Jerusalem Outings Go Beyond the Biblical - Travel
CASBAH-lined streets LIKE stone houses wrapped up towards the hills wrapped in pine and cypress. handpainted signs beckoned visitors with shops and studios, jewelers, potters and other artisans. Just after a popular brunch spot with a patio packed, Christian pilgrims from Russia, Poland and the United States gathered around a spring where Mary and Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, would have met.
Nestled in the arid hills on the western edge of Jerusalem, the community of Ein Karem was teeming with tourists and residents on an afternoon in March. It was hard to remember that it was a Saturday, at the height of the Sabbath, and the rest of Jewish Jerusalem stopped dead in its tracks.
As bureau chief of Newsweek, I lived in Jerusalem from 2000 to 2004 and remember very well how the entire West - Jewish - side of town stopped at the start of the Sabbath. At 15 pm on Friday, the streets emptied of traffic, shopping areas cleared out, and silent contemplation aside the tensions of this unrest, a city with a majority of the working class - severe tensions at the time by the Intifada al Aqsa. I ended up enjoying the silence of the Sabbath, even if there was Saturday, when I longed to escape religious aura of the city and relax in an atmosphere secular. Often, this means exploring some enclaves few minutes drive from downtown Jerusalem, where Israelis are non-believers to sip a cappuccino, a magazine of art and antiques, picnic, hiking in the hills and other forget that they live in one of the holiest cities in the world.
I recently reconnected with three locations: the Arab-Israeli town of Abu Ghosh, the secular Jewish artists 'colony' of Ein Karem, and hiking in Ein Sataf in Jerusalem forest. It is easy to combine a visit to three places in one morning and afternoon, back to the center of Jerusalem at dusk. All are reminders that offers much more than Jerusalem's Old City, Temple Mount and other sites of biblical resonance, for those who know, there are wonderful darkest corners of this color gives the character and history - not to mention great food.
A good place to start is to Abu Ghosh, a village of minarets, packed-together houses Ottoman and Middle Eastern restaurants, which is located seven miles west of Jerusalem, near Tel Aviv highway Jerusalem. The Muslim city has maintained close ties with Jews in Israel, arriving here en masse for weekend brunch, especially in spring and summer.
Abu Ghosh has a turbulent history. Although inhabited since Neolithic times, it was officially created in 1520 by the clan of Abu Ghosh, landowners of Circassian origin, who received a lucrative franchise of the Ottoman Sultan to collect taxes from travelers on the pilgrimage route Christian between Jaffa and Jerusalem. During the British Mandate period, Abu Ghosh majority Muslim population had good relations with Jews, Abu Ghosh has remained at the 1948 war, when Arab gunmen used the surrounding hills to ambush convoys of supplies Jerusalem under siege. Nevertheless, Israel detained many of its inhabitants after the war at the same time, the Jordanian authorities denounced Abu Ghosh residents as traitors. Today the city is one of the only surviving Muslim villages in the region.
A friend from Berlin and I arrived late Saturday morning, just before the invasion of Jerusalem a week hunger. After entering the village, next to a group of Arab men selling pomegranate juice, is one of the most impressive remains of the Crusades, the Crusaders' Church of the Resurrection, built the 12th century. "More than any other well-preserved ancient church in Palestine" is how the mid-19th century travel writer Edward Robinson describes this beautiful Gothic structure in Jerusalem stone, which sits in a lush garden of palm-ended date palms, scattered Corinthian columns and a fountain murmurs. Just next door is a Benedictine abbey. The church was closed to visitors on Saturday morning, but we talked our way into the garden, admiring the view of the forest surrounding until we were chased by the priest impatient.
At noon, we headed for one of the venues most popular name blandly Lebanese Restaurant (88 rue Hashalom; 972-2-533-5561). With friends Tel Aviv, we sat at a table in a shaded courtyard dominated by blackberries and, for 30 shekels, about $ 9 at 3.4 shekels to the dollar, celebrated the pita bread, pickles, falafel and hummus, all washed down with fresh lemonade and being chased by an Arabic coffee. Gradually the site filled with Jewish families in Israel. By now the main thoroughfare in front of the Lebanese Restaurant was bumper to bumper cars, almost all destined for one of a dozen popular restaurants here.
the culinary reputation of Abu Ghosh has crossed the borders of Israel: In January 2010, Jawdat Ibrahim, the restaurant owner Abu Ghosh (65, Hashalom Street, 972-2-533-2019) has been devoted, briefly, in the Book Guinness World Records for making the biggest plate of hummus ever - 8992 pounds of it. Alas, Ibrahim record fell just four months later - at a restaurant in a village east of Beirut, Lebanon.
We left with full stomachs, and 10 minutes later, cut to the Jewish community of Mevaseret Zion, and followed the winding roads through the forest from Jerusalem to Ein Karem. Located in a groove and dominated by a gold-domed Orthodox church Russian perched on a hill, Ein Karem, now incorporated into Jerusalem's municipal, is considered by many Christians to be the birthplace of John the Baptist.
During the 1948 war, 300 Arab guerrillas in Ein Karem, with the support of Iraqi troops, Syrian and Egyptian Jews fought against the soldiers and ambushed convoys on the road from Tel Aviv-Jerusalem. After the massacre in April 1948, the Jewish paramilitary forces of 120 Arab civilians in the nearby village of Deir Yassin, Ein Karem was evacuated and resettled by the Israelis. Muslims are all gone now, and as I walked around the village, one of the few to survive the 1948 war with most of its buildings intact, I was quite aware of the controversial past and Ein Karem could not help noticing that there was no mention - in tourist guides or signs historic sites - Arab evacuations.
