Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

Christians Celebrate Christmas at the Church of Nativity in Palestinian Bethlehem

December 25, 2012

 

Foud Twal, the most senior Catholic figure in the Holy Land, at Midnight Mass in St Catherine's church in Bethlehem. Photograph: Abed Al-Hashlamoun/AFP/Getty Images

 

Bethlehem celebrates first Christmas since UN recognition of Palestine

Festivities mark 'birth of Christ and birth of state of Palestine', patriarch tells crowds

Harriet Sherwood in Bethlehem guardian.co.uk,

Tuesday 25 December 2012 06.42 EST

Deep in the Grotto of the Nativity, where a 14-point silver star set into a marble slab marks the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born, the atmosphere of spiritual serenity seemed a world away from the swirling, and occasionally fractious, Christmas Eve crowds above.

Midnight mass at St Catherine's was the finale to a day of celebration and ceremony in Bethlehem, boosted this year by being the first Christmas since the United Nations recognised the state of Palestine last month and the Nativity church was named a world heritage site by the UN's cultural arm, Unesco, in June.

Sweet piercing singing echoed around the grotto, beneath the 4th-century Church of the Nativity's cavernous nave, as midnight approached. Nuns and pilgrims perched on steep stone steps leading to the small chapel, most apparently locked in silent prayer. Many knelt to kiss the site where the newborn Jesus had lain in his crib.

Outside the church, thousands of people packed Bethlehem's Manger Square, flanked by the Church of the Nativity at one end and St Omar's mosque at the other. Despite the Palestinian Authority's financial crisis, no expense had been spared on festive lighting throughout the city, culminating in a 15-metre (50ft) Christmas tree, lit by thousands of green and gold lights.

Hawkers of sweet tea, thick Arabic coffee and lurid pink candy floss were doing good business, along with falafel and shawarma stands on the edge of the square. Close to the church, armed police set up crash barriers to hold back the crowds and channel those in possession of precious crested tickets through to midnight mass. Occasional mild altercations broke out as police blocked entry to the ticketless, or delayed passage into the church to allow for the arrival of dignitaries, including the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas.

Inside St Catherine's, the Franciscan church within the Nativity complex, worshipers who had failed to secure a place on the wooden pews beneath the soaring arches sat on the floor, leaned against pillars and crowded into aisles. As the service was conducted in at least four languages, mobile phones were raised above the heads of those without a view to record the service in the hope of reliving it later. A baby in a miniature Santa outfit slept throughout on a pew, his arms flung above his head.

The Latin Patriarch, the most senior Catholic figure in the Holy Land, led a procession from Jerusalem's Old City to Bethlehem's Manger Square, stopping at the Mar Elias monastery between the two cities, close to where Israel's first new settlement since 1997 is to be built following official authorisation last week. The procession entered Bethlehem through a massive metal gate in the imposing concrete wall separating the city from Jerusalem, opened specially for the occasion by the Israeli military, which controls exit and entry.

In his address, the patriarch, Fouad Twal, said this year's festivities celebrated both "the birth of Christ our Lord and the birth of the state of Palestine". But, he added, "the path [to statehood] remains long, and will require a united effort".

He appealed to "politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East. Please continue to fight for a just cause to achieve peace and security for the people of the Holy Land."

Around Manger Square, traffic congestion threatened outbreaks of Christmas road rage. In the plaza, the drums and bagpipes of at least two dozen Palestinian scout groups competed with pilgrim choirs and the Muslim call to prayer, emanating from St Omar's mosque.

A group of young women in traditional Palestinian dress greeted the patriarch. "I am wearing this to show that our history and our culture is not dead, that there is a connection from the past to the future," said Selina Mukarker, 16, clad in a robe which she said was 120 years old. She described her Bethlehem childhood as "living in a big cage".

The crowd was overwhelmingly Palestinian. The number of foreign tourists visiting Bethlehem over Christmas was thought to be down from last year, after cancellations following the eight-day conflict between Israel and Gaza last month. However, Palestinian tourism officials were encouraged by increasing numbers opting to stay overnight in the biblical city instead of being bussed in and out by Israeli tour operators.

Christoph Fuchs, 22, a student from Munich, said he was not surprised by the presence of the wall and Israeli settlements around Bethlehem as he had previously visited the city four years ago. "But it's still depressing. Everything seems just as bad," he said.

Meanwhile, Jerusalem planning officials approved on Christmas Eve the construction of more than 1,200 new homes in the settlement of Gilo, which overlooks Bethlehem.

