The holy city of Bethlehem is still waiting to celebrate Christmas and the New Year, amid sparse decoration, less than any year before, because of the economic crisis the Palestinian territories are passing through.
Our reporter walked the streets of the city and met with many officials, including Minister of Tourism Joudeh George Murqos. "We have the spirit of the challenge, the celebration comes every year, and we try our best to make it better each year. It is expected that at least 10,000 tourists will be arriving to the city this Christmas, and we have full occupancy reservations in all hotels of the city."
The minister added "the current situation in the territories directly effects the tourism, as the tourists are scared to come to the city, and we do our best to convince them to spend at least one night in the city. We hope that the disorder and lawlessness will be ended."
Mayor of the city, Victor Batarsa declared, "We are suffering under a strangling financial crisis. The government pledged 50,000 US dollars to decorate the city. Even this would not be enough, but we have not even received it yet."
The mayor added "the separation wall confiscated 800 dunums of the city lands, in addition to isolating us from the city of Jerusalem. This is what is worrying, as the two cities shouldn’t be separate from each other because, form a spiritual point of view, they are connected with each other."
Batarsa said that the city depends on tourists in its economy. "This year we expect 10,000 tourists to visit the city, while it has been over 20,000 in previous seasons. This affects the tourism in the city, in addition to the general situation which also affects the society in general."
One American tourist said "it is sad, I feel very sad, as I can't see the happiness of the Christmas and the New Year in the eyes of the Palestinians."
Daniela Duglar, 30, another tourist, stated "I came to Bethlehem to see the wall, as my friends in Boston told me about it, in addition to my wish to experience Christmas and the new year in this city."
Residents of the city are also depressed. Um Ilias, 42, said, "We are lacking money, this is not as other years, it is sad, we can't buy things for the celebration while the economic situation is deteriorating, because of the siege."
Issa Jaraysa, 11 years old, proclaimed "We don’t want to see killing and destruction amongst Fatah and Hamas, it was better last year. I love Christmas and New Year, especially the marches of the scouts."
Yousef Alhelou is a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. He can be contacted on ydamadan@hotmail.com
Five year ceasefire proposal between Israelis and Palestinians
Israeli daily newspaper, Yedioth Ahronouth, reported that Haniyeh's Political Advisor, Ahmad Yousef, has presented a draft ceasefire agreement for five years between the Palestinian government and the Israelis, to some European bodies.
The draft refers to Israeli withdrawal to lines to be agreed upon in the West Bank, and Palestinians to pledge not to launch any attack against Israelis, whether within Israel or in the territories, or anywhere else in the world. Israel will also pledge not to launch any attack against Palestinians. The plan aims to build confidence between the two sides, according to the paper.
Abbas offers ten days for dialogue regarding the unity government and early elections in the case of its failure
High-ranking sources in the President's office have revealed that Abbas has given the Hamas movement a chance of another ten days for dialogue to form the unity government.
London based Al Hayat newspaper quoted the source as saying that Abbas informed a third party that he accepts the resumption of the dialogue with Hamas where it ended, but this will only be for ten days.
Contact between the Fatah and Hamas movements has started through the follow up committee in order to prepare for the resumption of the dialogue.
Head of the committee, Ibrahim Abu An Naja, said, according to the paper, "The committee is studying suggestions to prepare the atmosphere to return to dialogue."
Close sources to the President said that Abbas prepared a decree in which he is going to call for the early elections, the decree will be announced within three weeks in the case of the dialogue failing.
The paper also said that a source from Hamas said, "We are against the early elections as we consider this as a coup against the movement and the government, but if Abbas does insist we might accept the challenge."
Jordan to host a meeting to renew talks regarding Palestinian unity government
A spokesperson for the Palestinian government, Dr Ghazi Hamad, has affirmed that Prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh received a phone call from his Jordanian counterpart, Ma'roof Al-Bakhit, officially inviting him to visit Jordan.
Dr Hamad said that, "Al-Bakhit has called Prime Minister Haniyeh and invited him to visit Jordan and meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to deal with the latest developments in the Palestinian arena. Prime Minister Haniyeh responded positively and arrangements for the visit will follow."
Earlier on Monday, a high-ranking source said that the Jordanian government invited Haniyeh to visit Jordan and take part in a tripartite meeting comprising himself, Abbas and King Abdullah II of Jordan. The meeting will endeavor to bridge the domestic Palestinian gap so as to contain the crisis and investigate the possibility of forming a unity government.
The same source expected the Jordanian mediation to succeed in laying the foundations for an Abbas-Haniyeh agreement to resume the unity dialogue.
Farouq Qaddoumi lambasts President Abbas
The Chief of the PLO political department, Farouq Qaddoumi has said that the decision taken by President Abbas to close the Amman office of the PLO political bureau "is a clumsy and foolish decision", accusing Abbas of not making the decision responsibly.
Speaking to the London based daily Ash Sharq Al Awsat, Qaddoumi said that he will warn the Palestinian Ambassador in Jordan, "as he is one of my staff, not the staff of the president. He is part of the foreign ministry, which is under my supervision as a [PLO] minister of foreign affairs of the Palestinian state.
Qaddoumi condemned the Jordanian stance over the decision, saying that this appointment was originally made under the patronage of the late King Hussein.
Regarding the early elections which Abbas called for, Qaddoumi stated bluntly that there will not be early elections. He also stated that both factions have the money [for the cancelled salary payments], "but they don’t want to pay it to the people".
When asked about the potential prisoner exchange, he said that to "give up" Gil'ad Shalit for nothing is impossible, "as this is a strong card in the Palestinian hands and they can't play it for nothing."
He stated that his visit to Cairo was a routine visit, coming as part of ongoing consultations with the Egyptian leadership.
Yousef Alhelou is a freelance Palestinian journalist based in Gaza. He can be contacted on ydamadan@hotmail.com
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