Fruits in season in May

The summer wave of colorful fruit has begun, to the rejoicing of cooks who love to put up preserves. Apricots, peaches, and nectarines have entered the markets, and are already sweet enough to be worth buying. Strawberries are still with us, although getting seedy in preparation for disappearing till next year. If you haven’t made your jam yet, here’s our recipe. Kiwis are sweet and ripe.

Cherries have arrived, but they are rather expensive. Some years farmers predict huge crops when there is a prolonged winter, which allows the trees to “sleep” and blossom after the windiest weather. Some years when the weather is intense, windstorms and sandstorms will blow the blossoms off the cherry trees.

Avocados are still in the market, but are getting expensive again as their season wanes. As expected in warm weather, all the melons are sweet and ready for eating. Fresh green almonds have a different character now, because the milky interior gel has hardened into soft, pale kernels already. If you like them, buy now, for they will soon disappear. Loquat season is here.

Citrus fruit are still in evidence, with oranges, pomelos, and clementines for sale. Lemons are big and juicy; some lemon trees give two yearly crops, which accounts for their almost year-round presence. Good news for those who like to put up salty preserved lemons.

May seasonal vegetables

Tomatoes are expensive and will remain until a new crop comes in. If budget-conscious, look for smaller, less glamorous-looking tomatoes; they are just as good and cheaper. Depending on the day, cherry tomatoes can be cheapest of all.

The best bargains in vegetables this season are cauliflower and all the cabbages, which are big, firm, and cheap. Okra is in season, although expensive. String beans, broad Italian beans and wax beans look fine now, as does sweet corn.

Parsley root and celeriac continue full and fat, but as summer temperatures rise, these roots will shrink back and won’t be worth bothering with. The same is true of celery, by the way. Kohlrabi, fennel, beets, turnips, and red radishes are very good now, at reasonable prices.

Summer loves white and red potatoes; time to make one of those Middle Eastern potato salads fragrant with olive oil and lemon. Cucumbers, corn, and eggplants are good now. Come really hot weather, get to the market early for decent eggplants. They are susceptible to heat and in full summer, they buckle in, languishing on the vendor’s stands.

All the peppers are good in May. Look for baby bell peppers for stuffing.  Grilled, and combined with grilled eggplant, peppers make a delicious dip, similar to muhamarra.

Here’s our recipe: just substitute grilled eggplants for the bread. Another well-loved Middle Eastern dish is stuffed zucchini – and zukes are looking good now too.

Pumpkins and butternut squash are in season. Combine one of them with a cob of local sweet corn, an onion, a tomato and your favorite herbs for a delicious soup. As every good cook knows, foods that come into season at the same time taste good together.

Two Middle-Eastern summer specialties are akoub, or tiny wild artichokes. Akoub is a spiky, edible plant found in a wide swath of the Middle East, from the mountains of Turkey down through the West Bank and Golan Heights to the Sinai Desert in Egypt. Akoub are akuvit hagalgal (the tumble thistle) in Hebrew and gundelia in English. Palestinians traditionally use the sturdy akoub stems and flower buds to make favorite dishes like stews, soups or fried eggs. It’s believed that akoub can treat many diseases from diabetes to bronchitis.

They’re very thorny and labor-intensive to clean, so they’re always expensive. But as a seasonal treat, they can’t be surpassed, with their unique, delicate flavor. Any prickles that remain after cleaning soften upon cooking.

Melokhia, or mulokhia (or jute), has started its brief season. Here’s our recipe for traditional melokhia soup. The leaves may be rinsed, patted dry, and hung up by their stems to dry for future soups.

Herbs in season in May

Basil is back again. At the herb vendors, there are plenty of parsley, coriander leaf, chives, celery, and scallions. Still in evidence are sorrel, tarragon, wormwood, Swiss chard, spinach, leeks and lettuces. Mint continues especially lovely. Grape leaves for stuffing are now being sold in stacks. You may find bunches of lemon verbena for sale now.

Fresh ginger root is in every spice vendor’s and also at the herb stands. Ginger root freezes well and is easy to peel and grate. Just put the remainder right back in the freezer after use, because it gets mushy once thawed out.

Love Middle East spices as medicine? We have a guide here.

