Bizarre rule burdens Palestinian tourism

BANGKOK, 26 September 2011 — The Palestinian bid for statehood has opened the way for the international travel and tourism industry to demand the right to visit Palestine without undergoing the humiliating and intrusive process of applying for a visa at an Israeli embassy.

The Israeli occupation of Palestine has forced millions of people all over the world, especially Christian pilgrims seeking to visit Bethlehem and Muslims seeking to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque, the third holiest shrine in Islam, to seek a visa from a country they may not want to visit in order to visit a country they most certainly want to visit.

By any standards of international relations, this should be unacceptable. Due to the wave of global support emerging for an independent Palestine, the people of all the countries backing the Palestinian bid are now well placed to demand that their governments take all necessary diplomatic steps to remove this bizarre requirement.

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Israel inks tourism accord with China

JERUSALEM, 20 September 2010 – Israel and tourism officials from Shanghai signed an agreement on Monday aimed at boosting tourism between the Jewish state and China, officials said.

“In the agreement, the two sides declared the importance of tourism as a means of promoting ties,” Israel’s tourism ministry said in a statement.

The accord was signed by Noaz Bar Nir, director general of the Israeli ministry who is currently visiting China, and Dao Suaming, his counterpart in the Shanghai tourism ministry, the statement said.

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Thai agencies should promote Israel

Thai and Israeli Offices of the Higher Education recently signed a memorandum of understanding for educational programmes and there are plans to encourage more Thai travel agents to sell heritage tours to Israel.

The Thai – Israel Chamber of Commerce recently announced a partnership between the offices of the Higher Education of Thailand and Israel.

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