BETHLEHEM : A Palestinian Christmas
Christians who travel to the birthplace of Jesus to celebrate the traditional Holy Week midnight Mass on Saturday will find Manger Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, bedecked with more Palestinian flags than Christmas trees.
The Israeli army still occupies the West Bank, but the government has handed over certain areas of civilian life, including tourism, to the Palestinians. Bethlehem Mayor Elias Freij, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of tourism, is determined to make this Christmas a Palestinian one. The city has ordered 2,000 Palestinian flags to festoon Manger Square and other locations.
Fatah--the once-outlawed Palestinian guerrilla faction--has gotten into the holiday spirit by placing a Christmas tree and a Santa Claus on the balcony outside its Bethlehem office.
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