Walk the plains and hills of Burqin, Jenin and Zebabde; experience the the cool springs of al-Bidaan; explore the tides of empire at charming Sebastia; indulge in Palestinian food, beer and hospitality in Taybeh and Birzeit; wander about in Palestine’™s most colourful wadis around Aboud; descend through spectacular wadis towards the lows of the Jordan Valley; walk along Battir’™s thousands of years of heritage and discover a hermit’™s life in the Byzantine desert at Mar Saba. With the images of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so dominant in our minds, walking for leisure is the one activity probably least associated with the West Bank region. But Stefan Szepesi’™s book wanders well off the beaten track of Palestine as only a synonym for occupation and strife, exploring its inspiring and natural and cultural landscape, its intriguing past and present, and the hospitality of its people. The book takes first-time walkers and experienced hikers, as well as armchair explorers, through Palestine’™s steep desert gorges, along its tiny herders’™ trails and over its quiet dirt roads running past silver green olive groves. With side stories and anecdotes on heritage, history, cultural and daily life in the West Bank, the book ventures into the traits and character of Palestine today. Beyond the 250 km of walking trails described and mapped in detail throughout the book, Walking Palestine offers a wealth of practical walking tips, including references to local guides, the West Bank’™s best leisure spots and countryside restaurants, and the most charming places to spend the night. Not too long ago, Palestinian villagers moved from village to village using dirt tracks along the hills and in the wadis. Some of these are ancient trails going back hundreds of years and are marked on old British mandate-era ordnance maps. With changes in the region few have survived, but shepherds’™ paths do remain, and it is still possible to wander these to the sound of their reed flutes reverberating in the hills. Much of the landscape in the West Bank is rapidly being destroyed by road works, expansion of existing cities, and the unprecedented increase in hastily constructed settlements being established there in violation of international law in the hope of prejudicing the land’™s political future. As a result many areas of outstanding natural beauty have been destroyed by settlements that stand out as artificial impositions on the delicate features and contours of this ancient land. Yet despite this massive devastations there still remain areas untouched by recent developments with a unique beauty that cannot be found elsewhere in the world Neglected by walkers for obvious reasons, the West Bank of Palestine is not considered a prime tourist destination for reasons not only of politics, but also because the infrastructure of walking – the ordnance maps, the walkers’™ guides, the marked trails ‘“ have, on the whole, been absent. Newcomers to the region simply wouldn’™t know where to begin planning their walks. This book aims to change all that, and is indispensible for anyone planning on walking in Palestine or simply interested in reading what this important region of the world has to offer. This book offers walkers sound advice on how to plan for the walks, what to look out for, and what to expect. Each walk becomes an occasion to take excursions in Palestinian anthropology, archaeology and social history. And Szepesi ends each excursion with suggestions for a place to rest and have a cup of tea or a meal and experience Palestinian hospitality. Each of the walks Szepesi has chosen to write about is carefully described with good accompanying maps and GPS positioning for those using modern technology. With appendices on Palestinian public transportation, Ecotourism in Palestine and the Palestinian Festival Calendar, this book also includes glossaries of useful basic Arabic phrases and the walking terminology used. While filling an important gap in the available literature, this book will no doubt be treasured and used by all those who have wanted to walk in Palestine but didn’™t know how to go about it. Be prepared for experiences that will surely be memorable.

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