In 2008, the Philosophy Department of Rachol Seminary, Goa, organized a three-day seminar on ‘impact assessment of tourism’ for their second-year students. To understand tourism impacts better, some of the seminarians undertook a field research. At that time, Israeli tourists were a prominent foreign tourist group in Goa and there were growing tensions between Israeli tourists and local people. The Rachol seminarians were keen to study these tensions, activities and behaviour of Israeli tourists and their social, economic, environmental and cultural impacts. Another aim was to enable the students to make links between touristic happenings and their theological studies. The methodology adopted for the study was one of seeing, observing, discussions (Israeli tourists, local population, traders, government officials) and photo documentation. This publication of the preliminary study conducted by the seminarians retains the style of personal observations, personal narrative, unaltered repetitions, much of the writing unedited without insistence on footnotes and references. The study was as much as an immersion experience as it was a research study. This work, the first of its kind to be undertaken by a group of seminarians, has been supported by Caritas-Goa, Centre for Responsible Tourism, Council for Social Justice and Peace, EQUATIONS and Rachol Seminary. At the time of publishing this study, other tourist groups defined by nationality, are making also headlines due to conflict and tension between expectations and needs of tourists vis-à-vis local communities.

n July 2007, Centre for Responsible Tourism (CRT) took birth when Caritas-Goa and the Council for Social Justice and Peace (CSJP) convened a group of over forty concerned Goans under the Archdiocese of Goa to examine how the church must respond to the fallouts of tourism, reverse the impacts, bring it a human face and enable the benefits of tourism to reach local communities. CRT affirmed the need to study tourism planning and management and how it be effectively brought under community stewardship and management. The initial issues in tourism in Goa that CRT chose to address were: child sex tourism, exploitation of women, cultural conflicts, water abuse, foreign office travel advisories, displacement of people, environmental damage and the empowerment of sub-sectors in tourism. This publication provides an overview, critique and appraisal of the work done by CRT till February 2009. It has also compiled the salient activities and statements made during this period and aims to inspire people to look at steps to humanise tourism and make it just and sustainable.

This reader is developed for use by members of the Peace and Solidarity Mission of the Peace for Life delegation who will engage in an exposure-solidarity visit to Palestine and Israel and onto a strategy session in Jordan from November 4-14, 2007. The reader will reach delegation members in five segments. Each segment will contain distinct aspects of the problems and is sent in stages only to avoid delegates receiving a bulky document in one single stage. It will, of course, be necessary to co-relate all the information and analysis. Hopefully, all the information will assist members of the delegation to get a preview of a reality which is getting more and more complex by the day. It would also surely support the process of being able to probe the issues even further during the actual encounters with people in Israel and Palestine and thus generate thoughts and reflections that equip PFL to document, analyze and expose how the occupation of Palestine and the oppression of the Palestinian people relates to the broader Middle East conflict and the imperial and neo-colonial ambitions of the dominant North and its allies, including political, economic and military instruments of domination. The materials in this reader should also begin to provide pointers for practical ways of undertaking solidarity initiatives with the struggling people of Palestine and the Middle East; and contribute to the task of drawing up an action agenda for South-South solidarity that will integrate PfL efforts with WCC and other ecumenical initiatives. In line with these aforesaid goals, the following have been agreed upon as the five main segments of the reader. Should delegates prefer additional or alternative information, they are encouraged to write to the PFL Secretariat and this information will then be passed on to the producers of the readers.

The area between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, best known as the Holy Land or the Land Of Peace, due to the co-existence of the world’s three main monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - has, in practice, never been holy or peaceful. A more fitting term for this area would be the Land Of Holes or the Land Of Wars. Despite the special attention given to this land by God, those in the region wanting to prove their loyalty to his Word have always chosen a different path – a path that would never satisfy God or his messengers. According to sundry holy books, God promised Abraham, even before he had children, that he would be the father of a mighty nation and that he and his descendants would be given the land of Canaan. Abraham had two children; Isaac, the youngest, and Ishmael, the oldest. Jews believe they are descendants of Isaac and Muslims believe they are descendants of Ishmael. Christians believe that Abraham is “the ancestor of all who believe.” The Koran mentions that the prophet Mohammed is a direct descendant of Abraham. Jews see Abraham as their grandfather and the first person to introduce them to God. Surprisingly, it seems that Abraham is the father of everyone.