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BethlehemTemplate:Efn is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about Template:Convert south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of Template:Palestine populations people, as of Template:Palestine populations.Template:Palestine populations The city's economy is strongly linked to tourism, especially during the Christmas period, when Christians embark on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Nativity, which is revered as the location of the birth of Jesus.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="BH">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A possible first mention of Bethlehem is in the Amarna correspondence of ancient Egypt, dated to 1350–1330 BCE, although that reading is uncertain. In the Hebrew Bible, the period of the Israelites is described; it identifies Bethlehem as the birthplace of David.<ref>2 Chronicles 11:5–6 (Note: Though v. 6 is frequently translated to say simply that Rehoboam built the city, the Hebrew phrase in v. 5, just prior, וַיִּ֧בֶן עָרִ֛ים לְמָצ֖וֹר wayyiḇen ‘ārîm lemāṣôr means "(and) he built cities into fortresses". Verse 5 is cited by at least one prominent Hebrew lexicon in illustration of this fact. See Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M. E. J., & Stamm, J. J., The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament (electronic edition; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1994–2000), entry for the pertinent root בנה bnh, p. 139. Def. 3 reads as follows: "—3. with לְ to develop buildings: עָרִים לְמָצוֹר cities into fortresses 2C[hronicles] 11:5".)</ref> In the New Testament, the city is identified as the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. Under the Roman Empire, the city of Bethlehem was destroyed by Hadrian, but later rebuilt by Constantine the Great, who commissioned the Church of the Nativity in 327 CE. In 529, the Church of the Nativity was heavily damaged by Samaritans involved in the Samaritan revolts; following the victory of the Byzantine Empire, it was rebuilt by Justinian I.
Later, during the rule of several Caliphates, Bethlehem became part of Jund Filastin in 637. Muslims continued to rule the city until 1099, when it was conquered by the Crusaders, who replaced the local Christian Greek Orthodox clergy with Catholic ones. In the mid-13th century, Bethlehem's walls were demolished by the Mamluk Sultanate. However, they were rebuilt by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century when it came to control the region.<ref name= BMH>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Bethlehem was part of Mandatory Palestine until 1948, and later of the West Bank that was annexed by Jordan following the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. During the 1967 Six Day War, Bethlehem was occupied by Israel along with the rest of the West Bank. Since the Oslo Accords between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, Bethlehem has been designated as part of Area A of the West Bank, nominally rendering it as being under Palestinian control,<ref name="BMH"/> but it remains under Israeli occupation. Movement around the city is limited due to the Israeli West Bank barrier.
Historically, it was a city of Arab Christians, who made up about 86% of the population in 1950, but this community has dwindled significantly to 10% as of 2022, and now has a majority of Arab Muslims.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EtymologyEdit
The current name for Bethlehem in local languages is {{#if:ArBethlehem.ogg|{{#ifexist:Media:ArBethlehem.ogg|<phonos file="ArBethlehem.ogg">Template:Transliteration</phonos>|{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "ArBethlehem.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handler}}}} /Bēt laḥm/ in Arabic (Template:Langx), literally meaning "house of meat", and Template:Transliteration in Hebrew (Template:Langx), literally "house of bread" or "house of food."<ref name= CIIP>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The city was called in Template:Langx {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and in Template:Langx.<ref name= Losch>Template:Cite book</ref> In Aramaic, the name of Bethlehem was simply the Hebrew name בית לחם, and was pronounced as Beit Lekhem. Evidence for this spelling can be inferred based on the fact that the spelling ܒܝܬܠܚܡ can be found in the Syriac Aramaic version of the bible in Matthew 2<ref name="SyrBib">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> as well as other parts of the book. The letters ܒܝܬܠܚܡ transliterate to ביתלחם. Amarna letter EA290 makes reference to a town bīt-ninurta which has been read as Bit-Lachmi by scholar W. F. Albright, following a proposal by Otto Schroeder in 1815 and making it a potential first historical reference to Bethlehem. This reading is, however, uncertain and has met with objections.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
"House of the god Lahmu"Edit
Canaanite and Israelite toponyms starting with beth are interpreted to mean "house of", with 'house' understood as 'temple' and the second part of the name indicating the deity the local temple was dedicated to.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name= Mum>Template:Cite journal</ref> Accordingly, one longstanding suggestion in scholarship is that the name Bethlehem derives from the Mesopotamian or Canaanite fertility god Laḫmu and his consort sister Lahamu,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> lahmo being the Chaldean word for "fertility".<ref name= Losch/><ref name= Mum/> Biblical scholar William F. Albright believed that this hypothesis, first put forth by Otto Schröder, was "certainly accurate".Template:Efn Albright noted that the pronunciation of the name had remained essentially the same for 3,500 years, even if the perceived meaning had shifted over time: "'Temple of the God Lakhmu' in Canaanite, 'House of Bread' in Hebrew and Aramaic, 'House of Meat' in Arabic."Template:Sfn While Schröder's theory is not widely accepted,<ref name= CIIP/> it continues to find favour in academic literature over the later literal translations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
"House of war"Edit
Another suggestion is an association with the root l-h-m "to fight", leading to the meaning of "house of war" or "house of fighting", but this is thought unlikely.<ref name= CIIP/>Template:Why
HistoryEdit
Canaanite periodEdit
The earliest reference to Bethlehem appears in the Amarna correspondence (Template:Circa). In one of his six letters to Pharaoh, Abdi-Heba, the Egyptian-appointed governor of Jerusalem, appeals for aid in retaking Bit-Laḫmi in the wake of disturbances by Apiru mercenaries:<ref name= OX>"Oxford Archeological Guides: The Holy Land", Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, pp. 198–199, Oxford University Press, 1998, Template:ISBN</ref> "Now even a town near Jerusalem, Bit-Lahmi by name, a village which once belonged to the king, has fallen to the enemy... Let the king hear the words of your servant Abdi-Heba, and send archers to restore the imperial lands of the king!"
