|
 |
|
Bethlehem Santa Claus greets residents and visitors
Courtesy: The Israel Project
|
As Christmas and other major holidays near, Iran-backed Palestinian terrorists in Gaza are stepping up their attacks against Israeli civilians, bombarding towns in southern Israel with Qassam rockets and mortar shells. So far in December, Gaza terrorists have launched more than 80 rockets and mortars. [1] In the meantime, the Hamas-run government in Gaza continues to use tunnels to smuggle weapons into Gaza for attacks against Israel.
Despite the ongoing assaults, Israel -- in conjunction with the Palestinian Authority (PA) -- is working to ensure the safety of tourists and pilgrims of all religions planning to travel to the country’s holy sites. The efforts have already paid off: So far the West Bank city of Bethlehem has hit a “record year” in tourism, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said. [2]
An estimated 1.25 million tourists are expected to visit Bethlehem by the end of 2008, amounting to an “excellent year," according to Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh. Tourism numbers are up and local unemployment numbers have significantly decreased. [3]
Bethlehem’s director of tourist police expects an additional 250,000 visitors during Christmas week. [4] Approximately 20,000 pilgrims are anticipated to attend Midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity on Christmas Eve.
 |
|
Enjoying Bethlehem’s Christmas lights
Courtesy: The Israel Project
|
By year’s end, Israel will have hosted a total of two million Christian visitors. [5] An estimated 100,000 Christian pilgrimages will take place at the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel this Christmas. [6] According to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, tourists visiting Bethlehem increased 96 percent in 2008, in comparison to tourism figures in 2007. [7]
Said Tourism Minister Ruhama Avraham-Balila, “We have succeeded in restoring a sense of security to tourists in Israel and now we must work together to market the tourist destinations in Israel and the Palestinian Authority as attractive and appealing, for the sake of both our nations.” [8]
Palestinian attacks on the increase: 3,000 rockets and mortars in 2008
In November alone, terrorists fired more than 210 rockets and mortars, [9] one of which struck Ashkelon, a city of about 120,000 residents that lies about 12 miles (20 km) from Gaza. Since Barack Obama won the U.S. presidential elections Nov. 4, Iran-backed terrorists have fired nearly 300 Qassam rockets and mortar shells into Israel.
In 2008, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza have fired almost 3,000 rockets and mortars at Israel, killing four people and wounding more than 270. [10] Since Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza in August 2005, Palestinian terrorist groups have fired more than 6,300 rockets and mortars at Israeli civilians, killing 10 and wounding more than 780. [11]
Israel’s many celebrations for visitors of all faiths
Tourists of all religious denominations visiting Israel this year can partake in a number of celebrations throughout the country. They include:
• The week before Christmas, pilgrims can attend festive light ceremonies in the Old City of Jerusalem and along the thoroughfare from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. [12]
• Jerusalem’s second annual “Hamshushalaim” Festival will be held during the first three weekends in December, offering visitors free and discounted entrance to sites and events throughout to celebrate the city’s cultural and religious diversity. [13]
• Christmas Eve services will be conducted throughout the night at several Christian holy sites, including the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Church of John the Baptist, Via Dolorosa, the Garden Tomb, the Condemnation Chapel, the Chapel of Flagellation, the Grotto of the Apostles, and Mary's Tomb. Midnight Mass services are expected to draw a large number of pilgrims. [14]
• For the 15th consecutive year, the “Holiday of Holidays Festival” in the northern city of Haifa offers tourists and residents alike the opportunity to celebrate the Islamic, Christian and Jewish holidays together throughout December. The festival highlights the peaceful coexistence of various religions in Haifa. It takes place in the Arab neighborhood of Wadi Nisnas, extending to the German Colony at the foot of the Baha'i Gardens. [15] Activities range from an antiques fair and booths selling authentic food prepared by the Wadi residents to music events and other performances by several ethnic groups.
