Friday, December 25, 2009
Thousands of people have crowded into the Palestinian town of Bethlehem to take part in Christmas celebrations.
Pilgrims and Palestinians gathered on Thursday outside the Church of the Nativity, built at the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born.
Live rock music mingled with traditional carols on bagpipes in Manger Square outside, bringing some rare festive spirit to the Palestinian town.
Earlier, a carnival-like atmosphere prevailed in the town as merchants hawked balloon animals, cotton candy, steamed corn and strong, black coffee poured from traditional copper urns.
Inside the church, monks chanted as pilgrims quietly waited in line to pray.
"This is the place where God gave us his son, so it is very special for me to be here, for me and my whole community," said Juan Cruz, 27, from Mexico.
"It's safe, it's warm, it's a happy time. It's good for visitors to see the good things too," said 16 year-old Bethlehem resident Reem Mohammad.
Calls for prayers
The celebrations culminated with midnight mass in the adjoining St Catherine's church, where the leading Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land called on the faithful to pray for peace in the troubled region.
"I address myself to all believers throughout the world, and I urge them to pray for this Holy Land. It is a land that suffers and that hopes," Fuad Twal, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said.
He said true peace would not come to the Holy Land until Israelis and Palestinians treat each other with respect.
"Its inhabitants are brothers who see each other as enemies," he told the gathering that included Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.
"This land will deserve to be called holy when she breathes freedom, justice, love, reconciliation, peace and security."
The celebrations cap a year when tourists returned to the town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in numbers unseen since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence at the turn of the century.
Khulud Duaibess, the Palestinian tourism minister, said more than 1.6 million people have visited Bethlehem this year, 15,000 pilgrims for Christmas alone.
In 2008, one million tourists visited the town.
Shadow of the wall
However, the tourism boom has not brought prosperity to Bethlehem, with most tourists whisked in for the day from hotels in Israel, Duaibess said.
"Only five per cent of the money stays on the Palestinian side," she said.
Mitri Raheb, a Lutheran pastor in Bethlehem, told Al Jazeera that visitors to the town do not stay for long because of the Israeli occupation, and that has hurt the economy.
The Christmas celebrations have provided only a respite from the shadow of the wall lurking over the entrance to the West Bank town, part of Israel's controversial separation wall.
The eight-metre high concrete barrier that separates Bethlehem from Jerusalem - part of the projected 700km West Bank barrier, is aimed at stopping attacks from Palestinian fighters, Israel says.
Palestinian residents and rights groups call it an "apartheid wall" that cuts them off from much of their land and hampers tourism, trade and freedom of movement.
As Raheb said, for Palestinians, it is "very hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel".
[url]http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/12/2009122501455589763.html
Palestinian children stand in line in front of a priest holding an effigy of "baby Jesus" during Christmas eve mass in Gaza's Der Latin church December 24, 2009. Less than 100 Gazans gathered in the church to take part in the celebrations.
REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
A Palestinian child dressed as Santa Claus sits on his father's shoulders at Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve December 24, 2009. Thousands of Christians crowded into Bethlehem on an unseasonably warm Thursday evening, before celebrating Christmas midnight mass in the Church of the Nativity at the birthplace of Jesus.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Palestinian Christians celebrate Christmas near a church in the West Bank town of Nablus, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009.
(AP Photo/Nasser Ishtayeh)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, center, waves to the press before entering the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, before beginning Christmas celebrations in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land delivered Christmas wishes Thursday for peace in the Middle East - and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers. Twal began Christmas celebrations with an annual procession from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace.
(AP Photo/ Nasser Shiyoukhi)
A Palestinian boy looks at a Baby Jesus inside the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. The top Roman Catholic cleric in the cradle of Christianity delivered Christmas wishes Thursday for the peace that has eluded the Middle East, and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers.
(AP Photo/ Nasser Shiyoukhi)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal, center, stops next to a section of Israel's separation barrier between the West Bank town of Bethlehem and Jerusalem on his way to the Church of Nativity, Thursday, Dec. 24, 2009. The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land delivered Christmas wishes Thursday for peace in the Middle East — and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers. Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal began Christmas celebrations with an annual procession from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace.
(AP Photo/Dan Balilty)
Palestinians gather around a Christmas Tree during a ceremony in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009.
(AP Photo/Dan Balilty)
A Palestinian man dressed as Santa Clause stands next to Israeli border police during a pre-Christmas fair held next to a house inhabited by Jewish settlers in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009.
(AP Photo/Dan Balilty)
Palestinian youths visit the Church of Nativity, traditionally believed to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. In 2009, some 2 million tourists visited the Palestinian territories, or four times the 2007 figure, and 80 percent came to Bethlehem, said the Palestinian tourism minister, Khuloud Deibes.
(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)
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Tourists pose for a photo near Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2009. In 2009, some 2 million tourists visited the Palestinian territories, or four times the 2007 figure, and 80 percent came to Bethlehem, said the Palestinian tourism minister, Khuloud Deibes.
(AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)