It is thought that the similarity of this name to its modern forms indicates that it was originally a settlement of Canaanites who shared a Semitic cultural and linguistic heritage with the later arrivals.<ref name="IDHP4">"International Dictionary of Historic Places: Vol 4, Middle East and Africa", Trudy Ring, K.A Berney, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda, Noelle Watson, Paul Schellinger, p. 133, Taylor & Francis, 1996, Template:ISBN.</ref> Laḫmu was the Akkadian god of fertility,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> worshipped by the Canaanites as Leḥem.Template:Citation needed Some time in the third millennium BCE, Canaanites erected a temple on the hill now known as the Hill of the Nativity, probably dedicated to Laḫmu. The temple, and subsequently the town that formed around it, was then known as Beit Lahama, "House (Temple) of Lahmu".Template:Citation needed By 1200 BC, the area of Bethlehem, as well as much of the region, was conquered by the Philistines, which led the region to be known to the Greeks as "Philistia", later corrupted to "Palestine".<ref name="Loschp51">Template:Cite book</ref>
A burial ground discovered in spring 2013, and surveyed in 2015 by a joint Italian–Palestinian team found that the necropolis covered 3 hectares (more than 7 acres) and originally contained more than 100 tombs in use between roughly 2200 BCE and 650 BCE. The archaeologists were able to identify at least 30 tombs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Israelite and Judean periodEdit
Archaeological confirmation of Bethlehem as a city in the Kingdom of Judah was uncovered in 2012 at the archaeological dig at the City of David in the form of a bulla (seal impression in dried clay) in ancient Hebrew script that reads "From the town of Bethlehem to the King". According to the excavators, it was used to seal the string closing a shipment of grain, wine, or other goods sent as a tax payment in the 8th or 7th century BCE.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Biblical scholars believe Bethlehem, located in the "hill country" of Judea, may be the same as the Biblical Ephrath,<ref>Template:Bibleverse, Template:Bibleverse, Template:Bibleverse</ref> which means "fertile", as there is a reference to it in the Book of Micah as Bethlehem Ephrathah or Bethlehem Ephratah.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> The Hebrew Bible also calls it Beth-Lehem Judah,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> and the New Testament describes it as the "City of David".<ref name="qjukjz">Template:Bibleverse</ref> It is first mentioned in the Bible as the place where the matriarch Rachel died and was buried "by the wayside" (Template:Bibleverse). 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. In the Books of Samuel, Bethlehem is mentioned as the home of Jesse,<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> father of King David of Israel, and the site of David's anointment by the prophet Samuel.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref> It was from the well of Bethlehem that three of his warriors brought him water when he was hiding in the cave of Adullam.<ref>Template:Bibleverse</ref>
Writing in the 4th century, the Pilgrim of Bordeaux reported that the sepulchers of David, Ezekiel, Asaph, Job, Jesse, and Solomon were located near Bethlehem.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Classical periodEdit
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The Gospel of Matthew<ref>Template:Bibleverse-nb</ref> and the Gospel of Luke<ref>Template:Bibleverse-nb</ref> represent Jesus as having been born in Bethlehem,<ref name= Brownrigg/><ref name="Sanders1993" /><ref name="Casey2010" /> known in Aramaic by the Hebrew name {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} (Template:Tlit). However, modern scholars regard the two accounts as contradictory;<ref name="Sanders1993" /><ref name="Casey2010" /> the Gospel of Mark, the earliest gospel, mentions nothing about Jesus having been born in Bethlehem, saying only that he came from Nazareth.<ref name="Casey2010" /> Current scholars are divided on the actual birthplace of Jesus: some believe he was actually born in Nazareth,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> while others still hold that he was born in Bethlehem.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Nonetheless, the tradition that Jesus was born in Bethlehem was prominent in the early church.<ref name= Brownrigg/> Around 155, the apologist Justin Martyr recommended that those who doubted Jesus was really born in Bethlehem could go there and visit the very cave where he was supposed to have been born.<ref name= Brownrigg/> The same cave is also referenced by the apocryphal Gospel of James and the fourth-century church historian Eusebius.<ref name= Brownrigg/> After the Bar Kokhba revolt (Template:Circa) was crushed, the Roman emperor Hadrian converted the Christian site above the Grotto into a shrine dedicated to the Greek god Adonis, to honour his favourite, the Greek youth Antinous.<ref name="Giuseppe Ricciotti 1948 p. 276">Giuseppe Ricciotti, Vita di Gesù Cristo, Tipografia Poliglotta Vaticana (1948) p. 276 n.</ref><ref>Maier, Paul L., "The First Christmas: The True and Unfamiliar Story." 2001</ref>
