Millennium Matters

Q. Why are so many people going to Jerusalem for the millennium and why may it not be such a good idea?

A. After Rome, the biblical sites of the Holy Land are the biggest draws for millennium tourists, with some five million expected in Jerusalem in and around the end of this year and early next. The many people travelling (including a fair whack from Ireland) to celebrate the anniversary of Christ's birth should not expect a place of love, peace and harmony, however. The millennium has become highly politicised in a region where geopolitical divisions run very deep.

Leaving aside what they're getting up to in the surrounding area, which includes turning the site of the Battle of Armageddon (as detailed in Revelation, in case you've forgotten) into a multimedia experience, and the plans of a Californian couple who hope to stage a re-creation of the Journey of the Magi, Jerusalem won't be getting out the millennium commemorative tea-towels for the tourists, and instead will be concentrating on how to satisfy all the people from the three monotheistic religions (Christians, Jews and Muslims) who will be congregating in large numbers.

There are two major problems to overcome in the city before the real influx begins. Following the recent successes of the ultra-Orthodox political parties in the local elections, pressure is being exerted on clubs, restaurants and bars to close over the millennium, as "celebration" of a Christian event is not deemed appropriate by the people who now run the city. People working in these industries look likely to comply with this advice, as nobody wants to upset the powerful ultra-Orthodox lobby, which controls the local council's planning and development departments.

Due to the nature of Israeli law, all the country's major hotels need a licence which stipulates that they are able to serve kosher food in order to open up/carry on trading. These licences can only be sanctioned by the Orthodox rabbinate. Jonathan Harpaz, the director-general of the Jerusalem Hotels' Association, says that hotels which wish to keep their licence are shying away from hosting Christian festive events.

There is already a severe accommodation crisis in the city over the millennium, with one travel agency complaining that they can't find anywhere for a group of 1,000 Christians from the US to stay on New Year's Eve. Whatever about bad PR for the city, there's a lot of tourist revenue at stake and Israel's Ministry of Tourism says it is currently in discussions with the Orthodox rabbinate to try and find some way in which the army of tourists can celebrate in Jerusalem without what many Westerners see as "undue restrictions".

There are also fears that some fundamentalist Christian "endtimers" will travel to the city with more than celebration on their minds. Some of these dangerous fringe groups believe that the millennium signifies "end time" and that Jesus will return in Jerusalem and an apocalypse will soon follow. The fear is that some "endtimers" will try to precipitate their own apocalypse in this, one of the most religiously sensitive areas in the world. At the end of last year, the Israeli authorities deported some members of a US cult who they believed posed a threat.

Security has been stepped up in the city and more than £8 million has been spent on the protection of the Temple Mount and other venerable religious sites. In a very novel approach, the local police are considering recruiting Christian clergymen into the force, hoping that their knowledge of different strands of Christian thought will enable them to spot any trouble before it becomes serious.

The real fear of apocalypse comes from the news that a VIP politician has announced his plans to travel to the city and will no doubt wage his own holy war if he's not allowed "celebrate" in style. As the Russian news agency Interfax reports, President Boris Yeltsin will be spending the millennium in Jerusalem.