Amid the Manger Square crowd, Nour Odeh, spokeswoman for the Palestinian Authority, said the UN vote "has made us feel we are not alone any more". Christmas was "a time to set aside the difficulties of being Palestinian. It is a time for hope."

 

Thousands celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem

 

Thousands of pilgrims and tourists joined with Bethlehem locals Tuesday to celebrate Christmas, with festivities including a mass in an ancient church where tradition holds Jesus was born.

By Katharyn GILLAM (video) News Wires (text)

France 24, December 25, 2012

Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind didn’t dampen the spirits of worshippers who came dressed in holiday finery and the traditional attire of foreign lands to mark the holy day in this biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited eagerly to see the grotto that is Jesus’ traditional birthplace.

IN PICTURES: CHRISTMAS IMAGES FROM AROUND THE WORLD

Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., traveled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem’s Manger Square where the church stands.

“I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time,” Hardock said. “On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we’re suddenly in the middle of the party.”

Bethlehem lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Hardock’s girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Gemmell of Longmont, Colorado, compared the festive spirit in Manger Square on Christmas Eve, saying “it’s like being at Times Square at New Year’s.”

The cavernous church was unable to hold all the worshippers who had hoped to celebrate Christmas Day Mass inside. A loudspeaker outside the church broadcast the service to the hundreds in the square who could not pack inside.

Tourists in the square posed for pictures as vendors hawked olive wood rosaries, nativity scenes, corn on the cob, roasted nuts, tea and coffee.

An official from the Palestinian tourism ministry predicted 10,000 foreigners would visit Bethlehem on Christmas Day and said 15,000 visited on Christmas Eve - up 20 percent from a year earlier. The official, Rula Maia’a, attributed the rise in part to the Church of the Nativity’s classification earlier this year as a U.N. World Heritage Site.

Christians from Israel - Arab citizens and others - also boosted the number of visitors.

Information technology consultant Martin Wzork came to Bethlehem with his wife and young daughter from Krakow, Poland.

“My wife believes in God, so it’s important for her,” said Wzork, who described himself as a non-believer. “For me, it’s interesting because it’s a historical place and famous.”

On Christmas Eve, thousands of Christians from all over the world packed the square, which was awash in light, resplendent with decorations and adorned by a lavishly decorated, 17-meter (55-foot) fir tree. Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city’s year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations’ recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.

Later Tuesday, the world’s Christmas focus will shift to Vatican City, where Pope Benedict XVI will deliver his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” speech - Latin for “to the city and the world” - from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered in the piazza below.

The speech traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, and ends with the pope delivering Christmas greetings in dozens of languages.

Christians celebrate Christmas in ancient Bethlehem church

 The Associated Press

Tuesday, Dec. 25, 2012 7:20AM EST

Pilgrims and locals celebrated Christmas Day on Tuesday in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminating the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filling its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers who came dressed in holiday finery and the traditional attire of foreign lands to mark the holy day in this biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited eagerly to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.

Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., travelled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.

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"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."

Bethlehem lies 10 kilometres (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.

Hardock's girlfriend, 22-year-old Jennifer Gemmell of Longmont, Colorado, compared the festive spirit in Manger Square on Christmas Eve, saying "it's like being at Times Square at New Year's."

The cavernous church was unable to hold all the worshippers who had hoped to celebrate Christmas Day Mass inside. A loudspeaker outside the church broadcast the service to the hundreds in the square who could not pack inside.

Tourists in the square posed for pictures as vendors hawked olive wood rosaries, nativity scenes, corn on the cob, roasted nuts, tea and coffee.

An official from the Palestinian tourism ministry predicted 10,000 foreigners would visit Bethlehem on Christmas Day and said 15,000 visited on Christmas Eve -- up 20 per cent from a year earlier. The official, Rula Maia'a, attributed the rise in part to the Church of the Nativity's classification earlier this year as a U.N. World Heritage Site.

Christians from Israel -- Arab citizens and others -- also boosted the number of visitors.

Information technology consultant Martin Wzork came to Bethlehem with his wife and young daughter from Krakow, Poland.

"My wife believes in God, so it's important for her," said Wzork, who described himself as a non-believer. "For me, it's interesting because it's a historical place and famous."

On Christmas Eve, thousands of Christians from all over the world packed the square, which was awash in light, resplendent with decorations and adorned by a lavishly decorated, 17-meter (55-foot) fir tree. Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.

Later Tuesday, the world's Christmas focus will shift to Vatican City, where Pope Benedict XVI will deliver his traditional "Urbi et Orbi" speech -- Latin for "to the city and the world" -- from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica to thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered in the piazza below.

The speech traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, and ends with the pope delivering Christmas greetings in dozens of languages.