Around 395 CE, Jerome wrote in a letter: "Bethlehem... belonging now to us... was overshadowed by a grove of Tammuz, that is to say, Adonis, and in the cave where once the infant Christ cried, the lover of Venus was lamented."<ref name="Taylor1993">Template:Cite book</ref> Many scholars have taken this letter as evidence that the cave of the nativity over which the Church of the Nativity was later built had at one point been a shrine to the ancient Near Eastern fertility god Tammuz.<ref name="Taylor1993" /><ref>Marcello Craveri, The Life of Jesus, Grove Press (1967) pp. 35–36</ref> Eusebius, however, mentions nothing about the cave having been associated with Tammuz<ref name="Taylor1993" /> and there are no other Patristic sources that suggest Tammuz had a shrine in Bethlehem.<ref name="Taylor1993" /> Peter Welten has argued that the cave was never dedicated to Tammuz<ref name="Taylor1993" /> and that Jerome misinterpreted Christian mourning over the Massacre of the Innocents as a pagan ritual over Tammuz's death.<ref name="Taylor1993" /> Joan E. Taylor has countered this contention by arguing that Jerome, as an educated man, could not have been so naïve as to mistake Christian mourning over the Massacre of the Innocents as a pagan ritual for Tammuz.<ref name="Taylor1993" />
In 326–328, the empress Helena, widowed consort of Emperor Constantius Chlorus and mother of the ruling emperor, Constantine the Great, made a pilgrimage to Syria-Palaestina, in the course of which she visited the ruins of Bethlehem.<ref name= BMH/><ref name= Brownrigg/> The Church of the Nativity was built at her initiative over the cave where Jesus was purported to have been born.<ref name= Brownrigg/> During the Samaritan revolt of 529, Bethlehem was sacked and its walls and the Church of the Nativity destroyed; they were rebuilt on the orders of the Emperor Justinian I.<ref name= BMH/><ref name= Brownrigg/> In 614, the Persian Sassanid Empire, supported by Jewish rebels, invaded Palestina Prima and captured Bethlehem.Template:Sfn A story recounted in later sources holds that they refrained from destroying the church on seeing the magi depicted in Persian clothing in a mosaic.Template:Sfn<ref name= BMH/>
Middle AgesEdit
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In 637, shortly after Jerusalem was captured by the Muslim armies, 'Umar ibn al-Khattāb, the second caliph, promised that the Church of the Nativity would be preserved for Christian use.<ref name= BMH/> A mosque dedicated to Umar was built upon the place in the city where he prayed, next to the church.<ref name="ATT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bethlehem then passed through the control of the Islamic caliphates of the Umayyads in the 8th century, then the Abbasids in the 9th century. A Persian geographer recorded in the mid-9th century that a well preserved and much venerated church existed in the town. In 985, the Arab geographer al-Muqaddasi visited Bethlehem, and referred to its church as the "Basilica of Constantine, the equal of which does not exist anywhere in the country-round."<ref>le Strange, 1890, pp. 298–300.</ref> In 1009, during the reign of the sixth Fatimid Caliph, al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, the Church of the Nativity was ordered to be demolished, but was spared by local Muslims, because they had been permitted to worship in the structure's southern transept.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref name= BMH/>
In 1187, Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt and Syria who led the Muslim Ayyubids, captured Bethlehem from the Crusaders. The Latin clerics were forced to leave, allowing the Greek Orthodox clergy to return. Saladin agreed to the return of two Latin priests and two deacons in 1192. However, Bethlehem suffered from the loss of the pilgrim trade, as there was a sharp decrease of European pilgrims.<ref name= BMH/> William IV, Count of Nevers had promised the Christian bishops of Bethlehem that if Bethlehem should fall under Muslim control, he would welcome them in the small town of Clamecy in present-day Burgundy, France. As a result, the Bishop of Bethlehem duly took up residence in the hospital of Panthenor, Clamecy, in 1223. Clamecy remained the continuous 'in partibus infidelium' seat of the Bishopric of Bethlehem for almost 600 years, until the French Revolution in 1789.<ref>de Sivry, L: "Dictionnaire de Géographie Ecclésiastique", p. 375., 1852 ed, from ecclesiastical record of letters between the Bishops of Bethlehem 'in partibus' to the bishops of Auxerre.</ref>
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.<ref>Paul Reed, 2000, p. 206.</ref> In 1250, with the coming to power of the Mamluks under Rukn al-Din Baibars, tolerance of Christianity declined. Members of the clergy 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.<ref name= BMH/>
Ottoman eraEdit
From 1517, during the years of Ottoman control, custody of the Basilica was bitterly disputed between the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches.<ref name= BMH/> By the end of the 16th century, Bethlehem had become one of the largest villages in the District of Jerusalem, and was subdivided into seven quarters.<ref name="Singer"/> The Basbus family served as the heads of Bethlehem among other leaders during this period.<ref>Singer, 1994, p. 33 Template:Webarchive</ref> The Ottoman tax record and census from 1596 indicates that Bethlehem had a population of 1,435, making it the 13th largest village in Palestine at the time. Its total revenue amounted to 30,000 akce.<ref name="Petersen141">Petersen, 2005, p. 141.</ref>
Bethlehem paid taxes on wheat, barley and grapes. The Muslims and Christians were organized into separate communities, each having its own leader. Five leaders represented the village in the mid-16th century, three of whom were Muslims. Ottoman tax records suggest that the Christian population was slightly more prosperous or grew more grain than grapes (the former being a more valuable commodity).<ref>Singer, 1994, p. 84 Template:Webarchive</ref>
