# Israel - Tel Aviv-Yafo/Jerusalem/Bethlehem/Hebron



## Judazzz (Jul 7, 2006)

Pictures of my 2-week backpack trip across Israel last summer:

*1. TEL AVIV-YAFO*









Hamashbir Street, Florentine neighborhood









Bank Discount Tower (130m.)









Shalom Meir Tower (142m.)









Bauhaus architecture


















Carmel Market


















Tel Aviv beach front


















Yafo (Jaffa) in the distance









Yemenite Quarter




































Somewhere between the Yemenite Quarter and Neve Tzedek neighborhood









Neve Tzedek






















































Between Neve Tzedek and Florentine









Florentine




































Somewhere between Florentine and Ramat Gan









Tel Aviv central bus station









Azrieli Center









The tall building is the Moshe Aviv Tower (244 m.)









Ramat Gan. The beige tower is the Sheraton City Tower (170m.)


















Azrieli Center









View from Azrieli Center Circular Tower (49th floor), view to the north









Moshe Aviv Tower and Diamond Exchange District, Ramat Gan









To the south west









Beach front sunset


















View to the east









Ramat Gan after dark









Kirya Tower (158m.)









Azrieli Center by night









Jaffa Road, between Florentine neighborhood and Jaffa.


















Tel Aviv beachfront


















Tel Aviv skyline









...with a dash of tropics









Density


















Monastery of St. Peter, Old Jaffa









Old Jaffa


















Old Jaffa's port













































Church of Scotland in New Jaffa (?!?)









New Jaffa, Shalom Meir Tower in the background


















The Ottoman bell tower of Jaffa, built in 1906









Tel Aviv skyline


*2. JERUSALEM*









View from the old city wall: the Old City to the right, the modern part to the left


















Christian Quarter, Old City









Old versus new religion


















Christian Quarter









Towards Damascus Gate and the Islamic Quarter


















Contemplating the meaning of life?









Islamic neighborhood









Chaos outside Damascus Gate


















Islamic Quarter









Mount Olive, the oldest continuously used cemetary in the world









Basilica of Nations, Mount Olive









Via Dolorosa and the Roman Ecce **** arch









Jerusalem's children...









Jaffa Gate after dark









The Al Aqsa Mosque, with Mount Olive in the background









Wailing or Western Wall









The white 'veins' in the wall are notes to God, written on small pieces of paper









Spotted from the tower of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer









The Tempel Mount: on the left the Dome of the Rock, on the right the Al Aqsa Mosque









The Muristan, close to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian Quarter









The Church of the Holy Sepulchre









Stone of Unction in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre









Entrance to the Tomb Monument, Christ's grave









The central dome of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre


















Detail of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre's facade









The Citadel and the Tower of David









Tourists near Jaffa Gate









Spotted from the Citadel Wall









The Old City from the Citadel









From front to back: Christian Quarter, Dome of the Rock, Mount Olive with Russian Church of Mary Magdalene









Tower of David









Zion Gate, gateway between the Armenian Quarter and Mount Zion









The separation wall seen from Mount Zion









Courtyard of the Monastery of Dormition









Church and Monastery of Dormition









Quite some work left to do...









YMCA Bell Tower in the modern part of Jerusalem, designed Arthur Loomis Harmon (who also 'did' the Empire State Building)









Friday evening, the holy evening









The Wailing Wall in the evening



























The souq 'after dark'.




















*3. Bethlehem*









Church of Nativity









Inside the Church of Nativity









Inside the Church of Nativity









The Roman-Catholic part of the Church of Nativity









Courtyard in the Church of Nativity









Silent witnesses of the 2002 siege









Manger Square


















The separation wall








































































By British grafitti artist Banksy









More Banksy









Newer part of town




































Dheisheh Refugee Camp, home to about 12.000 Palestinians









Dheisheh Refugee Camp









Har Homa settlement (I think)


*4. Hebron*









Palestinian village with olive orchards, somewhere between Bethlehem and Hebron









A Jewish settlement a few kilometers further down that road


















Entering the city




































The Old City can only be reached through a number of checkpoints: Hebron may be the most divided city on the planet, as surreal as it is fascinating and tragic at the same time









Ibrahimi Mosque with the Tomb of the Partiarchs, used (or rather divided) by both Jews and Muslims


















The Cenotaph of Abraham









Ibrahimi Mosque to the left, the synagogue part to the right









View of Hebron from the front door of the synagogue









Zoomed in on the old city


















Brawl between Israeli soldier and a local resident









The Jewish part of the old city









Deserted shops and houses - just a tiny fraction of the Palestinian inhabitants have remained in this part of town



























Separation between Jewish and Palestinian part








































































NGO vehicle


















The Souq









Fences, installed to keep out thrash, rocks and other stuff thrown from above









And apparantly they throw down a lot!






















































Settler houses











*5. Bonus: Dead Sea at Kaliah Beaches, West Bank*









The Dead Sea









Yours truely 









The Jordanian shoreline









Ruins of Syrian houses near Kaliah Beaches


















Dead Sea sundset


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## spongeg (May 1, 2006)

cool pics

went to israel as a kid would love to see it again


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## CanadianSkyScraper (Sep 5, 2008)

Great pics, except that East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron are not in Israel


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Very nice pics


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## Judazzz (Jul 7, 2006)

CanadianSkyScraper said:


> Great pics, except that East Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Hebron are not in Israel


Yeah mate, I know, and trust me, I got my opinions about the matter.
However, these are just a bunch pictures of my trip, during which I met amazing people from both sides of the fence, so please just stick to watching the pictures and either love them, hate them or don't give a crap about them. Please keep the lit on that can of worms and restrict discussing the status of East Jerusalem, the situation in the occupied territories, or just generally biting each other's heads off for having opposing views to the Skybar - it's hunting season there anyways  

Thanks for the compliments, guys!


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

u've lived in S.Tel Aviv?


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## Judazzz (Jul 7, 2006)

I can't believe I completely forgot about my own thread....







hno: 


@Zohar: nope, I lived in the Netherlands for all my life. Why you're wondering?


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## ZOHAR (Jul 16, 2005)

nah,I meant when uve been in Israel


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## Judazzz (Jul 7, 2006)

Aah, that makes more sense  
With a good friend of mine I toured Israel during the first two weeks of August last year. Started out in Tel Aviv, then Haifa/Akko, then Nazareth/Beit She'an and finally (of course!) Jerusalem, where we were invited by a friend. From there we also did our day trips to the Dead Sea and the West Bank.


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## Kevlargeist (Jun 11, 2008)

The pictures are excellent. You got it all covered :applause: Israel's attractive, too.


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## david chanrion (Oct 4, 2002)

hello
It's nice to see photos with such a special look
thanks for sharing.
David


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