• Jaffa will host a tour of the old city and of its churches on Christmas Eve; participants will be able to “experience the unique atmosphere of this special night.” The tour includes attendance at a Midnight Mass service. [16]
• Tel Aviv’s Felitziah Blumenthal Center will hold a “Candle Light for Chanukah and Christmas” concert. [17]
Special measures to facilitate travel during the holidays
To ensure that all tourists and citizens reach their destinations during the December holidays, Israel has eased travel restrictions for the West Bank, including: [18]
• The Huwwara, Awarta, Beit Furik and Beit Iba crossings will be open for pilgrims from 5 a.m. - midnight;
• Palestinian men 45 and older will be allowed to enter the Temple Mount for prayers;
• Israeli-Arabs living in Israel may travel to Palestinian-governed cities and towns in the West Bank to visit their families;
• Palestinian families in the West Bank may enter Israel to visit immediate family;
• The Fig crossing, north of Qalqiliya, will be open for Israeli Arabs to travel to the city;
• At the Jericho crossing, there will be only random vehicle checks;
• The Allenby Bridge and Mussa Alami crossings into Jordan will be open 24 hours a day.
Israeli law: Providing freedom of religion for all
Israel allows people of all faiths access to the country’s myriad holy sites. In fact, Israeli law mandates that everyone, regardless of religious affiliation, has the right to visit all holy places within Israel. By contrast, between 1949 and 1967, when Jordan controlled the holy sites, all Israelis were forbidden from entering East Jerusalem, including the Old City – home to the Western Wall, the holiest site for Jews. [19] For statistics on Jerusalem’s population, houses of worship and related information, see Jerusalem by the numbers.
Since its inception, Israel has staunchly supported the rights of all Israeli citizens to freedom of religion. While Israel has no constitution, this freedom was explicit in the Declaration of Independence and is engrained in the country’s legal system. The Declaration of Independence states that Israel “will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions.” [20]
The diversity of religions practiced in Israel today also attests to the country’s openness toward religions other than Judaism. In Israel, as of the end of 2007, there were 5.4 million Jews, 1.2 million Muslims, 150,000 Christians and 119,000 Druze, according to official statistics from the Israel Central Bureau for Statistics. [21] Jerusalem is the most diverse city in Israel, with sites holy to all three major world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Israel is one of the only Middle Eastern countries where the Christian population has increased since 1948, rising by more than 400 percent. [22]
Earlier this month, Muslims and Druze in Israel celebrated the Festival of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), which began Dec. 8 and commemorated the end of the religious pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca. More than 11,000 Israeli-Arabs and Palestinian pilgrims -- including 6,000 Palestinians from the West Bank -- passed through the Israeli-Jordanian Allenby border crossing to participate in the hajj. [23]
By contrast, Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza prevented its residents from participating in the hajj for the first time in 35 years, denying thousands of Muslim pilgrims the right to religious freedom. [24]Worshipers seeking to cross the border into Egypt for the hajj were beaten back with sticks by Hamas police. Gaza tourism company owners that tried to gain permits to travel from West Bank-based companies were arrested. [25] “Even the Israelis never dared prevent the pilgrimage this way,” said Maher Amin, owner of a Gaza-based tour company. [26]
Israel’s Christian population on the decline under Palestinian rule
While the number of pilgrims visiting West Bank holy sites is increasing, the permanent Christian population is steadily declining; particularly in Bethlehem, where Jesus is believed to have been born.
When the State of Israel was declared in 1948, Bethlehem’s population was 80 percent Christian. Today, Christians comprise 23 percent of the population in Bethlehem and the neighboring towns of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala. [27]
The number of Christians in Bethlehem began a rapid downturn in 1995, the year that Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority took over under the conditions of the Oslo Accords. [28] Traditionally Bethlehem’s governor and eight of its 15 city council members are Christian, but when the PA took over Arafat appointed a Muslim governor of the city. After the Palestinian 2005 municipal elections, Hamas emerged with six seats and the Christians with only four. [29]
Christians throughout the West Bank and Gaza have been subjected to “intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion,” wrote Justus Reid Weiner, a renowned international human rights lawyer and expert on the Palestinian Christian minority. [30] Former Muslims who converted to Christianity are in the greatest danger. [31]
The problem has worsened since Hamas seized control of Gaza in a bloody coup in the summer of 2007.
