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Every Tuesday Make a Reservation
Departure time: 8am (08.00)
Return: 3pm (15.00)
Departure location: New Gate Old City, Jerusalem
Cost: 265 shekels ($75)
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank, approximately 10 kilometers (6 mi) south of Jerusalem, with a population of 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism.The tour begins at the New Gate of Jerusalem's Old City and passes through the Bethlehem Checkpoint where the Palestinian guide will meet the group, due to the restrictions prohibiting most Palestinians from entering Jerusalem. The Checkpoint is one of the few entry points into Bethlehem which is surrounded by fences and 8-meter (25 ft.) high walls.
Once in Bethlehem the group will visit the Chruch of the Nativity and visit a family in the Dheisheh refugee camp to hear about life under occupation. Confiscated land will be visited and participants will learn about the hardships that the economic stranglehold of the occupation has imposed on the city. The group will see how the city is almost surrounded by Israeli settlements, military zones, and restricted areas, which have turned Bethlehem into an isolated Palestinian population center.
According to Christian tradition, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth and 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. According to Biblical tradition, 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 Romans in 529 AD as a result of a revolt, and was rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I. Bethlehem was conquered by the Islamic 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 Authority since 1995.
Modern Bethlehem has a Muslim majority but is also home to one of the largest Palestinian Christian communities. The Bethlehem area includes the towns of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour, as well as the refugee camps of 'Aida and Beit Jibrin. Bethlehem's dominant economic sector is tourism which is particularly high during the Christmas season as the city is a Christian pilgrimage center, being home of the Church of the Nativity. Bethlehem has over thirty hotels and three hundred handicraft work shops, employing several of the city's residents. Rachel's Tomb, an important Jewish holy site is located at the entrance of Bethlehem.
This tour is conducted by guides from the Alternative Tourism Group in Beit Sahour near Bethlehem.
