Preparations for Cheerful Bethlehem Christmas as Town Bustles with Tourists

Forty-day-old Christian Palestinian infant Riyan Khader is laid in front of the doll representing the infant Jesus to receive its blessing in St. Catherine's Church next to the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, on 14 December 2008; in the ancient town of Bethlehem.

Christian pilgrims pray in the grotto of the Church of the Nativity, the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ, on 14 December 2008.
A Christian pilgrim lays her hand on the 14-pointed Silver Star that marks the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ in the grotto of the Church of the Nativity, on 14 December 2008.

Just 10 days to go before Christmas, the city is bustling with tourists as unified Christian, Jewish and Muslim Palestinian forces are working diligently to make this the most cheerful Christmas since the year 2000.
Palestinian glass painter Raslan al-Natsheh decorates a glass bell, hand blown at his family's glass factory in the city of Hebron, on 14 December 2008. Glass baubles and bells are being created and sold in the town of Bethlehem and across Palestine for a wonderful remembrance of Christmas in Bethlehem.

A Palestinian policeman relaxes in a ray of sunshine which strikes the ancient marble pillars in the Church of the Nativity, on 14 December 2008.

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Luke 2:14

What's for Sale?

A Palestinian boy rides a toy vehicle which is on sale at a street stall in the city of Rafah, on 27 October 2008.

A Palestinian woman looks at electronic goods on sale at a street stall in the city of Rafah, on the same day.

While some parts of the world is having a bit of an economy crisis, Palestine is economically booming and what better way with the more influx of consumer good’s to make not just the housewife, the children happy; but everyone in between, that is heading to the shopping stall’s to see what is ready to purchase or what marvelous things to see.

It is an understanding that with not just goods and services, but the every increasing employment, housing boom; just to name a few in the more modernized beauty that is Palestine.

Palestine from my understanding, is having the greatest increase in tourism then we have had in several years.

Palestine is becoming the great beauty in a more modernized version as it every was before; even Palestinians coming home for a visit is amazed as though the are in a dream of some type.

As to the happiness of everyone, I know from my own experience their smiles are getting bigger, to wider and sometimes happiness is making people do wonderful things.

New Orleans Restaurants Fare Well In Economic Crisis

Tourism Officials Say Tours, Conferences Help Area

11 October 2008

NEW ORLEANS-It seems every industry is keeping a close eye on what's happening with the economy.

The service industry is the New Orleans area's bread and butter, so WDSU NewsChannel 6 wanted to find out how restaurants are faring.

Industry experts said growth in the service industry was basically flat in 2007. That's why now more than ever local restaurants have to pinch pennies to earn every customer.

Phil Degruy owns Phil's Grill in Metairie and Mandeville.

With gas prices already eating many restaurants profits, he said the failing economy making matters worse.

"Here in Metairie, it's great," Degruy said. "Mandeville is a little slow taking off, and I think that has to do with the economy right now."

Even so, the Louisiana Restaurant Association said New Orleans restaurants are doing better than national ones.

"Here in New Orleans, eating out is such a strong part of the culture that we really will give up other things before we give up going out to eat with our friends or family," resident Wendy Waren said.

As a precaution, many restaurants are instituting cost-saving strategies.

"They're ordering less frequently, thinking more long-term about perishable and non perishable items they will need and reducing food spoilage and waste in the kitchen," Waren said.

Restaurants are also coming up with creative marketing campaigns.

Phil's Grill has a rewards card.

"Royalty Rewards is like a frequent flier deal," Degruy said. "Every time you eat, you earn points and I buy you burgers."

Degruy hasn't raised his prices yet. In this economy, he said he's banking on burgers.

"I think the fine dining establishments will suffer more as disposable income becomes less," he said. "People are still going to eat out and people are still going to eat burgers."

Tourism officials said one of the things that's helping the New Orleans area are tours and some large conferences scheduled earlier this year for fall.

In Other News:
Homeowners Question Increased Assessments (Video)

Three years later, 6,500 subsidized New Orleans apartments fester

Long Table Dinner To Celebrate China's National Day

Tourists eat delicious Islamic food at the long table during the first 'Anshu.Pingba Food Festival,' on 28 September 2008 in Pingba, west China's Guizhou.