Violence against Christians in Gaza, April 2007 – May 2008
• May 31, 2008: Gunmen attack guards at the Al Manara School, steal a vehicle belonging to the Baptist Holy Book Society and threaten the society's director. [32]
• May 16, 2008: Bomb explodes in the Rahabat al-Wardia School, run by nuns in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City. After Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, arsonists attacked and vandalized the school.
• April 3, 2008: A monument in Gaza’s foreign nationals’ cemetery is blown up.
• Feb. 15, 2008: Three gunmen from the Army of Islam terrorist group break into the YMCA library in Gaza City and detonate a bomb, causing extensive damage.
• Jan. 10, 2008: The al-Qaeda Organization in Palestine Army of Believers stages two attacks at Beit Lahiya’s International School in northern Gaza, burning vehicles and stealing equipment. The al-Qaeda group issues a statement accusing the school of spreading polytheism and hatred for Islam. The attacks coincide with President Bush's visit to Israel.
• Dec. 31, 2007: The Friends of the Sunnah Bayt al-Maqdis, an Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad affiliated group, issues a manifesto on the Pal-Today Web site threatening to attack anyone participating in New Year's Eve celebrations.
• Oct. 6, 2007: Hamas gunmen abduct a Christian working for the Holy Bible Society, Rami Khadr Ayad, from his home and kill him at gunpoint.
• Sept. 25, 2007: An 80-year-old Christian woman is assaulted in Gaza City. Claire Farah Tarazi opened her door late at night and was confronted by a masked man who shouted at her, “Where is the money, you infidel?” Tarazi was beaten on her head and hands and locked in her bedroom while her assailant searched for valuables in her home. [33]
• June 19, 2007: During Hamas’s violent Gaza takeover in June 2007, Hamas gunmen attack and vandalize a monastery and church.
• April 15, 2007: A terrorist group calling itself The Swords of Truth bombs two Internet cafes and a Christian book store.
Terror continues in Bethlehem
Terrorist attacks on Israelis from Bethlehem’s Palestinians dates back to 2000, when the Second Intifada began. To ensure the safety of Israeli citizens in southern Jerusalem, Israel constructed the security fence near Bethlehem’s northern border. Despite this effort there have been numerous attacks and attempted attacks on Israeli civilians in 2008. [34]
• Nov. 9: Palestinians throw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli vehicle traveling near Bethlehem. [35]
• Nov. 6: Palestinians damage a bus when throwing Molotov cocktails. [36]
• Oct. 23: During a routine security check in Jerusalem, a 21-year-old man from Bethlehem kills an 86-year-old Israeli and wounds a border guard. [37] The terrorist’s family is affiliated with Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad. [38]
• Oct. 3: An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Reserve Unit finds a cache of weapons in a Bethlehem suburb. [39]
• Sept. 21: Palestinians throw Molotov cocktails at a bus traveling west of Bethlehem. [40]
• Sept. 9: A pipe bomb and two hand guns are found in Bethlehem’s Dahiya refugee camp. [41]
• Aug. 14: A Palestinian hurls Molotov cocktails near Bethlehem. [42]
• July 13: Palestinians hurl Molotov cocktails at an Israeli vehicle traveling near Bethlehem. [43]
• June 12: The IDF finds a weapons cache in northeastern Bethlehem, including a machine gun and other ammunition. [44]
• May 5: The IDF uncovers a weapons cache in Bethlehem, including an Uzi submachine gun and five magazines. [45]
• April 17: Palestinians throw rocks at a bus traveling near Bethlehem, injuring an Israeli man and a young girl. [46]
• April 8: Palestinians attack Israeli vehicles traveling southwest of Bethlehem with Molotov cocktails and rocks, damaging a car. [47]
• April 1: Palestinians hit an Israeli vehicle traveling in Bethlehem with Molotov cocktails. [48]
• March 18: The IDF and Israeli Security Services arrest a Palestinian Islamic Jihad operative in Bethlehem. [49]
• March 12: Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Bethlehem-based leader and mastermind of the March 6 Jerusalem Mercaz HaRav Seminary terrorist attack, Muhammad Shahade, is killed by the IDF in Bethlehem. Eight Israeli students were murdered and 11 wounded in the attack. [50]
• March 1: A terrorist planning to attack an IDF post in Bethlehem is injured when a pipe bomb prematurely explodes. The terrorist is arrested and taken to a hospital. [51]
• Jan. 29: The IDF, Border Police and Security Services arrest Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Bethlehem-based leader Mohamad Abda. Abda is charged with commanding numerous Islamic Jihad terrorist cells and for planning and financing terror attacks against Israel. [52]
• Jan. 26: Palestinians hurl two Molotov cocktails at an Israeli vehicle traveling outside of Bethlehem. [53]
For more information about terrorism from Bethlehem 2006-2007, click here.
