Kamal Mukarker's guest appearances

Kamal Mukarker

Andy Steves Travel Podcast

Tour Guide Confidential

Andy Steves

Johnny Jet

Debbie Arcangeles

Rollie Peterkin

Ryan Thorpe

Steve Bramucci

Jody van Engelsdorp Gastelaars

Smike Letwinsky

Will McLeod

Leo Heaton

Julian Ponce

Tinabeth Pina

OwlTail

I sat down with Kamal Mukarker, a Palestinian tour guide and educator who is preparing a new generation of Palestinian tour guides.  We had an in-depth and far-ranging discussion about his family’s background, the upheavals that they have suffered due to the last 100 years of conflict, his mother’s upbringing in Germany, the state of the Christian community in the Holy Land and broader Middle East, tour guide training in the Palestinian Authority, normalization, the difficulties surrounding the “occupation”, the recent Abraham Accords, and the struggles that tour guides currently face due to the continued coronavirus crisis.Kamal is a leading tour guide for English and German tourists, as well as a fixer for anything one might need in the West Bank. Part of what he does is inviting tourist groups to his home in Bethlehem for a traditional meal, where he gives talks during mealtime on life in Bethlehem in general and the Christian culture of it in specific, thus giving tourists an insider’s perspective on the lives of Palestinian Christian. He opened a floor in his home building for smaller families to stay and enjoy the evening dinner and breakfast with or without his family. A great opportunity for families that want to explore the West Bank in 2 or 3 days. He also loves to take Jewish families around and link the historical Judea and the Torah stories with the current land today. Feel free to write him an e mail at Kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com or by WhatsApp: 00972597806477 or give him a call at 00972 546336477.

I sat down with Kamal Mukarker, a Palestinian tour guide and educator who is preparing a new generation of Palestinian tour guides.  We had an in-depth and far-ranging discussion about his family’s background, the upheavals that they have suffered due to the last 100 years of conflict, his mother’s upbringing in Germany, the state of the Christian community in the Holy Land and broader Middle East, tour guide training in the Palestinian Authority, normalization, the difficulties surrounding the “occupation”, the recent Abraham Accords, and the struggles that tour guides currently face due to the continued coronavirus crisis.Kamal is a leading tour guide for English and German tourists, as well as a fixer for anything one might need in the West Bank. Part of what he does is inviting tourist groups to his home in Bethlehem for a traditional meal, where he gives talks during mealtime on life in Bethlehem in general and the Christian culture of it in specific, thus giving tourists an insider’s perspective on the lives of Palestinian Christian. He opened a floor in his home building for smaller families to stay and enjoy the evening dinner and breakfast with or without his family. A great opportunity for families that want to explore the West Bank in 2 or 3 days. He also loves to take Jewish families around and link the historical Judea and the Torah stories with the current land today. Feel free to write him an e mail at Kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com or by WhatsApp: 00972597806477 or give him a call at 00972 546336477.

Kamal Mukarker - A Palestinian Perspective on Guiding in the Holy Land

A good friend of mine, father and family man, Kamal Mukarkar calls in on this episode to share about his life and experience growing up as a Christian Palestinian (making up about 1% of the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip) in Bethlehem. A student of history and the bible, Kamal is passionate about sharing where they intersect in Palestine's West Bank. Kamal is a tour guide showing dozens of tourists around his home town and throughout the West Bank each year. And later in the episode, Kamal and I discuss the best itinerary for a visit to Israel and Palestine.  Don't miss the best part of the episode where Kamal reveals some surprising real-life aspects of the Nativity scene and story given the culture--how it actually would have occured occuring to Jewish culture, and he contrasts that with St. Francis' version of the story dating from the 13th century which we are used to today (not based in historical Jewish tradition at all actually).References in the episode: See Kamal on Rick Steves' Holy Land Special at https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/tv-specials/holy-land Check out cheap flights to Tel Aviv via WizzAir at wizzair.com Contact Kamal for tours and advice for your next visit: kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com  

A good friend of mine, father and family man, Kamal Mukarkar calls in on this episode to share about his life and experience growing up as a Christian Palestinian (making up about 1% of the population of the West Bank and Gaza Strip) in Bethlehem. A student of history and the bible, Kamal is passionate about sharing where they intersect in Palestine's West Bank. Kamal is a tour guide showing dozens of tourists around his home town and throughout the West Bank each year. And later in the episode, Kamal and I discuss the best itinerary for a visit to Israel and Palestine. Don't miss the best part of the episode where Kamal reveals some surprising real-life aspects of the Nativity scene and story given the culture--how it actually would have occured occuring to Jewish culture, and he contrasts that with St. Francis' version of the story dating from the 13th century which we are used to today (not based in historical Jewish tradition at all actually). References in the episode: See Kamal on Rick Steves' Holy Land Special at <a href="https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/tv-specials/holy-land" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/tv-specials/holy-land</a> Check out cheap flights to Tel Aviv via WizzAir at <a href="http://wizzair.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">wizzair.com</a> Contact Kamal for tours and advice for your next visit: <a href="mailto:kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com">kamal_mukarker@hotmail.com</a>

S2 E4 - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL: BETHLEHEM with Kamal Mukarker