis and thanked President Abbas for having accepted the invitation again this year and above all for his work in support of hope, peace and freedom for Palestine. The Patriarch Fouad Twal then spoke, thanking the Franciscan Friars Minor for their hospitality and hoping that President Abbas can continue his political engagement for peace in Palestine, the same peace that was announced by the angels in Bethlehem on the Night of Christmas and addressed to all men of goodwill. The dinner was also attended by the Prime Minister of the island state of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonzales, a representative from the United Arab Emirates, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad and the Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mansour Giuda, who brought the greetings of King Abdallah and recalled the proactive commitment of his country on behalf of the Christian churches. President Mahmoud Abbas then took the floor, thanking the Franciscans for this celebration which is repeated every year and wishing peace, love and serenity to all the Christians of Palestine. “We will continue to work for peace for Palestine and for the Arab world,” the President said, “and we want relations with Israel as good neighbours. Everyone has to understand that peace is the best solution for us all.”

6) The Holy Mass of Christmas Night The longest awaited moment has finally arrived: the Holy Mass that truly represents the incarnation and passion of Christ, renewing the miracle of salvation through the mercy of God. The Mass was preceded by the “Crib of Greccio”, a moment of prayer which recalls the invention of the Christmas Crib and the meaning of Christmas for St. Francis. The liturgy then began with the Office of the Readings and the Mass with the singing of the Gloria, the ringing of the bells and the uncovering of the traditional statue of the Child of Bethlehem by the first sacristan, Brother John Bomah. The songs were performed by the Yasmeen choir of the Magnificat Institute and by the choir of the Custody of the Holy Land, conducted by Hania Soudah Sabbara with Father Armando Pierucci at the organ, who also composed the songs of the Mass (Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei), performed today for the first time. There was also the St. Angela choir of Budapest, who had come in the company of a Hungarian diplomatic representation led by the Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semièn, who was joined by the other consular diplomatic representations who traditionally attend Midnight Mass. President Mahmoud Abbas was present from the start of the mass to the homily of the Patriarch (as he is a Muslim, he left the church before the start of the Eucharistic liturgy, together with the Muslim members of his staff, whilst the Christians stayed on). The Holy Mass was celebrated by the Patriarch Fouad Twal, assisted by the Bishops William Shomali and Kamal Batish of the Latin Patriarchate, Bishop Melki of the Syrian-Catholic church, Archbishop Minassian of the Armenian Catholic Church, the Armenian Catholic Exarch Telekian and the Emeritus Bishop of Vigevano Claudio Baggini, together with dozens of priests from the Holy Land and all over the world. At the same time as the solemn mass in St. Catherine’s Church, the parish of Bethlehem with its priests celebrated Christmas Mass in the grotto. At the end of the Mass in St. Catherine’s, the Patriarch took the statue of Child Jesus placed under the altar to carry it in a procession with all the friars and celebrants into the grotto of the Nativity: here the statue was placed first on the star and then in the crib, with a moving liturgy which, for reasons of space, is precluded to the majority but which can be seen thanks to Palestinian television which filmed it. Holy Masses were then celebrated in the grotto throughout the night.

By Brother Riccardo Ceriani Photos of the Entrance of the Patriarch by Marco Gavasso Photos of the Christmas Mass and Procession in the Grotto by Giovanni Zennaro and Alice Caputo

» custodia.org

travelpalestine — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:46:56 +0000

The Dead Sea Page

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Jerusalem Wilderness Page