Map of Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights

The descendants of Jews who experienced the sickness, deprivation, and chaos of World War II are the catalyst for some of today’s stories of injustice. So History has an uncomfortable way of repeating itself, but sometimes the protagonists and the antagonists are different. Jews who were once vilified and murdered are now accomplished political and military forces in at least two parts of the world (Israel and the United States). The State of Israel which has an umbilical cord tied to the mightiest nation on earth (the United States) is a de facto sixth permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, and uses its power to intimidate, threaten, kill and deprive the Palestinian people of the basic necessities of life, suffrage, and ownership rights to which every human aspire.

The Jews of Israel are rewriting History in such a way that they have lost the high ground, and are committing crimes as heinous as Hitler. They blockade and falsely imprison 1.5 million Palestinians who live in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinians survival depends on those who burrow under the borders of Egypt to risk life and limb to bring in necessities like food. Yet irresponsible publishers print articles intended to support that life in the Gaza Strip is functioning normally. How can life be normal in the Gaza Strip when its people are denied access to the outside world by a cruel and oppressive regime in Israel? Are theirs the life that human beings are content to live anywhere else on earth?

Only the foolish could believe that a naval blockade of the Gaza Strip is necessary for the security of Israel, a mighty and effective military force in the Middle East, against Hamas, a force weaker than Lebanon, a nation that Israel threatened recently with retaliation if it so much as allow a ship laden with humanitarian good to sail from its ports to the Gaza. Only a fool could believe that Israel is afraid of Hamas when the Jewish state is saber rattling and willing to take on Iran, an enemy with a potent military establishment that dwarfs Hamas. The Gaza Strip is an ambitious dream of Israel for territorial expansion and destruction of Palestinians.

Like Anne Frank, a Palestinian child knows what it is like to be persona non grata. A Palestinian life can be altered dramatically by a decision made in Tel Aviv, or through a powerful Jewish lobby in Washington DC. All that a Palestinian has can be destroyed or taken away by a government in Israel whose actions will only be appeased by the governments of the West. The government of Israel has no legal authority over the peoples of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank but it dictates the life they live.

The Special Envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East, Tony Blair

There is doubt that the governments of the West and Russia intend to bring about a lasting and permanent peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Were these governments to be interested in a satisfactory and permanent solution to that cinder box they helped to create they would not have appointed Tony Blair as the Special Envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East. Mr. Blair served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom which is one of the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. During his time as Prime Minister, Mr. Blair’s esteemed office was consumed by an ineffectual foreign policy, and the nation’s energy was exhausted while assisting President George W. Bush in creating another quagmire for the West in Iraq. Mr. Blair’s appointment to negotiate and facilitate solutions to do away with the stalemate in Palestine establishes that the West is interested in keeping the status quo as it now stands on the ground in the Middle East. For there to be a cessation of hostility between Israel and the people of Palestine four important and necessary steps must be implemented. First, the West must appoint a respectable and neutral person to Mr. Blair’s position with the authority and understanding that a Palestinian state is to be realized even if it is to be imposed on Israel. Second, the West should move speedily to implement sanctions against Israel and its industries should it continue to encroach on Palestinian lands, and break International Law. Third, humanitarian aid must flow unhindered in the Gaza Strip. Fourth, Palestinians of the Gaza Strip must have free access to the outside world.

Israel will not comply with any condition placed on it as long as it knows that there are no consequences to its actions. None of us will be truly free from the burdens of the Middle East until we solve the problem that was created when the British foisted the idea of a Jewish State on the residents of Palestine that lead to formation of Israel in 1948. The walls that are being built around Israel will not bring peace, freedom or protection from those they consider their erstwhile enemies. Walls are mere fixtures, and over time they become as ineffective as the Great Walls of China, and those that tumbled down in Berlin, for they are too immobile to deal with a dynamic and continuously shifting situation such as life.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes about transfiguration in his book entitled ‘God Has A Dream’

