Stories from Jerusalem / Al Quds

This is the first part of three episodes in which I will take you on a virtual guided podcast bus tour from Jerusalem to Jaffa. Just close your eyes, sit back and relax and from the comfort of your chair you can imagine the view! And if you want to see some photos and videos, then go to my Ko-fi page where I post unique material that I don't post anywhere else. Ko-fi is the platform that I use to receive donations. You can support the podcast as easily as with the price of a cup of coffee or a sandwich falafel. And for those super fans, I make sure to have some special content that is not available on other social media.

You can follow the Ko-fi page and receive an e-mail when new posts are uploaded. Don't worry I don't post more than once a week.

https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

In this episode you can learn about the Chords bridge, Deir Yassin village, the battle of Al Qastal, Lifta, the as-Sarar or Sorek valley and the Ayalon valley. It includes history on the Nakba (the disaster) of 1948 in which Palestinians were forcibly displaced for the creation of the State of Israel and it contains two bible stories, of Samson and Delila and Joshua and the Amorites in the Ayalon valley. We end the first part of this tour at the Latrun monastery, named after a Crusader fortress. 

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Thirty years ago, Nahed was one of the first women to start with yoga practice in Palestine. She started teaching even before she had the chance to go to India to get a teacher training. Now she is not the only one anymore. We speak with Nahed and with Eilda, the founder of Beit Ashams for self development about how important yoga and meditation are for body and soul. Especially in the Palestinian context of continuous oppression, restrictions, stress and pressure, more and more women AND men are finding their relief in yoga and meditation practice.

Eilda is working on content for two applications in Arabic for meditation practice.

Tawazon has meditations in Arabic for different moments, for relaxation, for mindfulness practice, for children and for trauma. Fitjab is especially created for women who where the hijab, the head scarf.

For meditation apps in English check out: Insight Timer, Calm or Plum Village.

You can find these applications in the Google Play Store or in the Apple iStore.

Beit Ahams does not have a website yet but you can find them on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/BeitAshams

A full transcript of this podcast can be found on the Buzzsprout podcast host website https://storiesfrompalestine.buzzsprout.com (that's where you can also find the links to all the different podcast players) and on https://storiesfrompalestine.info 

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Beit Safafa was a Palestinian town between Jersualem and Bethlehem, before it was split into two halves in 1948 when the State of Israel was created. The Western half of the village, with the important Jaffa-Jerusalem railway, became part of Israel and the Eastern half was under Jordanian control. This situation remained so until Israel military occupied the Westbank of the Jordan River in 1967 and Beit Safafa was reunited. But the 19 years of physical separation between the people, left its mark until today.

Beit Safafa has ancient history and several important archeological sites.

In this guided tour, we discover the town with Ahmad Nabeel. He was suggested to me by Musa Othman, the son of the late historian Mustafa Othman, who wrote a book about the history of Beit Safafa.

For the full transcript of this podcast episodes you can go to the website https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2021/01/29/beit-safafa/

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

 

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Sufism is a more mystical way of approach of the Islamic faith. Sufi scholars have defined it as the way to reach the reparation of the heart and turning it away from all else but God.

In this podcast episode I speak with Izzeldin Bukhari who stems from a family of important Sufi sheikhs from the Naqshabandi tradition. The family originates from Uzbekistan, but they have been living in the old city of Jerusalem for about four hundred years.

If you want to read along with the transcript of this interview you can click here and go to the website. https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2021/01/23/sufism-in-palestine/

If you want to get in touch with Izzeldin Bukhari you can email him at [email protected]

This episode contains music fragments by Zevk Ensemble that consists of husband and wife Benyamin and Rabia.  Zevk is a Turkish word conveying spiritual taste and joy coming from an uplifted heart.

For more background about Islamic Mysticism, you can watch this video on Youtube:
An introduction to Sufi Islam.

Reading tips: books and poetry by Hafiz and Rumi

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

On a sunny day in January 2021 we visit the Palestine Museum of Natural History in Bethlehem. We speak to the founder Mazin Qumsieh and his wife Jessie Chang and we take a tour around the ethnography museum and the garden.  This is where the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity is teaching children AND adults about the rich flora and fauna of Palestine.

Palestine is located between Europe, Asia and Africa with an area of 27000 km2 in the western part of the Fertile Crescent where humans first developed agriculture. The unique geography and geology gave Palestine more biological diversity than some countries ten times its size.

The museum has a section with fossils and stuffed animals. There are also several animals that are being rehabilitated before they are released back into the wild. The museum demonstrates methods for cultivation, composting, recycling and upcycling.

Listen to this episode to learn more about Palestine's biodiversity and the Natural Museum of History and visit the website to read more and see the photos of the visit!

https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2021/01/16/palestine-museum-natural-history/

If you want to support the podcast with a donation please go to https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine I REALLY appreciate it!

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

From the REAL Bethlehem, in Palestine, a SPECIAL Christmas episode. We follow the road that Joseph and Mary must have taken on their way to the town and we talk to Christian and Muslim Palestinians about their understanding of the Christmas story and how they celebrate Christmas in the 'little town of Bethlehem.' They explain us about their THREE Christmas celebrations, that Jesus was NOT born in a stable and why they play BAGPIPES on the Christmas day.