Foraging guide for May

The landscape is drying up, with winter’s juicy wild greens just a memory. But there is always something for the alert forager to bring home.

Purslane

Purslane, summer’s featured wild edible, has started to appear on the ground. It’s tender now, so if you come across a nice patch of it, bring it home for your salads.

Honeysuckle

Make honeysuckle wine? For a sip of sweetness and to revive childhood memories, pluck a few honeysuckle blossoms. Honeysuckle can be made into wine: if you are determined and have access to a large quantity of pesticide-free blossoms, you can find the recipe below in a video. To capture that elusive flavor more easily, just drop a handful into a jar, cover with sugar, and wait a week.  Rosemary is flowering, and it’s worth robbing the bees of a few blooms to flavor tea.

Dandelion

The dandelion of the Middle East is Taraxacum syriaca. It flowers sparsely and can only be found in hilly regions where winters are cold and consistently rainy. Dandelion is famous for liver support and as an effective diuretic. It’s also a natural superfood, loaded with minerals and vitamins.If you’re lucky enough to live where dandelions grow, pick the tender young leaves to marinate in vinaigrette before adding to salads.

Older, tougher leaves are quite bitter, but a few cooked with almost any soup gives a delicious, not-bitter flavor.

Dandelion roots are excellent in soups and stews. I used to make dandelion beer from the roots and leaves when I lived in the chilly north of Israel. It was good beer, too. There are recipes online like this one by Leda Meredith who once lived in Israel but who is now in Costa Rica.

Chicory

Chicory shares all of dandelion’s medicinal properties, but is difficult to pick. The leaves are tiny, and the root almost impossible to dig out of the hardened soil where the plant is most often found. The fluffy blue flowers are a joy to behold early in the morning, though, especially when you catch just the moment when all of them open spontaneously at the same time.

Bindweed

Bindweed, shown below, is the bane of farmers for its strong, thin vines that strangle crops in the fields, still produces beautiful pink and white flowers. Fill a vase with sprays of honeysuckle and bindweed for a wildflower bouquet to rest your eyes on.

Recipes for cooking in May

 Baba Ganoush

Stuffed Zucchini

Basil Pesto

Photos honeysuckle/bindweed bouquet by Miriam Kresh. This story is updated from the original and was edited in 2022 by Karin Kloosterman. 

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We want to high five you whenever we hear news like this, news that trumps violence and despair: Two new large solar energy photovoltaic (PV)projects are being built in the West Bank with energy output totalling 17MW. The project is part of the Noor Palestine Program which is designed and implemented by the Palestine Investment Fund (PIF).

Msader for Energy Systems Co and ET Solutions International will build and oversee the solar energy installations.

With a total capacity of 17 Megawatts, the two projects will operate Jericho and Tubas by the end of 2018. These two PV plants will be connected to grid and to the Jerusalem Distribution Electricity Company and the Tubas Distribution Electricity Company. The two PV plants will cover the electricity needs of public facilities, factories, households and schools. Solar panels will be placed on top of the facilities.

Solar energy projects in Palestine have a strategic economic, social and political dimension, as they contribute to the creation of jobs for graduates and engineers working in the sector and also develop their skills. Also, electricity bills can be reduced by about 50% over the next 25 years.

Investing in such projects can also reduce the need to import electricity from the Israeli Government, which constitutes more than 80% of the electricity imported to Palestine. If the Palestinian Authority can produce its own power it can certainly be more proactive and stable in governing its future. And of course the issue of climate change and greenhouse gases is a meaningful one in the Middle East where temperatures are almost unlivable in some summer months.

Like Israel does, over half of all households in Palestine utilise solar energy heaters to heat their hot water. In Israel the tanks on the roofs are white, the West Bank they are black. The Jericho plant was commissioned in 2014, but it’s a tiny drop in the bucket to what is needed. Although a very high percentage of Palestinian houses are connected to the central grid, powering remote villages with smaller-scale photovoltaic systems (PV) would be much more feasible than extending the grid.

One of the local NGOs I know and have visited is Comet-ME, who along with the Dutch Government erected  solar/diesel hybrid systems in the Palestinian village of Jubbet ad-Dib. They are constantly in conflict over building permits but continue to educate and install solutions for solar and water to those that need them most.

