Paul Calvert spoke with Jack Giacaman.

We also do crosses and many small Christmas ornaments, decorations and individual figures. We do very few non-religious things because 80% of the people who come to Bethlehem are pilgrims.

We work in tourism and the pilgrims industry more than any other. We depend on tourism. Local markets and the Christians of the Holy Land are very few in number, so they aren't a market for the olive wood.

Paul: How many people do you have working in your wood factory?

Jack: I have eight people who work full-time, seven hours a day, six days a week. I also have other people who work part-time, after 4 o'clock till 9 o'clock. I give work for many small families and workers, 25 persons in total.

Paul: So you are helping the community and investing in the community and helping local Christians to stay here in the land?

Jack: Yes. I try my best to employ Christians and people who are unable to work, or to market their products. I even try sometimes to get stuff from small factories who couldn't market their product and I do the job for them of marketing, just as a help for them. I take only a few percentage. It doesn't exceed 7-8% just to help them to do marketing for their products. After the wall, the people of Bethlehem discovered themselves surrounded with a very small market, the Bethlehem market. They don't have free access to Jerusalem or other countries and not all of them have the right connection to send to Europe and America.

Paul: Your factory is very close to where Jesus was born. What is it like for you personally working where Jesus was born?

Jack: I am a Christian Palestinian who has lived here in the Holy Land for generations. I would be proud to be working near the Church of the Nativity, which is part of my religion. Every Sunday this is my church where I pray. This is my church where I was baptised, where I got married and where my Grandfather got married, so I am happy to be near the Church of the Nativity.

I have got a lot of opportunities to get a better job overseas, but I didn't feel that I am living. If you move me out I will die. This is my home town. This is where Jesus was born and this is what I am teaching my children, to love their home town Bethlehem.

Paul: And Jesus was a carpenter and worked with wood as well didn't he.

Jack: This makes me proud to be a carpenter like Jesus and Saint Joseph. They are the first carpenters and now we are doing the same job. It is a respected job in the Christian traditions.

Paul: What's your prayer for the Christian community in Bethlehem?

Jack: All Christians pray for peace and that God will bring all these different cultures to live together in a peaceful way. Our message as a Christian is to live in peace, even with our enemies. So we have to give the message of love and peace for our neighbours and for our enemies.