By Jorge Dastis
Jerusalem, Mar 28 (EFE).- As Holy Week unfolds in Jerusalem, the usual bustle of pilgrims and tourists is conspicuously absent, overshadowed by the ongoing war in Gaza.
With Palestinian Christians largely unable to secure permits to enter the holy city and tourist numbers dwindling, the atmosphere is somber in the streets of Jerusalem’s Old City.
The streets of the Old City, usually bustling with pilgrims and vendors, now stand subdued. Some shops are closed, also due to Ramadan, and vendors browse newspapers or have coffee while calling out to the few tourists walking down the street to buy something.
The war in Gaza, where around 32,500 Palestinians have already been killed, has significantly reduced Christian pilgrimage tourism in the Holy Land, which has not fully recovered from the pandemic.
According to Dolores Pérez, director of the Israeli National Tourism Office in Spain, the road to recovery for pilgrimage tourism is arduous, requiring time and concerted efforts to restore trust and confidence among visitors.
“Our main objective is to regain the confidence of the pilgrim. And that takes time,” Pérez told EFE.
Israel controls much of the tourism in the Old City of Jerusalem, located in the occupied eastern Jerusalem, the proposed capital of a potential Palestinian state.
In February, 67,500 tourists arrived in Israel, marking a 78 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023 and an 80 percent decrease compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a recent mass at the Holy Sepulcher, barely a dozen tourists gathered alongside the faithful, while a few steps back, a guard patiently waited inside the empty tomb of Jesus.
Despite the challenges, there are glimmers of optimism on the horizon. Pérez said the prospects for the fall were better.
“Bookings for the last quarter of 2024 are exponentially higher than for Holy Week and even summer,” she said. Her office is already working on plans for Holy Week 2025.
For the intrepid few who have ventured to Jerusalem during these tumultuous times, the experience is a mix of apprehension and awe.
“At the Holy Sepulcher, we only had one person ahead of us,” said Mar, who had come with her husband to visit their son Sancho, a student at a university on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
She admitted that they had thought long and hard before coming, but once in the country, they never felt unsafe or had trouble getting around.
Marcos Pereda, director of Haya Peregrinaciones, who organized the first group pilgrimage of Spaniards since the war broke out between March 4 and 11, recounts something similar.
Pereda emphasizes that even when crossing to Bethlehem, located in territory administered by the Palestinian Authority, they never encountered any problems.
“The reception from both the Palestinians and the Israelis has been very good,” he said, recommending that those thinking of traveling to Jerusalem do so now to take advantage of low prices and the absence of crowds.
Among the few pilgrims who have decided to visit the city these days, most are from Asian countries, such as the Philippines and Indonesia.
Carlos, from Manila, had been planning the trip with his wife for some time, but the pandemic forced them to postpone it. When the war broke out, they thought that if they didn’t do it now, they never would.
So they decided to take the risk and hired a guide with a group of Filipinos.
The emptiness of the city has come as a pleasant surprise for him. He admits that it is very special to be able to visit sacred places, such as the Via Dolorosa or the Holy Sepulcher, without having to wait in line.
But for Hans, who has come from Germany to visit friends, the lack of people on the streets reminds of the painful situation just a few kilometers away.
The relief for tourists contrasts with the difficulties of the vendors dotting the streets of the Christian Quarter.”We opened the store because we got bored at home,” said Emad Sidawi, who runs a gift shop in the neighborhood of the Old City of Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, for the Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank who want to celebrate Holy Week, the Israeli government has significantly reduced the number of special permits it grants to travel to Jerusalem at this time. EFE
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