From 1831 to 1841, Palestine was under the rule of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty of Egypt. During this period, the town suffered an earthquake as well as the destruction of the Muslim quarter in 1834 by Egyptian troops, apparently as a reprisal for the murder of a favored loyalist of Ibrahim Pasha, during the Peasants' revolt in Palestine.<ref>Thomson, 1860, p. 647.</ref> In 1841, Bethlehem came under Ottoman rule once again and remained so until the end of World War I. Under the Ottomans, Bethlehem's inhabitants faced unemployment, compulsory military service, and heavy taxes, resulting in mass emigration, particularly to South America.<ref name= BMH/> An American missionary in the 1850s reported a population of under 4,000, nearly all of whom belonged to the Greek Church. He also noted that a lack of water limited the town's growth.<ref>W. M. Thomson, p. 647.</ref>
Socin found from an official Ottoman village list from about 1870 that Bethlehem had a population of 179 Muslims in 59 houses, 979 "Latins" in 256 houses, 824 "Greeks" in 213 houses, and 41 Armenians in 11 houses, a total of 539 houses. The population count only included men.<ref>Socin, 1879, p. 146</ref> Hartmann found that Bethlehem had 520 houses.<ref>Hartmann, 1883, p. 124</ref>
Modern eraEdit
Bethlehem was part of Mandatory Palestine from 1920 to 1948.<ref>Bethlehem. Template:Webarchive</ref> In the United Nations General Assembly's 1947 resolution to partition Palestine, Bethlehem was included in the international enclave of Jerusalem to be administered by the United Nations.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Jordan captured the city during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.<ref>A Jerusalem Timeline, 3,000 Years of The City's History Template:Webarchive (2001–02) National Public Radio and BBC News.</ref> Many refugees from areas captured by Israeli forces in 1947–48 fled to the Bethlehem area, primarily settling in what became the official refugee camps of 'Azza (Beit Jibrin) and 'Aida in the north and Dheisheh in the south.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} The Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation via Bethlehem.ps.</ref> The influx of refugees significantly transformed Bethlehem's Christian majority into a Muslim one.<ref>Population in the Bethlehem DistrictTemplate:Dead link Bethlehem.ps. Template:Dead link</ref>
Jordan retained control of the city until the Six-Day War in 1967, when Bethlehem was captured by Israel, along with the rest of the West Bank. Following the Six-Day War, Israel took control of the city.
During the early months of First Intifada, on 5 May 1989, Milad Anton Shahin, aged 12, was shot dead by Israeli soldiers. Replying to a Member of Knesset in August 1990 Defence Minister Yitzak Rabin stated that a group of reservists in an observation post had come under attack by stone throwers. The commander of the post, a senior non-commissioned officer, fired two plastic bullets in deviation of operational rules. No evidence was found that this caused the boy's death. The officer was found guilty of illegal use of a weapon and sentenced to 5 months imprisonment, two of them actually in prison doing public service. He was also demoted.<ref>Talmor, Ronny (translated by Ralph Mandel) (1990) The Use of Firearms - By the Security Forces in the Occupied Territories. B'Tselem. download Template:Webarchive p. 75 MK Yair Tsaban to defence ministers Yitzhak Rabin & Yitzhak Shamir p.81 Rabin's reply</ref>
On December 21, 1995, Israeli troops withdrew from Bethlehem,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and three days later the city came under the administration and military control of the Palestinian National Authority in accordance with the Interim Agreement on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During the Second Palestinian Intifada in 2000–2005, Bethlehem's infrastructure and tourism industry were damaged.<ref name="OCHA">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2002, it was a primary combat zone in Operation Defensive Shield, a major military counteroffensive by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).<ref name="BBC">Template:Cite news</ref> The IDF besieged the Church of the Nativity, where dozens of Palestinian militants had sought refuge. The siege lasted 39 days. Several militants were killed. It ended with an agreement to exile 13 of the militants to foreign countries.<ref name="siege timeline">Template:Cite news</ref>
Today, the city is surrounded by two bypass roads for Israeli settlers, leaving the inhabitants squeezed between thirty-seven Jewish enclaves, where a quarter of all West Bank settlers, roughly 170,000, live; the gap between the two roads is closed by the 8-metre high Israeli West Bank barrier, which cuts Bethlehem off from its sister city Jerusalem.<ref>Nicholas Blincoe, 'Phantom Bids,' Template:Webarchive London Review of Books, August 14, 2014</ref>
Christian families that have lived in Bethlehem for hundreds of years are being forced to leave as land in Bethlehem is seized, and homes bulldozed, for construction of thousands of new Israeli homes.<ref name= Plp>Template:Cite news</ref> Land seizures for Israeli settlements have also prevented construction of a new hospital for the inhabitants of Bethlehem, as well as the barrier separating dozens of Palestinian families from their farmland and Christian communities from their places of worship.<ref name= Plp/> Christians have reportedly suffered persecution under the Palestinian Authority, leading to emigration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
GeographyEdit
Bethlehem is located at an elevation of about Template:Convert above sea level, Template:Convert higher than nearby Jerusalem.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bethlehem is situated on the Judean Mountains.
