A long weekend in Palestine

Palestine probably isn't top of the list of short break destinations for Britons, but I was recently invited on a whirlwind weekend visit there as part of a Council for the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding (CAABU for short) delegation with a few other MPs.

In the two full days that I was in Palestine, we managed to fit in a huge number of visits to places, as well as the all important meetings with people.

The photo on the left here is of discussions held with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah. We also had talks with Mark Regev, the spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with the British Ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould.

The photo on the right shows me with a guide in East Jerusalem, having just made a visit to the Shu'fat refugee camp with representatives of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency.

It was a very worthwhile, if incredibly hectic, visit and I'll be sure to link to the report which comes about as a result of our delegation just as soon as I have it.