Pingba county is the hometowm of Chinese Islamic food and to welcome the 59th birthday of the the nation, they hold the food festival to welcome tourists from home and abroad.

St. Augustine's Castillo de San Marcos

The city of St. Augustine, Florida; was founded by the Spanish in 1565.

Over the next one hundred years, the city was defended by nine wooden forts.

Following the 1668 attack of the English pirate Robert Searle, it was decided by the Queen Regent of Spain, Mariana, that a masonry fortification be constructed to protect the city.

In October 1672 construction began on the fort that would become the Castillo de San Marcos.

Over time, the fort has been held by the Spanish (twice), British and later the Americans.

Furthermore, Queen Deborah of Palestine, has known of this fort, since she was fourteen years old.

(Click to enlarge picture.)

Construction
The Castillo is a masonry star fort made of a stone called "coquina," literally "little shells," made of ancient shells that have bonded together to form a type of stone similar to limestone. Workers were brought in from Havana, Cuba and local Native Americans, to construct the fort.

It was later recorded, that a later unsealed room within the fort, was where the workers where put after the construction was completed. The workers where forced into a little room and the room was then sealed for many years.

The idea was said, so none of the workers would reveal any information about the fort, to the enemy.

This is just one of the idea’s people come up with in different time periods, in what sometimes occurs during a war.

In the more modern times, Castillo de San Marcos has been known as a well visited, tourist destination.

Building Media City in Gaza

A Palestinian man works in a cattle farm project in the media city being developed by the Palestine Legal government, on 24 July 2008.

A Palestinian man works in a fish farm project in the media city being developed by the Palestine legal government, on 24 July 2008; in the former Jewish settlement of Gani Tal near Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.

With the farms are in place to raise revenue for this project, with half of the necessary financing raised so far.

The Palestine legal government plan to build a $200 million media city and movie production studio with entertainment for children, restaurants, mock villages, and farms as a tourist attraction and to better the community’s economy.

A Palestinian man displays chicks, as he works in a chicken farm project; in the media city.

Foreign Tourist Finding Better Destinations then U.S.

13 July 2008

Some U.S. cities that depend on the tourist dollar especially foreign tourist money, has fallen by the way side, according to one account.

The falling U.S. dollar as well as post 9/11 security headaches is considered the cause by some economists.

It appears the foreign tourist would rather go anywhere else, then the U.S.A.

Tourism Ministry plan aims to stimulate Galilee development

Boats on the Sea of Galilee

24 April 2008

By Irit Rosenblum

In 2008, the Tourism Ministry will provide financial assistance totaling NIS 2 million to entrepreneurs from Druze and Circassian communities in the Galilee who open guest houses.

The project is part of an ongoing government plan, budgeted at around NIS 8 million, aimed at developing 14 minority communities. Among these communitieis are Abu Snan, Julis, and Peki'in.

The program's goal is the establishment of nearly 300 guest houses that would join the 225 already in existence since 2006.

The Tourism Ministry's financial aid will cover 24 percent of the investment sum, and will be given to entrepreneurs on the condition that the units be built within two years and be used for strictly tourist purposes for the first five years.

Jerusalem in English

16 April 2008

By ESTI KELLER

Approaching Jaffa Gate via the Ben Hinnom Valley affords sightseers a majestic view of Old City walls. Families picnicking on grassy plains or strolling down walkways framed by roses in their early bloom complete this idyllic scene.

But this pastoral picture is deceiving of the site's history, according to Yaad Biran, a guide for Beit Shmuel's first weekly English tour of the Old City, which offers insights into the area from the three major religions.

"In biblical times the Israelites provoked the Prophet Jeremiah's anger in this valley by offering their children as human sacrifices to the false God, Molech," Biran says.

"The common Hebrew term for 'hell,' gehinnom~, actually derives from this dark period. 'Gehinnom' means the 'Valley of Hinnom' in biblical Hebrew, and the authors of the Talmud referred to hell by this name as a result of the atrocities which took place in the valley."

