Israeli representatives were refused entry to the UN event in Saudi Arabia - Voila! Tourism

Circassian courtship dance in Kfar Kama (photo: Ziv Reinstein)

Another sign of Saudi Arabia turning its back on Israel:

the Israeli delegation that was invited to the event in honor of the world's best tourist villages for 2022, did not receive a visa that would allow them to enter Saudi Arabia, where the event is taking place.

The conference is taking place today (Sunday) and tomorrow, and at the center is a ceremony in honor of 32 tourist villages from around the world that were selected by the United Nations Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for the prestigious list for 2022. The event was held in the city of Al-Ula, which was founded in the sixth century BC on the perfume route, and has a quarter Ancient where an ancient quarter that has been restored.

On this list is Kfar Kama from Israel, as recently published in Vala! Tourism. Kfar Kama is the first Israeli settlement to enter the prestigious list. It is a Circassian village, one of two villages in Israel, located in the Lower Galilee. The festive event

needed to leave a delegation from the village of Kama, but they did not receive visas that would allow them to participate in the ceremony. It should be noted that this is a village whose residents are Muslim.

Circassians in traditional dress in Kfar Kama, which was chosen as one of the best tourist villages in the world (photo: Walla! system, Ziv Reinstein)

The head of the council: "Frustrating that we were prevented from participating"

Zachariah Nebso, head of the Kfar Kama local council, who was supposed to head the delegation, said that "there was great anticipation for the event and it is disappointing that we were prevented from participating in it."

Nebso noted that the handling of the matter was at the level of the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism stated: "Israel turned to the United Nations Tourism Organization to receive assistance in obtaining entry visas for Israeli representatives to Saudi Arabia, but, unfortunately, these contacts did not bear fruit.

Israel calls on the United Nations Tourism Organization and the United Nations organizations to maintain the guiding principles of the United Nations, including equal treatment in ensuring the possibility of countries participating in the organization's meetings. In this case, the United Nations Tourism Organization did not meet these standards and we regret it."

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Aybak Napso, director of the Circassian Heritage Center in Kfar Kama (photo: Walla! system, Ziv Reinstein)

4,700 Circassians in all of Israel

The Circassians are a very small community in Israel, which over the years has managed not to assimilate culturally into the surrounding society.

They are Muslims according to their religion and at the same time study in the Jewish schools and serve in the army.

In Israel, the Circassians live in only two settlements - in Kfar Kama in the Lower Galilee, which has about 3,500 inhabitants, and in Brihania in the Upper Galilee, which has about 1,200 inhabitants.

Kfar Kama is a local authority and Rihania is a settlement in the Marom HaGalil Regional Council.

The Circassians have a unique language that they are careful to preserve and they feel an affinity with other Circassians in the world and maintain ties with them.

Since the fall of the walls of the Soviet Union and the computer revolution and social networks, the ties between the members of the Circassian people have even grown stronger.

In the Circassian community in Israel, in the last 25 years, a greater emphasis than before has been placed on the Day of Remembrance to mark the extermination of the Circassian people, which takes place every year on May 21.

Today, around 6.2 million Circassians live around the world,

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• Kfar Kama

• Saudi Arabia