But now that the year has begun, we are all more aware of Bethlehem as the place of beginning. Yasser Arafat, a Muslim, begins this remarkable book: “Many other cities in the world are preparing to celebrate the third millennium. Yet no place on earth is as special as Bethlehem, the Palestinian city that was blessed and chosen by God to be the birthplace of the messenger of peace and love, that great event that marked the beginning of the Christian era.”

To most North Americans Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus conjures up the sounds of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and the sight of a little wooden stable in a rural atmosphere. (Of course it was more likely to have been a cave, since trees are scarce and even today no one builds with wood.) The “little town” has certainly changed in 2,000 years, but some of the pictures which Mitri Raheb and Fred Strickert show us in Bethlehem 2000 remind us that the terrain might not have changed that much, after all. The breathtaking desert and the mountains of Moab are little different from what Mary and Joseph saw.

Bethlehem 2000 is not strictly a religious book, although it is full of pictures of religious people in the Bethlehem district and even includes icons from the remote (and closed to women) Mar Saba monastery in the desert. Raheb and Strickert introduce us in their text and pictures to the three towns of the Bethlehem district: Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, and Bethlehem itself, along with the small villages nestled in the desert. The book also shows us the everyday life of people in the towns and villages of the district—the farmers, stonecutters, shopkeepers—as well as the military checkpoints, settlements, bypass roads and refugee camps of today’s occupation. The text goes beyond picture captions to describe such things as the historic living quarters of Bethlehem, its economy and culture, and the current political situation.

Raheb and Strickert present us with the expected in terms of pictures of a cloister, Christmas Eve Mass and terraced hills. But there is also the unexpected aerial view of the Herodian, Arabic calligraphy of Luke 2:14 and a bagpipe band. There is the old Bethlehem as shown in David Roberts’ lithographs and 19th-century black-and-white photographs of Manger Square. There are also the recent photographs of an Israeli military patrol and a demonstration at Abu Ghneim protesting its confiscation for a new Jewish settlement to house around 40,000 Israelis. A modern painting of the Lord’s Supper by Adel Nasser closes the book.

Having lived in Bethlehem for a year and a half, I can verify the authenticity of the pictures and the text. I experienced the gracious people, the spectacular beauty of the area and, especially, the checkpoints and closures. In text and pictures, Raheb and Strickert have captured the essence of the Bethlehem I know. They have even captured the religious pluralism of the area in the Muslim worshippers and in a box about El-Khader, a saint revered by both Muslims and Christians.

Even though it is entitled Bethlehem 2000, the book will not be out of date on Jan. 1, 2001. It is a story of a past, a present and a future. At the end of the book, Mitri Raheb states: “The Bethlehemites hope to use this opportunity as the beginning of a new era for their city, their region and the world.”

It will be a great present for those who wikll be celebrating Christmas 2000, wherever they may be.