Terror Tourism

Back in December of 2007 the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and MSNBC brought you a publicity campaign to increase tourism in the biblical city of Bethlehem.



If the Palestinian Department of Tourism can have a spokesman like Ahmed Balboul, a terrorist from the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, then by all means let us devise a Tourist Adventure Package worthy of their high standards. We don’t have to create something brand new. No, we can benefit from existing terror-tourist guidelines. Take the accommodations that are already offered by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

This tour package gives you the opportunity to prove that Liberals support the right to bear arms… well, at least weapons that belong to terrorists, of course.


ISM “Peace Activists” pose with weapons under the supervision of a terrorist from the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade (on the right). Please note that the woman in this picture, Gabi, is disguised as an Orthodox Jew. This is a great example of the deceitfulness of the ISM. She is not even Jewish, let alone Orthodox. (The photo is from Stoptheism.com)

Many people want some adventure when they take a holiday and the ISM put together this package especially for thrill seekers who love to get their adrenaline flowing. The ISM holiday tour allows you to enter a war zone with the mission to protect terrorists and their weapon smuggling tunnels. At the end of the day you can even sleep in the bed of a terrorist and live to tell about it.



Paul Larudee, a leader of the ISM in Northern California, is notorious for proudly exclaiming that he slept in the bed of a suicide bomber. If you ever wondered how self-professed pacifists could justify their support for terrorism against democratic countries just take a look at how Larudee rationalizes the unthinkable. In his own words…

“Although we are totally dedicated to nonviolence, we recognize not everyone in the Palestinian community is dedicated to nonviolence and under international law we recognize that violence is necessary and it is permissible for oppressed and occupied people to use armed resistance and we recognize their right to do so.”

This pattern of doublespeak is shared by the terrorist allies of these pacifists. Check out how the wanted terrorist and tourism advocate, Ahmed Balboul, sends ‘a message to tourists all over the world’:

“Welcome to Bethlehem, Bethlehem a holy city. I and my nation/people refuse the terrorists and we like the life, we like all the world and I say to them they are welcome to Bethlehem. This is a holy place and a holy city.”

And how exactly does Ahmed Balboul “refuse the terrorists”?

Well… he closely associates himself with the commander of Islamic Jihad in the Bethlehem area, Mohammed Shehadeh, and two other Islamic Jihadists. Shehadeh was an expert bomb maker who was behind several terrorist bombings including a suicide attack on the Jerusalem Hilton.

It’s sad that our media is so quick to give terrorists the benefit of the doubt, but not our troops or democratically elected leaders. The article that inspired this post was entitled, “Normal Life Escapes Palestinian Militant”. It made the dubious claims that Balboul disavowed violence and expressed his support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

While it is true that Balboul has postured for peace, the truth is that he only wanted amnesty for his crimes. If the Emmy award-winning journalist who wrote this article was capable of researching Balboul’s claims to the standards that an Emmy award supposedly requires, she would have to reveal that Balboul actually condemned the peace process and of course associated with terrorists who still supported violence against innocent Israelis.

In December of last year Balboul held a press conference with his terrorist comrade-in-arms, Mohammed Shehadeh, denouncing peace with Israel. In his last interview before his death Shehadeh used children as human shields and declared, “…I don’t ask any pity from the occupation, the opposite, one must be cruel before it…”

Balboul’s association with the Islamic Jihad leader cost him his life because Israel had recently stepped up its efforts to kill Shehadeh. When they finally caught up with the terrorist Balboul was beside his comrade as always. This is a severe setback for the Bethlehem tourist industry. They may now be forced to recruit spokesmen who are not terrorists with innocent blood on their hands. It is a stark example of how Israeli military operations are hurting tourism in Bethlehem.