- JERUSALEM (AP) _ For Israelis, 1999 began with the unveiling of a formerly
secret security force called the ``millennium unit,'' whose agents raided
two suburban homes to arrest American doomsday cultists. But few were surprised
at the revelation of the special unit comprised of police and agents from
two Israeli spy services. This is, after all, the land that will host the
2,000th anniversary of Jesus' birth. From believers in what some call the
End of Days to territorial wars over bits of holy land, Israeli authorities
face a year of potential conflicts between Christians, Jews and Muslims,
and even between Christians themselves. The millennial news is mostly good
for Israel, presenting the potential for a tourism boom. The four million
Christian pilgrims expected to visit Israel between mid-1999 and the end
of 2000 will double the annual tourist trade. Most of those pilgrims are
expected to seek a peaceful, religious experience. But Sunday's arrest
of 14 members of a Denver-based cult underscored the dangers of the coming
year. The cultists, who call themselves the Concerned Christians, are alleged
to have planned violent acts in hopes of precipitating the apocalypse.
``There is nothing more powerful than believing that you live at the end
of time,'' said Richard Landes, a director of Boston University's Center
for Millennium Studies. A Jerusalem psychiatrist predicted that some 40,000
tourists will require psychiatric help and that as many as 800 will need
to be hospitalized, the Haaretz daily said today. The doctor, Yair Bar-El,
first identified the so-called Jerusalem Syndrome, which describes the
symptoms of patients who begin suffering from delusions that they are biblical
figures once they set foot in the Holy City. Landes identified what he
termed a ``hard core'' of tens of thousands of apocalyptic pilgrims who
say that Christ's return to Jerusalem is imminent. That group is likely
to pressure hundreds of thousands of others who are drawn to the idea of
the apocalypse but are less rigid in their views. The dynamic between the
groups of pilgrims and how they are received by Israeli authorities will
ultimately determine whether the millennial ceremonies will be violent
or peaceful, Landes said. ``If you handle it badly it's like shaking nitroglycerin
_ it will blow up in your face,'' he said in a phone interview. Among those
who are preparing for the Second Coming are about 100 evangelical North
Americans who have moved to apartments on the Mount of Olives, for a close-up
view of the prophesied return of Jesus. Brother Solomon, 65, a retired
schoolteacher from New York, moved to the area six years ago to prepare
for the Second Coming. ``God's headquarters will be in Jerusalem, and our
coming is helping this be fulfilled,'' he said. In booming, hopeful tones,
Brother Solomon listed what he saw as the signals of the violence that
could precipitate Jesus' return. They include a unilateral declaration
of statehood by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat _ a step the Israeli government
has warned could crush the peace process. Differences among Christians
on how to celebrate the millennium have stymied efforts by Israel's Ministry
of Religion to create a new exit for visitors at the labyrinthine Church
of the Holy Sepulcher, which marks the site where, tradition says, Jesus
was buried. Various Christian groups and denominations control different
parts of the church in Jerusalem's walled Old City. Clerics have traded
punches in earlier turf wars at the site, and are now steeped in argument
on where to place a new exit door. In Nazareth, the town of Jesus' boyhood,
similar territorial wars _ this time, between Muslims and Christians _
prompted a fistfight at a recent city council meeting. The tensions grew
from plans to tear down a school and build a pedestrian square in the crowded
city's center to accommodate the anticipated rush of pilgrims. Even the
days of celebration _ Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve _ have the potential
for conflict. Both holidays fall on Friday nights, the start of the Jewish
Sabbath, and Israel's rabbinate has indicated it would revoke the kosher
licenses of any hotels that cater to Christian groups on the holidays.
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