Archbishop Desmond Tutu once wrote of his experience of Apartheid in South Africa that freedom is indivisible. No one is free until we are all free. The slave owner was not free until his slaves became free for it is true that much of his energies were consumed trying to prevent his slaves from revolting and killing him. The whites of South Africa and the United States were not free until they understood that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights as Thomas Jefferson wrote, among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. During Apartheid in South Africa and segregation in the United States everyone were trapped by a condition of fear. The Jews of Israel and the United States will never be free until the Palestinians of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are treated with the same respect as their Jewish brothers, and the Palestinians too realize their dream of freedom and nationhood. This is a process that Desmond Tutu kindly refers to as transfiguration; the earth is renewed when goodness reigns supreme as a rite of passage. The Archbishop in his wisdom seems to suggest that transfiguration occurs even to the most unlikely situation. Maybe his pragmatism will outlast the views of the cynics that now run our government and justice system whose laws criminalize the humanitarian effort. These leaders are not securing our safety. They are prolonging our servitude to fear. They have acquired the disease of the mind like foreign terrorists that now paralyze our nation. They devalue the universal pragmatism that charity turns weapons into ploughshares.

The governments of the West are responsible for the deprivation that Palestinians know. Our civilized nations of the West have said that Israel has the right to self defense, but do not acknowledge that the Palestinians should and need a similar right. Our esteemed governments of the West sit idly and speak with forked tongues while Israel’s creeping policy of genocide is exacted on Palestinians whose traditions and people have existed in a territory since biblical times.
Our great country of the United States has allowed innocent blood to fall recklessly in Palestine. The great Presidential office of the United States has become impotent when dealing with an Israel it has tied to its umbilical cord which hinders our ingenuity and maneuverability. So too is the functioning of our senate ineffective when the leaders in the two most important parties in our nation, Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell have no new advice to give our President. They are messengers of a foreign power. They say to our President that the United States must stay the course of a failed foreign policy that will not punish the irresponsible actions of a rogue Israel that we sustain with the blood of our children. Instead of taking the high ground, the greatest nation on earth chose to live in the gutter of a tiny nation’s foreign policy.

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Francis Anthony Govia received his Bachelor’s degree in International Relations at Boston University where he studied U.S. National Security and Foreign Policy under the tutelage of General Fred F. Woerner (Ret), Army General and former commander of United States Southern Command, and Stephen R. Lyne (Ret.), U.S. Ambassador to Ghana in Ronald Reagan administration. Mr. Govia also has a law degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It is obvious that the US Government got it wrong in the first place. It tacitly supports Israel’s isolation of the Gaza Strip, and the dehumanizing of the Palestinian people. The civilized mind cannot comprehend how a foreign policy initiative to isolate and weaken Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) has somehow become muddled with the desire to starve out, maim and kill the entire people who live in the Gaza.

Ensuring that the basic needs of 1.5 impoverished people in the Gaza strip is a moral and humanitarian objective that must be realized by the civilized nations of the world. Isolating Hamas is a foreign policy objective that is distinctly separate, and should be pursued by Israel and the United States within the frame work of International Law. No nation of the world should be given a free pass to implement a policy, that in its vilest and most reprehensible form, is supported by a power that be, so that it survives the intent of reasonable people who see the need to mitigate it.

The Gaza Strip

It is not from Israel that the United States conducts its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our efforts in those theaters of conflict are supported by logistics in other nations, many of them who follow the teachings of Mohammad. Should Israel become a rogue nation, the United States will have other reliable allies in the Middle East. Policies that suggest otherwise are fostered by those with religious adherence to Judaism and family ties to Jews, and those who refuse to see otherwise. Really, the conviction of these who support the “Jewish State” are so strong, and in some cases so radical, that American values such as those that support the freedom of speech, liberty, equality, and justice for all, are trampled upon. The pro-Israel groups work to ensure that even the most myopic policies of the “Jewish State” are unchecked, and unquestioned. Such is the condition that Washington’s policy for the Middle East seems to be run run by Tel Aviv or heads in our own backyard that are more “Jewish” than American.

