Publish date26 Dec 2017 - 14:01
Story Code : 301624

Palestinians mark Christmas amid al-Quds tensions (photo)

Palestinians marked Christmas Eve in the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Sunday amid recent violence sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump's recognition of nearby Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Participation of tourists in the ceremony explicitly shows that Trump's pronouncement, which has infuriated the Palestinians and drawn widespread international opposition, has not affected those who have decided to celebrate Christmas in the Holy Land. By mid afternoon, hundreds of people had gathered in Manger Square near the city's main Christmas for celebrations, greeted by bagpipe-playing young Palestinian marching bands and scout troops. Accompanying the decorations was a large banner protesting Trump's Jerusalem declaration. Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the apostolic administrator of Jerusalem, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, crossed through an Israeli military checkpoint to enter Bethlehem from Jerusalem.
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