Steves brings Holy Land into focus

What does TV personality Rick Steves say is the best travel souvenir to bring home? A broader perspective.

So he told an audience of hundreds who gathered Saturday in Spokane Valley to hear him speak about his trips to "The Holy Land." Listening to the chatter before and after, most of us expected to hear more of a tourist-centered presentation with an hour-long slide show. After all, the world-famous travel writer and PBS TV star is best known for his affable demeanor and award-winning footage of historical sites, foods, and lesser-known spots in the planet's most beautiful places.

We got the slide show, but Steves talked mostly about the people and problems of Israel and Palestine. There was a smattering of hummus and olive trees, to be sure, but mostly the problems of people he described as universally friendly; he reasoned the rest we could get from the touristy TV show debuting an hour after his talk. It was eye-opening for many in the audience, if faces were any indication.

It's impossible even to summarize all that he said in this column. Other than emphasizing that he felt safe literally everywhere he went, the closest upshot of his message is this: It - and by "it" he means the conflicts over Palestine - is an impossible situation, created by neither side, but suffered by all. If win-lose is the goal, all lose. If win-win is the goal, dream on. The only viable option is compromise of control, a lose-lose to win peace. The trouble is the required compromise includes some form of independent Palestine - a "never" scenario to certain of Israel's key leaders.

And which side is Steves on? Both.

Keep in mind all of this is happening at the holiest of sites for all three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The biggest tourist sites are sacred to all three, located in each other's claimed territories, but mostly Gaza (where most of the fighting is) and the rest of Palestine: The Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre and The Western (or Wailing) Wall. Places and events are common to all three religious texts. In Islam, Jesus is the second greatest prophet with his own section of the Quran, and Judea is called The West Bank. At some sites plastic dividers and guards segregate pilgrims to protect them from one another, although violence at holy sites is rare.

This truly is THE holy land. Mix religious conviction with political ire based on a shared and historically justified fear of attempted obliteration, and you can see why the fervor is unrelenting.

Steves also reviewed the geography. Traditional Palestine and its people once covered most of what is now Israel and more, its borders moving throughout a history of conquerors and skirmishes. Then World War II came and went, with surviving Jews stripped of all they owned and loved, needing a homeland and - key to the current political reality - security of place. Pronto and permanent so it could never happen again, so all Jews had somewhere safe to go (many Israeli citizens continue to be immigrants).

The United Nations gave them much of traditional and already-occupied Palestine, their holy land and once-home. Problem solved? Well, why not. Throughout history Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived there together in various combinations.

The international organizations didn't ask the people already living there if that was OK; who would agree to give up political control of their own territory? They put one group atop another who claimed the same land, governance, and religious significance. They declared it legal and left newly formed Israel with the resistance that persists today.

One man's security in homecoming is another man's theft. Sound familiar? Palestinians had also historically suffered attempted obliterations. Other native peoples lost a fight for their homes and lives against another foreign invader - us. Different situation, perhaps, but no less painful in frustrating reality for everyone.

So since the creation of Israel, Palestine's borders shrunk, again and again. The best farmland and water sources have been strategically carved out of Palestine's edges and are now Israeli territory (the map looks like a puzzle grid, Palestine's green areas shrinking to a small fraction of their original size). Jobs in Palestine are far scarcer and permits to work in Israel limited. Palestinians and Israelis have different colored license plates on cars and IDs. Movement is restricted. Steves said he had to be careful what to call places, as some people consider certain geographical names offensive or incorrect, unrecognized. Israel controls the water flow to a large area within Palestine. Steves showed us photos of Palestinian roofs with water cisterns atop them, in case they're cut off to areas of "suspected terrorist activity," when entire neighborhoods lose running water.

As Steves said, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter, but either way, violence and repercussions continue. He understands the fear and justifications on both sides. The impossibility, beyond the way it began, is simply that both fighting groups - Israelis (more specifically "Zionists," a political term meaning those in favor of a Jewish/non-secular State) and Palestinians - desperately demand the same guarantee that the past not repeat itself, i.e., independent rule of the same territory. Making a win-win impossible.

Steves confirmed what other neutral travelers and reporters have said: Atrocities are committed and fundamentalism exists on both sides, but so does reasonable desire to compromise. Go back far enough in time and neither side started it, or both did. Pacifists exist on both sides of the heavily guarded wall dividing them.

So we hope. Efforts to find solutions, to understand one another must be encouraged if an end is ever to be in sight. Views and opinions within The Holy Land are anything but uniform; many people - yes even in government - favor concessions to achieve peace. Perhaps one day the plastic divider separating pilgrims far and wide will come down.

Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at [email protected].