BETHLEHEM Background
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, situated in the Judean Hills, 5 miles (8 kilometres) south of Jerusalem with a population of around 28,000. The city holds considerable historic and religious importance for the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths. As the birth place of Jesus Christ, Bethlehem forms a central part of the Christian tradition, but it is also important for Muslims, for whom Jesus is a revered prophet. Rachel’s Tomb, mentioned in the Jewish and Christian Old Testament and in Muslim literature, is another key religious site, among various others. In modern times, Bethlehem was administered as a part of the British Mandate in Palestine from 1920 until 1948. It was included in the 1947 ‘corpus separatum’ plan, which was to place Jerusalem and Bethlehem under an international regime. The plan was voted in by the United Nations with a two-‐thirds majority; however it was never successfully implemented. After the first Arab-‐Israeli war in 1948-‐49, Bethlehem became part of the annexed territory of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. In 1967, after the Six Day War, Bethlehem was part of the Israeli-‐occupied territory of the West Bank. As a result of 1993 Oslo Agreements, it came under control of the Palestinian Authority, in Area A.
Bethlehem surrounded by a wall Bethlehem today is surrounded on three sides by an eight metre high concrete wall, restricted roads and roadblocks. Israel began construction of the wall in 2002, purportedly to protect its borders
amid the increased violence of the second Intifada. However critics of the wall say its use has moved beyond security concerns, arguing that is now acting as a land-‐grabbing mechanism. Once completed, 85% of it will be located inside the West Bank and at 712km long, it will be twice the length of the 1967 Green Line (OCHA 2013). The wall has isolated Bethlehem from the West Bank and
Jerusalem– Palestinians cannot enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem without going through military checkpoints. It has compounded the litany of human rights abuses felt by Palestinians; imposing further restrictions on their freedom of movement inside the city and in the surrounding area, and reducing their access to essential services. The barrier’s route also envelops Rachel’s Tomb, known by Muslims as the Bilal ibn Rabah mosque, leaving it under strict Israeli control. Restricted access to land The UN estimates that only 13% of the governorate of Bethlehem is available for Palestinians to use, with the wall isolating 25% of Bethlehem’s agricultural land. Meanwhile, 22 Jewish settlements have established themselves in the surrounding areas, preventing the growth of Palestinian towns and villages and denying them vital land and resources.
Israel has illegally annexed the 22km2 area of land north of Bethlehem to the Jerusalem municipality in order to expand its settlements. Beit Suhour lost 17% of its land due to the expansion of Jerusalem’s boundaries, now the Palestinians living there have to apply for permits to enter East Jerusalem. Bethlehem and East Jerusalem are already cut-‐off from one another, except for settlers, who benefit from a fast network of roads linking settlements directly to Jerusalem. However, proposed plans for expanding these existing settlements will further disconnect these two vital cities, significantly disrupting the contiguity of occupied Palestinian territory and undermining hopes of a viable future Palestinian state. Plans announced in August 2013 to add 983 new housing units to the large Israeli settlement of Har Homa, will extend the settlements onto the hills near Bethlehem further constricting Beit Suhour. The plan has come in conjunction with a number of other worrying announcements for Gilo, Efrat, Beitar Illit and Nokdim (the settlements surrounding Bethlehem), which if implemented will almost completely seal Bethlehem off from East Jerusalem and the nearby Palestinian towns, villages and agricultural land. Suffocating the economy The damage that the Israel’s security apparatus and growing settlement enterprise cause to the Palestinian economy is devastating. In Bethlehem and the surrounding area, Palestinians have suffered in particular from their effects on the agriculture and tourism industries. The current unemployment rate is around 23%, the highest of any West Bank region, whose overall average is 18%. Palestinians endure huge delays trying to circumvent the vast network of settler roads and military checkpoints that block direct access to their agricultural land. Upon reaching it, they must manage with only very limited water resources and agricultural supplies. Furthermore, a growing trend of settler violence and official demolitions has the seen many instances of Palestinian crops being completely destroyed. Since 1967, Israeli has uprooted over 800,000 olive trees in the West Bank. Within the city, Bethlehem continues to suffer from severe challenges to its tourism sector. Before the second Intifada in 2000, approximately 18% of the waged workers in urban Bethlehem were employed in the tourism sector. With the outbreak of the Intifada and the subsequent restrictions on movement on both Palestinians and tourists, Bethlehem’s tourism sector suffered a severe decline. Palestinian tour guides find it difficult to gain entry into Israeli controlled areas, giving Israeli tour operators the lion’s share of the market and the opportunity to focus their itineraries to favour hotels in Jerusalem. Tourists who want to go from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, which are a few miles from each other, must go through an Israeli checkpoint, involving a wait of 90 minutes. The wall reinforces the impression the Bethlehem is not safe. Overcrowding A lack of unrestricted land, natural population growth and an expanding refugee population has led to a problem of overcrowding in Bethlehem, where the majority of households live in crowded conditions. Palestinians have migrated to Bethlehem to access jobs and basic services or have fled there to one of the three refugee camps after their homes have been destroyed. The Dheisheh refugee camp is the oldest refugee camp in the West Bank and was established in 1949 2km south of Bethlehem. It was opened to accommodate 3,400 inhabitants of 45 villages in Western Jerusalem and Hebron after their homes were destroyed. Originally a temporary measure, it now houses over 13,000 refugees and their descendants, causing grave overcrowding and massive strains on health, sanitation and education services.