Pilgrims flock to most peaceful Bethlehem in years
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - 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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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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Masses are held in Bethlehem and Rome as millions of Christians around the world mark the birth of Jesus Christ.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Muslims and Christians joined together on Christmas Eve in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, holding their breath that the festive season would be peaceful and possibly the start of a new dawn.
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Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Friday (local time), welcoming the new thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations and voicing hopes for peace in the Middle East.
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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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Religious harmony is on full display in a year when Christmas and the Muslim holiday of Tabaski fall within days of each other.
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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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Christmas celebrations have been held at the Church of Nativity in the Palestinian town of Bethlehem, the historic birthplace of Jesus Christ.
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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.
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Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Bethlehem under heavy security this evening for Christmas celebrations. It was the first time in four years that a Palestinian leader has spent the holiday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
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Encouraged by renewed peace talks, Christian pilgrims on Monday converged on this city, to celebrate Christmas â a palpable contrast to the sparse crowds of recent years.
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ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia  - Muslim pilgrims spent the day in prayer on the plain of Arafat near Mecca on Tuesday, marking the climax of this season's haj pilgrimage where Iranian pilgrims managed to protest against America.
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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
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Millions of Muslims prayed together for peace and harmony on a riverbank near the Bangladeshi capital on Sunday, concluding an annual assembly that is considered one of the world&#39;s largest Islamic gatherings.
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Muslim prayers at Jerusalem's holiest site end peacefully as thousands of police are deployed.
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Indian Christians on a peace pilgrimage hold candles during Christmas festivities at the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Friday, Dec. 24, 2004.