{"id":16598,"date":"2025-08-11T03:23:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T07:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/?p=16598"},"modified":"2025-08-11T15:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T19:24:17","slug":"emergency-program-provides-lifeline-in-bethlehem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/emergency-program-provides-lifeline-in-bethlehem\/","title":{"rendered":"Emergency Program Provides Lifeline in Bethlehem"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the first half of 2025, more than 240 individuals in the West Bank\u2019s Bethlehem Governorate received assistance for medical care, jobs or education under a program sponsored by CNEWA-Pontifical Mission\u2019s office for Palestine and Israel, based in Jerusalem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Bethlehem Emergency Project was funded through a joint $145,000 grant from CNEWA donors in the United States and Canada and the Order of the Holy Sepulchre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNEWA-Pontifical Mission launched the project as a response \u201cto the severe economic and humanitarian crisis that emerged in the West Bank following the October 2023 war in Gaza. Since the start of the war, there was widespread movement restrictions<\/a> and the threat of settler violence, which cut off Palestinians from their workplaces, leading to a significant economic downturn,\u201d noted a recent project report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBethlehem, heavily reliant on tourism and trade, was particularly affected,\u00a0with businesses closing, workers laid off<\/a>, and thousands of day laborers losing their incomes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Citing the Bethlehem Chamber of Commerce and Industry<\/a>, ONE Magazine reported last December that tourism constituted 23-25 percent of the local economy before the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This past June, Joseph Hazboun, regional director of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission in Jerusalem, reported unemployment had risen to 31 percent<\/a>\u00a0and Bethlehem was losing approximately $2.5 million daily in tourism revenue.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CNEWA-Pontifical Mission partnered with the municipalities of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala to offer temporary jobs to 60 people, providing \u201ca vital lifeline and income for their families during a period of immense hardship,\u201d noted the authors of the report. Jobs included upgrading the municipalities\u2019 digital presence, such as websites, social media and online archives; improving public hygiene with a campaign to clean up solid waste and remove rubbish; and restoration projects for cultural heritage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other grant funds helped with medical assistance for people who, due to the recent conflict in Gaza, had limited or no income to cover basic living expenses, let alone essential medical care. The Arab Orthodox Benevolent Society, a long-time CNEWA partner, vetted the more than 70 people who received assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The grant also assisted with education for the 2024-2025 academic year, providing scholarships that settled overdue tuition fees for 45 Christian students at Bethlehem University and Dar al-Kalima University and fees for 65 Christian students at six lower-level schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would have had to drop out [of school] if it were not for this scholarship,\u201d said one Bethlehem University student quoted in the final report. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy father is unemployed due to the West Bank closure for the past two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis scholarship has changed my life and helped my family survive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With unemployment at more than 30 percent, a CNEWA grant provided employment, health care and tuition assistance to residents in and around the city of Christ\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":70080,"featured_media":16599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,3056,3081,69],"class_list":["post-16598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","category-palestine","category-israel","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEmergency Program Provides Lifeline in Bethlehem | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A CNEWA grant provides employment, health care and tuition assistance to residents in and around the city of Christ\u2019s birth.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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