We went on the 1 day tour of Hebron and Bethlehem that Green Olive run in conjunction with the Alternative Tourism Group Study Centre in Beit Sahour. History is generally written by the victor and this provided an interesting balance to the largely Israeli/Jewish version of events that we learned elsewhere on our trip.

Our guide was informative from start to finish and relayed both from personal experience and his extensive knowledge of Israeli and Palestinian history. The tour was more of a cultural experience than a sightseeing trip. If your goal is to tick off experiences as quickly as possible then this might not be for you - we spent 90 minutes over lunch talking about the recent history of the West Bank. If you are already well-informed then you might find this a little repetitive.

While our guide did attempt to be balanced, there was no mention of events like the 1929 Hebron Massacre - worth bearing in mind that in somewhere as complicated as the West Bank there's always at least 2 versions of the same events.

No matter what else you do on your trip to Israel, make sure you take a tour of the West Bank with Green Olive Tours. Fred Schlomka, the owner of GOT, arranged a private day tour for our family at a very reasonable price. We spent a day visiting the ancient city of Nablus, with stops along the way to meet with Palestinian farmers and a Samaritan religious teacher. We toured a soap factory and a candy factory, and visited the Balata refugee camp just outside Nablus. The highlight of the day was a visit with Hanni Amr, a Panestinian farmer whose property is completely surrounded by the separation fence. We felt completely safe throughout the day, our guide Mohammed was courteous and well-informed, and our kids (ages 14, 12 & 7) loved it. Don't be afraid - visit the West Bank!

I'm not a person which like to go with organized groups, I always prefer to go alone or just with friends, privat. But in the last time I took some trips with Green Olive Tours and it was so great that I got another opinion in case of organized tours.
It was sooo great, I saw much more places then I dreamed to see, met people that I could'nt meet if I was there alone, heard most interesting stories and learned so much about the westbank what I did'nt learn in my whole live.
The guides and the drivers knew all the answers of my questions, they were very nice, had an open mind and also funny and I felt that I can trust them in every situation.
So I'm planning to go with Green Olive Tours to all the possible trips, to enjoy like I enjoyed at my last trips, a great experience!

We have a wonderful experience. It can´t have been better. It override our expectations. We are very very grateful to our guide, Yahav. He was always so patient with us, interested in all the converstions, always ready to explain. He is like a book, like a enciclopedy, he knew how to answer all of our questions (we had many many). He was never recriminatory to israelians or palestinians. He tried to explain only the facts. We appreciate very much this attitude.
I remember the Jerusalem history class he taught us in Jerusalem, with the view of the Golden temple behind us. It last for one or two hours. We were standing de 7 of us (you know we travelled with our children of 8,10,17,20). At the end we clapped him.
We were both interested in religions and the actual situation of Israel and Palestine. For many years we have heard about the conflicts of this area, but we never finished understanding. After this trip we have a much better idea about the situation. I have to tell you that it has been very hard to see how injust is the situation for the palestinian and how crazy can be the world.
We are very grateful to your organitation to give us this opportunity. You are doing a great job!