Against this backdrop it is unlikely that there will be peace anytime soon in the Middle East, and the senseless imprisonment and destruction of the homeland of 1.5 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip will continue unabated until the pressure cooker blows up. It is not just the Israelis who blockade the Palestinians of Gaza from the basic necessities of life, such as food, shelter, medicine, education. So too are an immoral lot of Egyptians that tacitly support Israel’s policies to the Palestinians, and profit from the desperate need of a people who burrow holes under the border of Egypt to smuggle food into the Gaza Strip. So too are a scurrilous and an immoral lot the nations of the world who stand quietly while 1.5 million people are maimed, killed, starved, and dispossessed of their land and homes by extremists who do not see the value of peace.

It is true that the Palestinians have their share of extremists but it is also equally true that Palestinians cannot match proportionally Israel’s attack or retaliation upon that weak and impoverished people.

Many Jews have the tendency to believe that those of us who criticize Israel hate Jews. Yet Peace activists (some of whom are Jews) and commentators who speak out against the embargo of the Gaza Strip are against tyranny and oppression. We are against the false imprisonment of 1.5 million people in the Gaza, and believe that the time for a Palestinian State is long overdue. No one hates Jews for practicing Judaism any more than we hate Catholics for practicing Catholicism. It is when religion becomes so muddled within a group that it dictates who they are, and becomes so dangerous and extreme that they cannot think outside that box, that others become alienated from extremism that offends the sensibilities. Israelis, Egyptians, Americans, and others alike, have to realize that no one can carry out a policy of tyranny and oppression against a people without having to shoulder the consequences of it, and the refutation of it. Those in a position of power have to set good examples that the rest of us may be inclined to follow.

St. Pauls' Tuff Knots power forward is now a Nanook

Javid “Spanish” Williams a 6-foot-5 forward who plays in the island’s basketball league for St. Pauls Tuff Knots became the first University Alaska Fairbanks Nanooks men’s basketball team recruit for the 2010-11 season.

Williams signed a national letter of intent last Thursday with the program in the NCAA Division II Great Northwest Athletic Conference. He will join fellow Kittitian Nashorn ‘Nash’ Maynard on the Nanooks Basketball Roster. The Nanooks head coach is Clemon Johnson, a former professional basketball player who won an NBA title with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1982-83.

Javid 'Spanish' Williams

“Javed is what we consider a raw offensive talent,” Coach Johnson said in a press release on Thursday. “We are encouraged by his ability to rebound the ball, block shots, run the floor and defend the post. He possesses the same competitive nature and eagerness to learn and advance his game that Nash has.”

Williams, who has four years of eligibility, will play either power forward or center for the Nanooks as a freshman. He plans to pursue a degree in computer engineering at UAF.

The independent St. Kitts Sports News contributed to this story.

Jhulan Goswami India International

Nicola Browne and Sulakshana Naik take home player-of-the-match awards

India defeated Sri Lanka yesterday to qualify for the semi-finals of the tournament on the last day of fixtures at Warner Park while New Zealand rounded off its group stage of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 with a comfortable victory over Pakistan earlier in the day.

India’s fixture was the second of the day and saw the higher scoring of the two matches at Warner Park with Sulakshana Naik and Mithali Raj both scoring half-centuries to make the total of 145 for Sri Lanka to chase down.

“It’s obviously good to know we’ve now qualified for the semi-finals of the tournament and we’re looking forward to facing Australia next in St Lucia,” said India captain Jhulan Goswami.

“I was very pleased with how we performed today. I felt Sulakshana Naik and Mithali Raj along with Poonam Raut all had Sri Lanka on the back foot from the start. We need to carry this good form to St Lucia,” she said. Naik smashed five boundaries on her way to making 59 runs and was mainly assisted in her innings by Raj after Poonam Raut departed for 12 after being bowled by Udeshika Prabodhani.

