West Bank financial troubles keep Palestinians out of housing co-op

Published: 2004-02-13

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- More than half of the Christian families slated to join a West Bank housing cooperative have withdrawn because of financial difficulties, said an official involved in the project. Some 48 families were to buy into the cooperative effort coordinated by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the U.S.-based Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation. However, 28 of the families were unable to meet a modest monetary requirement, said George Ghattas, the foundation's representative in Bethlehem. A downturn in Bethlehem's tourism industry, an Israeli-imposed curfew and a lack of jobs in Israel left many Palestinian families unable to afford mortgage payments, Ghattas said. Last year the Latin Patriarchate and the foundation invested about $500,000 for the construction of the exterior framework of some 20 family units for the al-Bishara housing project in Beit Jalla, West Bank. The foundation recently was awarded a grant of $600,000 by a private donor in the United States; half of the grant will be used to complete interior work such as plumbing and electricity, he said.

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