WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM: TOURISTS CONTINUE TO STAY AWAY FROM BETHLEHEM /YASSER ARAFAT MEETS CHRISTIAN REPRESENTATIVES AND LISTENS TO CAROLS

Record ID: 566202

  • Title: WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM: TOURISTS CONTINUE TO STAY AWAY FROM BETHLEHEM /YASSER ARAFAT MEETS CHRISTIAN REPRESENTATIVES AND LISTENS TO CAROLS
  • Date: 23rd December 2003
  • Summary: (EU) BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF CHRISTMAS TREE IN MANGER SQUARE WITH BELL TOWER IN BACKGROUND 0.05 2. SMV CHILDREN LOOKING AT CHRISTMAS TREE 0.11 3. TILT UP CHRISTMAS TREE 0.17 4. CLOSE OF BELL TOWER OF CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 0.23 5. WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY 0.27 6. SLV CROSS ON CHURCH TOWER/ PULLOUT TO MOSQUE IN THE FOREGROUND 0.43 7. SLV MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM HANNA NASSER SEATED NEXT TO CHRISTMAS TREE 0.50 8. CLOSE OF DECORATIONS ON TREE 0.52 9. SCU (SOUNDBITE) (English) MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM HANNA NASSER SAYING: "We don't have free movement, we don't have joy because of the consequences of the Israeli incursions last year. And we are still paying the price for these incursions. You know, it's not easy to leave the city, it's not easy to get into the city. Tourists are not coming here, and Bethlehem depends on tourism. 70 per cent of the economy of the city comes from tourism. The unemployment is 60 per cent. The income per capita has dropped from being 2400 dollars to less than 400 dollars. All this really has affected very deeply the economy of the city." 1.34 10. SLV MEN IN THE STREETS OF BETHLEHEM 1.41 (EU) JERUSALEM/ BETHLEHEM CHECKPOINT (DECEMBER 23, 2003) (HANDOUT - ACCESS ALL) 11. SMV PALESTINIANS DRESSED AS MARY (RIDING A DONKEY) AND JOSEPH APPROACHING ISRAELI CHECK POINT 1.55 12. SLV OF "MARY" AND " JOSEPH" AT CHECKPOINT 2.12 13. VARIOUS OF "MARY AND JOSEPH" TRYING TO GET THROUGH CHECKPOINT, SOLDIERS TURNING THEM AWAY 2.34 (EU) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 23, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 14. VARIOUS OF LATIN PATRIACH MICHELE SABAH ARRIVING AT YASSER ARAFAT'S HEADQUARTERS 2.48 15. WIDE OF ARAFAT AND LATIN PATRIACH LISTENING TO CHILDREN SINGING CAROLS 2.54 16. SLV ARAFAT AND SABAH SEATED 2.59 17. VARIOUS OF CHILDREN SINGING CAROLS (3 SHOTS) 3.18 18. CLOSE OF REPRESENTATIVE OF ONE OF THE CHRISTIAN DENOMINATIONS 3.23 19. WIDE OF ARAFAT WISHING EVERYBODY A MERRY CHRISTMAS (in English) 3.55 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 7th January 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BETHLEHEM AND RAMALLAH, WEST BANK/ JERUSALEM - BETHLEHEM
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA87PUIPMS1WVUPEI8TR5X82I5A
  • Story Text: Christmas in Bethlehem is overshadowed by the
    Israeli-Palestinian conflict and tourists are staying away
    from the city.



    There have been so few tourists visiting Bethlehem
    since the uprising began in September 2000 that an officer
    for the Palestinian Tourist Police armed with a clipboard
    counts them, writing the meagre statistics down on an empty
    page.

    But three years of violence -- including gun battles in
    the centre of the town, Israeli army raids and a stand-off
    last year between Palestinian gunmen holed up in the
    Nativity church and Israeli forces who besieged them --
    have taken a toll.

    Two days before Christmas, not a soul stood in the
    Byzantine-era Church of the Nativity, built over the manger
    revered as the actual place where Jesus was born, except
    for two guards and a monk hanging incense burners.

    Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser blames Israeli military
    road blocks around Bethlehem for the dearth of tourists and
    the town's dire economic troubles.

    "We don't have free movement, we don't have joy because
    of the consequences of the Israeli incursions last year.

    And we are still paying the price for these incursions. You
    know, it's not easy to leave the city, it's not easy to get
    into the city. Tourists are not coming here, and Bethlehem
    depends on tourism. 70 per cent of the economy of the city
    comes from tourism. The unemployment is 60 per cent. The
    income per capita has dropped from being 2400 dollars to
    less than 400 dollars. All this really has affected very
    deeply the economy of the city," he said.

    Meanwhile Palestinians dressed up as Mary and Joseph
    tried to enter Bethlehem. A women riding a donkey and a man
    leading her approached an Israeli checkpoint to protest
    against the restrictions on free movement for Palestinians,
    making it virtually impossible for them to celebrate
    Christmas. Soldiers at the checkpoint turned them away.

    Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is still under
    siege in his Ramallah headquarters and will yet again be
    prohibited from making the trip to Bethlehem for Christmas.

    The Latin Patriarch came to visit him in his office and
    Arafat said he hoped that the situation would be better
    next year.






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