Current Analysis The Walled-Off Hotel Controversy The British street artist known as Banksy is no stranger to controversy. His public art about capitalism, misogyny and racism always produces conversation. His newest installation in occupied Bethlehem, the Walled Off Hotel, is generating significant public debate about Palestine-Israel. According to different media reports, Banksy aims to focus attention Jamil Khader • 14 min read
Current Analysis Stay Off the Street In a recent Slate article, Anne Applebaum makes the case [http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/foreigners/2014/05/egypt_could_learn_from_india_dictatorships_could_learn_from_the_south_s.html] that Egypt’s presumptive president-to-be ‘Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi should look to India, Brazil or S Jillian Schwedler • 5 min read
Current Analysis An All-Consuming Occupation On June 6, 2012, the Jerusalem Development Authority launched its fourth annual Jerusalem Festival of Light in the Old City. The previous year’s show had been a resounding success, according to sponsors quoted in the Jerusalem Post, with over 250,000 visitors enjoying “art installations bursting wit Rebecca L. Stein • 8 min read
MER Article Policing the Illicit Peripheries of Egypt's Tourism Industry Tourist destinations are never simply reducible to the sun, sand and sea they offer. The lucrative international trade associated with Third World tourism involves packaging and marketing areas of the world that are most devastated by contemporary economic conditions, essentially creating landscapes Laleh Behbehanian • 9 min read
MER Article Resettling, Reconstructing and Restor(y)ing The old village of Umm Qays, Jordan, is strategically lo cated to the south of the Golan Heights, overlooking the northern part of the Jordan Valley and the southern shore of Lake Tiberias. Biblical Gadara and subsequently one of the cities of the Decapolis in antiquity, it attracts modest numbers Laurie A. Brand • 12 min read
MER Article Sex Tourism in Cairo She doesn’t look like a classic madam. About 50 years old, Hagga lives in a simple flat in the chic Cairene quarter of Muhandisin. Her black abaya (cape and headscarf) evince a more traditional outlook. Even her language is full of religious references. “Tomorrow you can have two girls, God willing. Karim El-Gawhary • 5 min read
MER Article Strategic Myths: Petra's B'doul Until 1985, the small B’doul tribe resided among the historic ruins of Petra. They made most of their income from tourism, serving as guides, renting out their caves, and selling food and beverages. They also sold archaeological objects found among the ruins, mostly the shards of pots. In 1985 the Anna Ohannessian-Charpin • 3 min read
MER Article Designer Heritage Is Israel experiencing an identity crisis? Some such symptoms are evident in a confusion over the territorial, historical and cultural boundaries of contemporary Israeli society. The tourism industry, with its consumer demands and political agendas, is exacerbating this crisis. Joel Bauman • 12 min read
MER Article Itineraries of Peace In Near East Travel’s East Jerusalem office, a satellite photograph of the Middle East is framed under glass, inscribed with the names of countries and major cities. National borders are unmarked. The Holy Land -- so the map is labeled -- appears as a single, seamless territory. A full-page adverti Rebecca L. Stein • 12 min read
MER Article Boom Box in Ouarzazate In 1987, during one of my first visits to Morocco, I attended a series of rock concerts in Marrakesh with a group of friends who had been invited to the event to represent their youth group. The organizers of the concerts, the local Grand Atlas association, invited us to tour the medina. During one Susan Ossman • 9 min read
MER Article Worlds Apart Ayman wanted a job in tourism. But he did badly on his high-school language exams and spent two years at a school in Luxor, across the river from his village, struggling to master enough rudimentary English and German to get into the hotel school at Qina. His most vivid memory from his two years in Timothy Mitchell • 13 min read
MER Article Tourist Containment One tourism strategy in the Middle East is the cordon sanitaire or containment model. Tourist activities are limited to specific areas -- what Algeria and Tunisia call “zones touristiques.” Club Med in Egypt is outside Hurghada, on the Red Sea coast. In Algeria, every worker at the hotel complex at Susan Slyomovics • 1 min read
