The 6th century St Catherine's Monastery, run by the Greek Orthodox Church, is also there - and seemingly its monks will stay on now that Egyptian authorities, under Greek pressure, have denied wanting to close it.This BBC report is getting a lot of attention in other media. It appears to be a geniune effort to present all sides of the debate. But I don't have any inside information on it myself, so it's hard to judge.However, there is still deep concern about how the long-isolated, desert location - a Unesco World Heritage site comprising the monastery, town and mountain - is being transformed. Luxury hotels, villas and shopping bazaars are under construction there. Ariel view of Mount Sinai pictured before transformation as a long-isolated desert location and pictured mid-transformation with hotels, villas etc under construction.
It is also home to a traditional Bedouin community, the Jebeleya tribe. Already the tribe, known as the Guardians of St Catherine, have had their homes and tourist eco-camps demolished with little or no compensation. They have even been forced to take bodies out of their graves in the local cemetery to make way for a new car park.
In any case, as I have said before, the situation should be watched closely.
Background here.
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