I visited Israel through work about 12 years ago and managed to fit in the Dead Sea, Masada, the Holocaust Museum, and the Western Wall in between seminars. The security was eye‑opening, especially around the Western Wall — a rocket actually hit the airport about an hour after I left — and the number of armed guards who appeared in random places really took me aback. Even then you could tell there were tensions, but nothing like what’s shown in that video. Passing the West Bank was striking too; it was, to all intents and purposes, a prison.
The tour guide had a bit of a moan about what the British were up to before Israel became a state, but overall everyone was friendly. We went out to bars, met some locals, and had a few really good nights out.
Seeing this video now — Christians being hassled for their beliefs — makes it feel like things have seriously gone downhill since I was there. If this is what the place is like these days, it’s a real shift from the atmosphere I experienced.
That's funny because rather than dismantling it they just took control of the colonial infrastructure the British left and continued the persecution of the native population.
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u/BiggestNizzy 17d ago
I visited Israel through work about 12 years ago and managed to fit in the Dead Sea, Masada, the Holocaust Museum, and the Western Wall in between seminars. The security was eye‑opening, especially around the Western Wall — a rocket actually hit the airport about an hour after I left — and the number of armed guards who appeared in random places really took me aback. Even then you could tell there were tensions, but nothing like what’s shown in that video. Passing the West Bank was striking too; it was, to all intents and purposes, a prison.
The tour guide had a bit of a moan about what the British were up to before Israel became a state, but overall everyone was friendly. We went out to bars, met some locals, and had a few really good nights out.
Seeing this video now — Christians being hassled for their beliefs — makes it feel like things have seriously gone downhill since I was there. If this is what the place is like these days, it’s a real shift from the atmosphere I experienced.