Palestine travel writing competition

As a result of my work on the Bradt Guide to Palestine, I’ve been privileged to be asked to judge a travel writing competition on Palestine. The competition is being run by Green Olive Tours, a groundbreaking social enterprise which runs ‘alternative’ tours in Palestine, offers online booking for Palestinian tour operators such as ATG, and gives travellers the opportunity to visit and stay in hard-to-reach areas such as Bedouin communities in the Naqab (Negev) who are threatened by Israeli judaicisation of the area.
The blurb for the competition says:

Tell us your views. How did they change during your trip? What is Palestine – Israel? – You decide.
You can make us laugh, cry, sympathetic or angry.
We want to see your definition of the country, based on your experiences – not a ‘solution’ to the conflict, or a ‘future peace scenario’, but a personal view of what the country is now, based on your experiences with the people.
Think about your moment of change or evolution in your thinking. It could have been meeting a refugee, a conversation with a local resident, seeing the WALL for the first time, witnessing a checkpoint, meeting Israelis or Palestinians, or a night out in Tel Aviv or Ramallah. We are looking for a personal approach.



Entries should be 500-750 words in length and the closing date is 16th November 2012. The prize is US$250 and copies of the Bradt Guides to Palestine and Israel. More information can be found here.