Israeli guides rediscover Bethlehem after 10-year absence FEATURE 08/25/2010

Israeli guides rediscover Bethlehem after 10-year absence

FEATURE 08/25/2010 BETHLEHEM — Israeli Moshe Gabai, 27, admits he has mixed feelings leading tour groups through Bethlehem. Until recently, he had only been to the occupied West Bank on military patrols. “When you drive through the streets you see pictures of terrorists, of ‘martyrs’ who blew themselves up,” he says. On the other hand, he also meets more and more Palestinians who are interested in closer ties with Israelis. Since the start of the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada, in 2000, the military has barred Israeli citizens from all parts of the West Bank that are controlled by the Palestinian Authority (PA). But following a long period of calm in the region, the army has now begun to relax some of the restrictions. In July, some 50 Israeli guides and bus drivers were given permits to take tour groups to the biblical city of Bethlehem and to Jericho, which is known as the longest continuously inhabited city and the lowest on Earth.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100825com7.html

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