Bethlehem holds its breath for peace as Christmas draws near
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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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25 December 2004 -- Hundreds of millions of Christians are celebrating Christmas today. Many of those are turning their. thoughts to a small Palestinian West Bank town where many people believe Jesus Christ was born 2,004 years ago.
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Arriving ahead of schedule, winter rains have begun lashing Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority. On most days, a thin layer of mist hangs around Yasser Arafat&#39;s grave, where a Palestinian guard keeps a 24-hour vigil.
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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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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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Pope John Paul II ushered in Christmas on Friday by celebrating midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, praying that world leaders will strive for peace and that Jews, Muslims and Christians will live harmoniously in the Holy Land.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Dec. 24 -- Several thousand pilgrims celebrated Christmas Eve in the place traditionally known as the birthplace of Jesus, welcoming the new thaw in Israeli-Palestinian relations and voicing hopes for peace in the Middle East.
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Christians around the world celebrated Christmas Saturday with Pope John Paul II leading prayers for peace and a more tranquil future, as pilgrims flocked to Bethlehem, and Iraqis stayed away from church amid fears of bomb attacks.
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Thousands of pilgrims and a new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of Jesus's birth Saturday with prayers for peace after the death of Yasser Arafat.
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A Roman Catholic priest on Saturday led one of the first cheerful Christmas Day celebrations in Bethlehem in years, after fighting, military curfews and a general glum had kept most visitors away since the late 1990s.
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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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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Despairing of life under Israeli occupation, many Palestinian Christians are moving abroad, threatening their ancient links to Bethlehem and the land where Jesus was born.
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These days, Bethlehem's hospitals aren't just for the sick. They're becoming havens from Israel too.
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Gloom was banished from Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem for the first time in years on Monday as Christian pilgrims from all over the world flocked here to celebrate Jesus' birth in an atmosphere of renewed tranquility.
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VATICAN CITY  - In a Christmas shadowed by violence and the threat of conflict around the world, Pope John Paul II expressed &quot;great apprehension&quot; over the situation in Iraq but optimism at the outlook in the Palestinian crisis.
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Speaking to a congregation assembled for Christmas mass in a Bethlehem church Friday night, PLO chairman Mahoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) called on Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians.
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For the past four years, Middle East peace could safely be filed under the same heading as Santa Claus: nice fantasy. But this Christmas, glimmers of hope have materialized in the Holy Land.