On July 6th , Mayor of Bethlehem Anton Salman met with the Mayor of Paphos, Phedonas Phedonas, in the presence of the Municipal Council Member Shireen Bandak-Mauge, and, from the Mayor’s office, Ikram Juha.

For his part, Salman spoke about the general situation in the city of Bethlehem, especially with regard to political and touristic realities, in addition to the demographic details of the city and surrounding refugee camps.

Salman also talked about Bethlehem’s preparations for it being the “Capital of Arab Culture.” Moreover, he referred to the participation of a delegation from Pafos who was supposed to participate in the Christmas events of 2017, but US President Donald Trump’s decision towards transferring the American Embassy and the subsequent developments prevented the participation of the delegation of Paphos and many more delegations.

However, PNN reports that Salman welcomed their participation this year. Phedonas welcomed Salman and emphasized the importance of cooperation between the two cities. He expressed his willingness to bring artists to Bethlehem, to participate in the coming Christmas season, in addition to working on many exchanges, especially between the youth of the two cities. Phedonas mentioned that Paphos, in 2017, was the capital of the European culture and, with that, expressing his eagerness to support Bethlehem in 2020.

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