TOP STORY: NO ROOM AT THE INN: As millennium looms, no room at the inn or anywhere else

c. 1996 Religion News Service BETHLEHEM _ For centuries this town has resided in the hearts and minds of millions of Christians as a distant dream and symbol of the mysteries of Jesus’ birth, as a quaint Middle Eastern village sleeping under a starlit night. But as the year 2000 approaches _ and millions of […]

c. 1996 Religion News Service

BETHLEHEM _ For centuries this town has resided in the hearts and minds of millions of Christians as a distant dream and symbol of the mysteries of Jesus’ birth, as a quaint Middle Eastern village sleeping under a starlit night.

But as the year 2000 approaches _ and millions of pilgrims from around the world pour in to celebrate the millennium _ the myth of the Holy Land risks a massive collision with the realities that characterize this region today _ from traffic congestion and urban decay to political strife.


Neither the Palestinian Authority, which controls Bethlehem, nor Israel, which controls other key Christian sites in Jerusalem and Nazareth, are really prepared for the estimated 13 million to 15 million pilgrims expected to converge on the holy places over the next three years. That’s double or triple the 2.2 million tourists annually who visit the area today.

The practical problems begin at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport _ already operating at overflow capacity _ and continue to Bethlehem’s Manger Square.

The famous Bethlehem city square _ just outside the Church of the Nativity, where thousands of pilgrims gather for Christmas Eve services every year _ is due to be renovated, transforming it from the traffic-choked parking lot it is today to a more suitable park. But the Palestinian Authority has yet to decide who among a list of potential international donors should be given the coveted honor.

It is the ecumenical-minded Pope John Paul II who first set the tone for the approaching third Christian millennium. In a papal letter issued in 1994, he called for the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus to be a year of celebration, interfaith dialogue and pilgrimage.”It is our feast, but we are asking others to come celebrate with us, to broaden understanding between Jews, Muslims and Christians,”says Monsignor Kamal Bathish, the Catholic official named by the Vatican to coordinate the celebrations in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Although the year 2000 itself holds no intrinsic religious meaning, the spirit of the papal letter contrasts dramatically with the apocalyptic visions of some fundamentalist Christian groups, observes Monsignor Richard Mathes, Vatican cultural attache in Jerusalem.”In our theology, we say it is not a year of punishment, but a year of grace, a year of jubilee,”said Mathes, noting that the celebration theme is inspired, in part, by the”jubilee”years of the ancient Jewish calendar, in which sins were forgiven and debts rescinded.

Notably, for Israelis and Palestinians, the papal message declared that pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the year 2000 would be viewed as a religious act on par with a visit to the Vatican in Rome.

Meanwhile, the approaching anniversary has also spurred hopes that the pope himself may finally make a visit here, the first papal visit since formal diplomatic ties were established with Israel and the Palestinian Authority.


On the material plane, Christian plans to visit the Holy Land have spurred expectations among Israeli and Palestinian officials that the 2000-year jubilee may also be a year of grace for the regional tourism industry, rescuing it from a slump triggered by a year of bus bombings, political assassinations and Israeli-Arab unrest.”I believe that the 2000 year celebrations will bring tourists back to the state of Israel,”declares Shabtai Shai, deputy director general of Israel’s Tourism Ministry.”It’s the most important subject that we will be dealing with over the next three years.” Meanwhile, Bethlehem Mayor Elias Freij, who also serves as Palestinian tourism minister, held an unprecedented meeting this week with his Israeli counterpart Moshe Katsav. Freij declared that both Israel and the Palestinians should set aside political differences to get ready for the 2000 festivities. “Promotion of tourism is an economic interest shared by Israel and the Palestinian Authority,”Freij said.”Let’s talk business and put politics aside.” Yet if tourism surges sharply, travelers to the Holy Land in the year 2000 may encounter the same problem Mary and Joseph faced on the first Christmas _ no room at the inn.

Only about 500 internationally rated hotel rooms are available in Bethlehem today, and the situation is similar in Nazareth, where Jesus grew to manhood. Jerusalem is far better equipped, but traffic congestion, a poor public transportation system, and military roadblocks makes it difficult for present-day pilgrims to move around the city easily _ or make the five-mile trip to Bethlehem. “The Olympics requires five to 10 years of preparation. We have got only three years,”laments Hani Abu Dayyah, president of the Higher Council of Arab Tourist Industry, looking over a sheaf of proposals for infrastructure and renovation projects in Bethlehem’s drab and traffic-choked city center. So far, plans have gone nowhere.