The city is located Template:Convert northeast of Gaza City and the Mediterranean Sea, Template:Convert west of Amman, Jordan, Template:Convert southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel and Template:Convert south of Jerusalem.<ref>Distance from Bethlehem to Tel Aviv Template:Webarchive, Distance from Bethlehem to Gaza Template:Webarchive Time and Date AS / Steffen Thorsen.</ref> 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. The Aida and Azza refugee camps are located within the city limits.<ref>Detailed map of the West Bank.</ref>
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 an-Najajreh, al-Farahiyeh, al-Anatreh, al-Tarajmeh, al-Qawawsa and Hreizat quarters and al-Fawaghreh—the only Muslim quarter.<ref name="BPS">Bethlehem's QuartersTemplate:Dead link Centre for Cultural Heritage Preservation Template:Dead link</ref> Most of the Christian quarters are named after the Arab Ghassanid clans that settled there.<ref>Clans −2 Template:Webarchive Mediterranean Voices: Oral History and Cultural Practice in Mediterranean Cities</ref> Al-Qawawsa Quarter was formed by Arab Christian emigrants from the nearby town of Tuqu' in the 18th century.<ref name="Zeiter">Tqoa' areaTemplate:Dead link Zeiter, Leila. Centre for Preservation of Culture and History. Template:Dead link</ref> There is also a Syriac quarter outside of the old city,<ref name="BPS" /> whose inhabitants originate from Midyat and Ma'asarte in Turkey.<ref>Short Overview of the Bato Family BatoFamily.com Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> The total population of the old city is about 5,000.<ref name="BPS" />
ClimateEdit
Bethlehem has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa), with hot and dry summers and mild, wetter winters. Winter temperatures (mid-December to mid-March) can be cool and rainy. January is the coldest month, with temperatures ranging from 1 to 13 degree Celsius (33–55 °F). From May through September, the weather is warm and sunny. August is the hottest month, with a high of 30 degrees Celsius (86 °F). Bethlehem receives an average of Template:Convert of rainfall annually, 70% between November and January.<ref name="BMC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 from the Arabian Desert, during April, May and mid-June.<ref name="BMC"/>
DemographicsEdit
PopulationEdit
| Year | Population | |
|---|---|---|
| 1867 | 3,000–4,000<ref name="Miller"/> | |
| 1945 | 8,820<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref><ref name=1945p24>Government of Palestine, Department of Statistics, 1945, p. 24</ref> |
| 1961 | 22,453<ref>Government of Jordan, Department of Statistics, 1964, p. 7 Template:Webarchive</ref> | |
| 1983 | 16,300<ref>Census by Israel Central Bureau of Statistics</ref>Template:Verify source | |
| 1997 | 21,930<ref name="PCBSCensus">Palestinian Population by Locality, Sex and Age Groups in Years: Bethlehem Governorate (1997) Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved December 23, 2007. Template:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref> | |
| 2007 | 25,266<ref name="PCBSCensus"/> | |
| 2017 | 28,591<ref name="PrelimCensus2017">Template:Cite report</ref> |
According to Ottoman tax records, Christians made up roughly 60% of the population in the early 16th century, while the Christian and Muslim populations became equal by the middle of that century. However, there were no Muslim inhabitants counted by the end of the century, with a recorded population of 287 adult male taxpayers. Christians, like all non-Muslims throughout the Ottoman Empire, were required to pay the jizya tax.<ref name="Singer">Singer, 1994, p. 80 Template:Webarchive</ref> In 1867, an American visitor describes the town as having a population of 3,000 to 4,000, of whom about 100 were Protestant, 300 were Muslim and "the remainder belonging to the Latin and Greek Churches with a few Armenians."<ref name="Miller">Ellen Clare Miller, 'Eastern Sketches – notes of scenery, schools and tent life in Syria and Palestine'. Edinburgh: William Oliphant and Company. 1871. p. 148.</ref> Another report from the same year puts the Christian population at 3,000, with an additional 50 Muslims.<ref name="Malet1868">Template:Cite book</ref> An 1885 source put the population at approximately 6,000 of "principally Christians, Latins and Greeks" with no Jewish inhabitants.<ref name="JewishIntelligenceVol1">'Template:Cite journal</ref>
The census of 1922 lists Bethlehem as having 6,658 residents (5,838 Christians, 818 Muslims, and two Jews),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> increasing in 1931 to 6,804 (5,588 Christians, 1,219 Muslims, five with no religion, and two Jews) with 506 in nearby suburbs (251 Muslims, 216 Christians, and 39 Jews).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
The 1938 village statistics list the population as 7,520 with 499 in nearby suburbs (including 42 Jews).<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The 1945 village statistics list Bethlehem's population as 8,820 (6,430 Christians, 2,370 Muslims, and 20 "other").<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
In 1948, the religious makeup of the city was 85% Christian, mostly of the Greek Orthodox and Roman Catholic denominations, and 13% Muslim.<ref name="AP">Template:Cite book</ref> In the 1967 census taken by Israel authorities, the town of Bethlehem proper numbered 14,439 inhabitants, its 7,790 Muslim inhabitants represented 53.9% of the population, while the Christians of various denominations numbered 6,231 or 46.1%.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Better source needed
In the PCBS's 1997 census, the city had a population of 21,670, including a total of 6,570 refugees, accounting for 30.3% of the city's population.<ref name="PCBSCensus"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 1997, the age distribution of Bethlehem's inhabitants was 27.4% under the age of 10, 20% from 10 to 19, 17.3% from 20 to 29, 17.7% from 30 to 44, 12.1% from 45 to 64 and 5.3% above the age of 65. There were 11,079 males and 10,594 females.<ref name="PCBSCensus"/> In the 2007 PCBS census, Bethlehem had a population of 25,266, of which 12,753 were males and 12,513 were females. There were 6,709 housing units, of which 5,211 were households. The average household consisted of 4.8 family members.<ref name="PCBS07">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> By 2017, the population was 28,591.<ref name="PrelimCensus2017" />
Christian populationEdit
After the Muslim conquest of the Levant in the 630s, the local Christians were Arabized even though large numbers were ethnically Arabs of the Ghassanid clans.<ref name="beth">Template:Usurped Musallam, Adnan. Bethlehem University. </ref> Bethlehem's two largest Arab Christian clans trace their ancestry to the Ghassanids, including al-Farahiyyah and an-Najajreh.<ref name="beth"/> The former have descended from the Ghassanids who migrated from Yemen and from the Wadi Musa area in present-day Jordan and an-Najajreh descend from Najran.<ref name="beth"/> Another Bethlehem clan, al-Anatreh, also trace their ancestry to the Ghassanids.<ref name="beth"/>
