圣誕地最渴望的圣誕禮物英語(yǔ)美文
以色列首都耶路撒冷以南6公里的伯利恒城是傳說(shuō)中耶穌誕生的地方。今年，這個(gè)約旦河西岸城市的人們最渴望得到的圣誕禮物是絡(luò)繹不絕的游客。
據(jù)美聯(lián)社12月6日?qǐng)?bào)道，由于傳說(shuō)中耶穌降臨于此，伯利恒每年都會(huì)迎來(lái)各國(guó)眾多朝拜者和游客，旅游業(yè)是當(dāng)?shù)刂饕慕?jīng)濟(jì)收入來(lái)源。每年圣誕節(jié)前夕，數(shù)十萬(wàn)人聚集在伯利恒的馬廄廣場(chǎng)高唱頌歌和舉行彌撒活動(dòng)以迎接圣誕節(jié)的到來(lái)。而今年，伯利恒城中的商鋪主人、旅館店主甚至普通老百姓都希望有更多的游客到來(lái)，哪怕只是待上短短的一夜，這成了他們最渴望的圣誕禮物。伯利恒主誕堂的一名導(dǎo)游說(shuō)：“我們每天都在祈禱游客能夠繼續(xù)到這兒觀光。但由于最近4年巴以兩國(guó)沖突不斷，游客都害怕到這兒來(lái)旅游。”
在2002年9月發(fā)生一系列自殺爆炸事件發(fā)生后，以色列軍隊(duì)4萬(wàn)人進(jìn)駐伯利恒。當(dāng)時(shí)，巴勒斯坦武裝人員躲進(jìn)伯利恒主誕堂，以色列軍隊(duì)封鎖教堂5周。現(xiàn)在，這座始建于公元4世紀(jì)的教堂里還殘留著當(dāng)時(shí)留下的槍眼。
上月，巴勒斯坦領(lǐng)袖阿拉法特的逝世使巴以兩國(guó)間的武裝沖突稍有停息，這也使伯利恒當(dāng)?shù)卣庇谠谑フQ節(jié)前恢復(fù)旅游業(yè)。伯利恒市長(zhǎng)納賽爾表示，以往每年都有數(shù)十萬(wàn)的.游客來(lái)到這里慶祝圣誕節(jié)，每月平均有12萬(wàn)游客，而如今每月只有大約1萬(wàn)人。據(jù)納賽爾估計(jì)，今年平安夜和圣誕節(jié)可能只有1500人前來(lái)觀光。
正在當(dāng)?shù)芈糜蔚囊幻绹?guó)人表示，盡管各種媒體把約旦河西岸描述成一個(gè)極不安全的地方，但我們?cè)诓愀杏X(jué)很安全。
報(bào)道說(shuō)，為了促進(jìn)旅游業(yè)的復(fù)興，巴以兩國(guó)旅游部門(mén)已達(dá)成了一項(xiàng)旨在減少兩國(guó)旅游限制的協(xié)議，并向游客承諾，圣地是安全的。
West bank Bethlehem knows what it wants for Christmas: tourists.
All over Manger Square and the rest of town, shopkeepers, hotel owners and just plain folks are hoping that visitors come and stay -- if only for a night.
Pilgrims are the primary source of income in Jesus Christ"s traditional birthplace, and town leaders, while mourning Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, are encouraged by a lull in Israeli-Palestinian fighting since his death last month.
"We hope things will get better and pray every day for tourists to come back," said Nidal Dar El-Qurneh, a guide at the Church of the Nativity. "It"s been so hard recently, especially the last four years of the intifada."
The intifada, or Palestinian uprising, has devastated tourism throughout the Holy Land, and occasionally the violence spilled into Bethlehem.
At formerly bustling Manger Square, just outside the church, the town"s troubles are evident.
Some of the bullet holes in the church are still visible, and the turquoise blue doors of the stores lining the streets are bolted. Those that are open, to sell baby Jesus figures and glow-in-the-dark statues of the Virgin Mary, say they"re lucky to get a few customers a week.
Christmas celebrations here once attracted tens of thousands of tourists, but that was before the violence. Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said that 120,000 tourists once visited every month. Now it"s about 10,000. And on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when tens of thousands of people would normally pour in, Nasser doubts even 1,500 will come to attend services.
In a sign of renewed cooperation, the Israeli and Palestinian tourism ministers announced an agreement to ease travel restrictions and promised all visitors that the Holy Land was safe. (：夏根建)
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