Church leaders to visit Bethlehem
46145
Four UK church leaders are to make a pilgrimage to Bethlehem just before Christmas.
293856
Israel announced on Thursday that security in the holy town of Bethlehem in the West Bank during Christmas celebrations would be handed over to the Palestinian police forces.
264429
Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, has been turned into a large prison by the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land said yesterday.
712322
An emerging thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations helped draw several thousand pilgrims to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Christmas Eve, but crowds were far smaller than during the mid-1990s.
230223
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.
251251
MIDEAST:Residents hope lessening Israeli-Palestinian violence can help the town regain its tourist industry. BY LAURA KING. BETHLEHEM, West Bank - In this Christmas season of hopes and fears, the little town
620006
AUSTIN, Texas - Just a few miles from George W. Bush's former office at the state Capitol, a panel of religious experts weighed a question with relevance to many people of faith: How would Jesus vote?    It's a complex topic that can't be boiled down to simple political terms, said religious leaders who attended a Texas Faith Network conference in Austin on Tuesday...
384556
RAMALLAH, West Bank: Palestinian leaders drew up plans at a series of meetings Sunday in a bid to prevent an outbreak of violence and ensure a smooth transfer of power in the event of Yasser Arafat&#39;s death.
750390
Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has arrived in the West Bank town of Bethlehem for the annual Christmas Eve service.
78323
President Bush will make his first trip to Jerusalem and the West Bank next month to push Israel and the Palestinians toward peace, the White House announced yesterday.
385871
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.
172624
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.
29490
BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Muslims and Christians united in the hope that the festive season will herald a new dawn after four years of violence, attending midnight mass in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
223152
BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Thousands of pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem on Monday for a Christmas mass which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Western powers hope will highlight the benefits of peacemaking.
581526
Conservative church leaders plan summit for bishops expected to boycott archbishop's conference
293685
U.S. President George W. Bush visits the Church of the Beatitudes on the shore of the Sea of Galilee on Friday during a Holy Land visit aimed at breathing life into Middle East peace talks.
116933
Worshippers brought hopes for greater peace in the coming year as they flocked to Manger Square in Bethlehem and to St. Peter&#39;s in the Vatican to hear Christmas messages urging an end to violence, particularly in the Middle East.