{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Traditional woodcarving craft survives in Bethlehem' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bad8d8eafeecae120893' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54bad8d8eafeecae120893' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nTraditional woodcarving craft survives in Bethlehem\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003e1. Olive trees on the Israeli side of the barrier surrounding Bethlehem 2. More olive trees near barrier3. Close up olive tree4. Anton Shomali selects an olive wood log in his workshop 5. Anton cutting log with circular saw 6. Anton at...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003e1. Olive trees on the Israeli side of the barrier surrounding Bethlehem \u003cbr/\u003e2. More olive trees near barrier\u003cbr/\u003e3. Close up olive tree\u003cbr/\u003e4. Anton Shomali selects an olive wood log in his workshop \u003cbr/\u003e5. Anton cutting log with circular saw \u003cbr/\u003e6. Anton at carving with power tool\u003cbr/\u003e7. Close up Anton's hands carving with power tool - a figurine takes shape\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Anton Shomali, woodcarver:\u003cbr/\u003e\"They like these artefacts because they come from the Holy Land. These olive trees from around Bethlehem and Jerusalem were blessed by Jesus, Jesus blessed trees, Jesus prayed on the Mount of Olives.\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Craftsmen in Anton's workshop busy with carvings \u003cbr/\u003e10. Close up Anton's hands carving\u003cbr/\u003e11. Mid of Anton carving\u003cbr/\u003e12. Over shoulder shot of Anton carving\u003cbr/\u003e13. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Anton Shomali, woodcarver:\u003cbr/\u003e\"The Israelis, when they bulldoze a new road or build a settlement, they cut down the trees. Dealers gather them up and bring them to Bethlehem. We have more than 150 wood carving workshops in the Bethlehem area so if there was no uprooting of trees we wouldn't have any wood to work with.\"\u003cbr/\u003e14. Various of craftsmen working\u003cbr/\u003e15. Mary and Joseph statuettes polished and ready to be sold\u003cbr/\u003e16. Pan up from figurine of baby Jesus to Mary \u003cbr/\u003e17. Souvenir shop in Bethlehem city centre \u003cbr/\u003e18. Salesman inside shop full of carved olive wood figures \u003cbr/\u003e19. Nativity scene of olive wood carvings \u003cbr/\u003eAnton Shomali can carve a wooden figurine of the biblical Joseph in three hours and he doesn't need a model to copy from.\u003cbr/\u003eFor most of the past five years, however, this 63-year-old woodcarver has had little reason to rejoice.\u003cbr/\u003eIsraeli-Palestinian fighting decimated Bethlehem's all-important tourism industry, leaving woodcarvers like Shomali without buyers.\u003cbr/\u003eUrban expansion and the recent construction of Israel's separation barrier force means fewer olive trees are cultivated around the town so the wood carvers have to look farther afield for their raw material.\u003cbr/\u003eYet this Christmas in Bethlehem, traditional birthplace of Jesus, the centuries-old craft is coming alive again through a happy combination of tradition, technology and, in Shomali's case, a sojourn into foreign markets.\u003cbr/\u003eTwo of Shomali's brothers have begun selling the olive-wood figurines - Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men, nativity scenes - at malls in New York,\u003cbr/\u003eCalifornia and Louisiana, more than doubling his production in the last two years.\u003cbr/\u003e\"They like this work overseas because it is from the Holy Land,\" Shomali said, \"Jesus blessed the olive tree\".\u003cbr/\u003eThe Internet is another godsend for Bethlehem's woodcarvers, who have been making holy statues since the 4th century but almost lost their livelihood during the strife of recent years that practically shut down the town.\u003cbr/\u003eAnton Shomali is carrying on the tradition of turning olive wood into statuettes of biblical figures at his workshop.\u003cbr/\u003eSome 300 workshops, each employing between 5 and 15 handymen, are still carving wood in the Bethlehem area, home to some 60,000 people.\u003cbr/\u003eAnton Shomali has been carving wood for 42 of his 63 years.\u003cbr/\u003eHe started out as a carpenter making furniture but soon went to work with his grandfather and uncle who were fashioning Biblical figures from the local olive wood.\u003cbr/\u003eAnton believes he is is descended from the shepherds mentioned in the gospel stories.\u003cbr/\u003eMost of his work is done by hand, but power tools have replaced the chisels and knives he used when starting out in the nineteen-fifties.\u003cbr/\u003eThe workshop keeps five artisans busy turning out thousands of Marys, Josephs, shepherds and wise men.\u003cbr/\u003eAngels wings and miniature lambs litter the benches where the men work and the air is thick with fine sawdust and cigarette smoke.\u003cbr/\u003eAfter a lowpoint in the spring of 2002, when Palestinian militants took refuge inside the Church of the Nativity for 39 days, prompting a fierce Israeli siege, pilgrims and tourists are beginning to return to Bethlehem, with 30,000 expected this Christmas, compared to about 2,000 just two years ago.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex 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