Bethlehem Launches Millennial Festivities

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat lighted a Christmas tree Saturday to kick off the millennial year in Bethlehem, the town revered as the birthplace of Jesus, capping a day of festivities that the Palestinians also used to press their political cause.

The Palestinian leader, clad in his usual military-style fatigues and headdress, waved to the applauding crowd but made no remarks as he pressed a switch to light the twinkling white-and-gold bulbs adorning a 35-foot-tall pine.

Earlier, as Palestinian bands played marching songs, thousands of people--mainly Palestinians but some foreign pilgrims as well--filled Manger Square, site of the Church of the Nativity, which Christian tradition says marks the spot where Jesus was born.

Speaking in the name of Arafat, who was seated smiling in the front row, top aide Atayeb Abdel Rahim referred indirectly to Palestinian statehood aspirations. The ceremony, he said, was meant as “a message of freedom and independence for those who lack freedom.”