The percentage of Christians in the town has been in a steady decline since the mid-twentieth century.<ref name="AP"/><ref name="Malek2017"/><ref name="Lidman2016"/><ref name="O'Connor2013">Template:Cite news</ref> In 1947, Christians made up 85% of the population, but by 1998, the figure had declined to 40%.<ref name="AP"/><ref name="Malek2017">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2005, the mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh, explained that "due to the stress, either physical or psychological, and the bad economic situation, many people are emigrating, either Christians or Muslims, but it is more apparent among Christians, because they already are a minority."<ref name="VOA">Template:Cite news</ref> The Palestinian Authority is officially committed to equality for Christians, although there have been incidents of violence against them by the Preventive Security Service and militant factions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 2006, a Zogby poll that interviewed more than 1,000 Palestinian Christians from Bethlehem found that 79% of the respondents cited the Israeli occupation as source of difficulties leading the emigration of their community.<ref name="AJ1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the same year, the Palestinian Centre for Research and Cultural Dialogue conducted a poll among the city's Christians according to which 90% said they had had Muslim friends, 73.3% agreed that the PNA treated Christian heritage in the city with respect and 78% attributed the exodus of Christians to the Israeli blockade.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The only mosque in the Old City is the Mosque of Omar, located in the Manger Square.<ref name="ATT"/> By 2016, the Christian population of Bethlehem had declined to only 16%.<ref name="Lidman2016"/> The Christian population's proportion of Bethlehem fell from 87% in the 1950s to 12% in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
A study by Pew Research Center concluded that the decline in the Arab Christian population of the area was partially a result of a lower birth rate among Christians than among Muslims,<ref name="Lidman2016">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Connor">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but also partially due to the fact that Christians were more likely to emigrate from the region than any other religious group.<ref name="Lidman2016"/><ref name="Connor"/> The seizure of Christian land by Muslim mafias and the bias of the Palestinian Judicial system have been cited as reasons leading to emigration.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Amon Ramnon, a researcher at the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research, stated that the reason why more Christians were emigrating than Muslims is because it is easier for Arab Christians to integrate into western communities than for Arab Muslims, since many of them attend church-affiliated schools, where they are taught European languages.<ref name="Lidman2016"/> A higher percentage of Christians in the region are urban-dwellers, which also makes it easier for them to emigrate and assimilate into western populations.<ref name="Lidman2016"/> A statistical analysis of the Christian exodus cited lack of economic and educational opportunity, especially due to the Christians' middle-class status and higher education.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Since the Second Intifada, 10% of the Christian population have left the city.<ref name="VOA"/> However, it is likely that there are many other factors, most of which are shared with the Palestinian population as a whole.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
EconomyEdit
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Shopping is a major attraction, especially during the Christmas season. The city's main streets and old markets are lined with shops selling Palestinian handicrafts, Middle Eastern spices, jewelry and oriental sweets such as baklawa.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Olive wood carvings<ref name="BethTour">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> are the item most purchased by tourists visiting Bethlehem.<ref name="handicrafts">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Religious handicrafts include ornaments handmade from mother-of-pearl, as well as olive wood statues, boxes, and crosses.<ref name="BethTour"/> Other industries include stone and marble-cutting, textiles, furniture and furnishings.<ref name="ChamberInfo">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bethlehem factories also produce paints, plastics, synthetic rubber, pharmaceuticals, construction materials and food products, mainly pasta and confectionery.<ref name="ChamberInfo"/> Cremisan Wine, founded in 1885, is a winery run by monks in the Monastery of Cremisan. The grapes are grown mainly in the al-Khader district. In 2007, the monastery's wine production was around 700,000 liters per year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In 2008, Bethlehem hosted the largest economic conference to date in the Palestinian territories. It was initiated by Palestinian Prime Minister and former Finance Minister Salam Fayyad to convince more than a thousand businessmen, bankers and government officials from throughout the Middle East to invest in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A total of 1.4 billion US dollars was secured for business investments in the Palestinian territories.<ref>Palestinians bidding for business Maqbool, Aleem. BBC News. BBC. May 21, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-05-22. Template:Webarchive</ref> Tourism is Bethlehem's main industry.<ref name="O'Connor2013" /><ref name="OCHA" /> Unlike other Palestinian localities prior to 2000, the majority of the employed residents did not have jobs in Israel.<ref name="OCHA" /> More than 20% of the working population is employed in the industry.<ref name="CityEconomy">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Tourism accounts for approximately 65% of the city's economy and 11% of the Palestinian National Authority.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The city has more than two million visitors every year.<ref name="CityEconomy" /> Tourism in Bethlehem ground to a halt for over a decade after the Second Intifada,<ref name="O'Connor2013" /> but gradually began to pick back up in the early 2010s.<ref name="O'Connor2013" /> Schneider Electric operates a facility in the Multidisciplinary Industrial Park of Bethlehem, which was developed by the Palestinian government and France.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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 is believed to have been born. Nearby is the Milk Grotto where the Holy Family took refuge on their Flight to Egypt and next door is the cave where St. Jerome spent thirty years creating the Vulgate, the dominant Latin version of the Bible until the Reformation.<ref name="BMH" /> There are over thirty hotels in Bethlehem.<ref name="Patience">Template:Cite news</ref> Jacir Palace, built in 1910 near the church, is one of Bethlehem's most successful hotels and its oldest. It was closed down in 2000 due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but reopened in 2005 as the Jacir Palace InterContinental at Bethlehem.<ref>Jacir Palace, InterContinental Bethlehem re-opens for business InterContinental Hotels Group Template:Webarchive</ref> The hotel is managed by world renowned international brand — the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) and is second IHG hotel in the country after IHG in Jerusalem.
