Palestine Warnings Or Dangers

Dont irritate the Israeli army!

by jimmydonutuk

To get to Palestine you have to fly to Tel aviv. Do not wear "free Palestine" tee shirt". Yes I know it sounds obvious but some people arrive with all sorts of peace badges, pro Palestine books and literature... and they get turned away at the airport.Also if you are Muslim you may have problems in getting into the country, in fact the Israelis turn about 80% of Muslims away at the airport.

Soldiers and airports

by Whoopi

Travelling in Israel and the West Bank is in general quite safe. No muggings, thefts, rapes or things like that, extreamely safe. Keep an eye on your money when wandering around in the busiest areas of a market or something, but that is something we would do back home as well...Be careful on public transportation in Jerusalem. Unfortunately it happens that busses are blown up. If you are worried, hire a taxi instead.The IDF soldiers in the checkpoints won't harm you, especially since you are a foreigner, and in the West Bank they often want to talk to you, but be VERY careful if you want to take their photo, that is NOT allowed. ... Don't push it in any situation if they tell you you can't pass, they have the power. Being difficult could also cause you problems getting out of the country and also make it difficult to go to Israel sometime later.If you have been to the Palestinian areas,...

always have your passport...

by Nicola2004

... when travelling in the palestinian territories as you need it at every checkpoint you pass. If you forget it in your hotel you can as well turn around and go back because nobody lets you through without your passport

Risky Cities in Palestine !

by travellingdan

Some cities in the West Bank are a little risky to visit if you don't have contact to somebody local or international organizations on the ground. You can go there but you have to take higher risk then in other cities.Those cities are: Nablus, Tulkarem, Qualquilia, Jenin. Those are the places, where the Israeli Forces and Palestinian Militants clash once and awile. For the security situation in other slightly unsafe cities like Hebron you can for example ask your embassy or even the bus driver before you go there.Besides those sites in the West Bank whole the Gaza Strip is to be considered very risky and it is still quite a no-go for travellers. If you want to travel to those places I recommend going with a NGO or IO or contact somebody who is living there. For going into the Gaza Strip you need to apply for a permit anyway and this can take a while (It took me four months to get one)....

Checkpoint Qalandiya

by Laurina

Obviously, now is probably not the ideal time to visit the West Bank and Gaza. Unless you you're there as a peace activist, wishing to show the people solidarity. It's impossible to travel around the Palestinian territories unless you feel like spending hours at checkpoints. However, having lived there until recently, I rarely felt my life was threatened. It certainly is not Iraq where there seems to be total lack of law and order. Consider Palestine to be under a more 'organized' (?) occupation. Plus, westerners per se are not targeted.Here is Qalandya checkpoint where I often watched Israeli soldiers shoot at little school boys while other civilians had to try to avoid the tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition. Another danger of course is if you're driving in a yellow-plated Israeli car - you might be mistaken for an Israeli settler by Palestinian gunmen...and...

The red tape, and lots of it!

by tvdm

It's not the best time to visit now, but if you do decide to go, make sure that all your papers are in order when you cross the border. Don't wear or behave suspiciously and be quiet. In the streets of Bethlehem, be sure to wander around a bit, but be careful of pickpockets. As in so many other places, use common sense!

Not far away, over the hills...

by o00o

Not far away, over the hills to the east, is another special water adventure: the Ma'in hot springs, now developed as a comprehensive spa, with a four star hotel, leisure, bathing and therapeutic facilities.

As I have said now is not the...

by freya_heaven

As I have said now is not the best time to visit but hopfully the situation will improve very soon. Palestine is majority Muslim, so dress accordingly, or your asking for hassle.

Sun Tan

by o00o

Do not explore yourself under the sun for longer than 1 hour, this will cause skin canser, because the sun shine was extremly strong... unless you use sun lotion.

Follow the news!

by schielen