It’s Christmas

So happy holidays to all and yet occupation isn’t going anywhere:

Church leaders in Bethlehem have called for peace and reconciliation at the annual Christmas mass held at what is said to be the birthplace of Jesus.

Tens of thousands of Christian pilgrims are in Bethlehem for Christmas, in a record year for tourism.

Only a lucky few scored tickets for the traditional midnight mass near the spot where Jesus was said to be born.

Church leaders used the mass to renew calls for peace. Latin patriarch Fuad Twal appealed for the church bells to drown out the noise of weapons in the Middle East, and expressed a hope that Jerusalem would become a model of co-existence between Christians, Jews and Muslims.

Text and images ©2024 Antony Loewenstein. All rights reserved.

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