The Ben Hinnom Valley faired little better in recent history. As the border between Israel and the Jordanian-controlled Old City, it remained a desolate no-man's land from 1948 until 1967, and was often the site of cross-border shootings.

Objectionable notions are banished, however, upon arrival at the next stop. The rooftop of the Armenian Quarter's Petra Hotel affords, perhaps, the most spectacular vista of the ancient city. Crosses and domes jut above the red roofs of Christian abodes and the limestone tops of the Muslim Quarter. At the center, the Dome of the Rock commands a regal presence flanked by the Mount of Olives stretching onto the horizon.

The colorful sights and sounds of throngs of tourists dispersed among holy men of various Christian denominations, greet us in the courtyard of the Holy Sepulchre. Biran describes the church's division into areas controlled by the different denominations, among them the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholics and the Ethiopian Church.

The division resulted from the 1852 status quo decree, issued by the then-Ottoman rulers of Jerusalem, to put an end to the arguments among the church's various claimants.

"Even the small details of the decisions are still adhered to today," Biran explains. "For example, Christians do not hold the keys to the church, but rather these are held by two Muslim families who open it in the morning and lock it at night."

Inside, visitors congregate at the various elaborately decorated stations providing a detailed depiction of the crucifixion stages. In contrast, our next stop, the room of the Last Supper on Mount Zion, is sparsely adorned and leaves much to the imagination.

The tour also features a visit to the neighboring David's Tomb as well as a stroll through the bustling markets of the Muslim quarter, a lookout over the Western Wall and more.

The tour runs Fridays from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Participants should meet in the lobby of Beit Shmuel. Tickets cost NIS 35. For more information, call 620-3461 or visit www.beitshmuel.com.

(Click map to enlarge.)

Whose Cave is it Anyway?

Qumran Cave

Why are British upset with Israeli Tourism Ministry?

British Advertising Standards Authority criticizes Israel for ad featuring a photo of Qumran Caves saying it misleads reader into thinking site is located within Green Line

14 April 2008
by Danny Sadeh

The British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has criticized the Israeli Tourism Ministry for an advertisement featuring a photo of the Qumran Caves.

The ASA is an independent organization founded by advertisers "in order to keep advertising truthful."

The authority approached the Tourism Ministry bureau in the UK asking to remove an advertisement featuring a photo of Qumran Caves under the heading: "It takes six hours to cross Israel. Imagine what you can experience in seven days."

The reason, as stated by the ASA: The advertisement misleads the reader into thinking that Qumran Caves are located within the Green Line, while they are actually located in the Palestinian territories.

A senior tourism official said Sunday that the ASA continues to demonstrate its anti-Israeli approach displayed in Britain over the past few months.

According to him,"Representatives of the Palestinian Tourism Ministry feature a map of Palestine which shows all of Israel's regions, including Ben-Gurion Airport, as Palestine's major airport, but the British never complained about that."

The Tourism Ministry said in response that following the request, the photo of the Qumran Caves has been replaced with a photo of Masada until further clarification.
_________
Opinion

Tourism Ad Misunderstanding

14 April 2008
By HRM Deborah

Technically, there is no longer a green line or territories, it is all Palestine and if the Jewish people had wished to run an ad showing the Qumran caves, they had every right to do so honestly.

It is thought this is just another case of people not necessarily keeping up with current political situations or another case of propaganda got in the way of reality and I say this with no disrespect to the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), for this appears to be just a case of misunderstanding.

I think with the way things are changing so rapidly, many people are scratching their head and hope they get it right sometimes, especially with all the confusion these days in regards to rampant negative propaganda.

Furthermore, everyone in Palestine just came out of a long war and modern terminology of place’s and so forth is still in flux, as for the old, it always seems to stay the same.

As for an Anti-anything approach, this a sad state of affairs, because all people in reality should get along with each other and these people that do not choose to do so are in a sad state of affairs.

As for the people in Palestine, we are a people of three religions, with a growing love and respect for each other.