Middle East - Anthony Ham [1]
Such are the headline attractions of the Middle East. And yet it’s the people of the region who will leave the most lasting impression. We’ve lost count of the number of times that we’ve received invitations to take tea, to pass the time in conversation or to eat in people’s homes. The art of hospitality, with its strong roots in the desert cultures of Arabia and in Islam, is one of the most enduring constants in Middle Eastern life. ‘Ahlan wa sahlan’ (‘You are welcome’) is a phrase you’ll hear again and again because many Middle Easterners treat every encounter with guests in their country as a gift from their god.
This warmth that you’ll experience often on your travels through the region is all the more remarkable given that life is a daily struggle for many people in the Middle East. Poverty and a lack of freedom are quotidian concerns for millions of people here. With the flawed exceptions of Turkey, Israel and Lebanon, political freedoms are heavily circumscribed and people chafe under the old guard of leaders who have, by some standards, singularly failed to better the lives of their citizens. Armed conflict and terrorism are rarer and more isolated in the Middle East than the mainstream Western media would have you believe, but they still darken the horizon of many, especially in Iraq and Gaza.
Far more paralysing are the conflicts over land that seem frozen in time and no nearer to a solution than they were six decades ago. Like a separation wall between historical conflict and a peaceful future, the enduring inability of Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon to make peace with each other continues to cast a shadow over the region, hindering its economic growth and maintaining almost perpetual uncertainty for many.
All of these issues may be why nine out of 10 people polled will probably tell you the Middle East is too dangerous to visit (one of these nine will, most likely, be your mum). The Middle East does indeed have its problems and dangers. They are, however, far fewer than the prevailing stereotypes suggest. They’re also far more likely to affect the people of the Middle East rather than travellers, for whom the risks are extremely small. You will come across relatively minor inconveniences, such as not being able to cross between Lebanon and Israel, or finding that an Israeli entry stamp in your passport means you cannot visit Syria or Lebanon. But we cannot emphasise it more strongly than this: many parts of the Middle East are safe to travel to.
To put it another way, the Middle East is a destination for discerning travellers, for those looking for the story behind the headline. It’s the story of a region with its feet firmly planted on three continents, of a warm and hospitable people standing at the crossroads of history. And it’s a story that, having visited the Middle East once, you’ll find yourself returning to over and over again.
Getting Started
* * *
WHEN TO GO
COSTS & MONEY
READING UP
MUST-SEE MOVIES
TRAVELLING RESPONSIBLY
* * *
There’s one question that every traveller to the Middle East wants answered: is it safe? The short answer is yes, as long as you stay informed. For the longer answer, turn to the boxed text, Click here. Show it to your mum. Show it to all those friends who told you that you were crazy for travelling to the Middle East. Once you’ve realised that the region’s reputation as a place that cannot be travelled to comes almost solely from people who’ve never been there, you can get down to the fun part of pretrip planning – tracking down a good read, surfing the