WEST BANK: A bustling holiday market revives hopes for a better Christmas in Bethlehem

Record ID: 560207

  • Title: WEST BANK: A bustling holiday market revives hopes for a better Christmas in Bethlehem
  • Date: 2nd December 2008
  • Summary: (MER) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 1, 2008) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHERING TO ATTEND XMAS MARKET AT MANGER SQUARE NEAR THE NATIVITY CHURCH PEOPLE STANDING NEAR THE VENDOR OF ARAB WOMEN'S UNION VARIOUS OF WOMEN BUYING SWEETS SELLERS WEARING SANTA'S HATS AND SELLING CHILDREN BUYING GAMES AND DOLLS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VISITOR, LILLIAN QANWATI, SAYING: "There are lots of sweets and ornaments from different countries, we are introduced to it." (Question: Do you think it's good for Bethlehem?) "Sure we encourage it, we wish that it will be at a higher level in coming years." MORE OF PEOPLE BUYING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM, VICTOR BATARSEH, SAYING: "This Christmas market in the holy city is a good image of the security situation in the city, when people see that there are celebrations in this city, it will encourage tourism and pilgrims to come to this city. But the main aim of this market is bring joy to Palestinian children." VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BUYING PANCAKES (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) VISITOR, RAEDA JAKAMAN, SAYING: "It is a unique market because not all the products are Palestinian, or which we know. The new products are imported, new games, new sweets which we don't have. The prices are not expensive." WOMAN SELLING CHILDREN LOOKING AT XMAS ORNAMENTS PEOPLE BUYING GIRL WEARING XMAS CLOTHS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SELLER, NADIA JAOUN, SAYING: "These are products we get for christmas, they are local products and we sell them to the visitors." WOMEN BUYING ORNAMENTS VARIOUS OF CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS MORE OF PEOPLE BUYING FROM VENDORS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE GATHER IN THE MARKET TO GET THEIR CHRISTMAS GIFTS AND ORNAMENTS
  • Embargoed: 17th December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Economic News
  • Reuters ID: LVAB3JPH2C3TY0X0GDVNPMI6DY19
  • Story Text: "Jingle Bells" rang out over Manger Square on Monday (December 1) as Bethlehem opened a Christmas market that the Palestinian city hopes will help cap a boom year for tourism with a profitable festive season.
    Handicrafts and festive decorations were on sale from wooden booths in the German-style Christmas market, organized by the Palestinian ministry of Tourism.

    "This Christmas market in the holy city is a good image of the security situation in the city, when people see that there are celebrations in this city, it will encourage tourism and pilgrims to come to this city. But the main aim of this market is bring joy to Palestinian children," said the mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh. He expects 1.25 million visitors by the end of 2008.
    Trade in the Biblical birthplace of Jesus was devastated when a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation began in 2000 -- months after a papal visit and millennium celebrations had seemed to lock in a rosy future for Bethlehem as a magnet for tourists and pilgrims in a region aglow with hopes for peace.
    Eight years on, hopes for a final settlement with Israel have faded, like the patched up bullet holes in the Nativity Church which bear witness to a five-week siege in 2002. But a decline in violence has tempted back tourists who no longer fear suicide bombers and gunbattles erupting in the streets.
    Hotel occupancy rates were now typically above 70 percent, compared to 10 percent a few years ago, the Palestinian Tourism Minister said.
    Market vendors offered goods of various makers, with most of the produce made locally. Sweets, gifts, woodworks, decorations and snow-capped Santa Claus figures were on sale at the market.

    "This products we get it for christmas, it's local products, we sell it to the local visitors," said Nadia Jaoun, a Palestinian vendor.
    Israelis attribute some of that calm on the streets of nearby Jerusalem to the construction of hundreds of kilometres (miles) of walls and fencing around the West Bank. People in Bethlehem blame the barrier for discouraging visitors, who must pass through Israeli military checkpoints to reach the city.
    Yet many tourists get only a fleeting glimpse of Palestinian life. Many prefer to stay in Israeli-run Jerusalem, 10 km (6 miles) away. Burgeoning numbers of east European pilgrims are bussed in on whirlwind day-trips from Egypt's winter sun resorts on the Red Sea, a five-hour desert drive to the south.
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