New management for the hotel

Rabiah Barhum recently took over the post of managing director of the Wahat al-Salam Neve Shalom hotel. Barhum had begun to work in the hotel at the reception desk as a young woman, and she worked her way up to a marketing position before going off to studies and top managerial positions in hotels in Jerusalem.

The village hotel was closed when Covid restrictions hit, and the staff laid off. Barhum is taking over just as things are beginning to open up. She is putting together a staff of old and new hires, and she is reaching out to bring groups – not just to the hotel, but to the village – to see and hear about Wahat al-Salam Neve Shalom with their own eyes and ears. Included are Birthright groups of college-aged Jewish Americans. “It’s important that they get our perspective, as well,” she says.
“There is a soul and a story to this place. Even though it is very small – only 40 rooms – I feel as though I have returned home. And the people who come – groups, yoga students, course participants, families coming to swim in the pool for the weekend – they feel that special atmosphere too.

“In many ways, we are the face of the village. No less than the courses offered here, we represent the idea and the message of Arab-Jewish peace and equality, and everyone who comes here, even if they only wanted a weekend in a pastoral setting or a dip in the pool, experiences Arabs and Jews working together naturally.”

Barhum says that she is instilling this feeling in the hotel staff, and she is proud of the mixed Arab-Jewish group she has assembled. Her plans for the future of the hotel include a marketing campaign to help reach near full capacity, utilizing the underused public spaces of the village to bring in more day groups, opening a restaurant and installing solar water heating and lighting that will mesh with the harmonious, spiritual vibe of the place.

“I had already fallen in love with the hotel,” she says. “It has become my passion.”