by Katie Vasquez
The holy items being sold are intricately designed and handcrafted, and made by 200 Christian families in the birthplace of Jesus, bringing a piece of Bethlehem to the Diocese of Brooklyn.
“Most of them [customers] have never been to the Holy Land,” said Samer Awwad, the Land of Peace representative. “So this is as close as they can get.”
Awwad has been selling the items at Brooklyn and Queens churches for more than a decade.
But he isn’t collecting a profit for himself. He’s part of the organization Land of Peace, which sells the art to support organizations and missions in the Middle East.
“Currently we are the only source of income for them. There’s no tourists out there,” Awwad said.
Before the conflict in Gaza began, the Middle East was actually enjoying a boom in visitors.
According to the U.N. World Tourism Organization, the area posted the biggest gain among global regions, exceeding pre-pandemic levels by 20% during the first seven months of the year.
“I was actually in the Holy Land in August,” Awwad said. “When I was there, they had mentioned that all the hotels were booked, everything was perfect.”
The war has hurt the tourism industry. Around 90% of hotels in the West Bank are empty.
“There hasn’t been any, [not] a single tourist going to the Holy Land,” Awwad said.
And that’s having a trickle-down effect on the rest of the economy.
“A cycle that restaurants work, buses work, hotels work,” Awwad said. “They are all in the same tourism sector. So when that stops, basically that life is dead there.”
It means each purchase from parishioners at the Shrine Church of St. Jude in Canarsie is a show of support.
“That is the Holy Land, right? This is where Jesus Christ was born. So we have to support them,” said Cecelia Mejia, a parishioner at Shrine Church of St. Jude.
“There is no greater opportunity, especially at this time of the year, in this moment right now for us to give back to God,” said Carmelle Smith, another parishioner at the Shrine Church of St. Jude.
And Awwad hopes soon the artists behind these items will find peace in their homeland.
“A two-state solution that we can both live peacefully. Because without that, I don’t think it will ever be a peace deal there,” Awwad said.
You can also purchase an item on their website: bcfmission.com