Bethlehem ready for Christmas
2009-12-20 22:02
Bethlehem - A 10m high pine tree stands decorated with Christmas ornaments outside Casa Nova coffee shop on Manger Square in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem.
It was lit last week on Tuesday in a ceremony attended by Palestinian officials and a large crowd of visitors marking the start of Christmas celebrations in the city where Christ was born.
"The city is ready for Christmas," says Mayor Victor Batarseh.
"Our hotels are fully booked and the city has put on its best look to mark this important occasion," he told German Press Agency dpa at his office, which overlooks Manger Square and the Nativity Church, the birth site of Christ 2010 years ago.
Hasan Abdul Jawwad, a Muslim resident of this Christian city, agrees.
"At night, the city is glowing," he says, describing the various illuminations placed around Manger Square. "It is something I have not seen before."
According to Mayor Batarseh, the city was able to raise more than $130 000 for decoration.
"Everyone wants to see Bethlehem regain its traditional place as the main city for Christmas celebrations, considering it is the place where Christ was born," he notes.
Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations reached a peak at the turn of the millennium as hundreds of thousands of tourists and local citizens along with world leaders congregated at the holy city to mark the 2000th anniversary of Christ's birth.
Italian musicians are expected to highlight Christmas celebrations at the Church of Nativity with the Concert for Life and Peace this year. On Wednesday, local and foreign choirs are going to perform Christmas carols on Manger Square.
But the main events are held on Thursday, Christmas Eve. They start at noon with the traditional procession from the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem's Old City which ends on Manger Square three hours later. Thousands of people are expected to greet the procession as it arrives in Bethlehem.
The celebrations reach a climax with the Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve at St Catherine Church, the catholic church at the Nativity.
- SAPA