Islamic Hamas Donates Cash for Bethlehem's Christmas

The Hamas government, often labelled by the international community as Islamic militants, has promised to donate US$50,000 to prepare Bethlehem for the traditional Christmas holidays. The offering will be twice as much as given in previous years.

|PIC1|Known to be struggling financially, Hamas, has decided to donate the cash to Bethlehem, which is currently only sparsely decorated currently.

Even though the extra cash has been promised, it may not be enough to restore festivities to their fullest in the region, engulfed in Israeli-Palestinian fighting for the past 6 years.

Poverty is known to be affecting the area, and with Israel's West Bank separation barrier large numbers of Christians are now being seen leaving Bethlehem.

In 2005, just 2,500 foreign visitors toured Bethlehem during the Christmas season, compared to more than 90,000 a month prior to 2000 when the Palestinian uprising came about.

Local businesses are feeling the harsh reality of the ever-declining tourist economy. AP has reported that Abir Karram, who sells traditional hand-embroidered Palestinian dresses, can no longer afford to pay the 700 shekel (US$115) monthly rent for her workshop. Two years ago, she had 30 women working part time for her. Now she has no workers.

"The wall stopped tourists and Arabs from Israel," she said about the separation barrier, which is meant to stop Palestinian suicide bombings.

"Now people here have no salaries. It's like a well that finished drawing water," Karram added.

A 2004 United Nations report has estimated that about 10 percent of Christians had left Bethlehem following the violence up till that point.

The offering of extra funding has been greeted with mixed reactions among local Christians. Some have said they suspect the Islamic militants hoped to gain support from the international community; "It's just for show", said one anonymous elderly woman, according to AP.

Another Palestinian Catholic believed that Hamas should have given the money to the needy, but was sure that it was a sign of goodwill: "I appreciate it, because Bethlehem is the symbol of peace."

The acting finance minister, Samir Abu Eisha of Hamas, said, "We don't fund any Islamic celebrations, but we want to fund this Christian festival, which is a special part of Bethlehem. As a Palestinian government, we hope our Christian brothers have a happy celebration. They are an integral part of Palestinian society."