Everything about Bethlehem totally explained
Bethlehem ( lit "House of Meat";
Bethleém;,
Beit Lehem, lit "House of Bread") is a
Palestinian city in the central
West Bank, approximately south of
Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the
Bethlehem Governorate of the
Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism.
According to the
New Testament, Bethlehem is the birthplace of
Jesus of
Nazareth. The town is inhabited by one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, though the size of the community has shrunk in recent years due to emigration. The city is also believed to be the birthplace of
David and the location where he was crowned as the king of Israel. The city was sacked by the
Samaritans in 529 AD, during their revolt, but was rebuilt by the
Byzantine emperor
Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the
Arab Caliphate of
'Umar ibn al-Khattāb in 637, who guaranteed safety for the city's religious shrines. In 1099, Crusaders captured and fortified Bethlehem and replaced its
Greek Orthodox clergy with a
Latin one. The Latin clergy were expelled after the city was captured by
Saladin, the
sultan of
Egypt and
Syria. With the coming of the
Mamluks in 1250, the city's walls were demolished, and were subsequently rebuilt during the rule of the
Ottoman Empire.
The Ottomans lost the city to the
British during
World War I and it was to be included in an
international zone under the 1947
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
Jordan occupied the city in the
1948 Arab-Israeli War, and it was subsequently occupied by
Israel in the 1967
Six Day War. Israel has retained control over the entrances and exits to Bethlehem, though day-to-day administration has been under the purview of the
Palestinian National Authority since 1995.
Rachel's Tomb, an important Jewish holy site, is located at the entrance of Bethlehem.
History
Biblical era
Bethlehem, located in the "hill country" of
Judah, may be the same as the Biblical
Ephrath, which means "fertile": There is a possible reference to it as Beth-Lehem Ephratah. It is also known as Beth-Lehem Judah, and "the city of David". It is first mentioned in the Tanakh and the Bible as the place where the Abrahamic matriarch
Rachel died and was buried "by the wayside" (Gen. 48:7).
Rachel's Tomb, the traditional grave site, stands at the entrance to Bethlehem. According to the Book of Ruth, the valley to the east is where
Ruth of
Moab gleaned the fields and returned to town with
Naomi. Bethlehem is the traditional birthplace of
David, the second king of
Israel, and the place where he was anointed king by
Samuel. It was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his warriors brought him water when he was hiding in the cave of
Adullam.
Birthplace of Jesus
Two accounts in the
New Testament describe
Jesus as born in Bethlehem. According to the
Gospel of Luke, Matthew reports that
Herod the Great, told that a 'King of the Jews' has been born in Bethlehem, ordered the killing of all the children aged two and under in the town and surrounding areas. Jesus's earthly father
Joseph is warned of this in a dream, and the family escapes this fate by fleeing to Egypt and returning only after Herod has died. But being warned in another dream not to return to Judea, Joseph withdraws the family to
Galilee, and goes to live in Nazareth
Early Christians interpreted a verse in the
Book of Micah as a prophecy of the birth of the
Messiah in Bethlehem. Many modern scholars question whether Jesus was really born in Bethlehem, and suggest that the different Gospel accounts were invented to present the birth of Jesus as fulfillment of prophecy and imply a connection to the lineage of King David. The
Gospel of Mark and the
Gospel of John don't include a nativity narrative or any hint that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. In a 2005 article in
Archaeology magazine, archaeologist Aviram Oshri pointed to the absence of evidence of settlement of the area at the time when Jesus was born.
Roman and Byzantine periods
Between 132-135 the city was occupied by the Romans after its capture during the
Bar Kokhba Revolt. Its Jewish residents were expelled by the military orders of
Hadrian. While ruling Bethlehem, the Romans built a shrine to the mythical
Greek cult figure
Adonis on the site of the Nativity. A church was erected in 326, when
Helena, the mother of the first
Byzantine emperor
Constantine, visited Bethlehem. Bethlehem then passed from the control of the Islamic caliphates of the
Rashidun, the
Ummayads,
Abbasids and the
Fatimids. In 1009, during the reign of the sixth Fatimid Caliph
al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the Nativity was demolished under his orders. It was soon rebuilt by his successor
Ali az-Zahir to mend relations between the Fatimids and the Byzantine Empire.