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As an innovator of solar energy, Israel has been involved in a number of pilot projects in its Negev desert regions; in particular, one with Arava Power which resulted in a  solar energy plant being put in place in the Arava region near Kibbutz Ketura.

Areas in the West Bank under control of the Palestinian Authority have had ongoing energy problems making it mostly dependent on Israel for electricity needs. This dependence has resulted in Palestinians embracing the use of solar energy to reduce their dependency on Israel for supplying electricity at much higher costs. There are some innovators also turning to geothermal energy in the West Bank.

Joint infrastructure projects between Israel and the Palestinians have up to now been less successful, however, due to political issues as well as constant strife between Palestinians and Jewish settlers living in areas across the so-called ‘green line’.

There may finally be some light at the end of this seemingly endless tunnel, however, with a new solar energy project financed by a joint Jewish, Christian and Muslim NGO, Build Israel Palestine, that is involved in raising money to fund development projects in Palestine, including solar energy.

According to a recent article in the New York Times, a solar energy pilot project has already begun helping farmers and residents of the West Bank town of Auja.

The Auja solar project, an initiative of a New York Jewish man, Ben Jablonski, who was formerly with the Jewish National Fund, Israel’s leading land development organization, has already improved the lives of local Palestinians by giving them more affordable electricity. (Visit our trip to Auja)

Farmers in the area now have a more reliable electricity source, with solar panels providing the power to pump underground water supplies for irrigating crops. Though small in comparison with other solar energy projects elsewhere, and costing around $100,000, the Auja project now provides electricity to around 45 local farmers as well as to Auja’s 5,000 inhabitants.

The project has been lauded by the Palestinian Wastewater Engineers Group, which is a partner in the project. “The valley where the project is located has plenty of sunlight, and this has been put to use” said Monther Hind, a senior Palestinian engineer who is partner to Friends of the Earth Middle East with Gidon Bromberg in Israel.

The project does not mean that Israeli and Palestinian relations are improving, however. Auja’s mayor, Fakhri Injoum, says that joint Israel/Palestinian projects are not really welcomed. Local residents appear to think otherwise, however.

While only a start, it is hoped that more solar projects will follow, and eventually provide Palestinians with a larger portion of their electricity needs. The Auja solar project provides around 25,000 watts of power from its 3,000 sq. feet solar panel array “when the sun is brightest”.

Read more on solar energy issues in Israel and Palestine:

Solar energy brings affordable energy to Palestinian homes
Palestinians embrace solar to reduce dependency on Israel
Despite Solar Innovations, Israel Lags Far Behind Europe and the US in Results

Photo of solar panels from Build Israel Palestine by Uriel Sinai and NY Times

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Argentinian photographer Eduardo Soteras compiled Interstice, a beautiful series of black and white photographs that chronicles the lives of the Palestinian cave-dwellers caught in “the space between” – an unforgiving land in the south hills of Hebron cut off from the rest of the West Bank by a string of illegal Israeli settlements.

The people eek out a meager living raising goats and sheep, and coaxing vegetables and fruit from the ground. But they have no running water, no electricity, and no roads, which makes day-to-day life exceedingly difficult – a lifestyle they would happily leave behind, according to Soteras.

Granted, Masafer, which means either “traveling” or “nothing” dates back to the Ottoman era, when debt collectors would find a vast strand of emptiness as the locals fled to the caves that they had carved into area rocks, caves which still shelter the people who live in a string of villages just outside of the city Yatta, to avoid paying taxes.

But today the people of Masafer Yatta have little control over their own fate.

Albeit officially administered by a committee appointed by the Palestinian National Authority’s Ministry of Local Affairs, the cluster of villages part of “Area C” is under Israeli civil and military control. What’s more, in the 1980s, the region was designated a military training zone called Firing Zone 918.

Forced deportation to clear the area for Israeli soldiers is on the cards, though it is uncertain if or when it will actually take place.

And while this may sound like a blessing, people who have nothing will struggle to build new lives elsewhere. Yet the people of Masafer Yatta remain mostly forgotten – not only by the greater community, but even by their own people.

