Bethlehem issues 'passport' through Israeli walls

Salt shakers
November 2005

Bethlehem issues 'passport' through Israeli walls
Dr. Victor Batarseh, Mayor of Bethlehem, declared Bethlehem an open city and announced that his city will issue a "Bethlehem passport," open to anyone in the world.

At a press conference in London on November 9, Batarseh said, "My city—Bethlehem—is in a state of emergency and may soon be lost to the world. This, I hope you will agree, will have a devastating effect on the cause of open democracy in the Middle East. It would have far wider reaching implications not only for Christianity world-wide but also to the relationship between the Christian countries and all other nations.

"My city is dying because it is imprisoned. A combination of walls and fences completely surround the urban core of the Bethlehem region, leaving only two gates to the outside world. It is not, as the Israelis would claim, a security barrier. In the first instance, it does not separate a Palestinian population from an Israeli population. Rather, it cuts through villages within the Bethlehem area, separating Palestinians from Palestinians. It even cuts through a cemetery, separating our dead from each other.

"In a strict and literal sense, it is a ghetto wall, and Bethlehem is a prison town. We have reached a final, tragic level of absurdity that a nation created to free the Jews from captivity has built a prison for Christians and Muslims." (Full statement)

Bataresh's civic gestures are symbolic work-arounds to the encroaching security efforts of Israeli authorities, the combination of the Israeli security wall and various militarized fences erected by Israeli defense forces which now surround the town. With only two gates left to the outside world, Batarseh said, "We recognise we have to act.

"The passport is a way to ask people to step up to the plate: invest in Bethlehem, bring projects to the city or come and live among us—and you can also be a Bethlehemite."

Members of the Open Bethlehem initiative said the current situation in Bethlehem is grim. "The walls and fences that encircle Bethlehem have turned this 4000 year old city into a prison for its 160,000 citizens. The number of tourists visiting Bethlehem has dropped from nearly 92,000 in 2000 to a mere 7,249 in 2004. In the last five years 9.3 per cent of the Christian population of Bethlehem has emigrated. Restaurants, shops and commercial outlets have shrunk and Bethlehem's economy is threatened."

"The loss of Bethlehem to the world," said Leila Sansour of the Open Bethlehem initiative, "would have a devastating effect on the cause of open democracy in the Middle East, on Christianity worldwide, and on the relationship between Christian nations and other countries."

The Open Bethlehem initiative will issue the passport to friends of Bethlehem as part of a campaign to encourage trade partnerships, investment, tourism, events, and to attract creative opportunities to the city. The core of its message is that Bethlehem is a city of openness and diversity, with a centuries old tradition of welcoming travellers, refugees and pilgrims from across the world.

Open Bethlehem already has the support of international figures such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter; the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, the Archbishop of Jerusalem His Excellency Michel Sabah and many other influential leaders in their sectors.

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