In 1099, Bethlehem was captured by the
Crusaders, who fortified it and built a new monastery and cloister on the north side of the Church of the Nativity. The
Greek Orthodox clergy were removed from their Sees and replaced with
Latin clerics. Up until that point the official Christian presence in the region was Greek Orthodox. On Christmas Day 1100
Baldwin I, first king of the Frankish
Kingdom of Jerusalem, was crowned in Bethlehem, and that year a Latin episcopate was also established in the town.
Bethlehem — along with Jerusalem,
Nazareth and
Sidon — was briefly ceded to the Crusader
Kingdom of Jerusalem by a treaty between
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Ayyubid Sultan
al-Kamil in 1229, in return for a ten-year truce between the Ayyubids and the Crusaders. The treaty expired in 1239 and Bethlehem was recaptured by the Muslims in 1244.
In 1250, with the coming to power of the
Mamluks under
Rukn al-Din Baibars, tolerance of Christianity declined; the clergies left the city, and in 1263 the town walls were demolished. The Latin clergy returned to Bethlehem the following century, establishing themselves in the monastery adjoining the Basilica of the Nativity. The Greek Orthodox were given control of the basilica and shared control of the Milk Grotto with the Latins and the
Armenians.
Jordan occupied the city during the
1948 Arab-Israeli War. Many refugees from areas captured by
Israeli forces in 1947-48 fled to the Bethlehem area, primarily settling in the what became the official refugee camps of
Beit Jibrin (or al-'Azza) and
'Aida in the north and
Dheisheh in the south. The influx of refugees significantly transformed Bethlehem's Christian majority into a Muslim one.
Jordan retained control of the city until the
Six-Day War in 1967, when Bethlehem was occupied by Israel, along with the rest of the
West Bank. On
December 21,
1995, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem, and three days later the city came under the complete administration and military control of the
Palestinian National Authority in conformance with the
Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in 1995.
Second Intifada
During the
Second Palestinian Intifada, which began in 2000-01, Bethlehem's infrastructure and tourism industry was severely damaged. In 2002, it was a primary combat zone in
Operation Defensive Shield, a major military offensive by the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), in response to numerous Palestinian suicide bombings in
Israel.
During the operation, the IDF
besieged the Church of the Nativity, where about 200 Palestinians, including a group of militants, sought refuge amid IDF advancements into the city. The siege lasted for five days and nine militants and the church's bellringer were killed. It ended with an agreement to exile thirteen of the wanted militants to various European nations and
Mauritania. Pope
John Paul II condemned Israel's actions, describing them as reaching "unimaginable and intolerable" levels and the United Kingdom's foreign ministry stated they were "totally unacceptable". Bethlehem is situated on the southern portion in the
Judean Mountains.
The city is located northeast of
Gaza and the
Mediterranean Sea, west of
Amman,
Jordan, and southeast of
Tel Aviv,
Israel. Nearby cities and towns include
Beit Safafa and Jerusalem to the north,
Beit Jala to the northwest,
Husan to the west,
al-Khadr and
Artas to the southwest, and
Beit Sahour to the east. Beit Jala and the latter form an agglomeration with Bethlehem and the
Aida and
Beit Jibrin refugee camps are located within the city limits.
Old city
In the center of Bethlehem, is its old city. The old city consists of eight quarters, laid out in a mosaic style, forming the area around the Manger Square. The quarters, include the Christian al-Najajreh, al-Farahiyeh, al-Anatreh, al-Tarajmeh, al-Qawawsa and Hreizat quarters and al-Fawaghreh — the only Muslim quarter. Most of the Christian quarters are named after the Arab
Ghassanid clans that settled there. Al-Qawawsa Quarter was formed by Arab Christian emigrants from the nearby town of
Tuqu' in the 18th century. There is also a
Syriac quarter outside of the old city, The total population of the old city is about 5,000.
