Nazareth

Nazareth is the largest city in the occupied land by Israel. It is also known as the Arab Capital of Israel, as the population is predominantly Arab. It is also the birth place of Jesus and consequently the center of Christian pilgrimage.

Nazareth 's Demographics

The Israel Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that the population of Nazareth was about 65,000 in 2005. The majority of its residents were Arab, and about 60% were Muslims and 30% were Christan. With th Israel's policy to turn the countries to Jews state, the demography may have greatly change now.

Before the Israel's occupation, in 1948, the population was 95% Arabs, and the Moslems and the Christians had lived peacefully for thousands of years.

Nazareth 's Mayor, Menorah Against Christmas Tree
The tension between the Jews and Christian in Nazareth, the birth place of Christian, have intensified. The Christians demanding to have a tree displayed outside in the open and the Jew, who claim that Israel is the land of the Jews, are opposed to it.This had never happen before when the land of under the Muslims rule for thousand of years.

The city's chief Rabbi Yeshaya Hertzel also expressed opposition to the initiative, arguing, "Nazareth Illit is a Jewish city, and we are in Israel, the Jewish land. The have their neighborhoods and are free to decorate them as they wish. But in the rest of the city, no way. The Menorah and other Jewish symbols are a natural thing in the Jewish city, the Christmas tree are a jarring sight to the Jewish population. This reflect the Jews way, dating back to the days when Jesus was teaching.

religious tourism in Nazareth
Nazareth is the site for the famous "Jesus trail". It begins just outside the city, and the 40 miles trails traces the foot step of Jesus and allows the hardy to walk - quite literally - in the footsteps of Jesus. It's 40 miles long lead to the hills where Jesus was said to deliver the sermon from the Bible. The walk will take about three to five days.

"Tourism is a bridge to peace and dialogue among cultures," Israeli Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov told reporters recently. In recent years, his office has worked to establish access to tour sites in Israel, as well as in the Palestinian territories, he said. In another citing, those who were against Israel said that "Israel takes 95 percent of the benefits (of tourism to Bethlehem)," he said. "Israel uses the name of Bethlehem, since religious tourists go to two places, Bethlehem and Jerusalem."

Israel is rule with military force to justify its ambition to control the land. Those were the 'promised land' that were taken away from them by their GOD as the Israel refused to enter it in humanity. Because of this, they were made to be wanderers for more than 3000 years.