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For decades, the tourist industry in the Holy Land has been dominated by Israeli tour operators who rely mostly on Israeli hotel owners and land arrangement providers. Visiting Palestinian territories is seldom prioritized and excursions rarely take Palestinian perspectives into account. Most visitors are thus not provided opportunities to familiarize themselves with everyday life of the Palestinian people.

War, ethnic conflict, millions of refugees and a deteriorating humanitarian situation provide a bleak background for discussion of the Middle East.

It was a peace hike inspired by the biblical story of Emmaus, crisscrossing part of the Holy Land, following the footsteps of Jesus.

Erik Lysén, director of International Affairs at the Church of Sweden, a member church of the WCC, has called the recognition of Palestine an important step towards the peace process.

A conference on "Promised Land" that aired different theological approaches to this key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has given church leaders and theologians new views to take home to their churches. Some participants said their outlook had been changed by the "constructive confrontation" at the World Council of Churches (WCC) event.