Friday, December 12, 2014

The Tourism Problem

Well, there is no yet another replacement theory element in our conflict - we're interfering with "Palestinian tourism".

Reuters:

HERODIUM, West Bank, Dec 12  - Standing on the monumental hillside south of Bethlehem where King Herod the Great was buried more than 2,000 years ago, Fadi Kattan stretches out his arm to point out the nearby Israeli settlements of Tekoa and Nokdim.
"That's part of the problem," says Kattan, a Palestinian tourism expert, explaining the obstacles hindering the growth of the local industry in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Because of the roads...Palestinian areas are frequently cut off, making them less accessible to tourists, he says.
Then there is Herodium...The income flows to Israel, not the Palestinians. The same goes for Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, which is also in the West Bank....
"...we are losing $1.4 billion a year," says Kattan...
To highlight the increasing strain Bethlehem and surrounding towns are under, Palestinian officials took a group of foreign journalists on a guided tour of the area this week.
Underscoring how sensitive the topic is, the Israeli tourism ministry is taking journalists on its own tour of Nazareth and other Christian towns in Israel...
...Palestinian officials say the growth of Israeli settlements - there are now 22 around Bethlehem - is steadily strangling access, prompting tourists to stay away.

..."In history, Bethlehem and Jerusalem were always twin cities," said Ma'aya. "Now, Bethlehem is being isolated." (Writing by Luke Baker; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

Is there any site there that is not connected to Jews, the Bible?

And who is preserving more Islamic sites than all of previous Muslim rulers?

Of course Jerusalem and Bethlehem were twin cities.  David came from there and he became king, not a sheikh.

^

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Of course, they forgot to mention that if Herodium had been turned over to the Pals as was originally intended in the Oslo Accords, not only would the site have not been developed, but it would have very likely been defaced even destroyed (like was done and is being done on the Temple Mount), given the undeniable Jewish ties to the site (King Herod himself, the Great Revolt fortress and the Bar Kokhba fortress, not to mention the synagogue now visited by thousands on Tisha B'Av).

Frank Underwood said...

I can not help thinking that what Israel and Palestinia needs is some big iron tribe of extraterrestials landing there and settling the thing. You can live here and you can live her BUT YOU CAN NOT KILL OFF SOME PEOPLE JUST SO YOUR PEOPLE HAVE MORE SPACE.