Upon arriving in the middle Sri Lanka never quite matched up to India’s batting and made a mere 73 in reply losing a total of nine wickets in its allotted 20 overs.

Nicole Browne New Zealand International

Diana David was by far the pick of the Indian bowlers taking an impressive 4-12 in a haul that included top-order batters Suwini de Alwis, Chamari Polgampola and Sripali Weerakkody.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand pace bowler Nicola Browne led her side’s rout of the Pakistan team in the two teams’ final game of Group B in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 to secure the team top place in the pool ahead of the semi-finals of the tournament due to take place in St Lucia later this week.

Browne, who took 4-15, demolished the Pakistan batting line up with Sana Mir’s side finishing its 20 overs 65-9. Having won the toss and electing to bat only three of Pakistan’s side made it into double figures, Nain Abidi (11), Urooj Mumtaz (14) and Sania Khan (15).

Pakistan’s batting performance was disastrous, New Zealand’s bowling department including the pace of Browne, was simply too strong for the team from the sub-continent.

“We didn’t perform at all well in this tournament,” said Mir.

“The only time we did well as a side was during the warm-up fixtures and this was not good enough for a world tournament. We need to go and improve our game as the standard of women’s cricket has improved a lot in the last year and all credit must go to New Zealand who played extremely well today,” she said.

New Zealand took just 8.2 overs to reach the target set by Pakistan but not before they’d lost four wickets including that of opener Suzie Bates who was caught by Mir and Rachel Priest who departed for just two runs. It was up to Sara McGlashan and Liz Perry to see the White Ferns through to the close and seal the victory for the team.

Sulakshana Naik India International

“It’s obviously good to know we’ve finished top of the group but to be facing West Indies is going to be a challenge in the semi-finals in St Lucia. They are the kind of team that are so unpredictable at Twenty20, one day they could make 80 all out and another 180 for four so I’m not taking the upcoming fixture lightly.

“Hopefully they’ve watched today’s game and seen what kind of a bowling attack we’ve got in our side,” said New Zealand captain Aimee Watkins.

Scores in brief:

At Warner Park:
India 144-3, 20 overs (Sulakshana Naik 59, Mithali Raj 52)
Sri Lanka 71-9, 20 overs (Rasangika 31 not out; Diana David 4-12)
India won by 71 runs

Source: ICC Media

Danielle Wyatt England International

Stafanie Taylor and Danielle Wyatt take home Player of Match awards

Australia secured its place at the top of Group A in the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010 as it defeated host and fellow semi-final qualifier West Indies at Warner Park in St Kitts.

Despite losing the match by nine runs, Stafanie Taylor led the batting with style for the host finishing 58 not out in an innings that included four boundaries and two sixes. The 18-year-old Jamaican in turn earned herself the Player of the Match award for her stylish performance in front of the huge crowd.

“It was a real surprise to win the Player of the Match award; I didn’t think I was going to win it, especially since we lost the match. I kept trying to get the strike from the lower order batters but at the end of the day I couldn’t get to hit the ball as freely as I would’ve liked,” said Taylor.

Stafanie Taylor West Indies International

Meanwhile, England secured its first and only victory of the tournament today when it beat South Africa by 56 runs in the first fixture of the day at Warner Park.

Having made a competitive total of 141 for the South Africans to chase down, the English bowling attack proved to be too strong for the side.

Nicky Shaw and Danielle Wyatt were the pick of the English bowlers with 3-17 and 4-11 respectively.

Wyatt, who received the Player of the Match award said: “I’m obviously pleased to have won Player of the Match but credit has to go to Anya Shrubsole and Nicky Shaw who came before me. When Charlotte Edwards came to me and asked me to bowl I was really pleased as I knew I could do well and the performance showed. It was good to clean-up the tail-enders.”

