Not far from the place in Bethlehem where Jesus is said to have been born there’s a gift shop dedicated to Banksy. In fact, it seems the whole quarter is given over to this infamous graffiti artist from my home town of Bristol. Before purchasing some prints of […]
Walking through the Arab quarter in Hebron’s old city is an eerie experience. Bar the Israeli soldiers standing guard in watchtowers and on rooftops, the place is deserted. The shutters on the shops along what was once the city’s busiest street are permanently down. Some 10 years ago, […]
Blue and white flags are up shops, final sound checks are being made at open air stages and soon fireworks will light up the sky. If they’ve not already, parties marking 65 years of Israel’s independence will soon get underway. It’s going to be a late night for […]
For history fans, a trip to Istanbul takes some beating. Here visitors can discover two great cities for the price of one, with both Byzantine Constantinople and Ottoman Istanbul waiting to be explored. To walk the streets of Turkey’s commercial capital today is to take a stroll through […]
“Bursting of the bubble leaves life in broken city state feeling like the last days of Rome.” This was the doom-ridden headline about Dubai that jumped out of the newspaper I was reading on a recent flight out to the Middle East. There was in fact very little […]
Past In The Present 