Jacob's Well in Nablus, the West Bank. (Genevieve Long/The Epoch Times)
Today, the well is housed deep in the caverns of a massive church near the town of Nablus, in the Central West Bank. You can still draw water and drink from it. Before the 2nd intifada in 2000, busloads of tourists visited the area and the well. According to the middle-aged Serahan, who lives in the nearby Balata refugee camp, the numbers of visitors fell off when fighting started and access in and out of the area was restricted 10 years ago.
The numbers have yet to recover, mainly because even though travel restrictions have eased and it is much safe, whether checkpoints will be choked or access will be stalled is still a day-to-day guessing game. But during a recent month-long festival in Nablus some outside life was brought back into the area.
“The tourists are starting to come—now [there are] about 20, sometimes 50, sometimes 70, sometimes 10 [tourists per day],” said Mr. Serahan by telephone from the West Bank, who added that even with easing security restrictions, smooth travel is still uncertain. “They don’t know if the checkpoint is open.”
In addition to the well, Serahan is also a keeper of the church and the surrounding grounds, which include a lush milieu of lemon trees, flowers, and shrubbery. He usually watches over the building and grounds alone during the day. There is no entrance fee for the church or well, and money for maintaining operations comes mainly from donations or small purchases of water or souvenirs that people make when they visit.
But even without visitors, Serahan says he couldn’t abide the church and grounds being closed.
“If I am leaving the church, who is going to open it?” says Mr. Serahan. “It will be damaged if nobody is there. This is my life. I am there for 29 years, more than my house. I feel that I must keep it open all the time.”
The money from visitors is used mainly for restoration, to keep the church open, and to take care of the approximately 12,000 meters of surrounding land. Serahan said that in the last month the number of visitors has slowly started to pick up—a stark contrast from recent years.
“Ten years we are sitting here,” said Mr. Serahan (since the second intifada started). “A lot of people are coming to the church now. It keeps me working, not all the time sitting in a chair; we need to work.”
If things continue as they have been, Serahan will get his wish for work. At the time of the interview in mid-August, he was expecting buses of tourists from Jerusalem and Bethlehem to visit, checkpoints allowing. There is also a group from Russia scheduled to visit. According to Serahan, the increase in visitors at the well and church reflects the general climate in the Nablus area during the past festival month, which aimed at increasing tourism.
“A lot of people [have come] from Israel, there are a lot of buses every day, more than 20 or 30 busses [coming to the area], they are Arabs and Christians.”
Serahan is hopeful that with the onset of the major Muslim festival of Ramadan, the trend will continue. But there is always the possibility of problems with smooth travel into the area.
“It’s very difficult for me,” said Mr. Serahan. “I will be very sad if they are not allowed [to come visit]. After 10 days a lot of groups from Russia, Greece, from Cyprus are coming for Mary’s Feast. If they are not coming we are not working.”
