BEIT SAHOUR

'Beit Sahour' ( pronounced ) is a Palestinian town administered by the Palestinian Authority, situated to the east of Bethlehem. The population of 15,400 is largely Christian. The town is reputed to be close to the place where, according to the Bible, the angel announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds. There are two enclosures in the eastern part of Beit Sahour which are claimed by different denominations to be the actual 'Shepherds' Field': one belonging to the Greek Orthodox Church and the other, the Catholic site, to the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land.
The origins of the name Beit Sahour (the house of shepherds) reputedly stems from the Canaanite family language words "Beit" meaning place, and "Sahour" meaning night watch, which reflected the importance of the area for shepherds.

Contents

Economy

Civil society activism in Beit Sahour

Tax resistance in Beit Sahour

Land confiscation and other issues

2005 municipal election

People from Beit Sahour

Notes

External links

Economy

The town's economy is largely based on tourism and related industries, such as the manufacture of olive-wood carvings. Agriculture and work in Israel also play a significant role. The town had a prominent role in the Palestinian national "Bethlehem 2000" project, as extensive renovations of touristic sites, hotels and businesses, and historic sites were performed prior to the millennium celebrations. Social and economic sectors have been seriously disrupted since September 2000 due to the events of the Al-Aqsa Intifada.

Civil society activism in Beit Sahour

Beit Sahour is a significant center of civil society activism and has played a prominent role in the events of the first and second Palestinian Intifadas, with local activists pioneering non-violent resistance techniques.
During the second Intifada, the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement between Peoples, based in Beit Sahour, has played a major role in promoting non-violent activism, including the work of the International Solidarity Movement. The Alternative Information Centre is also partly based in the town, as is the Alternative Tourism Group, a non-governmental organisation specialising in tours of Israel and the Palestinian Territories which engage with current political events.

Tax resistance in Beit Sahour

In 1989, during the first Intifada, the Palestinian resistance urged people to stop paying taxes to Israel, which inherited and modified the previous Jordanian tax-collection regime in the West Bank.Local Government in the West Bank and Gaza (says parenthetically that the ''property tax'' “rate and base” were “unchanged since 1963”)
Baxendale, Sidney J. “Taxation of Income in Israel and the West Bank: A Comparative Study” Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 18, No. 3 (Spring, 1989), pp. 134-141 "it retained the Jordanian tax law" “No taxation without representation,” said a statement from the organizers. “The military authorities do not represent us, and we did not invite them to come to our land. Must we pay for the bullets that kill our children or for the expenses of the occupying army?”^[1] The people of Beit Sahour responded to this call with an unusually organized and citywide tax strike that included refusal to pay and refusal to file tax returns.
Israeli defense minister Yitzhak Rabin responded: “We will teach them there is a price for refusing the laws of Israel.”^[2] The Israeli military authorities placed the town under curfew for 42 days, blocked food shipments into the town, cut telephone lines to the town, tried to bar reporters from the town, imprisoned forty residents, and seized in house-to-house raids millions of dollars in money and property belonging to 350 families.^[3] The Israeli military stopped the consuls-general of Belgium, Britain, France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Sweden when they attempted to go to Beit Sahour and investigate the conditions there during the tax strike.^[4]
Independent from the rest of Israel’s tax system, Israel’s military occupation had the authority to create and enforce taxes beyond the baseline Jordanian code enacted in 1963 in areas formerly administered by that country, including Beit Sahour. During the Intifada, they used that authority to impose taxes on Palestinians as collective punishment measures to discourage the Intifada, for instance “the glass tax (for broken windows), the stones tax (for damage done by stones), the missile tax (for Gulf War damage), and a general ''intifada'' tax, among others.”^[5]
Among those prominent in Beit Sahour’s tax resistance were Ghassan Andoni and Elias Rishmawi.
The United Nations Security Council considered a resolution that would have demanded that Israel return the property it confiscated during the Beit Sahour tax resistance. The United States vetoed the resolution, which was supported by the other eleven members of the council.^[6]

Land confiscation and other issues

Beit Sahour residents have suffered considerable losses due to Israeli land confiscation policies. The controversial Har Homa settlement was built partially on land owned by Beit Sahour residents, as was a nearby bypass road. Since the Second Intifada, life in the town, as in Bethlehem, has also been considerably disrupted by Israeli movement restrictions: Jerusalem, the main social, economic and religious centre of the region, is now inaccessible to most residents, and travel to other parts of the West Bank is impeded and often prevented.

2005 municipal election

In the 2005 municipal election, two lists gained seats in the municipal council. 8 seats went to 'United Beit Sahour' and 5 to 'Sons of Beit Sahour'. The most voted candidate was Hani Naji Atallah Abdel Masieh of United Beit Sahour with 2,690 votes, followed by Elen Michael Saliba Qsais of Sons of Bethlehem with 2,280 votes.^[7]

People from Beit Sahour

★ Fuad Kokaly

★ Rifat Odeh Kassis

★ Ghassan Andoni

★ Qustandi Shomali

★ Ra'id Shomali

Notes

1. Gradstein, Linda “Palestinians Claim Tax is Unjust, Many Don’t Pay” ''[Ft. Lauderdale] Sun-Sentinel'' 8 October 1989, p. 12A
2. Sosebee, Stephen J. “The Passing of Yitzhak Rabin, Whose ‘Iron Fist’ Fueled the Intifada” ''The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.'' 31 October 1990. Vol. IX #5, pg. 9
3. Grace, Anne “The Tax Resistance at Bayt Sahur” ''Journal of Palestine Studies'' 1990
Lewis, Anthony “It Can Happen There” ''New York Times'' 29 October 1989, p. E23
Curtius, Mary “Palestinian Villagers are Defiant After Israeli Troops End Tax Siege” ''Boston Globe'' 2 November 1989, p. 2
Williams, Daniel “Israeli troops withdraw after failing to stop tax revolt” ''Austin American Statesman.'' 1 November 1989, p. A6
“Israel abandons attempt to crush town's tax revolt” ''The Ottawa Citizen'' 1 November 1989, p. A10
“Food to West Bank Town Blocked” ''The Washington Post'' 28 October 1989, p. A18
“Israelis stop bishops from helping besieged town” ''The Ottawa Citizen'' 28 October 1989, p. A10
Sela, Michal “Elias Rashmawi’s ‘Tea Party’” ''Jerusalem Post'' 29 September 1989, p. 9
Williams, Daniel “Anti-Israel Boycott: Tax Man Cometh, but an Arab Town Resists” ''Los Angeles Times'' 9 October 1989, p. 10
4. “Envoys turned back on road to Beit Sahour” ''The [Toronto] Globe and Mail'' 7 October 1989, p. A9
“Israeli Troops Bar Western Envoys” ''Los Angeles Times'' 6 October 1989, p. 1
5. “A Matter of Justice: Tax Resistance in Beit Sahour” ''Nonviolent Sanctions'' Albert Einstein Institution, Spring/Summer 1992
6. “U.S. vetoes UN resolution that Israel return property seized in tax revolt” ''The [Montreal] Gazette.'' 8 November 1989, p. A14
7. [1]

External links

★ Beit Sahour municipality

★ Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between Peoples

★ PNN - Palestine News Network

★ Alternative Information Centre

★ Alternative Tourism Group

★ Bethlehem 2000 Official Site

★ Getting to the grassroots of the Middle East conflict

★ The Cows of Beit Sahour