Having won the toss in the first game of the day Charlotte Edwards elected to bat first on a hot day at Warner Park and it became the task of the middle-order to provide the runs after Edwards departed for 18 and her partner Sarah Taylor for just six.

The middle order did just that, despite the game effectively being a dead-rubber, with Claire Taylor and Laura Marsh adding 30 for the third wicket before Claire Taylor was removed after being caught by Alicia Smith after making 20 runs. It was then up to Marsh and Lydia Greenway to add a quick 44 for the fourth wicket partnership in just under five overs.

Marsh was stumped by Tricia Chetty for 33, off 32 balls but Greenway ensured she stayed in till the end of England’s innings, remaining unbeaten on 34 off 32 balls. Birthday girl Jenny Gunn supported Greenway in a stand of 32 off three overs to take England to match-winning total.

There were no major contributors from South Africa and the match was sewn up when it lost half its side for 62 in the 11th over. It was then up to Wyatt to show her skills at dismissing the end of the South African batting line up which is exactly what she did.

South Africa captain Cri-Zelda Brits said: “We’ve had a disappointing tournament all round and today our batters just didn’t perform as they should have done.

Cri-Zelda Brits South Africa International

“There are a couple of positives to come out of this tournament, I think we have improved in the field and I think out ‘keeper Tricia Chetty and our young new bowler Chloe Tryon have performed well for us during this tournament.”

In the second match of the day host West Indies took on fellow semi-final qualifiers Australia to fight out who would finish top of Group A in the women’s tournament.

West Indies won the toss and elected to field in the afternoon sunshine at Warner Park and Australia’s opening pair of Shelley Nitschke and Elyse Villani put on 33 runs before Nitschke departed for 19 having hit four boundaries in the process.

Villani departed just four runs and the task of making runs for the Australia side fell to its captain Alex Blackwell who alongside Jess Cameron put on 26 runs for the fourth wicket partnership.

As the innings progressed Anisa Mohammed dismissed both Cameron and Rene Farrell leaving Blackwell to partner Lisa Sthalekar for 25 runs before the captain departed after being caught off the bowling of Shanel Daley by Stacey-Ann King much to the delight of the home crowd.

Sthalekar and Alyssa Healy saw out the Australia innings with Healy departing on the last ball of the innings after being caught by Britney Cooper off the bowling of Daley.

Stafanie Taylor led from the front with the West Indies batting and was only aided in her bid to bring victory to the home supporters by Cooper (27) and Daley (19). The rest of the West Indies batting line-up failed to perform in front of huge home support with Deandra Dottin again departing for a first ball duck, this time falling victim to the bowling of Elyse Perry.

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira came to the aid of Taylor in the final over but to no avail with side requiring 15 runs off the final over, a challenge that proved too great for the pair with side falling short by just nine runs.

Alex Blackwell Australia International

Australia captain Alex Blackwell was pleased with the overall result and finishing top of Group A and the impending semi-finals to be played at Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia later this week.

“I’m pleased with how we played today and it was a really great atmosphere here in St Kitts cheering on the teams.

“I think we’ve done well as a side and we’re continuing to do better and better as a side and I hope we continue with that momentum into the semi-finals whether we play India or Sri Lanka or even New Zealand.”

Scores in brief

At Warner Park, England beat South Africa by 56 runs
England 141-6, 20 overs (Greenway 34 no, Marsh 33, Gunn 21, C Taylor 20)
South Africa 85 all out, 17 overs (Brits 20; Fritz 15; Shaw 3-17, Wyatt 4-11)
England won by 56 runs

At Warner Park, New Zealand beat Sri Lanka by 47 runs
Australia 133-7, 20 overs (Blackwell 28, Sthalekar 23 no, Nitschke 19; Mohammed 3-17; Daley 3-31)
West Indies 124-7, 20 overs (Taylor 58 no, Cooper 27; Perry 2-19)
Australia won by nine runs

Source: ICC Media Release

Deandra Dottin

First ever century by a woman cricketer in Twenty20 cricket, the Barbadian and West Indies cricketer struck seven fours and nine sixes to finish 112 not out against South Africa

Australia beats holders England on six hits after double tie in St Kitts

Deandra Dottin produced one the greatest display of power hitting as she re-wrote the women’s record book in the opening game of the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2010 blasting an unbeaten 112 – the first ever century by a woman in this format of the game.

