In Bethlehem, omicron variant ruins hope for Christmas boom
BETHLEHEM - After collecting dust for nearly two years, the 228 rooms at Bethlehem's Ararat Hotel were scrubbed last month in anticipation of a post-lockdown Christmas boom, hopes that have again been dashed by the coronavirus.Like other hotels in Bethlehem, the Ararat has no guests, with the tree offering cheer to no one but the seven out of 105 employees who have not been fired.
After a near-total pandemic lockdown last year, Bethlehem began to hope for a joyous Christmas when Israel, which controls all access points to the city, announced in October that it would reopen to foreign tourists on November 1. The hotel manager is closely following the news in Israel in hopes a reopening to tourists could save his establishment, but Israeli media have reported that with Omicron raging across much of the West the government is considering tightening restrictions, not loosening them.
The Palestinian Authority, the civil authority in parts of the West Bank, is mired in an economic crisis and has only offered affected workers in Bethlehem's hard-hit tourism sector a one-time stipend of 700 shekels . Watch more on iWantTFC Like many tourist shops in Bethlehem, Shaheen is selling old merchandise. "I didn't order anything new, there is no market, no demand."
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