Latrun in the West Bank

14 January 2023 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  8 minutes

Trappist Monastery © Bukvoed/cc-by-2.5

Trappist Monastery © Bukvoed/cc-by-2.5

Latrun is a strategic hilltop in the Latrun salient in the Ayalon Valley, and a depopulated Palestinian village. It overlooks the road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, 25 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla. It was the site of fierce fighting during the 1948 war. During the 1948–1967 period, it was occupied by Jordan at the edge of a no man’s land between the armistice lines. In the 1967 war, it was occupied by Israel. Latrun is located outside the 1967 Green Line and therefore part of the West Bank in Palestine.   read more…

Magdala in Israel, home of Mary Magdalene

24 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  8 minutes

© AVRAMGR/cc-by-sa-4.0

© AVRAMGR/cc-by-sa-4.0

Magdala was an ancient Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magdala Nunayya, and which some historical geographers think may refer to Tarichaea, literally the place of processing fish. It is believed to be the birthplace of Mary Magdalene. Until the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, a small Palestinian Arab village, al-Majdal, stood at the site of ancient Magdala, while nowadays the modern Israeli municipality of Migdal extends to the area.   read more…

Paulus-Haus in East Jerusalem

7 December 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

© DVHL-PR1/cc-by-sa-4.0

© DVHL-PR1/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Paulus-Haus is a pilgrim hospice in Jerusalem under the care of the German Association of the Holy Land. It is situated on the Nablus Road in East Jerusalem, directly opposite the Damascus Gate of the Old City. The monumental architecture is reminiscent of the crusader castles. The Schmidt’s Girls College is a German international school for Christian and Muslim girls. It was founded in 1885 and provides primary and secondary education to approximately 500 pupils.   read more…

Florentin in Tel Aviv

9 November 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  7 minutes

© Harvey Sapir/cc-by-2.5

© Harvey Sapir/cc-by-2.5

Florentin is a neighborhood in the southern part of Tel Aviv, Israel, named for Solomon Florentin, a Greek Jew who purchased the land in the late 1920s. Development of the area was spurred by its proximity to the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway.   read more…

The Palestinian Museum in Birzeit

29 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Architecture, Museums, Exhibitions, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  8 minutes

The Palestinian Museum © I Love Falastin/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Palestinian Museum © I Love Falastin/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Palestinian Museum is a flagship project of the Welfare Association, a non-profit organization for developing humanitarian projects in Palestine. Representing the history and aspirations of the Palestinian people, the museum aims to discuss the past, present, and future of Palestine. The Museum in Birzeit (25 km north of Jerusalem) opened on 18 May 2016, despite not having any exhibits. The inaugural exhibition “Jerusalem Lives” was opened on 26 August 2017. On 29 August 2019, the museum received the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.   read more…

Ramat Gan in Israel

7 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

Diamond Exchange Center from Azrieli Center © flickr.com - Ted Eytan/cc-by-sa-2.0

Diamond Exchange Center from Azrieli Center © flickr.com – Ted Eytan/cc-by-sa-2.0

Ramat Gan is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world’s major diamond exchanges, and many high-tech industries. Ramat Gan was established in 1921 as a moshav shitufi, a communal farming settlement. In 2022 it had a population of 171,000.   read more…

Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth

3 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

Catholic Mass in the Grotto of the Annunciation (lower church) © Berthold Werner

Catholic Mass in the Grotto of the Annunciation (lower church) © Berthold Werner

The Church of the Annunciation, sometimes also referred to as the Basilica of the Annunciation, is a Catholic church in Nazareth, in northern Israel. It was established over what Catholic tradition holds to be the site of the house of the Virgin Mary, and where the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced that she would conceive and bear the Son of God, Jesus – an event known as the Annunciation.   read more…

Jenin in the West Bank

22 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  9 minutes

© Almonroth/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Almonroth/cc-by-sa-3.0

Jenin is a Palestinian city in the northern West Bank. It serves as the administrative center of the Jenin Governorate of the State of Palestine and is a major center for the surrounding towns. In 2007, Jenin had a population of approximately 40,000 people, whilst the Jenin refugee camp had a population of 10,000. Jenin is under the administration of the Palestinian National Authority (as part of Area A of the West Bank). As in other areas of Palestine, the living conditions of the population have deteriorated significantly since the Al-Aqsa Intifada broke out in 2000. It suffers from the closure of the areas, many buildings are destroyed, unemployment is high (about 80%).   read more…

Ben-Gurion House in Tel Aviv

8 August 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Museums, Exhibitions, Union for the Mediterranean Reading Time:  6 minutes

© Gideon.shapira/cc-by-sa-3.0

© Gideon.shapira/cc-by-sa-3.0

The Ben-Gurion House is a historic house museum in Tel Aviv, which served as the family home of pre-State Zionist leader and then first Defense and Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben-Gurion, between 1931 and 1953. Until his death in 1973 it continued serving as an additional residence, along with two others, one private – “Ben-Gurion’s hut” at Kibbutz Sde Boker in the Negev (known as his desert home), and the official residence as Prime Minister of Israel during his multiple terms as head of government. The latter, known as Julius Jacobs House, is located in Rehavia, West Jerusalem. Ben-Gurion House is located at 17, Ben-Gurion Boulevard in northern Tel Aviv.   read more…

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