Swedish parliamentarians visit Bethlehem

Friday November 09, 2007 08:41 by IMEMC Staff

A delegation of Swedish governmental officials on Thursday visited the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, holding meetings with their opposite numbers, and attending talks on a wide variety of Bethlehem-related issues.

Bethlehem - Paletsine

Among the issues discussed were the impact of the illegal wall on Bethlehem's economy, the problems faced by those villages isolated on the Israeli side of the wall, a current financial crisis in the city's municipality, and problems faced by Bethlehem's dwindling tourism industry.

Christian Holm, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Swedish parliament, later revealed that the visit represented a fact-finding mission, the results of which would be reported to the Swedish parliament, and then used as basis for the formulation of economic plans to help develop the Bethlehem region.

Kholoud D’ebis, a member of Bethlehem's Municipality Council, later thanked the Swedish delegation for their ongoing support, and called on the international community to follow Sweden's example in their attempts to rehabilitate the Palestinian economy.

Translated by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

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