Palestine

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>>1221448

It's really not that difficult. Any bus from the Arab bus station in Jerusalem can take you to the West Bank, and it's all safe enough.

I'm pretty damn white/western and I got a bus from Jerusalem to Bethlehem in the West Bank and walked around the refugee camps without feeling threatened or having a bodyguard or anything. Pic related, it's some graffiti on the walls of the camp.

I went to Hebron and Ramallah too, with a tour guide, and the most threatened I felt was from the Israeli soldiers. Every Palestinian I met was very nice and welcoming.

>>1221463
Would I be able to get by speaking English. Or do I HAVE to learn Arabic or something?

>>1221473

Yes you'll be fine speaking English. Easiest thing to do is pick up a taxi driver in Bethlehem and he can act as a fixer for you in the WB

>>1221448

To my knowledge, except for an extra travel permit maybe, going into the west bank is incredibly easy and pretty open. Its not like Gaza with all of its super tough regulations and complex boarder arrangements. No guide (to my knowledge) is required for the west bank or a tourist registration system

Many christian tourists visit the area all the time and have no problems, Palestinians are actually very nice to Christians, they just hate the Jews and Israeli's. The area is open for that reason, lots of religious pilgrims moving around, you may get stopped on the road but just show the army your passport and they will let you through.

Wouldn't recommend you go to any Israeli settlements while your there, even though you may be allowed in they are often targets of rock throwing and general unhappiness from the Palestinians.

By the way, I think keep the whole 'express my sympathies to their plight' on the dl when your in the Israeli part of the country, I don't think people would look on you very well.

>>1221500
>By the way, I think keep the whole 'express my sympathies to their plight' on the dl when your in the Israeli part of the country, I don't think people would look on you very well.

Well duh.

Op, I've wanted to do this for a while just to get an idea of the politics. I'd suggest a day tour from Green Olive Tours, they're approved by Israel, so you know they won't kidnap you or expose you to genuine terrorists, but they take you to settler communities, the old Jewish Samaritans (behind the wall because the new Jews think of them as natives), refugee camps, and offer volunteer work too.

Try to get a feel for the Israeli side, also, even if you disagree with it. See the museum in Sderdot, overlooking Gaza, and talk to the settlers (you need a guided tour for that or else they may think you're dangerous.)

Good luck senpai, post about it here

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There's a really cool guy who does a free walking tour (tip based) in Bethlehem, almost every day. He grew up in a camp himself and knows a lot about the situation there. You can find his events on couchsurfers and contact him there.

He took me and this random German guy around in the refugee "camps", around the wall, looking at the Banksy graffitti and overall he translated when random people talked to us.

I'm not sure why you would be sympathetic towards them, you obviously haven't looked into the conflict much. Westbank is easy to get into, I personally didn't like the vibe, all Palestinians were after blood and wanted to remove Israel from the map, as the Israeli's took "their" land. The Israeli's wanted nothing more than to just not have them bomb, stab or shoot their citizens. I was honestly impartial before I went over, if anything I felt more sympathetic towards the Palestinians as they are all we hear about in Australia, after visiting I quickly changed my mind.

TLDR keep an open mind OP, I found the people I thought were hard done by, as the bad guys after my work trip.

>>1222118
The smell of JIDF is strong in this post. He has obviously never been to the West Bank, and the unabashed pro-Israel stance is far too obvious.

Hope you for something nice for your 20 shekels. Make your lies less transparent next time.

>>1221448
you should stay in your mum's basement, or plan a trip with the antartic anon and the syria anon.

>>1222162
Back to /pol/ with you. He's asking about an easy to reach and relatively safe destination.

>>1222090
You don't need a guide for settlements. They don't give a flying fuck about you if you're not brown.
>>1221500
You don't need any extra permits for WB. Hell, most of the time nobody will even bother to ask for your passport at a checkpoint, they'll just wave you through.

I was born in Israel and later moved to the United States, and now I'm slightly interested in going to Betlehem

What are the chances of me getting slaughtered while being on Palestinian soil?

>>1222181

literally zero

Bethlehem is full of coachloads of Bible Belt evangelicals wearing socks and sandals, every single day

If you think Israel is Americanized wait until you see Bethlehem

>>1222181
None, as long as you don't wear the jew uniform and call yourself American.

>>1222118
>Palestinians were after blood
>Israeli's wanted nothing more than to just not have them bomb, stab or shoot their citizens

Do you seriously think you're fooling anyone, Shlomo?

>>1221448
Dude theres a buffalo wings open in the west bank. It aint like you think things are pretty calm over there. If you do make it to the resturant ask for a guy called Ramzi or Andrew, tell him your cousin Saleh sent me. He'll fix your food. They own the place btw. Enjoy the west bank man lots of cool places to visit. I would have showed you around but im busy with university in Jordan. Take care bro

>>1221448
Israel and Palestine are not Iran or North Dakota. You won't need a minder, and you wont be on a leash retard.

>I want to be there on my own and get to know the people there and express my sympathies to their plight.

Fuck off back to /pol/ ;this is worse than the guy who said he wanted to become a Buddhist monk for a week.

>>1222657
>Iran
A very safe and easy place to travel in. Did you make a typo when you meant to type Iraq?

>>1222677
I don't know what you're talking about. I never said Iran wasn't safe. As far as I know it's always been a safe and friendly destination, but Americans require organized tours with a guide to visit.

Oddly enough in Iraq, you don't need this.

>>1221448
If you have any kind of connection with an activist or political group, don't fly in to Tel Aviv, do what the other anon's say and get in via Jordan. The Israelis will see you coming and most likely not let you in, because they scrutinize passenger lists very carefully and single out potential pro-Palestinian passengers for extra screening, including asking to look at social media, email, etc. Friends of mine tried to get in with some church exchange program and they flagged them as student lefties before they arrived, and sent them back on the next flight back. If you do fly in to Tel Aviv, you should appear to be a politically indifferent backpacker who hears that Tel Aviv has a good party scene.

>>1222867
It's amazing how buttmad Israeli border guards get at the mere thought that someone might think there is such a place as Palestine.

>>1222892
this

I was actually advised when I was visiting Israel a few years back not to even mention the word Palestine, and if they ask, pretend you have never heard of it

>>1222680
Why is that odd? The relationship between the Iraq and the US is far stronger than that between Iran and the US.

If Saddam was still in charge, we'd be looking at at a different case, but he isn't

>>1221448
>I want to be there on my own and get to know the people there and express my sympathies to their plight.
I've got bad news for you then, because most Palestinians don't give a shit about your sympathy (i.e. pity). Talking politics in the west bank is just going to make you seem like an arrogant jackass. Don't bring your patronizing, moralizing western bullshit to Israel; these people have sat across from you a thousand times and it isn't welcome.

>>1222981
I remember one Pali on /int/ some time ago comparing the attitude of westerners towards the conflict to watching a match between teams you don't know shit about. You just pick the one you think has the cooler uniform and cheer for it, because it's boring to watch without taking sides.

Different anon here, got some questions

Roughly how much money should I save for a month-long trip that would allow me to travel West Bank? Going:
>US-Amman, Jordan via plane
>Amman-Jericho via taxi

How long is the wait at Allenby Bridge? Do I have to deal with IDF soldiers there? Will they check my social media or something?

What is the likelihood of being scammed or mugged in West Bank?

Should I make contacts there beforehand, or am I okay going solo?

>>1221448
Hello OP
I'm an arab israeli who studied in nablus and now lives back in jerusalem (will move to haifa in april), anything you'd like to know you're welcome to ask and i'd try to answer the best way i can

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>>1222118
nice try