If you do not hold a special permit, which is valid for only 2 months, you can forget about going to work. For instance, you will not be allowed to travel to Jerusalem, which is only a few miles away.

Furthermore, the renewal of the permit is always uncertain.

General trade and trade of crafts with Jerusalem have always been source of work and survival for the Arabs living in the area.  Olive plantations also play an important role, as they are used for the production of oil and timber for handcrafts.

Tourism and pilgrimages have always been source of income too, thanks to the services that are offered to those who visit the holy places, as well as the sale of items produced by Arab families, both Christian and Muslim.

However, as the Israeli Zionist army is occupying the territory and expropriating the land cultivated with olive trees, many families have witnessed a rapid decline in their work and income. The wall which traps the whole town is then the finishing stroke for an economy which is already very unstable.

As the sources of support are at their minimum and the transit to and from the town is blocked, hopes for the development and growth of new generations have been greatly undermined, and many people are forced to emigrate.

Nevertheless, many young people and families are holding out in that land which they truly love and has always been theirs and of their fathers.

 A land which they love, as we all love our own country.

 What they are asking for is simply to live, work and develop without a foreign army imposing an undeserved punishment on them and on their children.

Thanks to our non-profit-making support and solidarity, we are trying to help them to sell locally made products, which are often true works of art of the poor.

 By helping the survival of many Arab Palestinian families, we are also trying to surmount the material limits that the Israeli regime of apartheid is now imposing on

all citizens of Bethlehem,

both Christian and Muslim.

The profit coming from the sale of handcrafts that we are importing, are partly reinvested in more handcrafts (primarily of religious nature), partly used to help children of needy families to continue their studies, and partly assigned to the Caritas Baby Hospital of Bethlehem. This hospital, which is itself imprisoned behind the Wall of shame, is the only hope for the survival of many children and their mothers.