Bethlehem is a little easier to visit this year

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BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- A dove wearing a bulletproof vest is hardly a traditional Christmas image, but when the mysterious artist showed Maha Saca a sketch he wanted to do, she let him paint it on the wall outside her small museum and handicrafts store.The image, which confronts visitors soon after they cross the concrete barrier separating Israel from this part of the West Bank, has become symbolic of the kind of year Bethlehem is having. Peace prospects are up and, with them, tourist numbers here in the birthplace of Christianity. But optimists remain hard to find."I chose this picture because it really affects us," said Saca, director of the Palestinian Heritage Center. "This is what happens to peace in Palestine. Even the bird of peace cannot protect himself."The mysterious artist behind the dove painting was Banksy, a renowned British graffiti artist whose urban art has earned him a clutch of celebrity admirers and the ire of many an English city councillor. Thanks to controversy, his work, such as his signature rat wielding a slingshot, often sells for hundreds of thousands of dollars.Initially, Bethlehem residents were thrilled that Banksy and a group of fellow graffiti artists had chosen to make this economically depressed town, and the giant wall that Israel has built around most of it, their latest canvas. The artwork has given Bethlehem an added draw this year beyond the Church of the Nativity, the site revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus Christ.Inspired by the elusive Banksy, who is rarely seen and whose real name is not known, other graffiti artists have poured into the city. The eight-meter-high barrier around the city -- which Israel says it built for security reasons, but Palestinians call the "apartheid wall" -- is covered with images such as a walled-in Christmas tree and a young girl in a pink dress frisking a soldier. An exhibition of works by Banksy and other alternative artists was set up in a disused chicken restaurant perpendicular to the church on Manger Square, under the brash title Santa's Ghetto.Tourists and mass media followed, contributing to what looks set to be Bethlehem's busiest Christmas season in seven years, since the outbreak of the recent intifada against Israel's occupation of the West Bank.Some 60,000 tourists visited Bethlehem last month, capitalizing on perhaps the calmest year since the outbreak of the fighting, roughly three times the figure of a year ago. Expectations are high for the coming Christmas week, with many hotels in the city reporting full occupancy for Christmas Eve for the first time in years.Even international Mideast envoy Tony Blair has done his part, spending a high-profile night at the city's lavish Intercontinental Hotel and proclaiming, "Bethlehem is safe for tourism and a good place to come." He went so far as to say his own government -- which like Canada's, suggests travelers should avoid all non-essential travel to the city -- should change its advice on Bethlehem.But in a cruel twist of fate, the boom hasn't translated into better times for most of the city's businesses. Those who depend on tourism for a living say the majority of visitors stay only an hour or two, just long enough to see the church and perhaps a work of graffiti. They sleep in hotels in Israel, take buses organized by Israeli tour companies, and do almost all their shopping on the other side of the wall. Israel's tourism ministry has organized shuttle buses between Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity that will go back and forth every half hour.While the art on sale at Santa's Ghetto, the proceeds of which are supposed to go to unnamed local charities, is selling for as much as $135,000 a piece, those selling traditional Bethlehem handicrafts such as olive-wood carvings and embroidered pillowcases say they've seen only a marginal upturn in business.The manager of Santa's Ghetto, who would only give his first name, Wissam, said many tourists treat Bethlehem as "a zoo" that they visit. "They come to the church, they pollute Bethlehem with their carbon monoxide and they go. I call it irresponsible tourism."Such frustration has even boomeranged back on Banksy and his cohorts. Despite the initial warm reception, two of his works, including a controversial portrait of an Israeli soldier checking the documents of a donkey, have since been covered with black paint by offended local residents.Bethlehem Mayor Victor Batarseh nonetheless praised the artists for drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians and for drawing more visitors to his city.(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)