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September 5, 2008 8:33:55 PM CDT

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6,000 Miles to Graceland

Posted Dec 3, 07 2:55 PM CST in World,  Arts & Living 

(Newser) – It has to be the quirkiest stop on the Holy Land pilgrimage: The Elvis Inn, near Jerusalem, where impersonators will converge Jan. 8 for the annual celebration of the King's birthday. With a life-sized statue near the gas pumps and 1,720 pictures of Elvis inside, the diner 6,000 miles from Memphis has become a shrine and tourist destination, the Commercial Appeal reports.

The site of a deadly 1980 bombing, the 35-year-old inn has suffered from escalating tensions, and the wall dividing Israel and the West Bank has complicated things immeasurably; one Palestinian cook's 20-minute walk to work has become a 2-hour commute by car. One impersonator says if Elvis were back, “He'd try to make peace between the Israelis and the Arabs once and for all.”

Source Commercial Appeal (Memphis)

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Elvis impersonators worldwide gather to commemorate the King's "death day," at spots like Neve Ilan's Elvis Inn, outside Jerusalem. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)   (Associated Press)
A man prays next to the dividing wall between Israel and Palestine.   (Getty Images)
Elvis Presley is shown in this undated file photo. Neve Ilan's Elvis Inn outside Jerusalem has been bringing unexpected common ground to the middle-east for 30 years. (AP Photo, file)   (Associated Press)
A video of Elvis Presley performing is shown behind live musicians and backup singers at a tribute concert in Memphis, Tenn., on the 30th anniversary of Presley's death Thursday, Aug. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Mark...   (Associated Press)
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