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Bethlehem, West Bank-Tourism is expected to be higher than it was last Christmas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, but the increase won't be enough to slow the exodus of local Arab Christians from the city where Jesus was born, local residents said.Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh, himself a Roman Catholic, said tourism is on the upswing because of the promotion efforts of church officials, the Palestinian Authority and the Bethlehem municipality."Last year, tourism was only about 10 to 15 percent of the normal, but fortunately this year things have improved. Pilgrimage and tourism have gone up to about 60 percent of our normal. Last month we had about 80,000 tourists coming to the city," Batarseh told journalists this week in his Bethlehem office.Tourism used to be the primary source of income for Bethlehem. It was a booming industry for shopkeepers, souvenir manufacturers, hotel and restaurant owners, tour guides as well as support services. But seven years of Palestinian political unrest and violence, coupled with Israeli crackdowns on terrorism, left the city's economy in shambles and accelerated the departure of native Christians from the city.(Some Western and Israeli sources say that friction between Muslims and Christians is also a major factor in the exodus of the Christian population in Palestinian areas, but Palestinian Christians rarely admit it publicly.)An estimated 35 percent of the city of Bethlehem's 32,000 residents are Christian, a decrease from the estimated 92 percent in 1948. The rest are Muslim.Seated next to a full-sized Christmas tree decorated with red bulbs and lights, Mayor Batarseh said twice as many pilgrims as last year -- up to 40,000 -- are expected in Bethlehem over the holiday.One of the complaints over the last few years has been that the tourists venturing into Bethlehem weren't brave enough to spend the night there. They visited holy places but did not stay long enough to spend much money. But even that could be changing. According to Batarseh, hotel occupancy last year was just 10-15 percent. This year it is expected to be about 45 percent, with the city's 2000 hotel beds fully booked for the Christmas period. Unemployment is down to 50 percent from around 65 percent last year, he said.Quartet envoy Tony Blair recently spent a night at a Bethlehem hotel in an effort to allay security fears and promote tourism.A week before Christmas, there were not too many tourists in Manger Square facing the Church of the Nativity, built over the place where some Christians believe Jesus was born. Decorations were sparse, though Batarseh said the city had received $50,000 from the P.A. for decorations."We hope that peace will come, because if we have peace then the economy will get better for sure," Batarseh said.Emigration
Some local Christians say they feel like they have been abandoned by their fellow believers in the West.Samir Qumsieh, a Greek Orthodox Christian businessman, has been running the only local Christian television station in the Middle East for the last 11 years. Though he had nearly a million viewers in the West Bank and Jordan, he was forced to close it down at the end of October because it was losing money.After one month, Qumsieh re-opened the station - due to popular local demand, he said-but he will have to close it permanently if he can't raise the money to keep it operating. Though the international community has just pledged $7.4 billion to help Palestinians, he said he is not likely to see any of that money.Qumsieh said he has appealed to Christians abroad for help, but so far to no avail. He said he is most worried about Christians leaving Bethlehem. He said there may not be any Christians left in the city 15 years from now if the trend continues. In his own family, Qumsieh said, four of his six brothers-all of them educated-now live abroad. According to Qumsieh, the reasons why Christians are leaving are mixed but one of the major ones is economic."I wrote all the heads of churches," Qumsieh told journalists visiting his television station. "I told them, 'For God's sake, initiate projects, housing projects, find jobs for the Christians...keep them rooted.'" But he said the church leaders have not heeded his appeals."There is a shameful default throughout the Christian world," he said. But if peace would prevail, it would be paradise, he said.The current increase in tourism is "too late," Bethlehem Evangelical Pastor Naim Khoury told Cybercast News Service. It might help owners of large souvenir shops and some others if it is sustained over a number of years, he added, but there is little hope for the younger generation."There is no future for the young generation in the present time," Khoury said. "If the situation remains like this, I don't think this generation...will ever have a better opportunity for living."No one has exact details on how many Christians have left, but tens of thousands have fled the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the years, including an estimated one thousand for each of the last seven years of the Palestinian intifadah. Khoury said 10 families from his church of 200 members have left in the last few years, some vowing never to return.He said the "instability of the political situation" has had a big impact on the economic situation, probably scarign away hundreds of thousands of tourists over the last seven years."How do you expect tourists to come while they are fighting and shooting and killing?" he asked. "There is no way."Khoury agreed with Qumsieh that investment by Western Christians in creating housing and employment for Bethlehem Christians would change the whole situation. Nevertheless, he was not optimistic."I see a dark future. Maybe some people disagree," said Khoury. The wound is so deep between Israelis and Palestinians. It is even deeper among Palestinians as seen in the fighting between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza, he said.Khoury said he would never be among those to leave Bethlehem. For Christmas, he said he is hoping and praying that Jesus will come to dwell in the hearts and minds of the leaders of the land. "Because there will be no peace outside of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my belief. This is my conviction," he said.
As in the days of Noah....
