"O Little Town of Bethlehem"

AP: Bethlehem Sees Largest Turnout Since 2000---

BETHLEHEM, West Bank - Holiday spirit returned to Bethlehem on Saturday for the first time in six years as thousands of foreigners and local people packed the town of Jesus' birth for Christmas Eve celebrations.

Lining the streets on a crisp, windy day, pilgrims gathered in Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity — built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born — to watch a procession of marching bands, bagpipe players and boy scout troops.

They also watched Jerusalem's Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the top Roman Catholic official in the Holy Land, enter town for the Christmas celebrations.
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More than 30,000 people were expected in what would be the largest turnout since fighting erupted in September 2000, although the bleak gray concrete slabs of Israel's separation barrier at the entrance to town provided a looming reminder of the conflict.