Summary
Elder Afro-Palestinian activist and freelance alternative tour guide in the Old City of Jerusalem, who began giving tours for internationals shortly after his release from an Israeli prison in a 1985 prisoner exchange, as presented in Chapter 4 of Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine (Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, PDF p.147-148).
Details
- On his tours he guides tourists through the Old City, pointing out settlements and the grates above Palestinian marketplaces to catch settlers’ debris, passing armed Israeli soldiers and armed settlers, and describing the contours of occupation in the city (PDF p.147).
- Like other tour guides, he uses humor to cut through the despair of recitation; passing the apartment Ariel Sharon took over in 1987, with its menorah on the roof and giant Israeli flag, he would ask, “Why is Ariel Sharon still in a coma?” The answer: “Because even hell doesn’t want him” (PDF p.147-148).
- At the end of his tours he delivers the three-part appeal Kelly takes to encapsulate solidarity tourism’s invitation: “Your presence here is very important for my people. It shows them someone is listening. But your work is not here” — validating tourists’ presence, emphasizing international complicity, and asking them to go home to write letters to their representatives and join and build movements to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel’s occupation (PDF p.148).
Related pages
Invited to Witness — Solidarity Tourism across Occupied Palestine, East Jerusalem, Fayrouz Sharqawi, Solidarity Tourism, BDS movement