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FEATUREMonday 7 December 2015
Weeks of violence dampen Christmas spirit in Bethlehem
DANIELLA CHESLOW Much of Bethlehem is in a the catastrophes.” grey smoke would help hide and white stone, the es-
Associated Press similar funk. The latest wave of vio- them.As the troops fired the tate was once surrounded
BETHLEHEM, West Bank Christmas Eve is a major lence, which erupted in first round of tear gas and by olive groves. The near-
(AP) — With Christmas only event for the biblical town, mid-September, has killed the acrid smell reached the est structure was Rachel’s
weeks away and the latest drawing thousands of for- 19 Israelis, mostly in Palestin- courtyard lobby, Kattan Tomb, a shrine Jews re-
Israeli-Palestinian violence eign tourists each year and ian stabbings and shooting paced the reception area, vere as the burial place of
showing no signs of abat- giving a huge jolt to local attacks. At least 106 Pales- checking to make sure no the biblical matriarch and
ing, gloom has descended businesses. This year, the tinians, including 71 said by guests were nearby and where once a mosque
on the century-old Jacir holiday spirit will be harder Israel to be attackers, have that the staff had followed stood, Muslims say.
Palace hotel in Bethlehem, to find. been killed. The rest died in his instructions. After the Jacir family went
famed for its soaring stone Italian tenor Andrea Bo- clashes with Israeli forces. “Everyone knows what to bankrupt, the palace be-
archways and wrought iron celli, scheduled to perform Israel blames the violence do,” Kattan said. “It has be- came a prison, then British
military headquarters and
Christian Palestinians attend the lighting of a Christmas tree in Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank a school, according to
town of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015. Christmas Eve is a major event for the biblical town, but Mayor Vera Baboun said the Nada Atrash, a Bethlehem
city would only decorate Manger Square this year. The holiday spirit will be harder to find after weeks of Israeli-Palestinian vio- architect. In 1948, when Is-
lence. rael was formed, Palestin-
ian refugees streamed into
(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed) a refugee camp behind
the palace; today it’s a
balconies. in December, has called on incitement by Palestin- come routine.” maze of concrete homes,
The traditional Christmas off his visit. Sellers of olive ian leaders and on social He went through the mo- with laundry lines stretched
party has been nixed and wood souvenirs say they media sites. Palestinians tions of calling the Palestin- across the narrow streets.
reservations are down 50 have nearly no customers, say the attacks stem from ian police, which he said After Israel and the Palestin-
percent. Empty tear gas and Bethlehem hotel own- a lack of hope for gaining would not arrive. Then he ians signed the Oslo Peace
canisters litter the street ers are struggling to fill their independence after years went on lunch break. Accords in 1993, Palestin-
in front of the hotel and beds, especially after 11 of failed peace efforts. Outside, 19-year-old pro- ian businessmen invested
charred stains mark spots new hotels opened in the In October, 27-year-old tester Ahmad Sarahat from $50 million to transform it
where protesters burned last three years. Moataz Zawahra, one of Bethlehem covered his into a hotel. The late Pales-
tires. After almost three Mayor Vera Baboun said Jacir’s waiters, was shot mouth with the sleeve of tinian leader Yasser Arafat
months of absorbing stones the city would only deco- and killed by Israeli troops his sweatshirt to shield him- laid the hotel cornerstone
and rubber bullets, nearly rate Manger Square, home at the hotel’s entrance. The self from the tear gas. “We in 1998. The Denham, Eng-
every front window of the to the church that hosts the Israeli military says he threw want them to leave,” said land-based InterContinen-
hotel is cracked. When Pal- traditional birthplace of Je- a firebomb at the soldiers; Sarahat, pointing at the Is- tal Hotels Group signed a
estinian youths clash with Is- sus, and two nearby streets, his colleagues say they raeli watchtower. “We are 15-year contract with the
raeli troops outside, guests instead of all of downtown. did not see him attack- not afraid.” local investors.
are forced to use the back “Every year, when we light ing troops. He was off duty Kattan and others at the “Everything looked nice
entrance to dodge plumes the tree, usually there is a when he was shot. hotel hope it will weather and beautiful and every-
of smoke and tear gas. huge display of fireworks, On Friday, Palestinian the storm, as it has so many body thought now this is
“We have had tremendous but this year we will ring youths dragged metal gar- times in the past. time to make some mon-
difficulty,” said Johnny Kat- church bells instead,” said bage cans across the street Built as a palace in 1910 by ey,” said Kattan.
tan, Jacir’s maintenance Baboun. The bells, she add- in front of Jacir, hurled rocks Mayor Suleiman Jacir who The optimism was short-
manager. “But we’ve seen ed, will remind everyone at the Israeli guard tower used French architectural lived. Doors to the 250-
worse times.” “that we exist despite all and set tires on fire so the blueprints and local pink room hotel opened in May
2000 but shut within months
as the second intifada, or
Palestinian uprising, be-
gan. Israeli troops used the
hotel as a military base,
sandbagging the windows
and surrounding Rachel’s
Tomb with concrete slabs
to prevent Palestinian gun-
men from attacking Jewish
visitors. The hotel reopened
in 2005 as tourism began
to recover but the last two
years have been a chal-
lenge. In 2014, roughly
4,500 foreign tourists visited
Bethlehem on Christmas
Eve, half the number from
the year before because
of a summer war between
Israel and Hamas.
Kattan, the manager, said
he is grateful for the timing
of the current protests at
least — it’s too cold to use
the pool now and most of
the clashes happen in the
afternoon, when guests are
out sightseeing.q
