Bethlehem mayor calls on pilgrims to visit to help bring down security barrier

Bethlehem mayor calls on pilgrims to visit to help bring down security barrier By Israel Insider staff and partners December 15, 2005

The mayor of Jesus' traditional home town on Wednesday asked pilgrims to visit in large numbers during Christmas and help pressure Israel to dismantle the security barrier that rings the city and cuts it off from Jerusalem.

Victor Batarseh, the mayor of Bethlehem, said twice as many visitors are expected this year, compared to last, but they will find the city "walled off." An 8-meter (25-foot) wall divides the north edge of the town, part of the security barrier Israel says it needs to keep Palestinian suicide bombers out.

The Palestinians see it as a land grab and an Israeli attempt to draw a border unilaterally.

"The pilgrims who will travel to Bethlehem for Christmas this year will find that the city of Christ's birth is being walled off. Fears are growing that the town may soon become a prison," Batarseh said, but urged them not to turn back. Instead, he said, they should come to Bethlehem to "morally bring down the wall," which cuts the town off from Jerusalem, just two kilometers (a mile) away.

A drop in violence, an election of a new Palestinian leadership and the reduction of roadblocks into the city are contributing factors to the return of pilgrims to the holy city residents say.

Israeli Tourism Minister Avraham Hirchson said cooperation between the Palestinians and Israelis will ensure smooth travel of tourists and pilgrims.

"For the Israeli government I say: `We as two parties, the Palestinian and Israeli people do not need walls, we just need bridges,"' Batarseh said, adding that he hoped the smoothing works all year round.

The security barrier cuts through the Bethlehem district, separating villages from the main center of the city, isolating agricultural land and encircling outlying villages.

Batarseh said the past five years of violence have taken their toll on Bethlehem residents, leaving some 60 percent of them out of work.

A new Israeli checkpoint at the entrance of Bethlehem is under construction. Batarseh said it will be "a new frontier" between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, hindering flow of tourists between the two cities.

The hardship, he said, has caused a wave of immigration from the city, particularly among its Christian population, who make up only 35 percent of its total 30,000 residents. "The main reason for this immigration is the economy," he said and it is more apparent among the Christian community, which find it easier to immigrate as they have the means and have already families living abroad. Christian emigration has been noted for more than a decade.

But hopes of a better season had some people energized. Batarseh said 18,000 visited last year, and he is expecting 30,000 this year.

Workers were hanging ornaments on the huge Christmas tree in Manger Square, overlooking the Church of the Nativity. A man bent over the church bells, giving them a new coat of paint. Lights and stars lined the main street leading to the church.

But most of the shops remained closed. The town that used to receive an average of 90,000 visitors a month in the mid-1990s, after an interim peace deal with Israel brought calm, saw the numbers drop to around 7,000 in the first 10 months of last year.

This year, the numbers have bounced back, showing that some 130,000 tourists have visited the holy site in the past five months.

Saad, a street vendor working at the entrance to the Church of the Nativity, said the improvement has not got everyone back in business. He was working without a permit and gave only his first name in fear of reprisal.

"We used to get 200 buses (of tourists) a day," he said. "Now the most is 40 a day," he said.

"Palestinians see it as a land grab and an Israeli attempt to draw a border unilaterally."
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The Other Bethlehem story
Moshe Dann, THE JERUSALEM POST Dec. 13, 2005

On Christmas Eve, December 24, thousands of Christians will gather at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem to mark the occasion. Though the town gains prominence anew each Christmas season, the place of Bethlehem in Jewish history is often little remembered.

The Church of the Nativity itself was built in the early Byzantine period (fourth century CE) by Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, and commemorates the birth of Jesus.

But in Jewish history, the town itself has significance.

When the Patriarch Jacob, his wives and family, returned to the Land of Israel after serving Laben, a tragedy occurred on the way to Hebron. Near a place called Efrat, "the same is Bethlehem," Rachel died in childbirth; her son, Binyamin, survived. "And Jacob buried his beloved wife on the way, and placed a monument on her grave."

Revered as a holy site by Jews and even some Muslims, a cenotaph (a large stone structure typical during the Mamluke period, around 800 years ago) was built over the grave. In the mid-19th century Moses Montifore constructed a small domed building there.

After the 1948 War of Independence, the area fell into Jordanian hands. Jews were prohibited from visiting the site, and local Arabs built a cemetery, homes and shops around it.

The shrine returned to Jewish hands in the wake of the Six Day War in 1967. More recently, it has become a flashpoint for Arab violence.

These days a fortress-like building was constructed around the original complex. An IDF unit protects the site; access is by armored buses only.

Despite these difficulties, thousands of Jews continue to visit Rachel's Tomb, and yeshiva students study there during the day. But the nearby town of Bethlehem, now controlled by the Palestinian Authority, is unsafe for Jews.

That's sad, considering that Bethlehem was once a flourishing Jewish village. During biblical times there was a famine in the land, and one of Bethlehem's most prominent families (Elimelech, his wife Naomi, and two sons, Machlon and Kilyon) moved across the Judean desert to the land of Moav (now Jordan). As told in The Book of Ruth, the boys married non-Jewish women (Ruth and Orpah), and soon afterwards all the male members of the family died.

Widowed and alone, Naomi decided to return to her home town. On the way, however, Orpah turned back, while Ruth begged to stay. "Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you stay, I'll stay; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God." (Ruth 1:16)

This powerful declaration of faith identifies Ruth as a source of Jewish inspiration.

Life was not easy for the two widows. They gathered food from the corners of fields left for the poor. But Boaz, a descendent of Perez (from the time of Moses), a Judge and head of the community in Bethlehem, noticed Ruth and fell in love with her. They married and had a son, Oved, who eventually fathered Jesse, who was the father of David.

Jesse lived in Bethlehem during the reign of King Saul. When it became clear to Samuel the Prophet that Saul was no longer an appropriate ruler, he went to Bethlehem to look for a successor. Samuel went to Jesse's house and asked to examine his sons. Jesse proudly displayed seven, each more noble, wise and worthy than the other.

Yet Samuel was not satisfied. "Any more?" he asked. Reluctantly Jesse brought in his youngest son, David, from his work tending sheep. When Samuel saw him, he immediately anointed him heir-apparent in front of his family.

According to Jewish tradition, the Messiah will come from the House of David.

Interpreted literally, however, this may explain why the New Testament places Jesus' birthplace in Bethlehem. Who comes from Bethlehem?

While rich in Christian history and significance, the town's Jewish roots ought not to be forgotten.

The writer, a former history professor, is now a journalist living in Jerusalem.

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