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Abu Dayyeh says that Bethlehem is embarking too late on its year 2000 facelift to get the most out of the celebrations _ and bemoans the fact that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat has not yet appointed a committee to oversee the event. Nor has a single renovation project actually begun, even though the Swedes, Germans, the Anglican Church and various United Nations organizations have volunteered to fund renovations in key parts of the town, from Manger Square to the old market.”The event is momentous. But the Palestinians have not been able to build their institutions to maximize it,”says Abu Dayyah.

Although Palestinian tourism ministry officials blame the delays on Arafat’s preoccupation with bigger, peace process issues, it’s clear that the predominantly Christian 2000-year celebrations also have a certain degree of political sensitivity both for Palestinian and Israeli officials, whose constituencies are largely Muslim and Jewish.

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In Jerusalem, city officials in the government dominated by orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jewish religious parties seem to regard the year 2000 as a date they would rather forget. While celebrations for last year’s Jerusalem 3000 festivities, which marked the date when the Biblical King David founded the city, were years in the planning, municipal officials say they have nothing on the boards for the third Christian millennium.”Right now the municipality doesn’t haven anything planned. They’re still recovering from Jerusalem 3000,”reports Dina Segal, a city spokeswoman.

Adds another city official.”What do you want me to say, that I am adding another 40 red lights in preparation for the year 2000? Today, in December 1996, we have no program for the events in 2000. We have more pressing and important things on the agenda.” It is the Arab Israeli city of Nazareth, in the northern Galilee, which has moved the most effectively to capitalize on the event.


Nazareth’s plan for the year 2000, conceived by former Israeli Tourism Minister Uzi Baram, an official in the previous Labor government of Shimon Peres, sought to transform the undeveloped and traffic-choked provincial city into a primary pilgrim destination.

One of Israel’s best architectural offices, working with local planners and officials, created a four-year plan to make key parts of Nazareth’s downtown more pedestrian-friendly; ease bus access to tourist sites; renovate old-world markets and streets; improve water and electricity services; and build a hotel infrastructure in the city.

Still, it remains to be seen if the $100 million plan will be completed by the year 2000 because of drastic government budget cuts expected in 1997.

At the nearby Sea of Galilee, holy sites where Christian Scripture says Jesus fed the multitudes, other tensions are likely to surface as the millennium approaches. Catholic Church leaders are fearful that government proposals for facilities to accommodate multitudes of modern-day pilgrims around the holy sites could also threaten the natural quality of the landscape.”There is a basic misunderstanding between the tourism ministry and the church,”says Mathes.”For the Ministry of Tourism, a holy shrine is a tourist attraction and it is dealt with like a tourist attraction _ to make money out of it and get as many people in as you can.” (STORY CAN END HERE. OPTIONAL MATERIAL FOLLOWS)

Given the daunting complex of religious and political sensitivities involved even in the planning of a parking lot, the Tourism Ministry plans to put plans for the year 2000 before Israel’s cabinet for a formal discussion in coming weeks, says Shai. “We face potential problems not only with infrastructures, roads and parking, but also visas,”notes Shai.”We’ll somehow have to filter out those people who are coming as genuine tourists and those who want to immigrate.” Still, Mathes is optimistic that most of the problems can be ironed out as the date draws closer. For starters, he proposes that incoming pilgrims fly into Israeli military airports in the Negev _ as some tourists indeed already do _ to ease the pressure on Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport. Others may come overland from Jordan and Egypt, he says.

When hotel space is short, Catholic schools, seminaries and hospices can make room for extra guests. Moreover, Christian families may be happy to earn a little extra income by offering”bed and breakfast”accommodations to the pilgrims.


Indeed, against the gloomy political picture of the Middle East today, church and political leaders still seem hopeful that the approaching third millennium can set in motion another countervailing trend _ towards peace, reconciliation and cooperation. “Maybe this will have a little influence in brightening the skies, on relaxing a tense situation,”says Mathes.”There is an invitation to the other two monotheistic religions to share with us in the party. If one person sets off fireworks to celebrate his birthday, thousands see them. The 2000 year will be a joyful event. And joy is usually very contagious.”

MJP END FLETCHER

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