VZCZCXRO9517
OO RUEHROV
DE RUEHJM #1915/01 2941315
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201315Z OCT 08
FM AMCONSUL JERUSALEM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3045
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JERUSALEM 001915 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NEA FOR FRONT OFFICE; NEA/IPA FOR GOLDBERGER/LENTZ; NSC FOR 
PASCUAL; TREASURY FOR AHERN 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR ANE/MEA:MCCLOUD/BORODIN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EFIN ETRD KWBG IS
SUBJECT: BETHLEHEM: TOURISM SURGES, COMMERCE HINDERED BY 
ACCESS RESTRICTIONS 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Bethlehem businesses continue to suffer 
under the requirement to export goods via Tarqumiya, a 
crossing point nearly 40 kilometers south of the city.  Hotel 
occupancy is surging as a result of increased numbers of 
visitors, although tour guides, drivers, and businessmen 
continue to seek more permits.  Local officials also 
described steady initial progress on the French-sponsored 
Bethlehem industrial zone.  End Summary 
 
Bethlehem businesses suffer lack of access 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2. (SBU) Samir Hazboun, Chairman of the Bethlehem Chamber of 
Commerce, told EconOff that Bethlehem businesses are still 
desperate for alternatives to the Tarqumiya crossing as a 
means of transporting goods to Israel and Jerusalem.  He said 
increased transportation costs and damage done to goods 
during the screening and back-to-back transfer process at 
Tarqumiya is slowly suffocating Bethlehem businesses.  Some 
are choosing to send small quantities of goods out via 
private car, he said, while others are simply giving up. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Hazboun said he requested Israeli Civil Affairs to 
allow more trucks from Bethlehem to use closer checkpoints -- 
specifically al-Walaja and Tunnels, as well as another access 
point near Daniel settlement.  He said he is also pushing the 
GOI to accelerate work to open Al-Nu'man/Mazmouira for 
commercial traffic.  (Note: Currently, only trucks carrying 
stone and marble are allowed to use Tunnels checkpoint, and 
only during restricted hours.  Fifty-five to sixty pass 
through per day.  Most other trucks are diverted 39 km south 
to Tarqumiya.  End note.)  According to Hazboun, Bethlehem 
bakers send 20,000 loaves of bread to Jerusalem each morning, 
most through Tarqumiya (a 100 km one-way trip). 
 
Tourism 
------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) Bethlehem hotel occupancy rates are at record levels 
in 2008, and the demand is "beyond capacity."  Ministry of 
Tourism official Majed Ishaq reports occupancy rates 
averaging over 85 percent in 2008 (compared to 35 percent in 
2007), and Bethlehem hotels "99 percent" booked through the 
end of November.  Ishaq attributes the increase to 
improvements in the political atmosphere, as well as public 
and private sector efforts to promote Holy Land tourism and 
the absence of major security incidents.  Hazboun said four 
new hotels are being built in Bethlehem. 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to Hazboun, only 45 Palestinian tour 
guides have permits to enter Israel, though the demand is 
much higher.  In addition, Arab-Israeli tour guides and bus 
drivers are prohibited from entering the West Bank for 
security reasons.  Hazboun said Arab-Israeli guides and 
drivers, despite the prohibition, are sometimes allowed to 
enter through the Rachel's Tomb checkpoint.  When they are 
turned away, buses travel ten minutes down the road to 
Tunnels checkpoint (where they pass easily) and enter 
Bethlehem via a side road.  Hazboun said GOI officials are 
aware of this workaround and do not interfere, but would not 
agree to standardize access for Arab-Israeli drivers and 
guides via Rachel's Tomb. 
 
Bethlehem Industrial Zone 
------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Hazboun reports steady progress in the planning 
stages of the Bethlehem Industrial Zone, a joint project with 
the French Government announced during President Sarkozy's 
visit earlier this year.  The land identified for the 
industrial park is entirely located in Area A and is owned by 
the PA Ministry of Awqaf and private citizens.  The closest 
checkpoint will be Al-Nu'man/Mazmouria (when open). 
 
¶7. (SBU) The acquisition of the land will not be without 
difficulty, as more than one hundred private land owners have 
been identified and only a few can prove ownership.  Hazboun 
said he wants to keep the project low-profile, in contrast to 
other proposed industrial parks, where, he believes, 
expectations have been raised and land owners have been able 
to hold projects hostage. 
 
Trader Permits 
-------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) According to Hazboun, Bethlehem businessmen 
 
JERUSALEM 00001915  002 OF 002 
 
 
currently hold between 650-700 trader/businessman permits. 
There are also 4,000 worker permits and 142 businessman cards 
(BMCs) held by Bethlehem residents. (Note: Trader permits are 
valid for three months and grant daytime access to "Green 
Line" Israel; BMCs are valid for six months and some allow 
overnight stays.)  Hazboun said he has given up trying to 
facilitate individual trader permits, so he does not know how 
many requests are pending.  Individual Palestinian 
businessmen who meet age and other requirements apply 
directly to the GOI via the DCOs. 
 
¶9. (SBU) Hazboun remains involved in a few permit cases that 
have dragged on for years.  He said one case involved the 
only distributor of maternity clothes in the West Bank, 
married to an East Jerusalemite and therefore apparently 
unable to secure a permit from the GOI.  Hazboun said a 63 
year-old baker with U.S. legal permanent residence is facing 
similar difficulties. 
WALLES