Looking for Interns and volunteers on the Jesus Trail

[sillydoll]

http://jesustrail.com/about/get-involve ... ip-program

Intern
The Jesus Trail is looking for one qualified intern to stay in Nazareth for five months to one year. This is a stipended position for university or graduate student, or those who have graduated in the past two years. We’re looking for someone with outdoor skills, communication skills, and computer skills.
Jesus Trail interns will be integrally involved in resource development and marketing this world-class experience and exciting start-up in the field of responsible ecotourism and narrative tourism. If you are looking for a way to integrate your professional knowledge, outdoor interests and faith-- send us your application today!

Volunteers
Typically, volunteers stay in Nazareth anywhere from two months to a year. The Jesus Trail in partnership with the Fauzi Azar Inn is usually able to provide free or inexpensive housing for volunteers.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

I wish I had known about this before I left for my trip this past year. I would have extended my stay in Israel to do the Jesus Trail for sure. Next time.....

 

[Caminando]

This site makes no mention of whether Palestine and the Occupied Territories are involved. This is a serious oversight of importance to those who wish to travel ethically.

Or have I missed the mention?

 

[sillydoll]

Click on ROUTES and NETWORK
http://jesustrail.com/route-maps/complete-route-network

 

[renegadepilgrim]

This site makes no mention of whether Palestine and the Occupied Territories are involved. This is a serious oversight of importance to those who wish to travel ethically.

Or have I missed the mention?

Without turning this into a political discussion, if you want to travel "ethically" to the Middle East then you should just stay home. Israel and the Palestinian Territories are not the place for you. I spent equal amounts of time in both areas this year (after my "official Camino", I continued on to Rome, Jerusalem, etc). I was fortunate to stay in both areas, with locals (through couchsurfing.com) and feel I have a better grasp of the situation, but in no way do I even feel like I have a clue of all the intricacies. I don't see any way that the Jesus Trail could go into the Palestinian Territories without there being a lot of problems. It is just too political.

I do know the following:
**It is a PITA to cross from Palestine to Israel (I got in the wrong line and spent over 90 minutes in LINE!! I felt like a rat in a cage with the razor wire and the IDF standing above me with large guns)
**There are checkpoints EVERYWHERE and you can be stopped and questioned at any point in time. (My shared taxi from Bethlehem to Ramallah was stopped and we had to give our identification to the IDF manning the station)
**There are parts of Israel with mine fields. It can be quite dangerous walking around Northern Israel. Luckily, all of the known fields are marked. You just have to pay attention.
**The Palestinians and the Israelis are the most generous and hospitable people I have ever met. I was treated well when I was in both regions. Both are eager to share their stories.

I would do the Jesus Trail in a heart beat. I wish I had known of it before I was there in June. I just didn't have the gear to do it.

 

[sillydoll]

Anyone wanting to walk in the Middle East in safety should consider the Abraham's Path (Masar Ibrahim al Khalil) which is a walking route following in the footsteps of Abraham or Ibrahim through the Middle East.
http://www.abrahampath.org

 

[Yallah]

The Jesus trail does not pass into the Palestinian territories. The route is entirely in the lower Galilee region. The trail is extremely safe, with over 1000 walkers this year. The trail is marked very well and there is an excellent guidebook available at http://www.jesustrailguide.com They also offer self-guided and guided tours.

The Jesus Trail staff are working with Palestinian NGOs that have been developing similar pilgrimage trails within the West Bank, such as the Nativity Trail from the northern West Bank to Bethlehem. In my opinion, the Jesus Trail has made every effort to operate ethically in this very complicated land, and makes a point of working together with diverse local partners. Check out their philosophy: http://jesustrail.com/about/our-philosophy

Also, to the previous post about mine fields-- they are very well marked and fenced off. The infrastructure for hiking in Israel is very strong, with over 10,000 kilometers of marked trails. Resources in English are slowly catching up!

The Abraham Path is also an amazing project centered around pilgrimage walking and intercultural encounter in the Middle East. At this point, a few short sections of the trail are open to walkers, but most of the trail is still in the theoretical stage.

 

[sillydoll]

Welcome to the forum Yallah.
An old camino friend is planning on walking the Jesus trail next year - after walking from Santiago to Rome. Is it best to fly into Tel Aviv from Rome? I see that you have a special offer on the guide book until Christmas. I will be ordering a copy this week.
I have sent two emails asking them if they can recommend a local tour guide for John to do a ± 10 days guided tour of the Holy Land as well. I haven't had a response from the website yet.

 

[Caminando]

This site makes no mention of whether Palestine and the Occupied Territories are involved. This is a serious oversight of importance to those who wish to travel ethically.

Or have I missed the mention?

............................................................................................................

Without turning this into a political discussion, if you want to travel "ethically" to the Middle East then you should just stay home. Israel and the Palestinian Territories are not the place for you.
...............................................................................................................


Actually, I didnt ask for any advice. Nor do I need to be advised on how to make my own judgements. And as you say, you don't know anything about it.

...................................................................................................................
in no way do I even feel like I have a clue of all the intricacies. I don't see any way that the Jesus Trail could go into the Palestinian Territories without there being a lot of problems. It is just too political.
..............................................................................................................

This is your speculation, and is based on guesswork as you admit. The original question is about factual information. Thanks to Yallah who was able to respond factually and in detail on this, though he refers to safety which I did not. His excellent response is an example to those who really need to exercise reason. Unfortunately I could find no reference to the Palestinian NGOs on the website.

