Travelers see and experience what these often allied organizations want them to see in Palestine — abject poverty, oppression, desperation, barbed wire, water shortages, and other deplorable conditions. Left out are swanky hotels, sprawling residences, luxurious resorts, and thriving commercial enterprises that exist in the Palestinian territories. The traveler on their tours is left with the distinct impression that Israel is wholly responsible for the miserable existence of the Arab-Palestinians they visit and see.
Under this guise of real-life travel expeditions, they insinuate a pro-Palestinian/anti-Israel narrative. Published itineraries for college tours indicate meetings with Hamas, supporters of Hezb’allah, and Muslim Brotherhood operatives, as if it were entirely appropriate and reasonable that college students should meet members of designated terrorist groups! Further, the very existence of these speakers indicates that the sponsoring NGOs and travel agency front organizations have well-established relationships with terrorists to be able to command their presence for their tours.
Many of the “Palestine” tours, like a recent tour by Harvard University, feature visits to the grave of Yasser Arafat. What is missing from the exposition on Arafat is that he is referred to as the father of modern terrorism and responsible for the death of thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. Under his leadership, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) conducted scores of bombings, plane hijackings, and massacres, including an attack on a school in which children were murdered, the Munich Olympic slaughter of 11 Israeli athletes in 1972, and the murder of disabled American Jewish businessman, Leon Klinghoffer, on the Achille Lauro cruise ship. PLO Chairman Arafat encouraged a culture of martyrdom by strapping explosives to Arab-Palestinian children and introducing textbooks that indoctrinated generations of youth to hate Israel and celebrate violence against Jews.
These NGO-funded non-profits travel outfits use heavy propaganda. They refer to “Palestine” as the “cradle of civilization” and the place where Judaism, Christianity and Islam took root. Of course, truth is a casualty in this narrative as the Muslim prophet Mohammed hailed from Mecca and never visited Jerusalem except reportedly in a dream. Further, Jerusalem is never mentioned by name in the Koran and Muslims pray facing their holy city of Mecca, to which they must undertake a hajj or pilgrimage at some point in their lives as a religious obligation.
By contrast, Jerusalem has been the holiest city for Jews since the 10th century B.C. and is endowed with a special status in Jewish religious law. Jews pray facing Jerusalem and the holy city is mentioned 669 times in the Tanakh or Jewish Bible. For Christians, Jerusalem is significant as a place that Jesus visited as a child, preached in as an adult, consumed his “Last Supper,” was crucified, and resurrected. The Christian Bible refers to Jerusalem 154 times.
Other lies perpetuated against Israel include the myths that Israelis are poisoning or restricting the water supply and that Israeli soldiers shoot at Arab-Palestinian children for sport. Travelers on the tours hear complaints about the economic consequences and restrictions imposed by the checkpoints, created to save Israeli lives from Arab-Palestinian suicide bombers.
Ignored on the tours are positive facts about Israel: that it is a democracy under the rule of law with equal rights for Arab citizens, including the right to vote and have representation and serve in the Knesset. Also ignored is the contrast to the Palestinian Territories, which operate under tyrannical leaders who torture and imprison the opposition. These tour groups accuse Israel of apartheid, but the Arab-Palestinians are the true practitioners of apartheid and insist that Jews will be forbidden to live in any future Palestinian state.
The Islamists refuse to accept Israel’s existence as a Jewish state, cry “death to Israel” and Palestinianize Christianity by presenting Jesus as a Palestinian or Muslim. Effectively, this obliterates the Jewish roots of Christianity and forges a temporary Muslim bond of convenience with Christians. This despite the ethnic cleansing of Christians taking place throughout the Arab Muslim world and beyond, which has followed the expulsion of Jews from the region from 1947-1974.