Experts and Israeli officials available for comment
Micky Galin, Spokesman for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories
Tel.: 972-50-623-4081
Yossi Gottesman, Foreign Press Liaison, Jerusalem Municipality
Tel.: 972-2-629-7744, E-mail: dover@jerusalem.muni.il
David Parsons, Spokesman, International Christian Embassy
Tel.: 972-2-539-9700
Ron Ross, Bridges for Peace media
Tel.: 972-2-624-5004
Professor Justus Reid Weiner, international human rights lawyer and expert on the Palestinian Christian minority
Tel.: 972-2-561-9281, Email: justusdocs@yahoo.com
Lydia Weitzman, Foreign Press Adviser to the Ministry of Tourism
Tel.: 972-2-52-358-4395
_______________________________________________________________________________
Footnotes:
[1] Hadad, Shmulik, “Rocket fired at western Negev,” YnetNews, Dec. 10, 2008, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3636159,00.html; “Qassam rocket lands in Gaza,” YnetNews, Dec. 8, 2008, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3635313,00.html; Keinon, Herb and Katz, Yaakov, “Ashdod, Kiryat Gat preparing for rockets,” The Jerusalem Post, Dec. 7, 2008, http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1227702461134&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull; “Violation of calm: Rockets strike Sderot, Ashkelon, western Negev,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dec. 10, 2008, http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Terrorism-+Obstacle+to+Peace/Hamas+war+against+Israel/Rockets_strike_Sderot_Ashkelon_western_Negev_16-Nov-2008.htm
[2] “Remarks by the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, at the Palestine Business and Investment Forum,” American Task Force on Palestine, Oct. 14, 2008, http://www.americantaskforce.org/remarks_prime_
[5] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Data relayed to The Israel Project by IDF Spokesman’s Division, Dec 2, 2008
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Information communicated to The Israel Project by the Jerusalem Municipality, Dec 10, 2008.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Unit Press Release, “Goodwill measures for the Eid al-Adha Festival,” Dec. 7, 2008
[19] Martin Gilbert, Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century (Pilmico 1996), p254.
[20] “Declaration of Establishment of State of Israel,” Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, May 14, 1948,
[28] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
[36] Ibid.
[39] Weiss, Efrat, “IDF seizes rifles, ammunition near Bethlehem; 2 Palestinians arrested,” YnetNews, Oct. 3, 2008, http://www.YnetNews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3604797,00.html
[47] Weiss, Efrat, “Palestinians hurl Molotov cocktails at cars in West Bank, no injuries,” YnetNews, April 8, 2008, http://www.YnetNews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529418,00.html
[48] Weiss, Efrat, “Car hit by Molotov cocktail near Bethlehem, no injuries,” YnetNews, April 1, 2008, http://www.YnetNews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3526487,00.html
The Israel Project is an international non-profit, nonpartisan organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel. The Israel Project is not related to any government or government agency and does not rate or endorse candidates.
Board of Advisors: Sen. Evan Bayh (IN), Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Sen. Saxby Chambliss (GA), Sen. Tom Coburn (OK), Sen. Norm Coleman (MN), Sen. Susan Collins (ME), Sen. Judd Gregg (NH), Sen. Joe Lieberman (CT), Sen. Ben Nelson (NE), Sen. Gordon Smith (OR), Sen. Arlen Specter (PA), Sen. Ron Wyden (OR), Rep. Rob Andrews (NJ), Rep. Shelley Berkley (NV), Rep. Tom Davis (VA), Rep. Eliot Engel (NY), Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ), Rep. Jon Porter (NV), Rep. John Sarbanes (MD), Rep. Jim Saxton (NJ), Rep. Brad Sherman (CA), Rep. Joe Wilson (SC), Actor and Director Ron Silver
|
