Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The land Israelis and Palestinians occupy is, for a third of humanity, literally holy land. For
Christians, this is where Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. For Muslims, this is
from where Muhammad journeyed to heaven. And for Jews, it's where the Temple of So-
lomon stood. The epic stories of the three great monotheistic religions on this planet have
played out on this tiny piece of real estate, which has been coveted and fought over for
centuries. The struggles here are difficult, and the stakes are high. While one man's terror-
ist may be another man's freedom fighter, the fact is that in recent decades, people on both
sides have suffered terribly.
Conflict in the Middle East is a huge issue for the USA. Like it or not, we are deeply
involved in this problem. And considering our unwavering commitment to Israel's secur-
ity, we have a responsibility to be engaged in finding a durable solution.
“Travel is a force for peace” is a nice slogan. To help make that slogan a reality, I
traveled to Israel and Palestine in 2013 with the goal of producing television shows to help
my American viewers better understand this troubled land. Several of my friends asked
me whether I really wanted to wade into the quagmire of Israel and Palestine, where it
seems like anyone who probes for the truth will anger people on one side or the other.
But I believe that the vast majority of Americans are not partisan on the issues here. My
agenda was simply to be balanced and honest. I espoused a “dual narrative” approach:
Giving voice to reasonable and rational people from both sides of the thorny issues. It
seems to me that open-minded people want to hear a variety of perspectives, and be given
the opportunity to form their own opinions.