Christmas is getting closer, and as usual, I will keep you posted on
how Bethlehem celebrates.

For updates on Bethlehem celebrations, a little Bethlehem Christmas
history, and even some gift ideas, please visit my website:

http://www.bobmay.info/

Peace,
Bob

------------------------------------------------
Bethlehem starts downcast countdown to Christmas
------------------------------------------------

By Matthew Tostevin

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Nov 30 (Reuters) - There was little more sign
of conflict in Bethlehem on Sunday than a toddler toting a plastic
rifle in the Nativity Church.

But the countdown to Christmas got off to a subdued start more than
three years into a Palestinian uprising that has brought misery and
decline to the West Bank city revered as the birthplace of Jesus.

"Here in Bethlehem the intifada is over," said 23-year-old trinket
seller George Hussain. "Everyone is tired. We're just hoping that
this year will be better than last, but there are still no tourists."

"Do you want to buy a keffiyeh?" he asked hopefully, holding out a
plastic bag stuffed full of Arab head-dresses.

No more than a handful of tourists walk along the pretty stone
streets where throngs of pilgrims once gave Bethlehem its economic
lifeblood.

Fading posters of ammunition-draped "martyrs" from the earlier days
of the uprising decorate alleys of shuttered stores that no longer
open to sell their olive-wood crib scenes and crowns of thorns.

This time last year was much worse. Bethlehem was under military
curfew and occupied by Israeli troops after a suicide bomber from the
city killed 11 Israelis on a bus in nearby Jerusalem.

"We hope that the political situation will improve, that there will
be dialogue again. People cannot continue to live like this," said
Father Ibrahim Faltus after mass on the first Sunday in Advent.

SCARCE OPTIMISM

There are faint hints of promise for Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking
after a spell of relative calm. There is talk of reviving a stalled
U.S.-backed road map and Palestinian militants discuss a new truce in
Cairo this week.

New Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie has dampened hopes of an
early meeting with Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon, though, saying
Israel must first stop building a separation barrier that cuts deep
into the occupied West Bank.

The Israelis say they want the barrier of concrete and wire, just
visible from Bethlehem's bell-towers and minarets, to stop suicide
bombers. Palestinians call it an attempt to draw a border through
land seized in the 1967 Middle East war.

"We pray to God to help. Maybe he can change the minds of the people
and get them to talk," said tour guide Jiries Canavati, lounging by a
bullet-chipped wall and hoping for work.

Whether talks happen or not, it will be too late to stop the flood of
Palestinian Christians leaving Bethlehem in search of better
prospects.

Christians tend to find it easier than the West Bank's Muslim
majority to win foreign residency, and the fact that Christian
families are well established abroad gives those who want to leave
somewhere to go.

Incense drifted on Sunday through a church that was far from packed
and where many of the worshippers were too old to contemplate
starting again in another country.

"Many of the children have left, gone to America, gone to Sweden,"
said Sami Giacaman, a 72-year-old lab technician. "What we have here,
you cannot call it a life."


© 1998-2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar
means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of
Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the
content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.