Faces & Landscapes of Israel/Palestine

Arab women wear garments that cover their faces or heads. This is a religious practice, not a cultural practice. It is rooted in Islamic teachings about hijab, or modesty. While some say that veiling denigrates women, some women say that it liberates them. Covering is not universally observed by Muslim women and varies by region and class. Some Arab governments have, at times, banned or required veiling.

The Jewish Quarter, which looks almost brand new and usually sparkling clean, dates to roughly 1400.  The oldest synagogues— the Elijah the Prophet and Yohanan Ben Zakkai — are roughly 400 years-old. These synagogues are below street level, as at the time they were built, Jews and Christians were prohibited from building anything higher than the Muslim structures.

The currency is the New Israeli Shekel (NIS). You can exchange dollars for shekels at a booth just inside Ben-Gurion Airport. Credit cards are widely used, especially in Tel Aviv, and shops and restaurants post the cards they take. I had no trouble using the ATM machines in Israel.

The picturesque landscape outside the Israel Museum. The archaeology of the Land of Israel has its own peculiar array of motifs, ideas and practitioners. Two major themes stretch throughout the history of Holy Land -- Israel's position as a bridge between the great civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia; the fragmentary, segmented character of society in a landscape that encouraged regionality and discouraged large-scale organization.

The most popular food to emerge from the Mediterranean and Middle East regions is Humus - an exotic blend of pureed chickpeas, lemon, sesame tahini, oil, and spices with added flavors such as roasted garlic, roasted red peppers, scallion and dill. It is traditionally used as a dip with Pita bread, crackers or fresh cut veggies.

The landscape as seen from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Authority, a state institution, which was opened to the public in 1957. Israel has today more than 190 high-rise buildings, and in the near future it will have more then 35-40 new skyscrapers with 25-80 floors (mostly in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan).

The Bernie Fink's Memorial to Jewish Soldiers, six giant boulders lined up so their inner edges form a Star of David; shooting up through the centre of the star-shaped space is a long, pointed sword. The task of Yad Vashem is to perpetuate the memory and lessons of the Holocaust for future generations.

The Negev occupies 60% of the land surface area of Israel and yet it is the least densely populated. Delineated as being south of Be'er Sheva and Dimona, it is mainly a stone and sand desert with sparse vegetation. However, following periods of heavy rain during the winter and early spring, the desert is transformed into a colourful carpet of flowers including many of Israel's desert specialties.

Mohammad, our Bedouin host, plays the lute for us. He has performed at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York, the world's largest cultural complex. The lute is a stringed instrument with a pear-shaped body and fretted fingerboard, played by plucking with the fingers. It was popular in Europe from the Middle Ages to the 18th-century.

Masada today is one of the Jewish people's greatest symbols. Israeli soldiers take an oath there: "Masada shall not fall again." Next to Jerusalem, it is the most popular destination of Jewish tourists visiting Israel.

Children begging for money. One out of every five of the 2,022,700 children in the nation lives in poverty. Poor children are suffering in terms of education, health services, and culture. There are 436,000 Israeli children that are poor with the poverty level among non-Jews almost doubling over Jews.

The present Basilica of the Nativity was built by the Emperor Justinian on the site of the earlier Constantinian basilica, which had been badly damaged in the Samaritan revolt of 529. The Basilica is dedicated to the Holy Mother of God (Theotokos).

Selling candles at the Basilica of the Nativity.

Buskers fill the afternoon air with violin solos, arias and traditional Yiddish music from Eastern Europe. The large scale immigration of Russian and Eastern European Jews to Israel, which occurred soon after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, brought classical musical talent of world-class caliber with it.

It is the Basilica's collection of murals depicting Mary and the baby Jesus, donated by Roman Catholic communities from all around the world, which is its most popular feature.

The Yardenit baptismal site on the Jordan River in northern Israel had been deserted for much of the past four years because of fighting with the Palestinians. Foreigners put off plans for trips to the region, frightened by TV scenes of bombed buses and Israeli tanks rumbling through West Bank towns.

Every Israeli boy serves a compulsory three years in the army (one and a half for girls) and also a month of every year until the age of 45.

The Church of St. Gabriel is composed of a church, and Mary's Well. Some of the apocryphal gospels state that the well was the actual location of the Annunciation. The church was completed in the middle of the 18th century by the Greek Orthodox Church.

The cradle of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Israel has drawn pilgrims in their hundreds of thousands, and has played host to a multitude of disparate cultures whose influences still resonate today.