West Bank: Bethlehem 4: Millennium Projects: Photo 1
The streets of central Bethlehem had been paved with asphalt, but in the runup to the Bethlehem 2000 celebrations the Europeans funded replacement of asphalt with stone in a few streets. Late in 1998, the work was underway, and Bethlehemites complained about the difficulty of driving with so many streets closed for repair. To a pedestrian, the same closure was a whiff of the past, when there were no sounds of mechanized transport.