For this special Christmas episode you can do a special Christmas gift donation that would be highly appreciated!

SUPPORT THE PODCAST ON KO-FI CLICK HERE

This was the last episode of season 1. I will be back with season 2 mid January. Until then, enjoy all the episodes you haven't heard yet! And MERRY CHRISTMAS, despite the lock downs.

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

This is the third and last episode of the Jericho trilogy that includes episodes 17 and 14.  In this last part of the tour we drive through the Jordan Valley and learn why the Westbank is called the Westbank while it is the eastern part of Palestine! We visit the baptismal site on the Jordan river, learn more about the Dead Sea and we hear from tour guide Kamal Mukarkar about the Essenes community that lived in Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found.

For the transcript of this episode and photos of the sites you can visit  https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2020/12/12/jordan-river-to-qumran/

If you appreciate the podcast I would be very happy if you wanted to contribute and buy me a coffee (or a falafel) on the Ko-fi platform page:  https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

For the SPECIAL CHRISTMAS from BETHLEHEM podcast episode on 21 December you can do a donation on the above mentioned ko-fi platform and follow the instructions. Click here to go directly to the right place: DONATE for the CHRISTMAS PODCAST

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

The  oldest city in the world, the lowest point on earth, the longest cable car under sea level, remains of the most beautiful Umayyad desert palace in the region, a monastery hanging from the Mount of Temptation, swimming pools, date palm trees, the sycamore tree of Zaccheus and the water spring of Elisha. This and more, narrated by Kristel, student at the Bethlehem Bible College tour guide program. This episode is a continuation of episode 14, the road trip from Bethlehem to Jericho with visit to the Samaritan Inn mosaic museum and Nabi Musa.

Transcript of this episode and photos can be found on the website: https://storiesfrompalestine.info/2020/12/04/jericho-city-of-the-moon/

If you appreciate the podcast I would be very happy if you wanted to contribute and buy me a coffee (or a falafel) on the Ko-fi platform page:  https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

For the SPECIAL CHRISTMAS from BETHLEHEM podcast episode on 21 December you can do a donation on the above mentioned ko-fi platform and follow the instructions. Click here to go directly to the right place: DONATE for the CHRISTMAS PODCAST

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

The music in this episode is by Zaid Hilal (find him on Youtube and Soundcloud) 

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Rana Hijawi has a passion for wildlife in Palestine. She is a biology graduate from Birzeit University. She started an Instagram page where she posts photos of birds in Palestine. Palestine is on the crossing of three continents and famous for its bird migration route.  About 500 million migrating birds fly over Palestine yearly. Despite its small size Palestine has very diverse landscapes. The coastal plain in the West, the mountain ridge in the center and the dessert and Jordan valley rift to the East. The diversity in ecosystems makes Palestine an interesting place for a large variety of flora and fauna.

If you want to follow Rana on instagram go to:  https://www.instagram.com/wildlife.with.rana

Other interesting pages to check out:

Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability (Palestine Nature museum)
Palestine Wild Life Society
Mahmiyat.ps

If you appreciate the podcast I would be very happy if you wanted to contribute and buy me a coffee (or a falafel) on the Ko-fi platform page:  https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

The music in this episode is by Zaid Hilal (find him on Youtube and Soundcloud)

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

My husband and I spent a weekend in Nazareth and had a wonderful time. I interviewed the owners of Al Hakim family guesthouse. The father is a tour guide. Several women revived the old city of Nazareth after it had become a ghost town. I spoke to Amani, the owner of Amani Cafe about what happened in the old city and about the new vibe. Walking around the old town I visited two art galleries and spoke to the female artists about their work and their life in Nazareth.

The main historical sites in Nazareth are the churches related to the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary to announce her that she will be pregnant. The different Christian denominations have different sites. The Roman Catholic Church of the Annunciation was built on a location that was venerated since Byzantine time but the current church is from the 20th Century.  The Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Gabriel is much smaller and closer to Mary's well, which according to the Eastern churches is the place of the annunciation.

For a stay in the old city of Nazareth we can highly recommend Al Hakim guesthouse
https://www.alhakim.co.il/

While strolling around the old city you can have coffee at Amani Cafe or Liwan Cafe
Amani Cafe : https://www.instagram.com/amani.cafe
Liwan Cafe: https://www.instagram.com/liwanculturecafe/ 

The artists in the interview are:

Bana Haddad (Graphic design & Visual Art Gallery)

https://www.instagram.com/lawz_studio/

[email protected]

Sama Abuhanna (Visual artist)

https://www.instagram.com/2sudesign9/

Jasmine & Reem (Wings design handmade crafts and design)
https://www.instagram.com/wings.design26

If you appreciate the podcast I would be very happy if you wanted to contribute and buy me a coffee (or a falafel) on the Ko-fi platform page:  https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine

Connect to Stories from Palestine on social media, follow the YouTube channel and sign up for the weekly e-mail. All links can be found on the linktree:
https://linktr.ee/Storiesfrompalestine

The music in this episode is by Zaid Hilal (find him on Youtube and Soundcloud)

Send us Fan Mail

Find me on Instagram @StoriesfromJerusalem

Support the podcast with a donation: https://ko-fi.com/storiesfrompalestine