Oppression in the Holy Lands: How Tourism Exploits Palestine

December is an important month for Christian pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, namely in Bethlehem, Nazareth and Occupied East Jerusalem. While these sites are in Palestinian neighbourhoods and territories, Israel leverages tourism to fuel Palestinian oppression.

In the peak year, 2019, over 4.5 million tourists visited sites in the Holy Lands, generating over US$8 billion for Israel.

“Israel has explicitly utilised religious tourism to validate its existence.”

“A lot of them were religious tourists—folks who are coming to visit the Holy sites of the Abrahamic tradition,” says Halah Ahmad, a Palestinian-American based in San Francisco. Ahmad is a researcher, writer and policy analyst who has collaborated with several US-based think tanks to dissect how US politics directly feeds Palestinian oppression. Tourism is a key factor in this.

“Israel, as a state building project and as a colonial project, has explicitly utilised that religious tourism to validate its existence.”

Bethlehem & Jerusalem: “Touristic Prisons”

In Jerusalem, major Christian pilgrimage sites include the Mount of Olives where Jesus was arrested before the crucifixion and where he ascended to heaven after resurrection. In Bethlehem, tourists flock to The Church of the Nativity, built on the site of Jesus' birthplace. The sites alone have attracted over a million pilgrims over the Christmas season in peak times, both in Palestinian territory.

But Palestinians in the area have described living in a “touristic prison”.

“Usually [Israel] will close off the areas around those sites and heavily militarise the areas around those sites, which causes massive disruption to Palestinians in their own neighbourhoods,” says Ahmad. “On top of the military presence, there becomes a heavy right-wing settler presence that tries to instantiate ownership of these sites.”

Context of Displacement:

In 1967, Israel captured part of Jerusalem from Jordan, claiming sovereignty of the area. Settlers are backed by Israeli court decrees facilitating the expulsion of Palestinian communities in East Jerusalem, but international governments and the UN have called Israelis living in the area “settlers” who have illegally bullied Palestinians out of their homes.

In 2021, twins Muna and Mohammed Al Kurd went viral after filming an Israeli settler attempting to displace them from their home in Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem.

Palestinians like the Al Kurds have been forced to rally tirelessly to protect their neighbourhoods.

Tourism is an intrinsic part of Israel's coloniser strategy. According to the Applied Research Institute (ARIJ), in Bethlehem, 92% of the city’s 210,000 Palestinians are confined to 13% of its total land.

“It's facilitating extremist settlers to be in those Palestinian neighbourhoods which they otherwise wouldn't be, but then protected by the Israeli army,” stresses Ahmad.

Tourism During Genocide

Since Israel’s genocidal assault on Palestine, tourism has naturally dwindled. Flight routes to Israel are limited and many countries warn against travelling to the area.

That hasn’t stopped tourism minister, Haim Katz, from desperately trying to woo international visitors. In February 2024, he flew to the world’s largest Christian media convention, National Religious Broadcasters (NRB), to encourage US Christians to visit Israel. He called for “solidarity tourism” among Zionists: “We must maintain the momentum and, especially in light of the war, encourage tourism to Israel as much as possible."

In October, he appeared at London’s World Travel Market to encourage tourists to visit, “not now, but in three months” he angled, hopefully.

Meanwhile, the Vatican has declared 2025 as a jubilee year, marking a period of reconnection with faith. The year’s main theme is pilgrimage, an opportunity that Katz has enthusiastically jumped on to resuscitate Zionist tourism.

In December, Katz travelled to the Philippines, to sign a declaration of intent to boost tourism between the two countries. Katz hopes Catholic Filipinos will be enticed by pilgrimage. “2025 is the jubilee year for the Roman Catholic communities all around the world,” he said. “It’s very important and we’re looking forward to seeing more of your countrymen coming to the Holy Land, the land of Israel.”

For Ahmad, Israel’s relentless tourism propaganda is both heartbreaking and frustrating. “We saw a similar thing happen post-COVID. There was a huge effort to revive it because it’s key to the propaganda that  [Israel] produces.”

“Palestine is the site of Jesus’ birth. There is total ignorance about the relationship between these sites and ongoing oppression. That's really purposeful on the part of Israel.”

She stresses that religious tourism as marketed by Israel is purposefully deceitful—tourists will get bussed in and out of the West Bank to the Holy Sites without even realising they crossed the border.

“Palestine is the site of Jesus’ birth. That entire story happens mostly in occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian neighbourhoods, like Nazareth,” she says. “There is total ignorance about  the relationship between these sites and like ongoing oppression. That's really purposeful on the part of Israel.”

Ethical Alternatives for Travel:

Israel’s exploitation of tourism has not only denied Palestinians, including Christian Palestinians, access and guard over sites they have historically cared for, but also depleted Palestinian tourism.

“People can either be conscientious of how to ethically travel to Palestine,” Ahmad stresses. “Or they should make a pilgrimage to Rome.”

Visitors who want to visit the Holy Lands can do so in an ethical way that can also provide economic support to Palestinians. Ahmad highlights the following guides and organisations:

Walk Palestine: Run by the Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies, an NGO based in Beit Sahour, Palestine. Siraj organises trek and bicycle routes for visitors, including homestays with local Palestinians and aims to break misconceptions by Western Media.

Bike Palestine : Organised by Siraj together with filmmaker and cyclist George Snow, Bike Palestine curates bi-annual trips in the Holy Lands, with routes from Jenin to Hebron, then from Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Visit Palestine.Tech: An organisation that caters to visitors working in tech, while providing support and interaction with Palestine's tech scene.

Alternative Tourism Guidebook on Palestine: A printed guidebook available in several languages on how to travel to Palestine ethically and consciously.

More resources can be found on the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and other Palestinian-based tour groups include Green Olive Tours, Go Palestine, To Be There and Murad Tours.

Please be aware that the genocide is ongoing and it may not be safe to visit at this time.

For other ways to support Palestine, please visit our Resources to Support Palestine Directory.