Bethlehem profits from peaceful Christmas
Pastor Dale Morgan
Bethlehem profits from peaceful Christmas*
By Rebecca Harrison
Reuters
Monday, December 17, 2007; 10:48 AM
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Bethlehem souvenir store owner Mike
Canawati is gearing up for his merriest Christmas in years.
A steady stream of pilgrims are trickling into his shop, snapping up
olive wood crosses and nativity scenes as keepsakes from the town
revered as Jesus' birthplace.
Business isn't booming. But sales are brisk, which is good enough for
Canawati, who was forced to shut up shop altogether for two years when
tourism slumped during the early years of a Palestinian uprising -- or
Intifada -- that erupted in 2000.
"More peace means more tourists," said Canawati, wrapping a plastic
cherub for a customer as a jazzed-up version of "O Come All Ye Faithful"
filtered through the loudspeakers with its message of pilgrimage to
Bethlehem.
"During the Intifada there were no tourists. They would have seen tanks
and soldiers out here," he said, pointing to the main high street which
snakes through the hilly town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Bethlehem is about to celebrate its most peaceful -- and profitable --
Christmas since 2000.
Tourist levels are the best in seven years, with more than 60,000 people
visiting last month compared to about 20,000 a year ago. Many hotels are
fully booked for Christmas.
Local leaders are cautious: few pilgrims stay overnight, tourism numbers
still hover at just 60-70 percent of pre-Intifada levels, and many
Western governments still warn against non-essential travel. But they
detect a glimmer of hope.
"There are more foreign tourists this year -- everyone can feel it,"
Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh told Reuters in his office on Manger
Square, a bushy Christmas tree in the corner.
PROFIT OF PEACE
Palestinians gunmen and Israeli soldiers fought street battles in
Bethlehem during the Intifada but violence has dropped drastically over
the past two years, and a U.S.-backed peace drive launched last month
has reassured some tourists.
Peace envoy Tony Blair is trying to improve tourist access and
facilities in Bethlehem. The British former prime minister stayed
overnight in one of the city's poshest hotels last week to send a
message it is safe.
Church leaders, worried about the Holy Land's dwindling Christian
population, have also been trying to drum up business by convincing
pilgrims to visit. Their efforts are paying off.
"I wanted to see where Jesus was born -- I think it's something every
Christian should do," said 21-year-old Ukrainian Baptist Andrew Dubovoy.
"I asked the tour agency many times about safety but now I'm in the city
I feel fine."
Some, however, say the festive cheer is premature.
Pilgrims -- many of them Russians on day trips from Egyptian beach
resorts -- arrive in tour buses and stay just long enough for a quick
trip to the Church of the Nativity and a souvenir shop before heading
back through the Israeli checkpoint.
"What we need is more tourists to stay in our hotels, eat in our
restaurants and roam around the old city," Batarseh said.
The pre-Christmas buzz also masks the daily hardship of life in
Bethlehem. Unlike the romantic image portrayed by Christmas cards and
carols, the town is encircled by military checkpoints and the towering
concrete wall of Israel's West Bank barrier.
Israel says the barrier keeps suicide bombers out but Palestinians argue
it intimidates tourists and stifles the economy, while eating into land
they want for a state.
Saliba Salameh sells falafel -- a deep-fried chickpea snack much loved
by Palestinians and Israelis -- in a prime location in the heart of
Bethlehem.
But business is slow despite the uptick in tourism, because Israeli
restrictions keep out the locals who once came from Jerusalem and the
West Bank for weekend lunches.
Tourists rarely stop to try his falafel.
"They don't have time to stop and eat any," he said. "They hurry past to
the church, then back to the tour bus."
(Editing by Richard Balmforth)