IN STEREO

Look, we’ve had a problem here about the time that the tourists spend in the city. Usually, people come into the city, spend two, three, four hours, and leave. Today, it’s changing. We have hotels, and our personal service, maybe it’s better than others, because we are a hospitable community that can respect and accept people, and that gives us some credit. The people who are coming to the city now, who are spending a week, or any [number of] days – it’s good for the city. Because they know more about the city, more about our culture, more about other problems, and they see other places, not just the Nativity. In the past, they were seeing just the Nativity and then going. The Church of the Nativity, it’s different than any other place. And there is a difference between the Church of the Nativity and Star Street in Bethlehem. As a site, the Church of the Nativity is well-known, as a historical, religious, and cultural site.

We don’t need a lot to promote the place, because it promotes itself, by itself. It’s the Nativity. But for Star Street, it’s different. Because Star Street, yes, it’s the historical entrance to the city. But it’s not on the same level as the church. People don’t know where Star Street is. But now, with putting the street on the list, it means that people all around the world begin knowing that there was a historical entrance, and all the legends concerning that place. Today, they’re going around in the old city, to the markets, to Star Street, Madbasa area. So they have the opportunity to see more of the city, and see the culture of the people and the behaviour of the people, which gives us some credit in promoting the city and promoting ourselves as Palestinian people. And also to put focus on the Palestinian problem, as people still under occupation today. – Mayor