Under the guise of experiental, educational sojourns in the Middle East, an ongoing, extensive tourism subterfuge of global proportions is at work today. This comprehensive and coordinated fraudulent operation includes travel agency fronts, terrorist groups, international NGOs, Islamists, and Leftists. They include such organizations as the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, Abraham Path, the Soros Foundation to Promote Open Society, and others.
All of them, whether unwittingly or intentionally, are part of an effort to turn tourists, college students, and Christian pilgrims against the Jewish state of Israel. Using the rubric of “a connection between people from the Middle East,” these travel expeditions underhandedly buttress a political agenda that delegitimizes and demonizes Israel. They are part of a scheme to fundamentally transform the Western world, by undermining Judaism, the root of Christianity, and moving on to the destruction of Christianity as well.
A look at one of the organizations involved in the efforts, Abraham Path, provides insights into how these groups have created a dangerous mix of supposed humanitarian organizations and Islamic supremacists.
Abraham Path partners with the United Nations Tourism Organization and Harvard Law School and receives financial support from the Riyadh-based, Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. Prince Talal, a Wahhabist, shortly after 9/11, admonished the United States to change its stance in the Middle East and turn toward the Palestinian cause, declaring, “Our Palestinian brethren continue to be slaughtered at the hands of Israelis while the world turns the other cheek.”
Talal implied that the U.S. position on Israel caused the 9/11 attacks. Offended by these statements, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani turned down $10 million offered by the Saudi prince in the aftermath of the attacks.
Another organization, the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, targets Israel-supporting evangelical Christians with its stated goal of “re-branding Palestine as a destination for experiential travel and human connection” and suggests visits to Christian sites. Yet, it also offers “fact finding programs” about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, from a decidedly political point of view.
The center is an affiliate of Abraham Path and The Telos Group, a beneficiary of the philanthropy of George Soros, the billionaire funder of radical Leftist causes who, as in impressionable teen, collaborated with the Nazis to confiscate Jewish property and send Jews to death camps. The Telos Group receives half of its funding from the Open Society Foundations, chaired by founder, Soros. The Telos Group endeavors to steer Christian Zionists, who have been steadfast in their support for the Jewish State, “away from decades of growing loyalty to Israel and toward increased solidarity with the Palestinians.”
Yet, the organization’s true goal is to delegitimize Israel on the global stage, shift U.S. public opinion against Israel, and promote the view that Israel and Israel alone is responsible for the “conflict” with Arab-Palestinians. Telos conducts this subterfuge or propaganda war under the guise of a “pro-peace” agenda, which is merely a cover for promulgating misinformation about Israel.
NGO Monitor, a non-profit group that performs critical analysis of non-government organizations, has examined another tour group, Holy Land Trust (HLF). NGO Monitor has concluded that HLF targets church leaders and the international community and takes them on highly politicized tours that promote the Palestinian narrative of victimization from Israeli violence. HLF’s executive director, Sami Awad, claims to have conducted “training in non-violence for Hamas leaders and other militant groups.”
These tourism non-profits, licensed by the Ministry of Tourism in the Palestinian territories, market themselves as purveyors of “responsible” and “experiential” travel promoting “Palestine” as a travel destination and promising “human connection” and “immersion” into the cultural, religious, and social facets of the region. They offer home stays, interfaith activities, religious pilgrimages, environmentally friendly tours, wilderness adventures, hikes through the West Bank, cycling tours, and trips geared specifically for college students.