Religious significance and commemorationEdit
Birthplace of JesusEdit
In the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke says that Jesus' parents traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.<ref name="qjukjz"/> The Gospel of Matthew mentions Bethlehem as the place of birth,<ref>Bart D. Ehrman, Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium, Oxford University Press 1999, page 38.</ref> and adds that King Herod was told that a 'King of the Jews' had been born in the town, prompting Herod to order the killing of all the boys who were two years old or under in the town and surrounding area. Joseph, warned of Herod's impending action by an angel of the Lord, decided to flee to Egypt with his family and then later settled in Nazareth after Herod's death.
Early Christian traditions describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem: in one account, a verse in the Book of Micah is interpreted as a prophecy that the Messiah would be born there.<ref>Freed, 2004, p. 77. (citing Template:Bibleverse)</ref> The second century Christian apologist Justin Martyr stated in his Dialogue with Trypho (written c. 155–161) that the Holy Family had taken refuge in a cave outside of the town and then placed Jesus in a manger.<ref>Taylor, 1993, pp. 99–100. "Joseph ... took up his quarters in a certain cave near the village; and while they were there Mary brought forth the Christ and placed him in a manger, and here the Magi who came from Arabia found him."(Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapter LXXVIII).</ref> Origen of Alexandria, writing around the year 247, referred to a cave in the town of Bethlehem which local people believed was the birthplace of Jesus.<ref>In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where he was born, and the manger in the cave where he was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the rumor is in those places, and among foreigners of the Faith, that indeed Jesus was born in this cave who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians. (Origen, Contra Celsum, book I, chapter LI).</ref> This cave was possibly one which had previously been a site of the cult of Tammuz.<ref>Taylor, 1993, pp. 96–104./ref>
Many modern scholars question the idea that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, seeing the biblical stories not as historical accounts but as symbolic narratives invented to present the birth as fulfillment of prophecy and imply a connection to the lineage of King David.ref>Vermes, 2006, p. 22.</ref><ref>Dunn, 2003, pp. 344–345.</ref><ref>Marcus J. Borg, Meeting Jesus for the First Time (Harper San Francisco, 1995) page 22–23.</ref> The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John do not include a nativity narrative, but refer to him only as being from Nazareth.<ref>Mills and Bullard, 1990, pp. 445–446. See Mark 6:1–4 Template:Webarchive; and John 1:46 .</ref> In a 2005 article in Archaeology magazine, archaeologist Aviram Oshri points to an absence of evidence for the settlement of Bethlehem near Jerusalem at the time when Jesus was born, and postulates that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Galilee.<ref>Aviram Oshri, "Where was Jesus Born?", Archaeology, Volume 58 Number 6, November/December 2005.</ref> However, other archaeologists argue that there is evidence that Bethlehem of Judea was inhabited at that time.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>Template:Rp In a 2011 article in Biblical Archaeology Review magazine, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor argues for the traditional position that Jesus was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem.<ref>Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, Bethlehem ... Of Course Template:Webarchive, Biblical Archaeology Review. ; see also A. Puig i Tàrrech, "The Birth of Jesus and History: The Interweaving of the Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke", B. Estrada, E. Manicardi, A. Puig i Tàrrech (ed.), ≤The Gospels, History and Christology. The Search of Joseph Ratzinger≥, Vatican City:LEV, 2013, 353–97.</ref>
Christmas celebrationsEdit
Christmas rites are held in Bethlehem on three different dates: December 25 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. Roman Catholic services take place in St. Catherine's Church and Protestants often hold services at Shepherds' Fields.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Other religious festivalsEdit
Bethlehem celebrates festivals related to saints and prophets associated with Palestinian folklore. One such festival is the annual Feast of Saint George (al-Khadr) on May 5–6. During the celebrations, Greek Orthodox Christians from the city march in procession to the nearby town of al-Khader to baptize newborns in the waters around the Monastery of St. George and sacrifice a sheep in ritual.<ref>St. George's FeastTemplate:Dead link Bethlehem.ps.</ref> The Feast of St. Elijah is commemorated by a procession to Mar Elias, a Greek Orthodox monastery north of Bethlehem.
