To celebrate the beginning of the new Millennium and mark the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ in Palestine, the Palestinian National Authority launched the Bethlehem 2000 Project in 1996. The Bethlehem 2000 Project began the millennium celebrations on December 4, 1999 and will continue to organize celebrations until Easter 2001, in accordance with the international calendar of celebrations organised to celebrate the beginning of the third millennium. 

Overseeing infrastructural and urban renewal, developing the tourism sector, and planning a 16-month calendar of cultural, religious, and artistic events are integral parts of the Bethlehem 2000 Project. The development projects include the whole Bethlehem District, which encompasses not only the city of Bethlehem but also the towns of Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, Doha and the surrounding villages. Working plans for giving the Bethlehem District a face-lift began in the Spring of 1997 and implementation of the projects started in 1998. While developmental work is expected to continue well into the next millennium, the celebrations to mark the birth and life of Jesus Christ will come to an end at the Easter, of the 2001 celebrations. The occasion of the Millennium was chosen as an appropriate time to launch developmental projects in Bethlehem, which, like other Palestinian cities, suffered from severe deprivation as a result of occupation. 

With the beginning of a new Millennium comes hope that the Palestinian government and new initiatives will bring a better life to the people in Bethlehem and Palestine and will allow for renovation and restoration of historical and religious sites, which are the source of so much world history. In order to invigorate a long deprived and depressed economy, the Bethlehem 2000 Project is developing a plan to promote tourism. The development of the tourism sector includes the improvement of infrastructure, tour circuits and nature routes, as well as the development of traditional industries, training of tour guides, and expanding hotel and service facilities. A wide-ranging development plan is intended to help create a sustainable tourism industry in the Bethlehem District and all of Palestine. Infrastructural development and urban renewal will upgrade the daily life of people in the District while enabling improvement of the existing economic infrastructure. The preservation of the cultural heritage of the Bethlehem District, with its specifically Christian context, is central to tourism promotion. A 16-month programme of cultural, religious, and artistic events will mark the beginning of the new Millennium while commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. Local, regional, and international participation will give the celebrations the universal spirit that 
emanated from Bethlehem 2,000 years ago. But more than anything, the Palestinian people want to celebrate the coming of the next Millennium with the spirit of hope in peace and freedom based on justice, reconciliation, and dialogue, so that the eternal message of Christ, with which they identify, can be translated into reality.

Dr. Nabeel Kassis 
Minister and Coordinator General 
Bethlehem 2000 Project