Bethlehem Businesses Expect Second Slow Christmas Season

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the old city of Bethlehem in the West Bank was busy with visitors in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

But for the last two years, hotels are empty or closed. No one is coming to the shops.

A historic¹ 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.

Bethlehem, known from the Bible² 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 vaccinated³ earlier in November, but not many people are coming to Bethlehem.

In 2019, the city was busy with people visiting historic places such as the Church of the Nativity and Manger Square.

Aladdin Subuh runs a shop near the square. He said he has no customers. He only opens the door to let in fresh air.

"For two years, no business," he said. "It's like dying⁴ slowly."

The global health crisis⁵ reduced visitors in both Israel and Palestine. But the city of Bethlehem's economy depends on visitors, so the situation is especially bad.

In the first part of this month, 30,000 visitors came to Israel. In November 2019, over 400,000 people came.

There is some government help for business owners in Bethlehem, but not much.

Majed Ishaq is marketing⁶ director for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry⁷. 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.

But Fadi Kattan is not hopeful.

He is a chef and runs a hotel in the old part of Bethlehem.

"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.

Kattan said it will take a long time for the city to recover from the COVID-19 restrictions⁸, and business owners want to be sure they can stay open for a long time if they re-open.

While 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 tiles¹⁰ 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.

More work needs to be done, however, raising the total cost of repair to almost $20 million.

Saki Pappadopoulos is a woodcarver working on another old piece at the city's Greek Orthodox¹¹ Church. He said the project was "a big challenge" that took three years. But it is almost finished.

Issa 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.

Without visitors, he said, "Bethlehem is nothing."

Words in This Story

encourage – v. to make (something) more appealing or more likely to happen

tourism – n. the activity of traveling to a place for pleasure

tile⁹ – n. a usually flat piece of hard clay, stone, or other material that is used for covering walls, floors, etc.

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

3 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

5 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

6 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

7 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

8 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

9 tile   

n.砖瓦；vt.铺以瓦，铺以瓷砖

参考例句：

• The bathroom is faced with tile.浴室铺着瓷砖。
• I pointed to a number of scratches in the tile floor.我指向地板砖上的一道道划痕。

10 tiles   

n.瓦片，瓷砖( tile的名词复数 )；扁平的小棋子

参考例句：

• The wind dislodged one or two tiles from the roof. 大风从屋顶上刮下了一两片瓦来。
• On both slopes of the roof there are broken tiles. 屋顶的两面斜面都有破瓦片。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 orthodox   

adj.正统的，传统的，惯常的

参考例句：

• They are orthodox Jews.他们是正统的犹太教徒。
• His ideas are very orthodox.他的思想非常合乎规范。