The Barbadian Dottin scored the fastest ever Twenty20 century, reaching three figures in just 38 balls hitting nine enormous sixes and five fours as the hosts West Indies beat South Africa by 17 runs at Warner Park in St Kitts.

Dottin, batting at number six, took the record for the fastest ever century by either a man or a woman in ICC World Twenty20 cricket beating West Indies compatriot Chris Gayle, who made a hundred in 50 balls also against South Africa in the opening match of ICC World Twenty20 in Johannesburg in 2007. Her first 50 came in 25 balls – three more than her own record of 22 balls set last year – but the second 50 took just 13 deliveries.

Dottin’s sixth wicket partnership of 118 with Shanel Daley is also the highest in any male or female Twenty20 match comfortably beating the record of 77 set by Australia’s Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey in Auckland in 2005 and   also equaled the second highest partnership ever in women’s Twenty20 cricket

West Indies total of 175-5 was also the highest total by any women’s team in this format while South Africa’s gallant chase, in which Shandre Fritz scored 58, was the second highest score by a side batting second in women’s Twenty20 cricket.

In the second match of the day Australia beat holders England on the boundary count back after both the game and the super over were tied. Defending a modest total of 104 all out, England secured the tie when Beth Morgan ran out Rene Farrell with the scores level. In the super over both sides scored six for two and on count back Jess Cameron’s six, in Australia’s initial run chase, off England’s Holly Colvin, the only one hit by either side, secured Australia a thrilling victory.

Alex Blackwell, the Australian captain, said afterwards: “It was an extremely tense game but I was very proud of the way that we bowled and in the end I think we deserved our victory.”

Australia’s Lisa Sthalekar was voted player of the match after taking three for 29.

Source: ICC Media Release

Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold

Within 36 days of hosting of FIFA World Cup 2010, Cape Town Tourism CEO Mariëtte du Toit-Helmbold has made it clear that the city will not tolerate those who participate in human trafficking. In a hard-hitting statement, Du Toit-Helmbold said this week: “Our message is very clear; we welcome visitors from all over the world, but you will not be welcome if you exploit our women and children.”

She said the protection of women and children, through tourism, was essential, and that statistics suggest that within 20 minutes, you can order fast food from any restaurant – and a child less than six years of age. “It’s a global problem,” said Du Toit-Helmbold, “And it’s a problem that often goes hand in hand with developing societies.”

“When people travel with the intention to exploit women and children, it becomes a matter of interest for tourism… We cannot turn a blind eye and just focus on the pretty postcard pictures. There is a dark underbelly in tourism whether we like it or not, and that underbelly needs to be exposed and proactively dealt with,” Du Toit-Helmbold said.

“If we don’t do this, we can’t call ourselves a responsible industry. So, under the auspices of responsible tourism, we also tackle things like sex tourism, child sex tourism, the exploitation of women and human trafficking.”

Du Toit-Helmbold is part of an international task team looking at the protection of women and children through tourism. She says Cape Town Tourism will be a co-signatory to the Code against Human Trafficking, which is currently being developed. Her organization is also putting together a responsible visitors’ code, offering people some guidelines around how to be responsible visitors to South Africa.

“We can all talk a good game, but it’s really about developing some practical tools to empower the industry and to empower visitors to Cape Town. “Our message is plain and simple; if you are going to make yourself guilty of irresponsible behavior, you are not welcome.”