I notice that it is assumed that I am talking about safety, which I did not mention at all. It would be better if people would at least try to read what is written.Please? The question is about ethical travel, not safety. That was very clearly stated. And it was a simple question, which only Yallah answered.

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Actually, I didnt ask for any advice. Nor do I need to be advised on how to make my own judgements. And as you say, you don't know anything about it.

No, that's not what I said. I said that this issue is a lot bigger than I will ever be able to understand. I do know a little bit about it, having been to Israel twice, both times were completely different from one another, with completely different experiences. The first time with a tour group being completely sheltered and the second time, completely independent travel where I was able to interact more freely with Palestinians AND Israelis, getting a much better idea of the current situation for the time I was there (s/p Flotilla Incident), which changes on a daily basis.


[/quote]This is your speculation, and is based on guesswork as you admit. The original question is about factual information. Thanks to Yallah who was able to respond factually and in detail on this, though he refers to safety which I did not. His excellent response is an example to those who really need to exercise reason. Unfortunately I could find no reference to the Palestinian NGOs on the website. [/quote]
The reason you didn't find any reference to Palestinian NGOs is because this is an Israeli group. If you would like a good website with links to Palestinian NGOs and the Nativity Trail, I can get you a good website I found while I was in Palestine. Or maybe that's not what you are asking. I'm just trying to be helpful, and as usual, have offended someone.

 

[Yallah]

Hello Again,

Just to clarify, I didn't mention safety in my earlier post to imply that anything about Palestinians or Palestinian territory was unsafe. I just generally wanted to highlight the safety after reading other posters mentioning mine fields, razor wire, large guns, etc. The Galilee is largely rural, and an interesting mosaic of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Druze, secular people, migrant workers, tourists and pilgrims.

 

[Caminando]

Actually, I didnt ask for any advice. Nor do I need to be advised on how to make my own judgements. And as you say, you don't know anything about it.

No, that's not what I said.

Well, you said you "had no clue".

The reason you didn't find any reference to Palestinian NGOs is because this is an Israeli group. If you would like a good website with links to Palestinian NGOs and the Nativity Trail, I can get you a good website I found while I was in Palestine.

Yallah mentioned the Palestinian angle, and seemed to suggest it was on the Jesus Trail site, but there was no mention of it there. No need to give the address of any site, however. Thanks.

I'm just trying to be helpful, and as usual, have offended someone.[/quote]

A quick re-read of my response to your first post will inform you here. Don't worry about giving offence; but if you do, you must expect a reply. Basically, dont read into a post what isn't there?

 

[renegadepilgrim]

Hello Again,

Just to clarify, I didn't mention safety in my earlier post to imply that anything about Palestinians or Palestinian territory was unsafe. I just generally wanted to highlight the safety after reading other posters mentioning mine fields, razor wire, large guns, etc. The Galilee is largely rural, and an interesting mosaic of Muslims, Jews, Christians, Druze, secular people, migrant workers, tourists and pilgrims.

Yallah, I don't feel that the Palestinian territory in the West Bank is any less safe than anywhere else I traveled this year (10 plus countries). I actually felt quite safe while traveling as a solo female around Bethlehem and Ramallah. I wish I could have spent more time there, as well as more time in Israel too. I do feel that most Westerners (aka North Americans) are not used to many of the security measures in place in the Middle East, as well as the danger of land mines (which as I stated in my original post, are clearly marked). It's all well and good to promote something like the Jesus Trail, but people need to know that there are calculated risks involved with traveling to the Middle East. It is not Disneyland. Again, I cannot stress enough how safe I felt when I was there in June. My experience this last time in Israel/Palestinian Territories (West Bank) did include plenty of razor wire, large guns, IDF soldiers and a very clear understanding of the privilege my US Passport grants me. I also experienced this amazing ability of most Israelis to feign any knowledge of things like the location of the Arab Bus Station over by the Damascus Gate, or the best way to get to the West Bank and back....pretty much anything dealing with Palestinians no one knew a thing. Very interesting, indeed. I did hear about the Jesus Trail when I was there, as well as the Nativity Trail. It would be really great to see both organizations work together to promote them together. I, however, believe I have a valid concern about walking from Israel into the West Bank or vice versa, and what the potential experience is with the IDF. Sorry, but here in the US, we just don't get stopped by military police with large machine guns asking for papers. It's a wee bit intimidating. I knew to expect it, but that still does not prepare one for the experience until it happens. I know Israel is seeing huge numbers of tourists this year, which is great. I hope that it continues and the Jesus Trail, et al, becomes successful.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

JERUSALEM (AP) — The body of a female American tourist, bound and with multiple stab wounds, was found Sunday near a road outside Jerusalem, police said.

Her friend, an immigrant from the U.K., had reported her missing a day earlier after she too was found nearby, also with knife wounds and her hands tied, police said.

The two had been hiking in a nearby forest when they were assaulted by two Arab men and her friend was dragged away, she told police on Saturday.

The woman's disappearance set off a large-scale hunt by police and military in the wooded hills outside Jerusalem.

Before the body was found, police had been investigating other scenarios for how the crime might have unfolded. The discovery of the stabbed and bound body, however, reinforced the possibility that militants may have been involved, police said.