“Some say that the days of this lifestyle are counted,” writes Soteras in his poetic introduction to his photographic series. “Others say that everything will remain as it is.”

:: Eduardo Soteras, Interstice

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For the second year straight the brand has been censored by TV networks for taking on drinks giants Coca-Cola and Pepsi, perennial Super Bowl sponsors. This year’s ad stars actress Scarlett Johansson who closes the bit with a cheeky, “Sorry, Coke and Pepsi.”

You can see the unedited advertisement below.

[youtube]http://youtu.be/zxq4ziu-wrI[/youtube]

But the real commotion is the conflict of interest between the sexy starlet’s dual roles as SodaStream’s “global brand ambassador” and global ambassador for Oxfam.  Johansson had served with Oxfam since 2007, raising funds and promoting awareness about global poverty; she signed on last month with SodaStream International Ltd. to be the face of the brand.

All fine, until you consider where the drinks are made.

SodaStream’s principal manufacturing facility is located in the Israeli settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, the occupied West Bank’s third largest settlement. Israeli human rights group B’Tselem asserts that the settlement, including the land on which the factory sits, was taken from five Palestinian towns and two Bedouin tribes evicted during one of the largest land expropriations of Israel’s 46 year occupation of the West Bank.

B’Tselem is a left-wing organization who posits in this direction. But other groups in Israel say that the land is in ambiguous territory as it belonged to Jordan before the 1967 conflict.

In a statement published on their website, Oxfam said: “We have made our concerns known to Ms. Johansson and we are now engaged in a dialogue on these important matters… Oxfam is opposed to all trade from Israeli settlements, which are illegal under international law.”

EU has stated that the settlements are “illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.”

The Israeli government, and many of its people, disputes this.

Presumably after a long think, Johansson chose to resign from Oxfam.  A statement released by her spokesman said the actress has “a fundamental difference of opinion” with Oxfam International.

Enough with human rights and politics, let’s move to economics.

According to Bloomberg,  the company’s share price dropped 26% on January 13 after failing to meet projected annual earnings.  But this was also the first day of trading after signing with Johansson. The company’s stock dropped another 3.3% on Monday to $35.34, the lowest level in over a year. Today it is up 7%.

How much of this is chalked up to overly optimistic sales metrics – as opposed to – fall-out from the link to a celebrity’s ill-advised moral compass – or – to a company’s flat-footed refusal to see the political implications associated with their facilities’ zip code?

SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum said the company will not abandon its West Bank factory, which employs both Israelis and Palestinians.

Meanwhile SodaStream faces some stiff competition from Coke; as Coke just announces a $1.25 billion stake in Green Mountain, a company that is planning to produce a fizzy drink machine to be released in 2015.

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When we covered a joint Israel-Palestinian project to tackle sewage problems in December, 2012 we reported that only 22.5 million cubic meters out of around 150 million cubic meters of raw sewage created every year is adequately treated to make it safe for reuse.

The rest of this sewage was either stored in sewage lagoons and septic tanks, with resulting leakage into ground water aquifers; or allowed to flow directly into wadis or nearby streams .

Green Prophet recently interviewed Avraham Israeli, Chairman of the Israeli Water Board, which is involved in a project to create a sewage water reclamation system for the West Bank Palestinian village of Uja, located near the city of Jericho.

“We are starting with the small pilot project in Auja dealing with recycling domestic sewage and grey water for use in agriculture. We will later concentrate more on turning this water into that suitable for drinking,” he told Green Prophet.

He added that small Palestinian towns and villages  have a severe infrastructure problem –  compared to cities like Nablus and Ramallah, which have some kind of municipal sewage system.

Avraham Israeli told Green Prophet that they are trying to separate what they are doing from politics as it is felt that the use of advanced technology, as being introduced by water reclamation companies like Mapal Green Energy  will benefit both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.

Israeli was involved in a special panel with delegates from both Jordan and the Palestinian Authority at the recent WATEC water event held last month in Tel Aviv: “Both the Jordanians and Palestinians were very impressed with the technology used by Mapal and other Israeli water companies; and we took them to see some projects now in operation in Israel,” he told me.

