My parents are going to Israel for the first time - what should they do and see?

Tel-Aviv & Haifa are full of nice things to see, & they should consult tourist guides for nice places to visit. Both are mixed cities, that is, they’ve got neighborhoods of Jews & of Israeli Arabs, which are a nice experience to visit.
On the way to Jerusalem, there’s a park called Mini-Israel (http://www.minisrael.co.il/home_en.html), which features all of the country’s tourist attractions in miniature scale, which could be useful for choosing what to see…
As to Peace related events, you should check the web sites of organizations such as Ta’ayush (http://www.taayush.org), Olive Tree Movement (http://www.o-t-m.org) & Peace Now (http://www.peacenow.org.il), which hold weekly events, such as Israeli-Palestinians demonstrations & humanitarian activities. Note that these activities can sometimes be dangerous.
Finally, please feel free to contact me directly for more information, or help during their stay (dibaunaumh in Google’s mail service, or dibau_naum_h in Twitter).

I found this website about visiting the “holy land”. It’s a virtual tour. A little rough around the edges, but seems to have the inside scoop:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/viehome.html

I don’t have my thinking cap on right now so I can’t go into details but one place I would strongly suggest they visit is Akko or, as it is sometimes called, Acre. It is an old fortress and port city from the time of the Crusades up near Haifa and is one of the most memorable places I’ve visited anywhere.

I recently saw a write-up of a tour for Jews and Arabs that referenced some Israeli-Palestinian communities. If I can find the link, I will post it.

En Gedi! It doesn’t fit with the peace them, but I liked it a lot.

I remember seeing a lot of stuff that fit your theme while I was in Bethlehem, but I can’t name anything specific. It was just… random stuff.

Also, I’ve been all over Europe, but the coolest castle I’ve ever visited was Castle Nimrod in the Golan Heights.

I would recommend Sfaat (multiple spellings, including Tzfat). Tzfat has an intriguing history related to Jewish mysticism (Kabbalah, etc.) Lots of artists there, so you can buy some nice Judaica. Tzfat seems to attract artists, hippies, Hassidim, and folks who are on some kind of spiritual quest. As far as peace-related activities, I just heard of the Peres Center for Peace in Tel Aviv. A visit to their website may help you get some ideas.

Akka is also the place where Baha’u’llah was last held. (I know this wouldn’t mean much to your parents). I’ve heard it is an amazing place to visit now, but that 150 years ago they used to say that bird flying over Akka would drop dead ot of the air because of the stench and filth of the old fortress city.

I’ve also been told to visit Haifa.

Mount Carmel is supposed to be well worth the visit.

tzfat is very interesting. it has a very interesting history, as answerjill said. they should definitely go to to Masada, if possible at sunrise. the view is stunning. but don’t go into the dead sea after doing a long hike, because if you’re all scratched up, it’ll burn like a sloth ripping out your tongue with its toenails!! they should see the weitzman institute near Herzliah. that’s where all the world’s top scientists are and they’re also the inventors of the cell phone. also, i forget where exactly this is, but there is a series of natural caves near the Mediterranean. it’ll only take 5 minutes to see, but its great. There are companies that will bring you on 2–10 day hikes in the middle of the dessert. they carry your stuff in a truck, and you walk from checkpoint to checkpoint, but not on a trail. i would call it “semi-roughing it”.

almost everything in israel requires mobility. even tzfat requires you to walk up the stairs that are the only way of getting around that city.

I think the natural caves on the Mediteranean are at Rosh HaNikra at the very north of Israel. They are very beatiful. If they go to Masada and the Dead Sea, there is a lovely waterfall ravine at Ein Gedi.

Get a really good guide. They guy we had’s name was Zeev Freedman. He was so informed and a really great guy. he can take them everywhere.
For some reason, David’s tomb was very touching for me.
I had this overwhelming urge to drop to my knees and kiss the ground when I walked off the plane but I resisted so as not to embarrass my companions.
I hope they have a wonderful time. It’s not so much what you see,(although there’s pelnty to see) but how you feel. Even though people were carrying guns everywhere, I felt so safe and warm. It was amazing.

I’m filled with gratitude at all these responses. Thank you!
(And keep ‘em coming!)

Thanks so much everyone for these wonderful suggestions. Very much appreciated!

Judi, how would I get in touch with the guide you mentioned? I really want to find a good guide.

Felice

A good deli, for gosh sakes.

@fbassuk
I think I still have his email address I’ll look it up and PM you with it.
@Sueanne;
A really neat friend of mine, sort of a nerdy old guy who was always full of interesting facts, lived in Israel for a time. One of his biggest shocks (being from the East Coast and all) was that he couldn’t find a bagel anywhere!

I was born in Israel and have spent a lot of time there. One specific peace related thing your parents should definitely check out is the Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem. While Jerusalem was divided (1948–1967), the building served as a military outpost (the Turjeman Post) which stood on the seam line between Israel and Jordan across from Mandelbaum Gate, the only crossing point between the two sides of the divided city. It is truly a unique and educational experience that really combines art and politics in a way I have never seen elsewhere.

From the website:
The Museum on the Seam is a socio-political contemporary art museum located in Jerusalem. The Museum in its unique way, presents art as a language with no boundaries in order to raise controversial social issues for public discussion. At the center of the changing exhibitions in the Museum stand the national, ethnic and economic seam lines in their local and universal contexts.
The Museum is committed to examining the social reality within our regional conflict, to advancing dialogue in the face of discord and to encouraging social responsibility that is based on what we all have in common rather than what keeps us apart.