Published on : Thursday, February 22, 2018
Alfred Raad, an owner of a souvenir shop within New Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, stood at the outer surface his shop; witnessing tourists go by without entering his shop. He became melancholic by remembering the times when his souvenir business was pretty flourishing and lucrative business in Jerusalem’s Old City, one of the world’s significant tourist destinations.
Raad got the business from hereditary from his father who once opened the shop back in 1960. Also, his grandfather was one of the first tour guides in Jerusalem since 1910. To the tourists Alfred’s grandfather has been selling oriental handicrafts and souvenirs, ever since he can remember.
Inside the walled Old City, Raad’s shop is one of 450 souvenir shops that trade eye-catching handicraft goods like traditional Palestinian garments, olive wood carvings and figurines, ceramics and mother of pearl that showcase the history and heritage of the city to the visitors worldwide.
At present, Alfred along with his fellow souvenir shops are immensely suffering from a waning business, not because of the decline of tourist and tourism but chiefly due to Israeli policies, primary of which are the difficult tax policies made compulsory on them by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem.
To quote Raad, “there is an Israeli economic scheme that targets the Arab businesses in Jerusalem, especially in the Old City. This affects 90% of the merchants of the Old City, especially since we are small traders and our economic situation is deteriorating. I am afraid most of us might shut down our businesses in the next two years if this situation continues.”
Tags: The tourism of East Jerusalem gets unstable