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Newsletter : 9fax1230.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Dec. 30, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 239
Y2K - Negev: Bedouins storing water and withdrawing money
Israel Faxx Staff Report
The Negev Bedouins hope not to be caught unprepared in the new millennium - many have begun to stockpile water and others are withdrawing their money from the banks, in fear of the Y2K bug. Knesset member Taleb A-Sanna said the Bedouin population is wary of being caught over the weekend unprepared.
Pilgrims in Jerusalem Await the Millennium
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
More than 3 million people from around the world - including the pope and hundreds of thousands of religious pilgrims - are expected to visit Israel during the year 2000. Preparations to handle this large influx of people have been going on for years. Security is being sharply increased, reflecting concern that terrorists might try to disrupt millennium celebrations.
Church bells ringing in a new morning are only one of the many sights and sounds millions of visitors will experience when they visit Jerusalem's Old City during the year 2000.
Already, hundreds of thousands of people are shopping at the exotic markets, walking through the narrow, twisting alleyways, and visiting some of the most important religious sites in the world. The Old City, sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, is expected to be jammed with visitors on New Year's Eve.
The day is a special one for all three faiths. Christians will usher in the third millennium since the birth of Jesus, while hundreds of thousands of Muslims will mark the final Friday of the holy month of Ramadan with prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.
Friday evening is also the start of the Jewish Sabbath when large numbers of people flock to Judaism's holiest site - the Western Wall.
Adding to concerns about this potentially volatile mix, is a warning by the United States Government that it believes terrorists may target holiday gatherings and millennial celebrations with attacks on hotels, tour buses and tourist sites.
Israel has decided to deploy 12,000 police in Jerusalem on Dec. 31 and hundreds of security cameras have been installed in the Old City to monitor the crowds.
Israel's Minister of Public Safety is Shlomo Ben-Ami. "We are starting a highly sophisticated control center in the Old City that will monitor the movement of police forces and security systems throughout the city. So we are deploying ourselves the best we can."
Israeli officials dread the prospect of an attack on the Al Aqsa Mosque compound. The compound is Islam's third holiest shrine and is also located on the site of the first and second Jewish Temples.
The area is considered a potential flash point for religious violence and is frequently called the most sensitive spot in the Middle East.
Adnan Husseni, the director of the Islamic Trust that oversees the compound, says security has been doubled. "Always we have some problems here with extremists. Always we have these phenomena, so it is not something new or strange - we are accustomed to that. In the meantime, we have to open our eyes also because, if we have visitors here, we should take care of them."
Concerns about terrorism and the potential for computer problems on New Year's Eve have resulted in the cancellation of some visits to the Holy Land. The general manager of the Jerusalem Hilton hotel, Ashley Spencer, says American tourists are especially sensitive to security issues, and generally the first to cancel their reservations.
"I have to say the millennium evening itself is proving not to be as big as we expected it to be. A lot of people who made reservations have decided not to come anymore for all kinds of reasons. I think they just decided to book space and then decided to do something else. So it is a bit of an unknown quantity to us, really."
But despite concerns about security, tourism officials expect a record number of visitors over the next year. Israel's Minister of Tourism, Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, attributes the anticipated boost in tourism to recent successes in the peace process.
"The main reason is not the millennium. I believe the main reason is a new atmosphere in the region. The main reason is the perception that many people now have is different than the one we had two years ago. The whole region is much more secure. The whole region is much more optimistic than it used to be, so people are willing to come."
Tourism officials say Israel has spent about $175 million to improve the major tourist sites for the millennium. Most of the money has been spent to spruce up and improve access to holy places where religious pilgrims are expected to visit during the year 2000.
So, under a heavy blanket of security, millions of people are expected to ring in the millennium here in the Holy Land.
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