Here
in the UK low cost airline Thomsonfly has
started flights to Tel Aviv and Bmi starts them on March
13th.
Hardly
the most obvious of weekend break destinations - with the never ending friction
between Israel and Palestine right on the doorstep.
"A
world-class destination, ringed by beaches, the city has chilled out sun and
sea life, chic shopping, swanky hotels and lively nightlife," runs the
blurb on the press release from the PR agency that handles Thomsonfly. (And
people chucking bombs at each other within an hour's drive... they missed that
bit out.)
So... should I go?
As
a travel writer who likes to see places others don't (or won't) go to visiting
Tel Aviv holds great appeal. Is it a sun-kissed paradise? Or is it full of
stressed-out locals feeling trapped and paranoid?
It's
probably a bit of both. I don't sit on either side of the Israel/Palestine
fence. I just hope that a decent solution for both sides can be found. I
pitched Tel Aviv to an editor of a respected travel magazine as a really
unusual weekend break destination. Somewhere to visit with an open mind and
hopefully come back with a better understanding of the complexities of the
conflict through talking to people with all sorts of opinions.
But
he just didn't want to take the risk of a deluge of mail from angry people.
That's
a shame. But maybe by just going I'm condoning the existing situation in
Palestine which many would argue is unacceptable?