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My Profile Top News Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day. Subscribe You are here: Home > News > International > Article Home Business & Finance News U.S. Politics International Technology Entertainment Sports Lifestyle Oddly Enough Health Science Special Coverage Video Pictures Your View The Great Debate Blogs Weather Reader Feedback Do More With Reuters RSS Widgets Mobile Podcasts Newsletters Your View Make Reuters My Homepage Partner Services CareerBuilder Affiliate Network Professional Products Support (Customer Zone) Reuters Media Financial Products About Thomson Reuters Bethlehem traders still waiting for Christmas cheer Tue Dec 1, 2009 6:04am EST Email | Print | Share | Reprints | Single Page [-] Text [+] By Erika Solomon BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - The lights are going up and carols are ringing from Manger Square, but Christmas cheer hasn't spread to all of Bethlehem's residents. While calm has returned to the Biblical birthplace of Jesus, scene of heavy fighting during the Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, in the early years of this decade, big-spending foreign tourists have mostly not, say the shopkeepers and restaurant owners who depend on them for their livelihood. Last year, the West Bank town enjoyed its first tourism boom since the Intifada. About 1.5 million people visited Bethlehem in 2008, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism. "People's presence here during Christmas reflects on coming seasons, and how well the city is doing and whether the situation in the region is good," said Elias al-Arja, president of the Palestine Hotels association. But even as visitor numbers are projected to rise again, shopkeepers insist they are not feeling the benefit. Foreign tourists are whisked through Bethlehem from nearby Jerusalem on half-day visits organized by tour companies located in Israel. The two cities are divided by just a few kilometers (miles) but also an Israeli wall that complicates the journey. "I have a clear impression that the Israeli government would prefer that I not come here," said Doris Warrell, an American Protestant minister who was one of the few foreigners that stayed to browse a Christmas market set up this week on Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, which stands on the spot revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus. Visiting from the United States, Warrell reflected on a very different trip to Bethlehem in 1994, shortly after the launch of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process which is now stalled. "People were happy and celebrating. There was a checkpoint, but you didn't have this huge visual impediment," she said, in reference to the West Bank barrier, which Israel says it has built in the past five years to thwart attacks on its citizens. "As someone who wants peace for both Palestinians and Israelis, to see that wall there is just an indicator of how many steps back we've taken," Warrell said. "Things for some people may not be as violent, but they're still not peaceful." Israel says the barrier has largely succeeded in reducing violence. Palestinians, backed by a ruling from the World Court, see its construction on occupied West Bank territory as a land grab and a tool to consolidate Israeli control of Jerusalem. NOT LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS Most of the visitors to the Bethlehem Christmas market, selling decorations, needlework, olive oil and jeweler, were local Palestinians: "Everyone knows how great it is to come to Bethlehem during Christmas," says 20 year-old Hanne, from the West Bank administrative center of Ramallah. "And if the people of Bethlehem make us feel the situation is quiet, and they hold these kinds of activities, it encourages us Palestinians to visit." The new government of Israel's right-wing prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has taken steps to ease freedom of movement for Palestinians around the West Bank, cutting back on military checkpoints in an effort to promote economic growth. Continued... View article on single page Share: Del.icio.us Digg Mixx Yahoo! Facebook LinkedIn Also on Reuters Video Video: Cyber Monday spurs shopping Commentary: Dubai can’t rely on friendly creditors Reuters Media Summit: Sirius CEO dodges crisis More World News Iran says may take serious action against Britons | Video Suicide bomber kills Pakistan parliamentarian South Korea knocks down rumor North leader dead Iran says to protest over IAEA nuclear resolution Philippines files murder charges for massacre More World News... 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