There's No Such Thing
As A Small Disaster.
Jerusalem Prepares
For Birthday Year
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Photographer: Dana Fineman
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124
a
cystic
Fibrosis
Foundation
Jerusalem (JTA) --- This city cel-
ebrated the 27th anniversary of
its reunification on Yom Yerusha-
layim, Jerusalem Day, May 9,
and officials here are already
looking to Jerusalem's 3,000th
birthday.
That celebration is still is still
two years off, but city officials are
already planning for an on-
slaught of tourists.
A joint effort of the municipal-
ity, the Ministry of Tourism, the
Jerusalem Foundation and scores
of other institutions, the an-
niversary celebrations are ex-
pected to draw some 2 million
visitors throughout 1996.
City officials are looking ahead
— not only to the trimillennium
but to the nation's 50th birthday
in 1998. •
Additionally, the year 2000,
revered by Christians as the sec-
ond millennium, is expected to
bring an unprecedented number
of pilgrims to the Church of the
Holy Sepulcher and scores of oth-
er Christian holy sites both in
and outside Jerusalem.
With too few hotels to accom-
modate the million-plus people
who visited the capital last year,
city officials and the Ministry of
Tourism are scrambling to build
another 10,000 rooms within the
next few years.
To meet the demand for ac-
commodations, the government
has agreed to give financial in-
centives to private investors wish-
ing to build hotels.
And many Jerusalemites hope
to turn a profit by renting out
rooms in their apartments.
Those visitors lucky enough to
.find a place to stay in or near the
city will have a wide range of cul-
tural events to choose from.
Though the schedule is not yet
complete, the trimillenium
promises to be a yearlong ex-
travaganza.
To ensure that the event will
be Israeli in character, the orga-
nizers have commissioned spe-
cial works from the country's
leading composers, choreogra-
phers and artists.
Several of the musical and
dance events will be held out-
doors, some in the ancient Sul-
tan's Pool outside the Old City
walls, and along the breathtak-
ing tayelet, or promenade.
Though many of the events,
such as a performance of Verdi's
opera Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar
in Italian— the Babylonian king
who conquered Jerusalem in 586
BCE), will cost an entrance fee,
dozens of others will not.
Hundreds of gospel choirs from
the United States have been in-
vited to sing in the city's squares
and parks. Other free events will
include a parade through the
streets of Jerusalem by thou-
sands of marchers and musicians,
many dressed in historical garb.
And a huge sound-and-light
show, to be viewed from a hillside
promenade overlooking the city,
will depict Jerusalem's history.
The city also is sponsoring an
art contest called "Children Draw
Jerusalem," which is expected to
elicit hundreds of thousands of
drawings from kids around the
world.
According to Ze'ev Birger, a
member of the planning corn-
mittee, Diaspora Jewish com-
munities will play a major role in
marking the anniversary.
In addition to running a series
of special programs to teach chil-
dren and teen-agers the history
of Jerusalem, the communities
are expected to sponsor the trips
of thousands of teens who wish
to visit Israel in 1996.
Hall goes well, the anniversary
Those involved are
equally eager to
attract Israeli
tourists.
will attract an unprecedented
number of tourists to Jerusalem
and the country as a whole, ac-
cording to a tourism official.
Though they are reluctant to
say so publicly, those involved in
Jerusalem tourism are equally
eager to attract Israeli tourists,
many of whom have not visited
the capital since the start of the
intifada, the Palestinian upris-
ing, six years ago.
According to an internal mu-
nicipal report prepared in late
1993 by former Mayor Teddy
Kollek (but only released this
past March by Mayor Ehud
Olmert), more than 50 percent of
Israelis are afraid to visit
Jerusalem.
The report noted that of the 54
percent of Israelis who do not vis-
it the capital, 70 percent cited a
lack of security as the main rea-
son for staying home.
Though extremely safe by the
standards of most Western cities,
Jerusalem suffers an image prob-
lem, conceded a local tour guide.
As such, Jerusalem officials
are banking on the Palestinian
autonomy plan to bring an end to
the intifada — and to bring back
tourists in time for 1996. ❑