Friday 19th June – Maxim Sansour from the Open Bethlehem campaign and Deborah Burton, co-founder Tipping Point Film Fund talk at the City Circle.  The City Circle is a charity that promotes the development of a distinct Muslim identity through debate as well as practical and progressive solutions to community problems.

Open Bethlehem is an international public relations campaign set-up to address the state of emergency in Bethlehem and is the campaign linked to Road to Bethlehem. The campaign aims to bring world attention to the crisis facing the city by reaching out to decision-makers, faith leaders and the media and acting as a route into Bethlehem for initiatives of all kinds. Above all, they aim to build a positive legacy for Palestine and the wider region by reasserting Bethlehem’s unique historical character as a living example of an open and multi-faith Middle East.

Open Bethlehem is a non-violent attempt to save a city that belongs to many in the world. It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation.

– Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Open Bethlehem is an admirable project.

– President Jimmy Carter

Open Bethlehem is an initiative set up to address the state of emergency in Bethlehem, Palestine, that has secured global attention as well as endorsements from such world figures as Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter. Open Bethlehem aims to bring international support to a ‘Save the City’ campaign to help reverse the erosion of Bethlehem’s historic character and the dissipation of a community that stands as a living example of a multi-faith and multi-ethnic Middle East.

To find out more about ‘Road to Bethlehem’ film and the Open Bethlehem campaign – read on…

Maxim Sansour is a founding board member of Open Bethlehem and a former communications advisor to the United Nations, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Palestinian Central Elections Commission.