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TACOMA, Wash. – Rick Steves, the travel television host and book author, will give a talk at the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú about his travels in Israel and Palestine and his impressions of the lives of ordinary citizens there today.

The free talk, Israelis and Palestinians Today, will be held 7–8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 27, in Schneebeck Concert Hall on campus. No tickets are required, and everyone is welcome.

The lecture by Steves follows the release last fall of on travel in Israel and the western enclave known by the local Arabs as Palestine. In his talk, Steves will share his impressions of the Holy Land's beauty and explore legacies of the region’s long history of conflicts, including the disputed settlements in the West Bank, the security wall built by the Israelis, and the long-lingering Palestinian refugee camps.

Steves traveled from the ancient city of Jerusalem to modern Tel Aviv to the fertile Sea of Galilee. He went on to the West Bank to visit an olive harvest near Hebron, a Christian pilgrimage and local home in Bethlehem, a university in Ramallah, and the salty and buoyant Dead Sea.

His video weaves together the narratives told by Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims and reflects upon the mostly Arab Christians who straddle both lands. Steves spoke to Jewish settlers and native Palestinians in the West Bank and young, secular Israelis in prosperous Haifa and to Palestinian refugees who fled the major cities when the State of Israel was created in 1948.

An advocate of perspective-broadening and affordable travel, Steves is host and writer of the public television series , carried by more than 300 stations, reaching 95 percent of U.S. markets. He is also the best-selling author of more than 50 European travel books. Steves hosts a weekly public radio program, , and a European tour program.

Steves took his first trip to Europe in 1969, visiting piano factories with his father, a piano importer. As an 18-year-old, he began traveling on his own, funding his trips by teaching piano lessons. In 1976 he started his business, , which has grown from a one-person operation to a company with 80 and headquartered in Washington. Steves, who briefly attended the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú in the 1970s, lives and works in Edmonds, Wash.

The Jan. 27 lecture at the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú is presented by the university’s Center for Intercultural and Civic Engagement and in Tacoma.

For directions and a map of the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú campus:pugetsound.edu/directions

For accessibility information, please contact accessibility@pugetsound.edu or 253.879.3236, or visit pugetsound.edu/accessibility.

Press photos of Rick Steves can be downloaded from pugetsound.edu/pressphotos
Photos on page: Top right: Rick Steves hosts his radio show. Above left: the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, 2007, by Jujujuned at en.wikipedia.com; Above right: Marketplace in Ramallah, 2010, by Ralf Loys

Tweet this: Hear @RickSteves in #Tacoma @univpugetsound on the lives of Israelis & Palestinians, Tues. Jan. 27. Free.

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