Elaborate preparations in Bethlehem are geared for New Year's Eve -- as well as the Christmas holiday

December 21, 1999
Web posted at: 10:02 p.m. EST (0302 GMT)

In this story: Political dividends for Palestinians Holy season planned to last through Easter 2001 Region's grim realities also evident Pilgrims touch star on grotto floor RELATED STORIES, SITES

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- The biblical birthplace of Jesus is busily preparing for Christmas -- and the millennium.

The epicenter for Christian pilgrims will be the fourth-century Church of the Nativity, built above the grotto that Christians call the Christmas Manger.

And in Manger Square, the stage is being set for the centerpiece of festivities: carols on Christmas Eve.

VIDEO CNN's Jerrold Kessel reports on Bethlehem's Christmas preparations (December 21) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD Religion today

The Palestinian Authority has outshone Israel in the attempt to capture the millennium limelight -- promoting Bethlehem as the most important holy site of all this tourist season.

There may be a political dividend: responsibility for Holy Week events is seen as a useful stepping stone to Palestinian statehood. But so far, the area has seen little of the expected economic windfall. About 60,000 pilgrims -- double the recent average -- are predicted for Christmas. For now, there is only a trickle.

The Palestinian Authority is promoting Bethlehem as a focal holy site for tourists

The elaborate preparations are aimed not only at Christmas and the New Year. The goal extends far beyond that.

Bethlehem's holy season is planned to last through Easter of the year 2001.

In recent days, a Russian advance guard inspected sites in preparation for President Boris Yeltsin's planned visit in January to mark Orthodox Christmas.

Construction of the Inter-Continental Bethlehem is proceeding at breakneck speed. It will be the city's most exclusive hotel upon completion.

"People will come here and have quite a lot to talk about," said hotel manager Olof Jurva as he eagerly guided visitors through the mess of plaster and paint that will soon be transformed into luxury suites, gourmet restaurants, theme bars and a fitness club.

For all its preparations, however, Bethlehem still mirrors grim Mideast realities.

The rooftop of the Inter-Continental Bethlehem offers quite a view -- a squalid refugee camp, an Israeli guard tower and a controversial Jewish housing project.

At the border crossing between Israel and Palestinian- controlled Bethlehem, workers from West Bank towns and villages spill through by the thousands, lured by better wages in Israel. In the dawn light, they pass under Christmas decorations of shooting stars and silhouettes of Bethlehem fastened to every lamppost.

"There's not enough work for everyone," said Halil Hassan, 38.

Hard-pressed to support his seven children, he makes the 90-minute trek to Jerusalem each day to work on a construction site.

Such complaints could also be heard in the city's newly renovated open-air market, along with the singsong shouts of vendors selling everything from used computer monitors to turnips.

Shoemaker Abdir Jalil Salhab, 70, operates a Singer sewing machine older than he is. His gnarled hands pressed down a pair of children's high-top sneakers as he stitched in a new lining.

"It's not good, there is not enough work," said Salhab, whose son was killed in rioting during the Palestinian uprising.

On a recent day, city workers on scaffolding high above Manger Square assembled the gold-colored hands of the Christmas countdown clock.

Inside the Church of the Nativity, American pilgrims descended a narrow staircase that leads to the grotto marked with a silver star on the floor, the site where tradition says Jesus was born. One by one, the pilgrims knelt and touched the star.

"It's awe-inspiring and bewildering, too," Margaret Quist of Summerville, South Carolina, said of Bethlehem. "This Prince of Peace was succeeded by so much conflict."

Correspondent Jerrold Kessel andThe Associated Press contributed to this report.

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