From the Communities

At first glance, Bergisch Gladbach, Cologne, Xanten and Jena have little in common. However, the four municipalities are united by a special commitment – they want to jointly strengthen tourism in the Bethlehem region of the Palestinian Territories. The four cities each have a partnership with a municipality in the Bethlehem district. During their travels there and in conversations with their colleagues on site, the German guests learned that the great potential of tourism for Bethlehem is far too little used. It was therefore a logical step to join forces with the Palestinian partners and use their own experience in city marketing.

This is how the idea of a joint tourism office for the Bethlehem District was born, which includes the municipalities of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, Battir, Al-Ubeidiya, Al-Khader and Al-Doha. The intention is to promote sustainable tourism in Bethlehem, not only by means of classical marketing, but also by involving the local population and bringing visitors closer to the people and their culture, in addition to the sights. By visiting markets or dining with Palestinian families as guests, they will get to know life in the city better. A visit to Bethlehem should be more than just a short detour away from Jerusalem: "The region is worth discovering. The sights are enough for a whole vacation," says Stephan Dekker, head of the mayor's office in Bergisch Gladbach. "If the tourists stay longer in the region, they spend their money on overnight stays, food and souvenirs here too, according to the strategy."

The idea for the tourism office was quickly developed and financially supported by SKEW's project "Sustainable communal development through partnership projects (Nakopa)", which provides grants of up to 250,000 Euros for such development projects. However, the road to the goal was rocky. "We had to find out that Palestinian law does not provide for a tourism association as originally planned," reports Issa Juha, who works as partnership coordinator at the city of Beit Jala. "We had many meetings with the Ministry of Tourism and in the Ministry of Local Government Affairs until we could finally realize our idea." Stephan Dekker also recalls: "It took time to convince the politicians of our idea."

When it finally started, a coordinator in the Palestinian Territories and a coordinator in Germany took over the further arrangements. In their everyday work, the political support of their mayors and city councilors was extremely important to them. It was also crucial for the success of the project that civil society, such as the Bergisch Gladbach – Beit Jala partnership association, was closely involved in the activities.

Today, the tourist office has a common website for all municipalities in the district – a great relief for tourists who want to come to Bethlehem. The site is available in English, German and Arabic, with more languages and features to follow. The office, which is officially called "Joint Service Council for Tourism Development" was also represented at the International Tourism Fair ITB in Berlin, as its managing director Charlie Zeidan reports.

Not only the Palestinian side has benefited from the partnership. Jörg Bärschneider, Deputy Chairman of the Bergisch Gladbach – Beit Jala Partnership Association: "We can change our image of the Middle East through contact with the Palestinian Territories. In the media we very often hear only bad news from the region. In direct exchange with the people we learn that there is a daily reality that enriches our perception". Issa Juha adds: "Our aim is that the German partners come to Palestine to get to know our way of life and to feel that the country is safe and that it is possible to have fun here.”

Supplying the population with sufficient clean water is a major and pervasive problem in the Palestinian Territories. The water is supplied from Israel and the supply is not reliable. In Nablus, Nuremberg's twin city, there is the largest sewage treatment plant in the West Bank. But its operation requires energy. "We depend entirely on energy supplies from Israel. Sometimes the energy supplies are rationed and then sold at high prices," says Abdelafo S. Aker, who is responsible for international relations in Nablus City Council. To become less dependent on this situation, a team from Nablus and Nuremberg developed the idea of using a photovoltaic system to generate part of the energy required for the sewage treatment plant.

The city administration of Nuremberg is very active in development cooperation and was already familiar with the Nakopa project. However, submitting the application was a challenge, as Abdelafo S. Aker recalls: "It was a lengthy process for which we had too few staff. The application was extensive and it was important to understand what SKEW expected. Such a large project was also a challenge on the German side. "We were not very experienced and had to learn a lot during the project," Dr. Norbert Schürgers reports, he is Head of the Office for International Relations of the City of Nuremberg. "Next time things will be better. We got to know each other better as partners and can trust each other."

The determination with which the partners on both sides carried out the project exceeded the expectations of some Nuremberg residents and left little room for the prejudices of their sceptics. All participants communicated in English and worked efficiently as a team. In addition to their professionalism, they considered it a great asset and an important factor in the success of the project that they were friendly and enjoyed working together. Before the photovoltaic system was commissioned in April 2018, Nuremberg photovoltaic experts trained around 50 Palestinian engineers to maintain the system. The project was also a great learning success for the German experts, because the city of Nuremberg is always interested in innovative approaches and solutions in the field of renewable energies.

More tourism and a better energy supply are not the only things the two municipal partnership projects in Bethlehem and Nablus stand for. The German and Palestinian municipalities want to take joint global responsibility for a more sustainable future on a small scale. They are learning from each other, gaining new experiences and adopting a different perspective on many things that previously seemed self-evident.