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Israel

Tourists swap pool for security barrier

August 11, 2011 11:20
The Yachad tour group in Hebron

By

Nathan Jeffay,

Nathan Jeffay

1 min read

Brits holidaying in Israel are being urged to leave the hotel and take a dip into politics with a day trip to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Yachad, the left-wing pro-Israel group, has started running excursions to these areas. For £45, British visitors to Israel are taken to Hebron - where 800 settlers live close to more than 150,000 Palestinians - and shown around by a guide and a Yachad representative.

They are then taken to East Jerusalem, where they walk along the security barrier and discuss, among other topics, challenges facing Palestinians who live there.

"There is a real interest among British Jews to understand what is going on there, and lots of people want to see more when they are in Israel than a nice café in Tel Aviv or a beach in Eilat," said Yachad's director Hannah Weisfeld. "Regardless of where you stand politically, it's important to see, and people don't have the opportunity, as they won't go there alone."