Pilgrims flock to most peaceful Bethlehem in years
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Thousands of pilgrims gathered in Bethlehem on Monday for a Christmas mass promoted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Western powers as a chance to highlight the benefits of peacemaking.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank, DEC. 22, 2004 .- The Israeli government announced that it would not prevent Israeli Christians from visiting Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Hundreds of millions around the world prepared Friday to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, a Christmas festival of religious joy for many and commercial excess for others, against a backdrop of continuing global security
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank Israel is passing out candy as it allows people to freely travel into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve. Officials say they expect some five thousand people today and tomorrow to visit the town where Jesus was born.
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In Bethlehem, the town where Christians believe Christ was born, an estimated 3,000 Christians have moved abroad.
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Hundreds of millions of Christians Saturday are celebrating Christmas, despite conflict, persecution and fear of terrorist attack.
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Hundreds of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership came to Bethlehem for Christmas as the town of Jesus's birth celebrated the festival with new hopes for peace following Yasser Arafat's death.
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The patriarch of Jerusalem has called for an end to the violence which he said has turned Palestinian towns into prisons. Michel Sabbah made the plea during prayers at the annual Christmas mass in Bethlehem on Saturday.
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In the birthplace of Jesus, Muslims and Christians used to celebrate the season in peace. A TIME correspondent recalls holidays past in a troubled land
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Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in the West Bank town of Bethlehem for the annual Christmas Eve service.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Israel freed up travel into Bethlehem on Christmas Eve and handed out candy to Palestinian and foreign pilgrims at roadblocks, the latest signs of warming Israeli-Palestinian relations since the death of Yasser Arafat.
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In the latest sign that Israeli-Palestinian relations are warming since the death of Yasser Arafat, Israel is allowing free travel into Bethlehem this Christmas Eve.
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&quot;Bethlehem should be a free city. It is a symbol of peace, a symbol for all the Christian world and all humanity.&quot;. Praying for peace ... Christian pilgrims visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. However
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Pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of Jesusâ birth with prayers for peace on Saturday, lifted by fresh hope following Yasser Arafat&#39;s death.
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Israeli soldiers sent sweets and Christmas greetings to Palestinians in Bethlehem today, the latest sign that relations between the sides have warmed since the death of Yasser Arafat.
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THE OLD Christmas carolâs âlittle townâ is now a city larger than Charleston, and itâsa depressing place. Four years ago, more than 91,000 tourists visited in a year to see Bethlehemâs religious
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Masses are held in Bethlehem and Rome as millions of Christians around the world mark the birth of Jesus Christ.