Good Neighbours

In this photo taken on Monday, Dec 17, 2012, Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun, walks out of her office in the West bank city of Bethlehem. Bethlehem’s first female mayor, Vera Baboun, can’t walk through the main square of the biblical town without being stopped by admirers.“This is our new mayor, who is turning Bethlehem into one of the greatest cities in the world,” a tour guide hollered to a group of Christian tourists passing by the Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. After seven years of Islamist Hamas control of Bethlehem that drained the town of international aid funds, Baboun, a Christian, and her colleagues from the more moderate Fatah Party hope to turn things around, starting with the Christmas season. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Not too much appears to have changed in the last two years since Vera Baboun became mayor of the Biblical Bethlehem and promised to bring Christmas tourism booming back. "A tourist gets into a bus, goes to the Church of the Nativity, and then disappears", she now says. Disappointed that tourists prefer to stay in Jerusalem and make a day-trip to Bethlehem. Leaving their tourism dollars in Jerusalem doesn't benefit Bethlehem.

But this is Christmas with a different flavour, as it is seen in Bethlehem, The Christmas tree standing tall in Manger Square is decorated in a different manner than can be seen elsewhere, even though it is the reputed birthplace of a Jew whose trajectory into religious history changed the world. Ornaments festooning that Christmas tree are notable for their colours of the Palestinian flag; red, green, black and white. It is a twist that could just turn many Christians off, so perhaps those quickie tours have been earned.

Citizens walk near a compound of garbage in the streets of Bethlehem because of the strike and the staff of UNRWA

And although this photograph demonstrates a garbage strike result that took place last year, some fastidious travellers to the region have complained that municipal garbage collection in Bethlehem is fairly lacking, that garbage can be seen strewn unattractively all over the streets; not very appealing to people anticipating the quaint experience of a visit to the fabled Bethlehem of Christ's birth.

Tourism is down in Bethlehem, even with high expectations it would pick up after the visit of Pope Francis in May. On the other hand, 2013 saw the visit of 2.66 million to the city. A not-inconsiderable presence, to be sure. Still, Palestinian officials stated many people cancelled trips after the conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and that summertime event continues to impact tourism, they say.

The hotels are full, but they are full of Israeli Arab tourists known to spend less than foreign tourists, particularly American tourists. The complaint is that most Christian pilgrims visit Bethlehem briefly, to the Church of the Nativity, and then straight back to Jerusalem to sleep. Perhaps the fault lines lie a little deeper; to the place of Christians within a land now where they are persecuted, and that the origins of Christianity represent to those living there a profitable tourist draw, nothing more.

Christian families, according to the Christian mayor of Bethlehem, continue to leave the city in droves. In 1948 the Christian presence represented 82% of the population, at the present time Christians represent 22% of the Bethlehem community. Why would Christians leave the very venue of the birth of Christianity, a place venerated the world over for what it represents, other than that they don't feel comfortable there any longer, and for a reason?

Of course whatever goes wrong with the Palestinians can be traced to a vector of ill-doing; Israel.

Fadi Kattan, a Palestinian tourism expert claims that Israel, in administering tourism sites like Herodium and Qumran, where the Dead Sea scrolls were found, keeps the money those sites bring in. Those sites are ancient Jewish sites, of course, but the Palestinian Authority would prefer to administer them. They were returned to Israeli control in the 1967 conflict where Israel once again succeeded in defending itself from the onslaught of combined Arab armies set to destroy it.

Bethlehem's tourism minister states that tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, along with the barrier separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem has a negative effect on tourism. "In history, Bethlehem and Jerusalem were twin cities", said Rula Ma'aya. "Now, Bethlehem is being isolated." And, in the process, Israelis of all stripes; Jews, Muslims, Druze, Christians are protected from terrorist attacks.

Bethlehemites groan that most of the overseas tourism is from Russia, Poland and Italy, people who have a tendency to be less generous with their money than American tourists. Meanwhile, the municipality of Jerusalem runs a free shuttle bus service for tourists who plan to visit Bethlehem. It is an effort by Israeli officials to make it as easy as possible for tourists to reach Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

Aren't they good neighbours!