Bringing Peace Back to Bethlehem on Christmas
About 5,000 visitors are expected to visit Bethlehem for the two-day Christmas holiday after Israel allowed free travel into the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ.
About 5,000 visitors are expected to visit Bethlehem for the two-day Christmas holiday after Israel allowed free travel into the traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ. After four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence, Israel is taking special steps to insure a merry Christmas in Bethlehem, raising hopes for a gentler holiday.
"This is the city of peace where we should have peace ... because the Prince of Peace was born here in the city," said Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser as reported by the Associated Press.
During more than four years of fighting, Christmas in Bethlehem was marked by gloom, military curfews and violence. Shortly after the latest Palestinian uprising began in the year 2000, Israel took control of main West Bank towns and roads, setting up dozens of roadblocks. Posts surround Bethlehem, controlling entry and exit, while the barrier that Israel is building in the West Bank cuts through the town.
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However, this Christmas Eve, troops allowed pilgrims to pass freely through the roadblocks and handed out candy, the latest sign that Israeli-Palestinian relations have warmed since the death of Yasser Arafat. Israeli troops also handed security responsibility for Bethlehem to the Palestinian security forces for the duration of Christmas.
"[Palestinians] are in need of a celebration," said Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch for the the Holy Land, as he crossed an Israeli checkpoint into Bethlehem.
At the heavily fortified main crossing from Jerusalem into Bethlehem, an Israeli Tourism Ministry sign decorated with bells and a red ribbon read: "Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year."
Other Tourism Ministry signs hanging on the concrete slabs near the checkpoint read: "A call to all people of faith: Visit the Holy Land now."
But while Israeli and Palestinian officials predict a merrier Christmas this year, the celebration is still far from "the glory days" when tens of thousands of people celebrated in Bethlehem's Manger Square during the annual midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
After violence resumed in September 2000, numbers dropped precipitously, falling to only 2,000 last year. This year Israeli officials are expecting four to five thousand visitors, as a result of the recent reduction in violence and the more relaxed atmosphere.
And as international attention focuses on the West Bank town on Christmas Eve, Israeli officials see the improved Christmas atmosphere as a boon to Israel's troubled image.
