Wait for us - We're not ready yet: Holy land preparations for the new millennium - The year 2000

The purpose of the paper is to examine the premise that pilgrimage to the Holy Land in the year 2000 was staged as a 'hallmark event' for Israel, and to a lesser extent, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. Many Christian sacred sites arel located in Israel (Jerusalem, Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee) and in the Palestinian-held areas (Bethlehem). Staging a mega event or a hallmark event in Israel/Palestine, a region renowned for its political instability and insecurity, necessitated the creation of positive images to the destination areas. All three countries were engaged in such efforts. The study's main findings were that on the international level, Israel failed to realise and implement its own plans for the Millennium, due to lack of delegation of authority and budgets to the special administrative body established for that purpose. Infrastructural projects such as the expansion of the national airport, main roads and parking areas were only partially completed. Media depiction of overcrowding and state of unreadiness in Israel, combined with the re-emergence of the Palestinian uprising at the end of 2000, curtailed the number of tourists/pilgrims to Israel and the Palestinian territories.