Rare calm in Bethlehem attracts Christmas tourists

Mass has been celebrated in the Holy Land, with the service in Bethlehem attracting particular attention. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

attended the mass, along with the Vatican’s highest representative in the Holy Land Fouad Twal.

Unseasonally mild weather and a calm situation between Palestinians and Israelis meant tourist numbers were up in the town reputedly of Jesus’s birth, although security was tight and the border crossings from Jersualem into the West Bank were suject to intensive checks.

One aspect of the nativity has drawn attention this year; the shepherds and their flocks, both whose numbers are in decline as the Israeli security barrier and settlement growth makes the profession ever-less sustainable. A traditional feature of the lanscape is now becoming a rare sight, but the tourists don’t seem to miss this detail, drawn to Bethlehem at this time of the year as they have been for centuries.

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