This article was originally published by This Week in Palestine and is republished with permission.

Palestinian worshippers descend the steps leading from the Dome of the Rock in the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, or Haram ash-Sharif, in Jerusalem's Old City. (Moamar Awad, Maan Images)

Do you remember the pleasure you savoured as a child when you read an exciting book and your most ardent wish was to slip between the pages of the book in order to live the extraordinary journey with your favourite characters? Well, taking an Al Quds tour satisfies that urge by instantly lurching you into the history of Palestine, whether you're exploring the Old City Walls/Ramparts of Jerusalem, the remaining ruins of Lifta village, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Easter time, or taking trips outside of Jerusalem, such as the ones to Latrun and Imwas or Haifa and Tiberias. Like a time traveller, taking one of these tours brings Roman, Crusader, Byzantine, or Ottoman Jerusalem to life thanks to the scholars who guide you through Palestine's endless labyrinths of history.

Al Quds Tours, organised by the Centre for Jerusalem Studies, which is located in the Old City and is part of Al Quds University, not only gives you a window into Jerusalem's past but also aims to challenge the arbitrary Israeli military occupation policies, which are meant to erase Jerusalem from Palestinian memory and disconnect people from each other and their city.

Al Quds Tours began as a college requirement at Al Quds University for undergraduate students who were taking the prerequisite Massaq Bayt Al Maqdes. This subject is taught in an unconventional way during the second semester of the academic year. Students do not attend classes; instead, they actively participate in weekly tours in and around the Old City of Jerusalem. These tours cover the architectural, social, economic, historical, political, and religious aspects of the city.

When the members of the international community residing in Palestine got wind of these tours, they started to join them in the hopes of getting a better understanding of Jerusalem from a Palestinian perspective. And this is how the idea of Al Quds Tours: a Palestinian Perspective was born.

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Moreover, Al Quds Tours reach out to West-Bank refugee-camp school children under the age of 16, who have not yet received their ID cards. Bringing them to Jerusalem to spend the day is critical, as once they are assigned West Bank ID cards, they will be prohibited from entering the city for the rest of their lives. As Huda Imam, Director of the Centre for Jerusalem Studies, commented, "My dream is to try to get all of them to visit the city. By touring Jerusalem they will see its history, its civilization, and its culture. It's also a matter of feeling confident about their identity."

Al Quds Tours take place weekly on Saturdays or Sundays. They focus mainly on the Old City of Jerusalem. However, tour themes are also related to local agricultural events, such as the lettuce festival in Artas, or the olive-picking season all over the country, as well as religious festivities, such as Sufi nights and Ramadan, Christmas, and Easter rituals. Al Quds Tours also highlight the dynamic multi-cultural and multi-ethnic fabric of Palestinian society, such as the African and Afghan communities, the Armenians, the Greek Orthodox, the Assyrians, and many more.

The tour that had the most meaning for me, personally, was the Arab Neighbourhoods in West Jerusalem. Being the daughter of a Jerusalemite 1948 refugee from the Baq'a neighbourhood, I was eager to take the tour, hear the stories of other refugee guides, and tell my own family story. The tour began with a visit to Mamilla Cemetery, not far from Jaffa Gate - the largest and oldest Muslim cemetery, said to be at least 1,000 years old - which contains the graves of Muslim scholars and many companions of the Prophet Mohammed. Now it sits neglected in West Jerusalem, while ironically, Israel contemplates building a Museum of Tolerance on that same sacred land, thus violating Muslim tombs and attempting to obliterate yet another piece of evidence of Arab presence in Jerusalem.

After walking among the ruined tombstones, we spread a feast of falafel and kaak on a bench and shared a picnic breakfast with the members of our group - international students, diplomats, Palestinian scholars, and tourists. Then we boarded the bus again toward Katamon, Talbiyeh, and Baq'a, where prominent houses, built and owned by Palestinians, have been confiscated and occupied by Israelis since 1948. A few of the original owners guided us to their properties, while carrying maps dating from the British Mandate, deeds to their homes, and yellowed and tattered black-and-white photos of their families standing in their gardens. One elderly woman cried in front of her family's grapefruit tree, laden with fruit: "My father planted this tree in 1932." Another refugee showed us her father's initials and the date their house was built: "A.K. 1938" still carved above the front door.

As I stood across the railroad tracks in Baq'a, in front of my mother's house, I told her story and the story of her neighbours and friends, who were driven from their homes in 1948, or kidnapped and sent to labour camps in Tantura or Atlit.

As we walked away to rejoin our bus, a woman on the tour leaned toward me and said, "I feel as though I've read a captivating, yet sad history book. Thank you for the stories. They cannot be forgotten."

Mona Hajjar Halaby is an educator and a writer. She is currently researching materials for her new book on social history in Jerusalem from the late-Ottoman period to the British Mandate.