CultureEdit
EmbroideryEdit
The women embroiderers of Bethlehem were known for their bridalwear.<ref name="PCA2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Bethlehem embroidery was renowned for its "strong overall effect of colors and metallic brilliance."<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Less formal dresses were made of indigo fabric with a sleeveless coat (bisht) from locally woven wool worn over top. Dresses for special occasions were made of striped silk with winged sleeves with a short taqsireh jacket known as the Bethlehem jacket. The taqsireh was made of velvet or broadcloth, usually with heavy embroidery.<ref name=PCA2/>
Bethlehem work was unique in its use of couched gold or silver cord, or silk cord onto the silk, wool, felt or velvet used for the garment, to create stylized floral patterns with free or rounded lines. This technique was used for "royal" wedding dresses (thob malak), taqsirehs and the shatwehs worn by married women. It has been traced by some to Byzantium, and by others to the formal costumes of the Ottoman Empire's elite. As a Christian village, local women were also exposed to the detailing on church vestments with their heavy embroidery and silver brocade.<ref name=PCA2/>
- Bethlehem Dress (Palestinian Thobe).jpg
Bethlehem traditional dress
- Chest panel from Bethlehem dress (Palestinian Thobe).jpg
Chest panel from Bethlehem dress
- Embroidery from Bethlehem Dress (Palestinian Thobe).jpg
Embroidery detail
- Bethlehem Jacket (taqsireh).jpg
Taqsireh jacket embroidered with Palestinian patterns
- Le musée des traditions populaires (Amman, Jordanie) (24116263437).jpg
Shatweh, a headdresses worn by married women
Mother-of-pearl carvingEdit
{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}}
The art of mother-of-pearl carving is said to have been a Bethlehem tradition since the 15th century when it was introduced by Franciscan friars from Italy.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A constant stream of pilgrims generated a demand for these items, which also provided jobs for women.<ref>Weir, pp. 128, 280, n.30</ref> The industry was noted by Richard Pococke, who visited Bethlehem in 1727.<ref>A Description of the East and Some other Countries, p. 436</ref>
Cultural centers and museumsEdit
Bethlehem is home to the Palestinian Heritage Center, established in 1991. The center aims to preserve and promote Palestinian embroidery, art and folklore.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="BH"/>
The Bethlehem branch of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music has about 500 students. Its primary goals are to teach children music, train teachers for other schools, sponsor music research, and the study of Palestinian folklore music.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Bethlehem has several museums: The Crib of the Nativity Theatre and Museum offers visitors 31 three-dimensional models depicting the significant stages of the life of Jesus. Its theater presents a 20-minute animated show. The Badd Giacaman Museum, located in the Old City of Bethlehem, dates back to the 18th century and is primarily dedicated to the history and process of olive oil production.<ref name="BH"/> Baituna al-Talhami Museum, established in 1972, contains displays of Bethlehem culture.<ref name="BH"/> The International Museum of Nativity was built by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to exhibit "high artistic quality in an evocative atmosphere".<ref name="BH"/> The Palestine Museum of Natural History is the first of its kind and is based on Bethlehem University campus.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Local governmentEdit
Bethlehem is the muhfaza (seat) or district capital of the Bethlehem Governorate.
Bethlehem held its first municipal elections in 1876, after the mukhtars ("heads") of the quarters of Bethlehem's Old City (excluding the Syriac Quarter) made the decision to elect a local council of seven members to represent each clan in the town. A Basic Law was established so that if the victor for mayor was a Catholic, his deputy should be of the Greek Orthodox community.<ref name="BME"/>
Throughout, Bethlehem's rule by the British and Jordan, the Syriac Quarter was allowed to participate in the election, as were the Ta'amrah Bedouins and Palestinian refugees, hence ratifying the number of municipal members in the council to 11. In 1976, an amendment was passed to allow women to vote and become council members and later the voting age was increased from 21 to 25.<ref name="BME">Municipal Council Elections during the British and Jordanian Periods Template:Webarchive Bethlehem Municipal Council.</ref>
There are several branches of political parties on the council, including Communist, Islamist, and secular. The leftist factions of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian People's Party (PPP) usually dominate the reserved seats. Hamas gained the majority of the open seats in the 2005 Palestinian municipal elections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
MayorsEdit
In the October 2012 municipal elections, Fatah member Vera Baboun won, becoming the first female mayor of Bethlehem.<ref name="kuttabmonitor">Template:Cite news</ref>
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EducationEdit
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
TransportationEdit
Bethlehem has three bus stations owned by private companies which offer service to Jerusalem, Beit Jala, Beit Sahour, Hebron, Nahalin, Battir, al-Khader, al-Ubeidiya and Beit Fajjar. There are two taxi stations that make trips to Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, Jerusalem, Tuqu' and Herodium. There are also two car rental departments: Murad and 'Orabi. Buses and taxis with West Bank licenses are not allowed to enter Israel, including Jerusalem, without a permit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Bethlehem Municipality.</ref>
The Israeli construction of the West Bank barrier has affected Bethlehem politically, socially, and economically. The barrier is located along the northern side of the town's built-up area, within distance of houses in the Aida refugee camp on one side, and the Jerusalem municipality on the other.<ref name=OCHA/> Most entrances and exits from the Bethlehem agglomeration to the rest of the West Bank are currently subjected to Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks. The level of access varies based on Israeli security directives. Travel for Bethlehem's Palestinian residents from the West Bank into Jerusalem is regulated by a permit-system.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Palestinians require a permit to enter the Jewish holy site of Rachel's Tomb. Israeli citizens are barred from entering Bethlehem and the nearby biblical Solomon's Pools.<ref name=OCHA/>
Twin towns – sister citiesEdit
Template:See also Bethlehem is twinned with:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Div col
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See alsoEdit
NotesEdit
ReferencesEdit
BibliographyEdit
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- Sawsan & Shomali, Q., Bethlehem 2000. A Guide to Bethlehem and it Surroundings. Waldbrol, Flamm Druck Wagener GMBH, 1997.
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External linksEdit
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