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Peace talks buoy hopes in Bethlehem

For the first time in years, optimism for a Palestinian state and tourists return to the West Bank.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Encouraged by renewed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Christian pilgrims from around the world converged on Jesus' traditional birthplace Monday to celebrate Christmas - a palpable contrast to the sparse crowds of recent years.

The diverse mix of people included festive American tourists, clergymen in brown flowing robes and Palestinian scouts wearing kilts and playing bagpipes.

"I'm Catholic. I always wanted to see the beginning of Christianity, the whole history. It's something you grow up with," said Kristin Obeck, a 37-year-old schoolteacher from Richmond, Va.

Despite the festive atmosphere, a heavy police deployment, the presence of Israel's massive separation barrier and unease among Bethlehem's ever-shrinking Christian population served as reminders of the lingering tensions in the region.

In the years following the 1993 Oslo peace accord, Bethlehem attracted tens of thousands of tourists for Christmas. But the number of visitors plummeted after the outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in 2000.

Tourism has begun to recover in recent years as fighting has slowed. This year, it got a boost from the renewal of peace talks last month at a summit in Annapolis, Md.

Israeli tourism officials said they expected some 20,000 visitors to cross from Jerusalem into neighboring Bethlehem, an increase of about 50 percent over last year. Tourism workers handed out sweets and flowers to pilgrims, and smiling Israeli soldiers posed for pictures with travelers.

Bethlehem's governor, Saleh Tamari, said all of the town's 5,000 hotel rooms were booked.

"If you can't be with family, it's good to be here where it all went down," said 23-year-old David Collen of Hickman, Neb., who is studying the Middle East at Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Tiago Martins, 28, from Curitiba, Brazil, said the new peace talks had prompted him to visit Bethlehem for the first time.

"The idea that it's a Christian city makes me more calm, and I think going to the West Bank is more comfortable since Annapolis," Martins said.

Priests and monks, tourists, Palestinian families and police mingled in Manger Square outside the Church of the Nativity, the site where tradition holds Christ was born.

A four-story cypress tree, strung with lights and red and gold ornaments and topped with a yellow star, towered outside the church.

Speaking to reporters as he came out of prayers at a Bethlehem mosque, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed hope that the renewed peace talks will bring about a Palestinian state in the coming year.

[Last modified December 24, 2007, 23:02:25]