Israeli adds that it is most important to show how technology can benefit people in their regions, with clean water being one of the best benefits.

Mapal Green Energy’s CEO, Zeev Fisher, told Green Prophet that his company’s technology involves a system that has no moving parts and has surface floatation devices that result in creating less friction in the water, therefore saving as much as 70% energy use over other water reclamation systems.

“Our system causes intense aeration to bring more oxygen into the water. The oxygen, together with the function of ‘good’ bacteria, treat the water and rid it of harmful bacteria like salmonella.”

(See photo above)

Fisher said that his company began operations in 2007; and since then has been involved in sewage water reclamation projects in Israel and various countries. Some of these countries include the UK, African countries like Angola, the Congo and South Africa, and South American countries like Brazil.

The Mapal system works in three stages:

First:  creating sedimentation of heavy biological materials

Second: gravitational flow of the water and material to a primary sewage lagoon for aeration

Third: transfer of aerated water to a “polishing” lagoon that makes the water safe for agricultural use using the “good bacteria” to further clean the water.

“The main problem in getting the sewage projects going in the West Bank is lack of funding. This is why we are starting with the small pilot project in Auja with the hope that more such projects will be approved for locations where they are most needed.

“I am optimistic about the use of technology to solve issues involving cleaning sewage runoff and providing more water for agricultural and other uses,” says Water Board Chairman Israeli.

Read more on treating sewage and waste water:

Water Eco Park a Peace Bridge Between Palestinians and Israelis

Wastewater Treatment Plant from Israel Wins UN Recognition

Joint Israeli-Palestinian Project to Tackle Sewage Problems

Photo of a Mapal water aeration system: Mapal Green Energy :

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Our favorite peace-water NGO Friends of the Earth Middle East have just held a conference in Jordan last week and there had faith leaders sign the “Covenant for the Jordan River” to save the Jordan River.

“As written in the Holy Koran, water is the source of all creation. It is taught in Islam that water is the right of everyone. Islam teaches us to respect water, not to waste it and not to pollute it,” said Dr. Sabri, Mofti of Al Quds and the Holy Land, representing the Muslim faith at the event.

After years of on the ground peace-building the NGO has gone the way of faith and has managed to get faith leaders: Jewish, Muslim and Christian from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan to sign up to save the great River Jordan.

Well, actually the great River Jordan is really an under-statement. The river has seen better days.

A locally-run NGO has sprung to action: During a region wide conference held by EcoPeace / Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) on the Northern shore of the Dead Sea in Jordan last week, senior clerics and representatives from the three monotheistic religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – gathered together to learn about the current state of the Lower Jordan River and to endorse the Covenant for the Jordan River calling on regional governments to work together towards its rehabilitation.

The Lower Jordan River, holy to the three religions, once boasted a lush wetland ecosystem that was the biological heart of the Valley.

Sadly, the once “deep and wide” river has been highly demised over the past 50 years.

Diversion of 96% of the River’s waters for domestic and agricultural uses has left precious little fresh water for the river and its once thriving ecosystem. Sewage (like what I saw here), agricultural runoff and highly saline streams are allowed to flow into the Jordan, polluting its waters and causing a drop by half of the river’s biodiversity.

According to a recent economic report published by FoEME, the touristic potential of the Lower Jordan, if rehabilitated, could bring significant increased religious tourism to the region.

They determined religion could start a call to action.

Faith Based ‘Toolkits’ for Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities were presented at the regional conference, giving an introduction to the issue of the demise of the Jordan River as well as suggestions for how communities can act to support the river’s rehabilitation.

More in-depth ‘Sourcebooks’ are also available, offering a rich collection of scripture, sermons, essays and poems, songs and other tools to help leaders of each faith to engage their communities on the need to rehabilitate the River.

Here’s a sum up of what leaders from each of the faiths had to say:

Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp: President and Founder of the Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values, The Hague, Netherlands: “A quiet revolution is taking place. This is the first time in history that we are speaking in one voice towards the River Jordan. Humanity, like the river, is one body – when one part of the body is hurt; all humanity suffers, as the River Jordan suffers.”

Attallah Hanna, Archbishop of Roman Orthodox: “We all believe in one God and it is our duty as believers to maintain the environment. God has blessed us in our region because it is a river who gives sanctity and beauty. Hence our duty to defend the river and maintain the river.”

