Pilgrims kick off Christmas festivities

THOUSANDS of Christian pilgrims have descended on the little town of Bethlehem to celebrate in Jesus’ birthplace what locals said was a Christmas of mixed blessings.

The traditional march by bagpipe-wielding boy scouts got the celebrations off under sunny skies and balmy weather, the start to a day of festivities that will also include Austrian rock groups playing carols in Manger Square. They will finish with midnight mass in St Catherine’s Church next to the Church of the Nativity, built over the spot where Mary is said to have given birth in a manger after she and Joseph could not find any room at the inn.

“This is the place where God gave us his son, so it is very special for me to be here, for me and my whole community,’’ said Juan Cruz, 27, from Mexico.

The Christmas celebrations cap a year when tourists returned to the town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where tradition holds the Prince of Peace was born, in numbers unseen since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian violence at the turn of the millennium. But even the festive lights could not dispel the pall cast by the huge wall looming over the entrance to the town, part of Israel’s controversial separation barrier built the length of the West Bank, and continued concern for the plight of Bethlehem’s dwindling Christian population.

“We are prepared to welcome Christmas with lights, decorations and joy, but this little town of love and peace, the capital of Christmas, lacks the desired peace it deserves,” said Bethlehem mayor Victor Batarseh. Buoyed by the relative calm that has reigned in the West Bank, more than 1.6 million visitors have been to Bethlehem this year, Palestinian Tourism Minister Khulud Duaibess said.

Some 15,000 pilgrims were expected for the Christmas celebrations.