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Holy Land Christmas: Jerusalem & Bethlehem seek visitors

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  • Holy Land Christmas: Jerusalem & Bethlehem seek visitors

    HOLY LAND CHRISTMAS: Jerusalem and Bethlehem seek visitors
    By LAURIE COPANS, Associated Press Writer

    The Associated Press
    December 6, 2004, Monday, BC cycle

    JERUSALEM -- For the first Christmas season in five years, Israel
    and the Palestinians are cooperating to boost tourism to encourage
    Christian pilgrims to visit the Holy Land during the holiday.

    The Israeli and Palestinian tourism ministers announced in a meeting
    last month - their first since fighting broke out in 2000 - that
    they intended to guarantee easy access for visitors traveling between
    Jerusalem and nearby Bethlehem, simplifying security checks.

    Christmas celebrations in the land Jesus walked once attracted tens
    of thousands of tourists. But in the last few years, violence has
    kept pilgrims away.

    Tourism has recently begun to rise again due to a marketing push and
    a renewed effort to maintain relative calm after Palestinian leader
    Yasser Arafat's death on Nov. 11.

    "We are telling everyone that they can come more freely to the Holy
    Land," Palestinian Tourism Minister Mitri Abu Aitah said in the
    meeting with his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Ezra.

    Ezra said he expected the new procedures to help. "I think this meeting
    between us will lead to a lot of people to come visit the Holy Land,"
    he said.

    If you make the trip this season, here are some recommendations.

    One of my favorite things to do in Jerusalem - where I have lived
    for 10 years - is to walk the ramparts of the Old City, where you
    can view the minarets and steeples from every angle. You may even see
    a relative of the peregrine falcon, the lesser kestrel, who prefers
    the stone holy places when it nests in the area from February to July.

    After visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, built in the fourth
    century by Emporer Constantine to mark the traditional site of Jesus'
    crucifixion and burial, enter the small door to the left as you come
    out the main entrance.

    Climb the stairs through three tiny Ethiopian chapels to the roof.
    Passing through the archway, you can enter the Coptic Patriarchate.
    Find the stairs leading down into a dark cistern whose acoustics are
    wonderful for singing your favorite Bible hymn.

    For a spectacular view in every direction, climb the tower at the
    Lutheran Church a few steps away from the Holy Sepulcher.

    One of the most difficult challenges for tourists in Jerusalem is
    finding out when it's possible to visit the walled Al Aqsa Mosque
    compound (known to Jews as the Temple Mount). The compound, home to the
    Dome of the Rock mosque, is closed twice daily, during prayers, but it
    is worth the effort to get inside and view the rock from which Muslims
    believe the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven on his white stallion.

    To the left of the plaza of the Western Wall, a retaining wall of
    the Second Jewish Temple and the holiest site for Jews, you will see
    the entrance to an archaeological tunnel. Here you can see stones,
    cisterns and a Hasmonean water channel used 2,000 years ago.

    The Old City's Arab market shops are a must. You can buy vests
    decorated with traditional Palestinian embroidery, hand-painted
    Armenian pottery and fresh sesame and pistachio brittle. Haggling
    is an art you must master quickly. In most cases it's best to offer
    half the price you are first quoted and work your way up to about
    two-thirds of what the seller asks. Try not to show you really want
    the item or the shop owners won't budge much.

    Traveling from Jerusalem just a few miles away to the West Bank town
    of Bethlehem can seem somewhat daunting since tourists must pass
    through an Israeli military checkpoint.

    But don't mind the M-16 guns held by the Israeli soldiers. This area
    has not seen clashes in more than a year and they are unlikely here
    since both Israelis and Palestinians are eager to facilitate the
    travel of pilgrims.

    Manger Square is not the quaint, calm scene depicted in the Christmas
    carol "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Although it has been transformed
    in recent years, it is often still full of tour buses.

    The stone Church of the Nativity is dank and cold, but filled with
    fragrant incense and a wonderful sight when full of worshippers at
    the midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Bring warm clothes if you come
    for the holiday season; temperatures around Christmas in Bethlehem
    average in the 40s.

    If you're lucky, it might even snow.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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