BETHLEHEM, West Bank — Encouraged by renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Christian pilgrims from around the world converged on Jesus’ traditional birthplace Monday to celebrate Christmas, a palpable contrast to the sparse crowds of recent years.
The diverse mix of people included festive American tourists, clergymen in brown flowing robes and Palestinian Scouts wearing kilts and playing bagpipes.
“I’m Catholic. I always wanted to see the beginning of Christianity, the whole history. It’s something you grow up with,” said Kristin Obeck, a 37-year-old teacher from Richmond, Va.
Despite the festive atmosphere, a heavy police deployment, the presence of Israel’s massive separation barrier and unease among Bethlehem’s ever-shrinking Christian population served as reminders of the lingering tensions in the region.
In his Christmas homily during Midnight Mass, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah delivered a politically charged appeal for peace and love in the Holy Land, and independence for the Palestinian people.
“This land of God cannot be for some a land of life and for others a land of death, exclusion, occupation or political imprisonment,” said Sabbah, the first Palestinian to hold the position of top Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land.
In his homily, Sabbah criticized religious extremists and lamented the dwindling number of Christians: “To all of you Christians in this land, you who are tempted to emigrate, you who are the object of everyone’s preoccupation, I say to you what Jesus told us: Do not be afraid.”
In the years following the 1993 Oslo peace accord, Bethlehem attracted tens of thousands of tourists for Christmas. But the number of visitors plummeted after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.
Tourism has begun to recover in recent years as fighting has slowed. This year, it got a boost from the renewal of peace talks last month at a summit in Annapolis, Md.
While many celebrants appeared to be curious teenagers and other local residents, Israeli tourism officials said they expected about 20,000 visitors to cross from Jerusalem into neighboring Bethlehem. They said that was an increase of about 50 percent over last year, though well below the peak years.
Tourism workers handed out sweets and flowers to pilgrims, and smiling Israeli soldiers posed for pictures with travelers.
Bethlehem’s governor, Saleh Tamari, said all the town’s 5,000 hotel rooms were booked.
“If you can’t be with family, it’s good to be here where it all went down,” said 23-year-old David Collen of Hickman, Neb., who is studying at Tel Aviv University.
Tiago Martins, 28, from Curitiba, Brazil, said the new peace talks had prompted him to visit Bethlehem for the first time.
“The idea that it’s a Christian city makes me more calm, and I think going to the West Bank is more comfortable since Annapolis,” Martins said.
Priests and monks, tourists, Palestinian families and police mingled in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, the site where tradition holds Jesus was born.
Vendors hawked beads, inflatable Santas, roasted peanuts, cotton candy, steamed corn and Turkish coffee while city residents watched the festivities from balconies and rooftops.
A four-story cypress tree, strung with lights and red and gold ornaments and topped with a yellow star, towered outside the church.
Children strolling through the square wore red-and-white Santa Claus hats, with some in full Santa regalia. Balloons bobbed from vendors’ stands and strings children clutched in their hands. After nightfall, the square was lit in a sea of red and yellow lights and Christmas stars.
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