Here here!

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Designed for a hill above the West Bank village of Bir Zeit, the terraced Palestine Museum would unfold down the slope in a series of planted terraces.

Each of these, known as sanasils, would be planted with a different species of plant – including some key crops such as oranges and olives. Others would feature wilder plants that grow naturally in the verdant hills of the region, including the many healing herbs used by ancient people who once called the area home.

The more domesticated species will be kept close to the apex of the main building, while the wilder plants will be encouraged to flourish in the wings branching out from this sprawling complex.

Heneghan Peng noted in their design brief the design with its traditional Palestinian landscape patterns was first conceived as a folded paper model.

It then evolved to take on the form of a zig zag of non-uniform three dimensional terraces that appear to tumble down the side of the hill.

More than just a cosmetic approach, however, the vegetated rooftop will actually produce food, and the stepped terraces will promote efficient irrigation – much in the same way that several generations of Berber farmers in Morocco have conserved water.

Meanwhile, the interior will feature a series of typical museum functions, including exhibits, a cafeteria and a gift shop, and a classroom to promote extracurricular learning.

Envisioned as a two-phase project, the Palestine Museum would create a distinctive identity for the Palestinian people, as well as a tribute to the natural and human diversity located at the junction of a historical trade route.

:: Architizer

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Raising the question “how temporary is temporary?”, they break from existing platforms that warehouse refugee communities without addressing environmental concerns that powerfully affect daily life.

Refutrees cooks up environmentally responsive projects in displaced communities that also create sustainable employment. Similar to artist Jean Bradbury’s approach with the Safi artisans, there’s a catalytic assist at the start, but project control and management ultimately pass to the locals.

Refutrees creates projects that are sustainable, entrepreneurial, and responsive to the direct needs of local communities. Select projects also address persistent issues of land and water degradation.

Founder and CEO Lamya Hussain had engaged with refugee communities early in her academic career. Her extensive field research exposed a dearth of projects in camp settings that served more than one purpose. Why not dream up multifaceted schemes? Ventures that intersect health, environment, art and energy? And, while you’re at it, create jobs.

Many indigenous communities hold a relationship with their land that is as spiritual as it is socioeconomic, a reality at odds with ad hoc camp infrastructure which typically lacks”town planning” or access to personal greenspace. There’s a scarcity of communal open space, gardens, parks or playgrounds. Speaking with United Nations Relief and Works Agency affiliates, Hussain discovered there is frequently no clear strategy to tackle these issues that have critical impact on camp residents.

So Refutrees is kicking off a pilot to build rooftop gardens to allow communities to grow their own organic produce – which creates new greenspace – and improves environmental aesthetics. This project will efficiently utilize limited space within the camps.  It creates an opportunity for urban agriculture that encourages entrepreneurship while promoting healthy diets.

Sound like an initiative you could support? They’re currently raising funds for the rooftop gardens – check out their website for details. They’re seeking experts who can advise on scheme improvements such as identifying a wider variety of vegetables to grow, and how best to tackle issues of local water restrictions.

Refutrees is also working on an eco-art project to address the lack of safe spaces for camp children. The Aida refugee camp (outside Bethlehem in the West Bank) is fundraising to build a children’s recreational space, and Refutrees seeks artists to design a scheme for up-cycling local waste into a functional and green playground.

You can read more about Refutrees here. Match their multipurpose mandate by supporting them, and you ‘ll scratch two itches (social responsibility and increased environmentalism) with one action.

Image from Refutrees Facebook page

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It’s breakfast time at the Abraham Hostel on Prophets Street in Jerusalem. A mural on one wall of the kitchen tells guests, “Abraham always shared his food,” referring to the Biblical Abraham who was known for his hospitality.

The buffet offers the ubiquitous Israeli cucumbers and tomatoes, as well as bread, cheese and cereal. There’s instant coffee and tea. In most hotels in the mornings, tourists eat quickly and head out for a full day of sightseeing.

Here, nobody seems to be in a rush. They linger, chatting in a variety of languages at long, communal tables. They eat, then refill their plates. Some look a little bleary-eyed.