Bethlehem's average annual relative
humidity is 60% and reaches its highest rates between January and February. Humidity levels are at their lowest in May. Night dew may occur in up to 180 days per year. The city is influenced by the Mediterranean Sea breeze that occurs around mid-day. However, Bethlehem is affected also by annual waves of hot, dry, sandy and dust
Khamaseen winds that originate from the
Arabian Desert, during April, May and mid-June.
|
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| 1961 || align="center" | 22,450
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| 1983 || align="center" | 16,300
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| 1997 || align="center" | 21,930
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| 2004 (Projected) || align="center" | 28,010
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| 2005 (Projected) || align="center" | 29,020
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| 2006 (Projected) || align="center" | 29,930
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According to a PCBS estimate, Bethlehem had a population of 29,930 in mid-year 2006. In 1998, the religious makeup of the city was 67%
Sunni Muslim and 33%
Christian, mostly of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations. In 2005, the total Christian population decreased to about 20%. Despite
Islam being Bethlehem's dominant religion, the only
Muslim house of worship in the city is the
Mosque of Omar located in the Manger Square.
The percentage of Christians in Bethlehem has been steadily falling, primarily due to continuous emigration. The lower birth rate among Christians as compared to Muslims also accounts for some of the decline. In 1947, Christians made up 75% of the population, but by 1998 this figure had dropped to 33%.
Palestinian Authority rule following the Interim Agreements is officially committed to equality for Bethlehem area Christians, although there have been a few incidents of violence against them by the
Preventive Security Service and militant factions. The outbreak of the
Second Intifada and the resultant decrease in tourism has also affected the Christian minority, leaving many economically stricken as they're the owners of many Bethlehem hotels and services which cater to foreign tourists.
A 2006 poll of Bethlehem's Christians conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Research and Cultural Dialogue, found that 90% reported having Muslim friends, 73.3% agreed that the Palestinian National Authority treats Christian heritage in the city with respect and 78% attributed the ongoing exodus of Christians from Bethlehem to the Israeli travel restrictions in the area.
The
Hamas government's official position has been to support the city's Christian population, though the party has been criticized by some anonymous residents for increasing the Islamic presence in the city by, for example, activating the call to prayer at a previously unused local mosque in a Christian neighborhood. Under Hamas, the Christian population has continued to suffer from a lack of law and order which has left it susceptible to land theft by local mafia who take advantage of ineffective courts and the perception that the Christian population is less likely to stand up for itself.
Economy
Shopping and industry
Shopping is a major sector in Bethlehem, especially during the
Christmas season. The city's main streets and old markets are lined with shops selling handicrafts,
Middle Eastern spices, jewelry and oriental sweets such as
baklawa.
The tradition of making
handicrafts in the city dates back to its founding. Numerous shops in Bethlehem sell olive wood carvings — for which the city is renowned — made from the local olive groves. The carvings are the main product purchased by tourists visiting Bethlehem. Religious handicrafts are also a major industry in Bethlehem, and some products include ornaments handmade from
mother-of-pearl, as well as olive wood statues, boxes, and crosses.
Bethlehem has a wine-producing company,
Cremisan Wine, founded in 1885, that currently exports wine to several countries. The wine is produced by monks in the Monastery of Cremisan, and the majority of the grapes are harvested from the
al-Khader area. The monastery’s wine production is around 700,000 liters per year.
Tourism
Tourism is Bethlehem's primary industry and unlike other Palestinian localities before 2000, the majority of the working residents didn't work in Israel.
The
Church of the Nativity is one of Bethlehem's major tourist attractions and a magnet for Christian pilgrims. It stands in the center of the city — a part of the
Manger Square — over a grotto or cave called the Holy Crypt, where Jesus was born according to Christian tradition. Nearby is the Milk Grotto where
Jerome is said to have spent thirty years
translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Latin.
