Hope of a `Second Coming’ to bring with it an exodus to Israel

These are just some of the signs that as the millennium approaches, this city fervently revered by Christians, Jews and Muslims will be a magnet for Christian “end-timers” who believe the second coming of Christ is near.

Richard Landes, head of the Centre for Millennial Studies at BostonUniversity, expects tens of thousands of Christians with end-of-the-world visions to flock to Jerusalem for the millennium scene. And that has potential for trouble in a city already so tense that even perceived threats to holy sites can stir riots, he fears. Landes worries violence could erupt if fervent “end-timers” camp out on the Mount of Olives to await the return of Christ and are ordered by Israeli police to clear off the site from which tradition says he ascended to heaven. “The last thing you need is for a secular Israeli trying to deal with people in a psychological state he can’t even begin to fathom,” Landes said. Police spokeswoman Linda Menuhin said officers have experience with crowd control and are ready for any event, including the millennium event.

Israel’s handling of the millennium crush will be an important test of its claim to custodianship of the holy sites.

For now, it seems unprepared. Government officials are still struggling with the basics, such as getting a budget forproviding toilets and clean water for the six million visitors expected between mid-1999 and the end of 2000, about double the usual number of tourists.

Mayor Ehud Olmert recently suggested setting up tent camps, and there has been talk of a special police unit to patrol holy sites. But nothing has been decided yet. A further complication is the necessity to deal with the various Christian churches. For example, church leaders have held up Israel’s proposal to break open a second entrance to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, site of Jesus’ burial and resurrection, to accommodate 50,000 pilgrims a day. While officials in Jerusalem tackle the millennium as a practical problem, there is growing expectation among millions of evangelical Christians that the city will soon witness dramatic events.

According to such beliefs, the creation of the state of Israel is a sign that the end of the world and Christ’s return to Jerusalem for a 1,000-year reign of peace are near. Most preachers in the United States arereluctant to set a date, but many are stirring the anticipation hype among their flocks. According to an Associated Press poll, nearly one of every four adult Christians in the United States expect Jesus to arrive in their lifetime.

Most believers will stay home during the millennium. But others are making travel plans. An Internet site by “Al and Barb” asks pilgrims to join a trip to Israel in December 1999 for a midnight watch service on the Mount of Olives.

Most pilgrims, even those with millennial expectations, will tour holy sites and go home if nothing happens. But Jerusalem has a history of doing strange things to people. Guides routinely collect passports and return plane tickets from pilgrims upon arrival in Israel because some visitors, overcome by sudden religious fervour, have been known to throw away their travel documents. “The moment they come to Jerusalem … they go into this kind of feeling that they have reached the top of the world,” said David Dassa, a veteran tour guide.

TheJerusalem district psychiatrist, Dr Yair Carlos Bar-El, predicts he’ll see more than the usual three or four annual cases of “Jerusalem Syndrome” people without prior psychiatric problems who, once in the holy city, believe they are Biblical figures or have a godly mission.