“There are early bloomers and late bloomers when it comes to tourists,” Yaron Burgin, the general manager and one of the owners of the hostel tells The Media Line. “These are the late bloomers. Some of them were drinking at the bar until 2 a.m. so they sleep late and then have breakfast.”

The guest house, which opened in 2010, was just rated #8 of all large hostels in the world by the Hostel Association. It offers 260 beds in 72 rooms, half in shared “dorm” rooms, and half in private rooms. The rooms are clean but very Spartan – narrow beds with sky-blue pillowcases. The dorms sleep 10 to a room, some segregated by sex and others mixed, and offer communal showers.

But the rooms are not the big draw for the clientele.

“There are a lot of people around which is nice and it’s a lot friendlier than any hostel I’ve been to Israel so far,” Taryn Levy, 19, a student at Western University in Toronto told The Media Line. “It’s also the cleanest one I’ve been in.”

The price is also much lower than any hotel. A dorm bed here costs about $30 per night, and a private room for two with its own bathroom runs about $100. Breakfast is included and guests can use the kitchen facilities for their other meals.

The hostel attracts mixed ages, including several senior couples.

“It’s quite a change from the Ramada but its fun to see the difference,” Martha Mason, 69, from Rock Hill, South Carolina told The Media Line with a laugh. “It’s pretty noisy but we knew it would be fun.”

Mason and her husband have just completed a 12-day Christian tour and wanted to spend a few more days in Jerusalem. The receptionist in their retirement community had stayed here and recommended it.

“Price was a definite factor as well as location,” she said. “We wanted easy transportation because we don’t have a car here.”

Across the room, Alex Mills, also 19 and a student from Liverpool agrees. He’s come with a friend to cheer on the British team in the under-21 soccer championships being held in Israel for the first time. Unfortunately, he says, his team didn’t do very well.

“It’s quite clean here, the people are friendly and it’s air conditioned,” he tells The Media Line. “Plus there’s a cheap bar and it’s right in the center of the city.”

The bar, which serves “the cheapest beer in town” says co-owner Maoz Inon, is the focus of evening socializing. One of the beers served is Taybeh Beer, brewed in the West Bank, and not easy to find in Israel.

Travelers who want more of a taste of Palestinian culture than the beer can take one of the tours offered by the hostel. Most popular says Burgin, is the Hebron – City of Abraham, referring to Abraham’s burial site known to Jews as the Machpela Cave and to Muslims as the Ibrahimi mosque. In 2004, an extremist Jew, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire on Muslim worshippers there, killing 29.

The Hebron tour, offered twice a week, costs $75 for the day. It includes a visit to a Jewish community built on land Israel acquired in 1967 which Burgin calls a “settlement” and meetings with Palestinians who live in the city.

“We are not a political organization in any way but we think tourists should see reality for themselves,” the co-owner says. “They get their mind blown from this tour. It makes them think and realize how complicated the situation is here.”

There are also tours to Bethlehem and the much less visited Palestinian town of Nablus in the northern West Bank. These areas are under full Palestinian control, and, according to Israeli law, Israelis are not allowed to enter them.

On the roof of the hostel, the owners have laid down green astro-turf and set out low couches, sunbeds and a few sunbeds. One wall is covered with colorful drawings done by guests. There are Jewish and Muslim symbols as well as the words “Israel” and “Palestine.”

“We want to give the guests a place to express themselves,” Burgin says.

There are also more conventional tours to sites like Masada, the hilltop palace of King Herod, and the Galilee. There are daily free lectures and free spoken Hebrew and Arabic classes. There is even a chance to volunteer by playing with children of African refugees in Jerusalem while their mothers try to learn Hebrew.

All of the owners are serious backpackers, and know what independent travelers need. They are businessmen, and they are making money. But they also have a sense of mission.

“Our vision is to bring Abraham’s Biblical hospitality to the 21st century and to make the Middle East a great destination for all backpackers and travelers,” co-owner Inon told The Media Line. ”Abraham was famous for his hospitality and for sharing his tent and his food. He is also the common father of Judaism and Islam which is part of our message.”

::Abraham Hostel

This story is reprinted from The Middle East News Source – The Media Line

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