Cape Town Tourism is a member of Fair Trade in Tourism SA (FTTSA) and has worked together with this body on an anti-trafficking initiative. Fair Trade in Tourism SA is South Africa’s leading responsible tourism non-governmental organization (NGO) and is launching a new project to institutionalize the Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct (“the Code”) in South Africa, in partnership with the United Nations’ Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) and in collaboration with South African tourism stakeholders, including Cape Town Tourism.

The NGO hopes to welcome at least 10 leading industry players as Code signatories by June 2010. “FTTSA believes that protecting children at risk is a critical element of ‘2010 readiness,’ and we look forward to supporting tourism enterprises of all shapes and sizes to implement the Code,” said FTTSA executive director, Jennifer Seif.

Seif added that during the FIFA event, a national campaign to protect children will be ongoing, including messages – specifically designed to help prevent and report child sexual exploitation and other forms of child abuse – targeting tourists.

The excavated remains of the site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus in 'Bethany beyond the Jordan' / Photo by David Bjorgen

The ministry of tourism said overnight tourist numbers have jumped 33.4 percent during the first quarter to 883,450 people from a total of 662,075 in the same period of 2009. Same-day visitors were up 17.6 percent to 651,325 people from 553,929 in 2009. The ministry said overall numbers in the first quarter totaled 1,534,802 visitors compared to 1,216,004 in the same period of 2009 and representing a jump of 26.2 percent.

With the exception of African visitors whose numbers have declined by 5 percent, all other regions have witnessed increasing numbers particularly from Europe. American visitors increased by 8.7 percent, Asia-Pacific nationals by 27 percent, South Asians by 29.4 percent, Arabs by 20.8 percent, and Europeans by 35.5 percent.

Figures by the Central Bank of Jordan show that tourism receipts in the first quarter went up by 39.7 percent to 503 million Jordanian Dinar (US$701 million) from 360 million (US$501 million) in the same period of 2009 – a increase of US$200 million.

Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) managing director Nayef H. al-Fayez expressed great pleasure at the figures and said, “They have given Jordan’s tourism industry a very good reason to keep smiling.”

Mr. al-Fayez said, “While we look forward to a landmark season, we are confident that interest in Jordan as a unique and diversified international destination is increasing across the world.” He added that JTB’s participation in recent exhibitions and road shows, “Has given us a distinctive look at the increased confidence visitors have in Jordan both as a country and as destination for a trip of a lifetime.”

Wadi Rum / Photo by David Bjorgen

Jordan’s numerous touristic sites have reported increased visitor activity during 2010’s first quarter compared with the same period of 2009. Petra, the Kingdom’s jewel in the crown, saw an almost 50 percent increase in visitors. However, the biggest attraction was Mount Nebo with an 88 percent increase, followed by Madaba’s map with a 72 percent increase. Visitor numbers went up 32.5 percent in Jerash, 47.4 percent in Kerak, 41.2 percent in Ajloun, 45.1 percent in Um-Qais, 40.3 percent in Wadi Rum, and 24.3 percent in the Baptism Site.

Baptism Site officials have said that this is the biggest single increase in visitor numbers since the site was officially opened in 2002. They said April 2010 alone has seen more than 20,100 visitors and pilgrims indicating a growing appetite for the location, as well as for religious tourism as a main component of Jordan’s diverse tourism product.

Tourism officials said a very good season in 2010 will mean that Jordan’s tourism industry is on track and in the right direction, particularly after avoiding the impact of the global economic crisis, which started in 2008.

Jordan has fared quite well in 2009 despite the difficult times witnessed by the global tourism industry, which included both the global financial crisis, as well as the H1N1 virus pandemic. Tourism revenues remained almost unchanged at JD2.064 billion (around US$3 billion) compared with 2.089 in 2008, while overnight visitor numbers increased by 1.6 percent in 2008.

Al-Fayez said for a small country like Jordan, maintaining 2008 figures was a great achievement. “Now we can focus on making 2010 another exceptional year,” he concluded.