The Bethlehem area is today the home of almost 150,000 Palestinians. The main industry in Bethlehem is tourism. Prior to the Year 2000, tens of thousands of pilgrims came yearly to visit the Church of the Nativity and other religious and historical sites. Bethlehem was booming and the economy was improving. Sadly, the political events of the past few years have wrought a heavy toll on the Palestinian people. Bethlehem, along with the rest of the cities in the West Bank, has been rendered largely unstable both economically and socially.
Recently, the West Bank has been under a state of constant siege. The Israeli army has isolated Palestine by cutting off West Bank towns from one other, from Israel, and from the entire world. This created a variety of social crises, along with unique problems in unemployment. For example, in the year 2002, the residents of Bethlehem and other West Bank towns spent almost 6 months under curfew, with a large percentage of those days under 24-hour curfew. The result of this action was almost 100% unemployment. Even on days when the curfew is lifted, unemployment is incredibly high. Because the economy is based largely around tourism, during the busy season unemployment is typically around 30%, however on the off season, it can reach up to 65-70%. As a result, 70% of the population lives below the established poverty line of $2.00 per day per individual.