Economic conference
Bethlehem hosted the largest ever economic conference in the Palestinian territories on
May 21,
2008. It was initiated by
Palestinian Prime Minister and former
Finance Minister Salam Fayyad to convince over 1,000 businessmen, bankers and government officials from throughout the
Middle East to invest in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip, although Fayyad admitted the territories were "far from the perfect business environment", being directly linked with the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Nonetheless, 1.4 billion US dollars was secured for business investments in the Palestinian territories.
Culture
Embroidery
Before the establishment of Israel as a state, Bethlehem costumes and embroidery were popular in villages throughout the Judaean Hills and the coastal plain. The women embroiderers of Bethlehem and the neighboring villages of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour were known to be professional producers of wedding costumes. Bethlehem was a center for embroidery producing a "strong overall effect of colors and metallic brilliance."
Less formal dresses in Bethlehem were generally made of indigo fabric and a sleeveless coat (
bisht), made from locally woven wool, was worn over top. Dresses for special occasions were made of striped silk with winged sleeves and the short
taqsireh jacket, known throughout Palestinian as the Bethlehem jacket, was worn over it. The taqsireh was made of
velvet or
broadcloth, usually with heavy embroidery. The International Center of Bethlehem is another cultural center that concentrates primarily on the culture of Bethlehem. It provides language and guide training, woman's studies and arts and crafts displays, and training.
Christmas celebrations
Christmas rites are held in Bethlehem on three different dates:
December 24 is the traditional date by the Roman Catholic and
Protestant denominations, but Greek,
Coptic and
Syrian Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on
January 6 and
Armenian Orthodox Christians on January 19. Most Christmas processions pass through Manger Square, the plaza outside the Basilica of the Nativity. Catholic services take place in
St. Catherine's Church and Protestants often hold services at Shepherds' Fields.
Government
Bethlehem is the
muhfaza (seat) or district capital of the
Bethlehem Governorate. The Bethlehem Municipal Council consists of fifteen elected members, including the mayor and deputy mayor. A special statute requires that the mayor and a majority of the municipal council must be Christian, while the remainder are open seats, not restricted to any religion.
Elected Candidates of the Bethlehem municipal elections of 2005
Mayors
The mayor and the deputy mayor of Bethlehem are required by municipal law to be Christian.
Education
According to the
Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in 1997, approximately 84% of Bethlehem's population over the age of 10 was literate. Of the city's population, 10,414 were enrolled in schools (4,015 in primary school, 3,578 in secondary and 2,821 in high school). About 14.1% of high school students received diplomas. There were 135 schools in the
Bethlehem Governorate in 2006; 100 run the
Education Ministry of the Palestinian National Authority, seven by the
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and 28 were private.
Bethlehem is home to
Bethlehem University, a
Catholic Christian co-educational institution of higher learning founded in 1973 in the Lasallian tradition, open to students of all faiths. Bethlehem University is the first university established in the West Bank, and can trace its roots to 1893 when the
De La Salle Christian Brothers opened schools throughout Palestine and Egypt.
Transportation
Bus service
Bethlehem has four privately owned bus stations which offer service to Jerusalem,
Hebron,
Nahalin,
Battir and
Beit Fajjar. Buses and taxis with West Bank licenses are not allowed to enter Israel, including Jerusalem, without a permit.
Movement restrictions
The Israeli construction of the
West Bank barrier has had an impact on Bethlehem politically, socially, and economically. The barrier runs along the northern side of the town's built-up area, within meters of houses in 'Aida refugee camp on one side, and the Jerusalem municipality on the other. Acquiring such permits to enter, what in the past served in many ways as an urban anchor to Bethlehem, has become exceedingly rare since the onset of the violence surrounding the Second Intifada, though Israel has subsequently erected a terminal to ease transit between the two adjoining cities.
Palestinians are not allowed to enter the Jewish holy site of
Rachel's Tomb, which is on the outskirts of the city, without a permit. Since Bethlehem and the nearby biblical
Solomon's Pools lie in Area A (territory under both PNA military and civil administration), Israeli citizens are barred without a permit from the Israeli military authorities.
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