With Tourism Struggling, Plenty of Rooms at the Inns in Bethlehem

c. 2005 Religion News Service BETHLEHEM, West Bank _ Most of the items for sale in the Bethlehem Star Store have been sitting, undisturbed, on glass-encased shelves since 2000, the last time large numbers of pilgrims frequented this town, the place where Jesus was born, according to the Christian Bible. “Back then we worked day […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

BETHLEHEM, West Bank _ Most of the items for sale in the Bethlehem Star Store have been sitting, undisturbed, on glass-encased shelves since 2000, the last time large numbers of pilgrims frequented this town, the place where Jesus was born, according to the Christian Bible.

“Back then we worked day and night,” recalls George Baboul, the shop’s Greek Orthodox owner, sizing up his overflowing inventory of mother-of-pearl crosses and olivewood Nativity scenes. “That was the year Pope John Paul II visited the Holy Land.”


But when the Palestinian intifada erupted in September 2000, “the tourists stopped coming and there was no business. None. There was shooting and it was very dangerous.”

Baboul closed his store for three years, as did others. Palestinian-Israeli violence began to wane last December, but Baboul, 72, is still waiting for large crowds of tourists as in years past. He had high hopes for a recovery this Christmas season, but business is hardly booming so far.

“We hear that tour groups are coming and that the hotels have reservations,” says Baboul, referring to Christmas week, traditionally the peak of December activity. This year, Hanukkah also begins Dec. 25, but Baboul still sounds more uncertain than hopeful.

While the increase in reservations is indeed a positive indicator, Palestinian tourism officials say a single terrorist attack or military maneuver could scare away visitors at the last moment.

Residents of this mixed Christian-Muslim town, who derive almost all their income from tourism, are trying to remain upbeat this Christmas despite the many disappointments they have endured in the past.

“Things are better this year,” insists Viktor Batarseh, Bethlehem’s mayor, from his office overlooking Manger Square. He credits political reforms within Palestinian society and the relative lull in violence for his contagious optimism.

“We have a new, democratically elected municipality, things are quiet politically, and security-wise the city is very safe. We’re expecting about 30,000 tourists,” Batarseh says, compared to the 18,000 who visited Bethlehem the same time last year. “We’re having an eight-day Christmas fair, concerts, choirs. It’s very festive.”


Last year’s festivities got off to a late start due to the 40-day Muslim mourning period for the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died Nov. 11, 2004, and because many would-be pilgrims still had security concerns.

Unlike the intifada years, when Bethlehem and its neighboring towns served as a battleground for Palestinian militants and Israeli soldiers, the streets are calm. Schoolchildren play tag along the narrow, winding streets, where the majority of stores are now open for business. Many stores, including those owned by Muslims, display Christmas trees, Santas and other symbols of the holiday in their windows.

But residents say their Christmas is again being marred by the many restrictions Israel places on their personal movement.

While tourists should have no problem entering the Bethlehem area _ which Israel recently surrounded with an imposing 25-foot-high concrete security barrier that has prevented terrorist incursions into Israel _ it is almost impossible for ordinary Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian, to enter Jerusalem for work, family gatherings or prayer.

The result is a 50 percent to 60 percent unemployment rate, according to the mayor, and steady emigration of local families. In 1990, 60 percent of Bethlehem’s residents were Christians. Today that number is estimated at just 20 percent to 30 percent.

“We live in a prison. This is not peace,” asserts Maryam Azziza, a 48-year-old Latin Catholic, seated behind her desk at the Bethlehem Peace Center, where she fields visitors’ queries.


For this reason, Azziza says, Bethlehem needs tourists more than ever.

“I appeal to all pilgrims to come,” she said, “to pray and to support the Palestinian people. Let us pray for peace in the Middle East.”

Despite the security closure, which the Israeli government intensified after a deadly Dec. 5 bomb attack in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, the government has announced plans to permit 500 Christians to enter Israel to worship and visit family.

“Why should we need permission to visit our churches and relatives?” Azziza counters.

The atmosphere is a great deal more upbeat in Israel, where the dramatic reduction in terror attacks during the past year has given both Israelis and foreigners a sense of well-being. Long-shuttered restaurants and shops have reopened downtown, and the once quiet streets are again packed with people, as are the malls and movie theaters.

“We anticipate having approximately 2 million visitors this year,” says Jonathan Pulik, an Israel Tourism Ministry spokesman. “The hotels are virtually full for holiday week, due to the convergence of Hanukkah and Christmas. We’re having difficulty finding places for some groups.”

Nearly 2.7 million people visited Israel in 2000, the year of the pope’s visit and the start of the uprising. That number plummeted to 860,000 in 2002, but inched upward in 2003 (1 million) and 2004 (1.5 million).

While no one doubts that Israelis feel safer than they have in years, the sense of security may not necessarily translate into a blockbuster holiday season, merchants warn.


“Security has improved, of course, but the economic situation is very slow right now and the little people don’t have as much money as they used to,” notes Rachel Avraham, the manager of Kid Land, a candy store in the Malcha Shopping Mall in Jerusalem, where she sells chocolate Santas and Hanukkah gelt, a chocolate-filled coin.

While people in Western countries start shopping for Christmas and Hanukkah weeks before the actual holidays, that’s not the case in Israel, Avraham says. For shop owners, that is cause for hope.

“Things are less commercialized here,” Avraham said, “but a couple of days before the holidays begin, the shopping hysteria will begin, too.”

MO/PH END RNS

Editors: To obtain photos, including one of George Baboul, the owner of a Bethlehem souvenir shop, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug.

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