Nestled in the arid hills on the western edge of Jerusalem, the community of Ein Karem was teeming with tourists and residents on an afternoon in March. It was hard to remember that it was a Saturday, at the height of the Sabbath, and the rest of Jewish Jerusalem stopped dead in its tracks.
As bureau chief of Newsweek, I lived in Jerusalem from 2000 to 2004 and remember very well how the entire West - Jewish - side of town stopped at the start of the Sabbath. At 15 pm on Friday, the streets emptied of traffic, shopping areas cleared out, and silent contemplation aside the tensions of this unrest, a city with a majority of the working class - severe tensions at the time by the Intifada al Aqsa. I ended up enjoying the silence of the Sabbath, even if there was Saturday, when I longed to escape religious aura of the city and relax in an atmosphere secular. Often, this means exploring some enclaves few minutes drive from downtown Jerusalem, where Israelis are non-believers to sip a cappuccino, a magazine of art and antiques, picnic, hiking in the hills and other forget that they live in one of the holiest cities in the world.
I recently reconnected with three locations: the Arab-Israeli town of Abu Ghosh, the secular Jewish artists 'colony' of Ein Karem, and hiking in Ein Sataf in Jerusalem forest. It is easy to combine a visit to three places in one morning and afternoon, back to the center of Jerusalem at dusk. All are reminders that offers much more than Jerusalem's Old City, Temple Mount and other sites of biblical resonance, for those who know, there are wonderful darkest corners of this color gives the character and history - not to mention great food.
A good place to start is to Abu Ghosh, a village of minarets, packed-together houses Ottoman and Middle Eastern restaurants, which is located seven miles west of Jerusalem, near Tel Aviv highway Jerusalem. The Muslim city has maintained close ties with Jews in Israel, arriving here en masse for weekend brunch, especially in spring and summer.
Abu Ghosh has a turbulent history. Although inhabited since Neolithic times, it was officially created in 1520 by the clan of Abu Ghosh, landowners of Circassian origin, who received a lucrative franchise of the Ottoman Sultan to collect taxes from travelers on the pilgrimage route Christian between Jaffa and Jerusalem. During the British Mandate period, Abu Ghosh majority Muslim population had good relations with Jews, Abu Ghosh has remained at the 1948 war, when Arab gunmen used the surrounding hills to ambush convoys of supplies Jerusalem under siege. Nevertheless, Israel detained many of its inhabitants after the war at the same time, the Jordanian authorities denounced Abu Ghosh residents as traitors. Today the city is one of the only surviving Muslim villages in the region.
A friend from Berlin and I arrived late Saturday morning, just before the invasion of Jerusalem a week hunger. After entering the village, next to a group of Arab men selling pomegranate juice, is one of the most impressive remains of the Crusades, the Crusaders' Church of the Resurrection, built the 12th century. "More than any other well-preserved ancient church in Palestine" is how the mid-19th century travel writer Edward Robinson describes this beautiful Gothic structure in Jerusalem stone, which sits in a lush garden of palm-ended date palms, scattered Corinthian columns and a fountain murmurs. Just next door is a Benedictine abbey. The church was closed to visitors on Saturday morning, but we talked our way into the garden, admiring the view of the forest surrounding until we were chased by the priest impatient.
At noon, we headed for one of the venues most popular name blandly Lebanese Restaurant (88 rue Hashalom; 972-2-533-5561). With friends Tel Aviv, we sat at a table in a shaded courtyard dominated by blackberries and, for 30 shekels, about $ 9 at 3.4 shekels to the dollar, celebrated the pita bread, pickles, falafel and hummus, all washed down with fresh lemonade and being chased by an Arabic coffee. Gradually the site filled with Jewish families in Israel. By now the main thoroughfare in front of the Lebanese Restaurant was bumper to bumper cars, almost all destined for one of a dozen popular restaurants here.
the culinary reputation of Abu Ghosh has crossed the borders of Israel: In January 2010, Jawdat Ibrahim, the restaurant owner Abu Ghosh (65, Hashalom Street, 972-2-533-2019) has been devoted, briefly, in the Book Guinness World Records for making the biggest plate of hummus ever - 8992 pounds of it. Alas, Ibrahim record fell just four months later - at a restaurant in a village east of Beirut, Lebanon.
We left with full stomachs, and 10 minutes later, cut to the Jewish community of Mevaseret Zion, and followed the winding roads through the forest from Jerusalem to Ein Karem. Located in a groove and dominated by a gold-domed Orthodox church Russian perched on a hill, Ein Karem, now incorporated into Jerusalem's municipal, is considered by many Christians to be the birthplace of John the Baptist.
During the 1948 war, 300 Arab guerrillas in Ein Karem, with the support of Iraqi troops, Syrian and Egyptian Jews fought against the soldiers and ambushed convoys on the road from Tel Aviv-Jerusalem. After the massacre in April 1948, the Jewish paramilitary forces of 120 Arab civilians in the nearby village of Deir Yassin, Ein Karem was evacuated and resettled by the Israelis. Muslims are all gone now, and as I walked around the village, one of the few to survive the 1948 war with most of its buildings intact, I was quite aware of the controversial past and Ein Karem could not help noticing that there was no mention - in tourist guides or signs historic sites - Arab evacuations.
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