Municipalities and Councils - Australians for Palestine

Beit Sahour Municipality
Excellence in Community Development
The buzzwords in Beit Sahour
Municipality today are community
(civil) engagement and networking.
This particular Palestinian municipality
has been setting and surpassing
the benchmark in activities involving
engagement and networking.
Beit Sahour is a small but fairly wellknown
town, located 1.5 kilometres
east of Bethlehem. Religiously and
historically speaking, it is believed to be
the site where the angels proclaimed
to the shepherds the birth of Jesus
Christ. Consequently, there are two main
religious sites that commemorate the
angels’ visit to Beit Sahour: the Greek
Orthodox Shepherds’ Field Church and
the Franciscan Shepherds’ Field Church.
To commemorate the announcement
of Jesus’ birth, the municipality, in
cooperation with many local
organisations, hosts the annual Great Joy
Celebration, which kicks off the Christmas
season’s festivities. The celebration,
which includes a candlelight procession
and performances from all four of the
community’s scout troops, finishes with
the lighting of the Christmas tree, which
is attended by thousands of Palestinians
(from both inside and outside of the
Green Line) and internationals each year.
This heritage and these sites encourage
pilgrimages of approximately 2,000
tourists per day. Consequently, the
town has developed the supporting
infrastructure to take advantage of and
enhance tourism to the area. There are
4 hotels and 3 guesthouses operational
in Beit Sahour, as well as one hotel that is
currently under construction. In total, Beit
Sahour can accommodate 700 overnight
tourists. In addition to the accommodation
facilities, the town boasts 19 restaurants
and catering halls. Furthermore, 34
percent of the local economy is based
upon the handicraft industry, which
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By Lubnah Shomali
includes the production of olive wood,
mother of pearl, and embroidery items
that are sold here and abroad.
Throughout its history, Beit Sahour
has been a model for civic engagement.
During the first Intifada, the community
led an innovative campaign of non-violent
resistance that included the boycott
of Israeli goods and the refusal to pay
taxes to the Israeli government. Activities
and initiatives designed to create selfsufficiency
and independence from the
Israeli economy and the occupation
were aplenty.
The community of Beit Sahour continues
this non-violent resistance campaign to
this day in the form of a public park. Ush
Ghurab Peace Park was born through the
mutual will of the municipal administration
and the community. Originally a military
base that was first utilised by the British
and then the Jordanians, the lands now
under the geopolitical label “Area C”
were occupied by the Israelis in 1967. In
addition to the 107 dunams used by the
previous armies, the Israeli army annexed
another 1,500 dunams of Palestinian land
surrounding the site as a buffer zone for
security reasons. The base was used as
a launching point for shelling Palestinian
homes during the second Intifada. In April
2006, the Israeli army relocated to a base
near Herodion. The current Beit Sahour
municipal administration took advantage
of this evacuation and began developing
a master plan for the utilisation of the
area. Gradually, the military base was
transformed from a site that was feared
and abhorred to a recreational oasis
with a climbing tower and children’s
play areas, picnic and barbeque areas,
a restaurant and medium-sized hall, a
basketball court, a soccer field, and an
outdoor theatre. The community of Beit
Sahour contributed time, money, and
materials to the project; in fact, every
sector of the community had a hand in
the development of Ush Ghurab.
Beit Sahour Municipality manages the
park, which offers a variety of services to
the community. The park has become a
venue for numerous community activities
such as the Nights of Beit Sahour
Festival, the Fakkous Festival, sports
tournaments, information sessions,
workshops, lunches, dinners, and
traditional celebrations. The municipality
charges a meagre 2 NIS entrance fee;
that combined with income generated
from the park’s catering, hall rental,
and other services contribute to the
sustainability of the park.
The park is not only a symbol of nonviolent
resistance but also of the desire
of the Palestinian people to live in peace,
free from oppression. It is a symbol of
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their innate right to live in peace and
security, according to their standards,
culture, and heritage, just as their Israeli
counterparts.
While Ush Ghurab Peace Park is
an outstanding example of community
engagement, networking, and sustainable
development, there are many others. The
population of Beit Sahour has more than
doubled from 5,000 inhabitants in 1952,
when the village council was upgraded to
a municipal council, to a little over 13,000
today. Many families, who originally
resided in the city centre, now known
as the Historic City, have relocated to
more spacious areas in the suburbs of
the city. Consequently, the Historic City
contains many abandoned and neglected
homes that have become environmental