Bethlehem Businesses Expect Second Slow Christmas Season
2021-11-26
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1Before the COVID-19 pandemic,
2the old city of Bethlehem in the West Bank
3was busy with visitors in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
4But for the last two years, hotels are empty or closed.
5No one is coming to the shops.
6A historic piece of woodwork inside the famous Church of the Nativity is being cleaned.
7However, not very many people will see how good it looks this year.
8Bethlehem, known from the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus,
9is inside an area of the Middle East controlled by Israel, known as the West Bank.
10Israel opened to visitors who have been vaccinated earlier in November,
11but not many people are coming to Bethlehem.
12In 2019, the city was busy with people visiting historic places such as the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square.
13Aladdin Subuh runs a shop near the square.
14He said he has no customers.
15He only opens the door to let in fresh air.
16"For two years, no business," he said.
17"It's like dying slowly."
18The global health crisis reduced visitors in both Israel and Palestine.
19But the city of Bethlehem's economy depends on visitors, so the situation is especially bad.
20In the first part of this month, 30,000 visitors came to Israel.
21In November 2019, over 400,000 people came.
22There is some government help for business owners in Bethlehem, but not much.
23Majed Ishaq is marketing director for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry.
24He said the Palestinian government is offering
25some businesses who depend on visitors from other nations ways to pay less tax
26and some new training.
27Ishaq's organization is working to encourage more people to come to Bethlehem this year.
28But Fadi Kattan is not hopeful.
29He is a chef and runs a hotel in the old part of Bethlehem.
30"I don't think tourism will come back very soon," he said.
31He closed his hotel in 2020 and does not plan to open it before Christmas.
32Kattan said it will take a long time for the city to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions,
33and business owners want to be sure they can stay open for a long time if they re-open.
34While people like Kattan are uncertain about the future.
35Work goes on at Bethlehem's historic sites.
36At the Church of the Nativity,
37workers are finishing a cleaning and repair project that started in 2013.
38Gold tiles and marble floors look new again.
39Workers put holiday lights in Manger Square.
40Unlike in 2019, visitors these days can enter the church without a long wait.
41More work needs to be done, however, raising the total cost of repair to almost $20 million.
42Saki Pappadopoulos is a woodcarver working on another old piece at the city's Greek Orthodox Church.
43He said the project was "a big challenge" that took three years.
44But it is almost finished.
45Issa Thaljieh is a Greek Orthodox religious leader at the Church of the Nativity.
46He said life is slowly getting better.
47He said the small groups coming to visit are a good sign.
48Without visitors, he said, "Bethlehem is nothing."
49I'm Dan Friedell.
1Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the old city of Bethlehem in the West Bank was busy with visitors in the weeks leading up to Christmas. 2But for the last two years, hotels are empty or closed. No one is coming to the shops. 3A historic piece of woodwork inside the famous Church of the Nativity is being cleaned. However, not very many people will see how good it looks this year. 4Bethlehem, known from the Bible as the birthplace of Jesus, is inside an area of the Middle East controlled by Israel, known as the West Bank. Israel opened to visitors who have been vaccinated earlier in November, but not many people are coming to Bethlehem. 5In 2019, the city was busy with people visiting historic places such as the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square. 6Aladdin Subuh runs a shop near the square. He said he has no customers. He only opens the door to let in fresh air. 7"For two years, no business," he said. "It's like dying slowly." 8The global health crisis reduced visitors in both Israel and Palestine. But the city of Bethlehem's economy depends on visitors, so the situation is especially bad. 9In the first part of this month, 30,000 visitors came to Israel. In November 2019, over 400,000 people came. 10There is some government help for business owners in Bethlehem, but not much. 11Majed Ishaq is marketing director for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. He said the Palestinian government is offering some businesses who depend on visitors from other nations ways to pay less tax and some new training. Ishaq's organization is working to encourage more people to come to Bethlehem this year. 12But Fadi Kattan is not hopeful. 13He is a chef and runs a hotel in the old part of Bethlehem. 14"I don't think tourism will come back very soon," he said. He closed his hotel in 2020 and does not plan to open it before Christmas. 15Kattan said it will take a long time for the city to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions, and business owners want to be sure they can stay open for a long time if they re-open. 16While people like Kattan are uncertain about the future. Work goes on at Bethlehem's historic sites. At the Church of the Nativity, workers are finishing a cleaning and repair project that started in 2013. Gold tiles and marble floors look new again. Workers put holiday lights in Manger Square. Unlike in 2019, visitors these days can enter the church without a long wait. 17More work needs to be done, however, raising the total cost of repair to almost $20 million. 18Saki Pappadopoulos is a woodcarver working on another old piece at the city's Greek Orthodox Church. He said the project was "a big challenge" that took three years. But it is almost finished. 19Issa Thaljieh is a Greek Orthodox religious leader at the Church of the Nativity. He said life is slowly getting better. He said the small groups coming to visit are a good sign. 20Without visitors, he said, "Bethlehem is nothing." 21I'm Dan Friedell. 22Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by the Associated Press. Susan Shand was the editor. 23Have you been to Bethlehem during Christmas? What do you remember about your visit? Tell us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 24____________________________________________________________ 25Words in This Story 26encourage - v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen 27tourism - n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure 28tile - n. a usually flat piece of hard clay, stone, or other material that is used for covering walls, floors, etc.