海角大神

I vowed I wouldn鈥檛 do it. I wouldn鈥檛 write a story mind-numbingly reminiscent of the Christmas stories I wrote from Bethlehem last year at this time, and the year before that, and the one before that.

It鈥檚 not for nothing that when a colleague of mine started a Facebook group called 鈥淩eporters against whiny Christmas stories in Bethlehem,鈥� it quickly garnered 70 members. Enjoying the revolt against 鈥�Groundhog Day鈥� journalism 鈥� popularized by the 1993 movie in which Bill Murray plays a reporter who lives a nightmare of a day that relentlessly repeats itself 鈥� I joined, too. And then I made a grave mistake: I let an editor in on the joke.

And so here I stand in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, cherished by 海角大神s worldwide as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, trying to find shopkeepers and tourists who will say something radically different than anything readers have heard before about the not-so-happy situation for Palestinians in the Holy Land.

From the Church of the Nativity to an Arabic disco version of 'Silent Night'

Now that I鈥檓 here, listening to an Arabic disco version of 鈥淪ilent Night鈥� blaring from the loudspeakers in anticipation of tomorrow night鈥檚 big crowd, watching the Palestinian policemen and merchants out in force to serve the sprinkling of tourists passing through just before Christmas Eve, I鈥檓 glad I came. The afternoon sun is shining bright, the weather is so mild that I have to take my coat off, and I am suddenly reminded that I only have to travel half an hour from Jerusalem to visit a place that people of faith from around the world dream of visiting their entire lives.

鈥淚t鈥檚 moving to be here, but Bethlehem is different than we imagined. It鈥檚 a busy city, it鈥檚 very crowded, and not as pretty as I would have thought,鈥� Ilka Marchianos, an Athens mother of three here with her family, tells me inside the Church of the Nativity 鈥� before a priest hushes us up for having too lively a conversation. She adds more quietly: 鈥淭he political situation makes me sad.鈥�

As it does us all, every one. The five souvenir-sellers I interviewed this afternoon all say that business is bad; not enough tourists come, and when they do, they pray and leave, rather than stay for the night and spend their money. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e still afraid to come,鈥� says Bassem Asaf, who sells Palestinian scarves and olive-wood cr猫ches outside the church.

Christmas gift for West Bank: good news for the economy

But the constant, somewhat skewed focus on how terrible things are belies the fact that there is more to Christmas in Bethlehem than 鈥淏ah, humbug.鈥�

Economic life in the West Bank is better than it has been in years, according to the World Bank. A report on its website says that if conditions continue to improve due to Israel鈥檚 easing travel restrictions in the West Bank, and the peace process moves forward with international support for 鈥済rowth-enhancing reforms and institution building,鈥� the medium-term outlook is almost cheery.

鈥� ... with the above assumptions and policy expectation, real GDP growth would increase from about 2 percent in 2008 to 5 percent in 2009, 6.5 percent in 2010, and 7.5 percent in 2011.鈥� (Compare that with the World Bank forecast for the US in 2010: 2.5 percent.)

One caveat: the World Bank says that while the Palestinian economy is growing nicely, it鈥檚 still yet to recover to where it was before the al-Aqsa Intifada, which broke out in September 2000.

Inboxes stuffed like stockings

Like most everything in this conflict, both misery and merriment are in the eyes of the beholder. We reporters have had our inboxes stuffed like stockings in the past few days with attempts to spin the story in one direction or the other.

Yesterday we received a report from the PLO Negotiations Support Unit called: Christmas without Hope: Bethlehem and its Environs. It lists some of the very worrying and real facts about limits on Palestinians鈥� freedom of movement and Israel鈥檚 increased control of the city鈥檚 surroundings.

And throughout the week we鈥檝e received a torrent of press releases about ways in which the Israeli army and COGAT 鈥� the Coordinator for Government Activities in the Territories 鈥� have been working with local 海角大神 leaders to ensure a happy holiday, including facilitating the exit of 300 海角大神s from the Gaza Strip so they could celebrate the holiday in Bethlehem. Even the Israel Defense Forces [IDF] foreign spokesman鈥檚 unit has a Christmas greeting to the world on YouTube.

Fresh views, fresh hummus

All of which reminds me why we reporters who cover the Middle East conflict can get to feeling like we鈥檙e covering the same story over and over again 鈥� and why actually, we鈥檙e not.

When I first came here in 1993, and the Israeli army was occupying Bethlehem, as it had been since the 1967 war. Today, the sight of the Palestinian Authority policemen calmly patrolling Manger Square 鈥� a day after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says there won鈥檛 be a third intifada on his watch 鈥� reminds me of all that has changed in the years since.

Speaking of which, we鈥檙e all waiting for news to pop about an unprecedented prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas 鈥� so I鈥檇 better wrap up this Christmas story. Yes, the one I vowed I wouldn鈥檛 write. As long as I鈥檓 a reporter covering this beat, I鈥檓 going to keep going out to smell the chestnuts roasting 鈥� or at least to have a plate of fresh hummus in Bethlehem.