<\/SPAN><\/B>Muslims and Christians thronged the streets of <\/SPAN>
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<\/p>\nPLO chairman Mahmud Abbas journeyed from Ramallah for the annual Christmas Eve mass, the first time in four years <\/SPAN> BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) Muslims and Christians thronged the streets of Bethlehem united in Christmas celebration and in the hope that this festive season would herald a new dawn after four years of violence. PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas journeyed from Ramallah for the annual Christmas Eve mass, the first time in four years Israel has …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-assyrian-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ado-world.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
After his arrival late afternoon accompanied by Rawhi Fattuh, the interim president of the Palestinian Authority, Abbas said prayers in the Omar Ibn Khattab mosque opposite the Church of the Nativity.
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\nMost here were holding their breath that this Christmas season would be peaceful after four years of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, have all but killed off <\/SPAN>
Israeli travel restrictions and the <\/SPAN>
Christmas brings momentary relief to those suffering from the tourist dearth. Muslims and Christians flock from nearby villages joining pilgrims from afar to celebrate the birth of Jesus in his hometown.
In the hours leading up to the big event, the traditional Christmas Eve mass, buses continued to flow into town with numbers looking to far exceed the two or three thousand that made the trip in 2003.
Several thousand were already in place earlier Friday to greet the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah.
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\nHe was due to give the sermon at a <\/SPAN>
Opposite the church, on the other side of <\/SPAN>
The late Palestinian leader was a regular guest at <\/SPAN>
Abbas is the firm favourite to succeed Arafat as president of the Palestinian Authority in elections to be held on January 9.
Arafat’s death and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to pull out completely from the Gaza Strip have prompted a new-found optimism that things are changing.
“It’s time for us to have a normal life like everybody else and we pray to God that he will make it easier for us,” said Joseph, 38, standing at the entrance to his falafel shop.
Joseph, a Palestinian Christian, blamed the Israelis for strangling the local economy with army checkpoints and the <\/SPAN>
“The Israeli troops have to remove all these barriers and sanctions and make it easier for people to come here and enjoy the festivities and meet up with their friends and their families,” he told AFP.
Despite these impediments, Joseph said the mood was definitely more hopeful this year than previously during the intifada.
“People are hoping for the best, you can see it in their eyes. You can feel the spirit,” he said.
Behind him several people in traditional Muslim clothing were mixing in with Christians wearing red Santa Claus hats as Christmas songs blared out from a stage in <\/SPAN>
Israeli police detained nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu Friday as he headed to Christmas Eve mass in the <\/SPAN>
“We arrested him when he travelled to <\/SPAN>
Vanunu, 50, converted to Christianity during 18 years’ imprisonment imposed after he leaked details of <\/SPAN>
Since his release last April, he has spent most of his time at <\/SPAN>
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\n24-12-2004 <\/SPAN>
\nܢܗܪܝܐ <\/SPAN><\/P>
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