Politics Threatens to Shake Up Tradition in Nazareth Where Jesus Grew Up

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By Isabel Kershner

Much of Nazareth’s economy depends on tourism generated by its Christian past.

ISRAEL---Ramiz Jaraisi has been the mayor of this bustling Arab city in northern Israel for nearly 20 years. For 20 years before that, he served as deputy mayor. The local party slate he heads, the Nazareth Democratic Front, a coalition of the Communist Party and other groups, has been running the city since 1975. There is a lot to be said for tradition and continuity in a city revered by Christians as the childhood home of Jesus. Though the city’s population of 80,000 is now about 70 percent Muslim, much of the economy of Nazareth, considered the capital of Israel’s Arab minority, depends on the tourism generated by its Christian past. [link]