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December 26, 2007
Near Bethlehem, the village Christmas tree is modern art

AP / Alvaro Barrientos
Palestinian Christians gather around a large Christmas tree during a festival in the village of Beit Sahour near the biblical West Bank town of Bethlehem last Friday.
Great tree.The full moon and clouds did their parts, the tree shines.
Less than a mile from Bethlehem, the town is said to be adjacent to the fields where the angels first announced the birth of Jesus to shepherds. (Beit Sahour means House of the Shepherds.)
But by day, Beit Sahour does not look like the quaint village I pictured -- the one with huge earthenware jars of oil, and donkey carts.
This public domain image at Wikipedia blasts that notion. The hills do look biblical.

About the festival: A posting at Yahoo group green-travel:
In Beit Sahour, the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between
People and the Municipality of Beit Sahour have joined efforts to
organize a three-day festival December 21 � 23, 2007, which will
include the Annual Candle Procession for this year which will be held
under the title "Light A Candle for a Just Peace" to affirm to all the
world that what Palestinians need is a Just Peace a true peace that is
based on retrieving the rights of those whose rights are violated.
In addition the festival will also include the lightening of the
Christmas tree in Beit Sahour and a number of folklore groups and
local singers and musicians, in addition to children activities.
Please join us the celebrations according to the following Program
(the program is also available at http://www.pcr.ps/...
The town has a Web site, but there is nothing at all on the English version.
Posted by Sheila Lennon
at 6:02 AM | Permalink
Possibly the reason you're not seeing Palestinian olive groves is the Israeli policy of bulldozing them.
Posted by: trudy on December 26, 2007 8:01 AM