A Christian singer-songwriter has returned from a visit to Palestine after performing at a festival to help promote peace and justice in the region.
Julian Pugsley, from Holt, performed at the Bet Lahem Live festival, organised by the Holy Land Trust, to help raise awareness of the current situation in Israel and Palestine.
He said: "The idea was not just to raise funds, but also to give an allegory to the conflict happening today. It's causing a lot of suffering.
"I wanted to travel to the Holy Land anyway, so for me as a pilgrim it was a wonderful experience to go there and visit the holy sites."
Mr Pugsley, 43, performed songs from his album Sky Over Bethlehem, which was released at Christmas and tells the story of the nativity as a rock opera.
Money raised from the album went towards charities Musalaha, a Christian organisation based in Jerusalem which works towards peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and the Swedish International Relief Association (SIRA) School in Bethlehem which is the only school in the West Bank for pupils with special educational needs.
Mr Pugsley initially heard about Bet Lahem Live, which is now in its second year, through performing at Christian festival Greenbelt.
He said: "I saw some pretty harrowing things. The situation is very tense and we did hear of one band who were due to perform, and ended up not because one of their friends was shot and killed.
"As well as being a very inspiring place with lots of religious sites and great people to meet, there was this backdrop of tension. It was a very intense experience."
