The deputy mayor speaks about the impact of the Church of the Nativity becoming a World Heritage Site

George: Since May 2005. It's been seven years and I am entering my eighth year.

Paul: What is it like for you personally being deputy mayor?

George: It's a great thing servicing my city and my country. It needs a lot of work because Bethlehem is not only a city, it's an international city. We have 66 twin cities around the world and so we deal with many countries and people from the world, welcoming them and it needs a lot of effort.

Bethlehem more than 2000 years ago started a message of peace and justice and this is a gift from God, but we carry it in our heart. Our ancestors carried it and we are still carrying it. Our job is to keep carrying this message of justice and peace and love for the whole world and as a deputy mayor I have to service all our guests here and to take care of this city and to take care of this very important place as an important city for the Christian world and as a Palestinian city. It is a pleasure for me to service this city.

Paul: When you were a little boy did you ever dream about being deputy mayor?

George: No, but our dreams change because living under occupation sometimes you dream but nothing happens. I was dreaming to be a pilot, but I couldn't do it, but now my dream is to service my people. My grand, grandfather, he was the first mayor of Bethlehem, so in 2005 I said, 'Why not?' when they opened for the election, so I succeeded with the help of God and it was a good thing for me, a good experience and I am happy in doing it.

Paul: How are you making a difference in the community in Bethlehem?

George: We are trying to educate the people; we are trying to service this city under law and order. We are trying to organise the city under pressure and under occupation and it's not an easy thing. Firstly the city is surrounded by walls. You need a lot of effort and work because you have a shortage of funding and you have a shortage of many things. It's not like living under normal conditions, but we are trying to educate the people how to take care of the city. We're trying to implement laws and order at the city, especially in construction and in infrastructures. We are trying to do our best to service the people the right way and to try to build the city the right way to move it from one step to another.

The situation is very difficult, but we succeeded in 2008 to return back to the normal flow of tourism here and we reached 1 million, which is a good step and we hope it will increase more. That's why we are encouraging investment in the city and encouraging the people to come. It's safe and it's very important for us to let people invest so we can open many job opportunities, especially for the young people. This is with the co-operation of the NGO's, civil society, our government and our president.

We want to work on achieving peace and justice and security and this is the most important thing for us. It is a big job and it's not an easy job and with the help of God I hope we will succeed at the end to achieve our goals and our dreams. We dream to live with freedom with our own Palestinian State and to build our State the right way and to service the people and to let the people live, especially to build a better future for our children side by side with our neighbours and I hope with our prayers and with hope to reach our dream, to reach this level of living and this level of justice.

Paul: What's it like at Christmas here?

George: At Christmastime Bethlehem puts on its best clothes and celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the day of Bethlehem. At Christmastime we try to especially pray about justice because we are missing justice and we are missing peace. Bethlehem is a model for co-existence, living between Christians and Muslims and never the less it is closed by this separation wall, but always we are opening our hands and our heart for the whole world to come and celebrate.

I announced this Christmas to be a special Christmas because of the recognition of UNESCO and to be on this international list of heritage and this big achievement. I'm calling everybody to come and celebrate Christmas with us and we hope to make it something different from other Christmas festivals this year and we hope to carry our message for justice and peace and love for the people and not just for this area, not just for Palestine, but for the whole world.

Paul: What's your prayer for Bethlehem and its people?

George: I hope always we pray that the people will stay; that the people will overcome difficulties and I pray for them to live decently and the most important thing is to live freely. I hope all the people will end the suffering of the people from occupation and to live normally like other people in the world. This is a dream for us and I am telling them, 'Wait, you have to be patient. You have to trust God and at the end justice will implement in this area'. We don't have anything in our heart except love and peace for the world. At the end God will help us in achieving our goal of a free Palestine and having our own State; to live freely side by side with our neighbours.