Jesus' birthplace to host major Christmas Eve festival

Bethlehem's Manger Square, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, will host its largest event since 1999 on Christmas Eve this year.

The Bethlehem Christmas Eve concert is the highlight of a four-city Holy Land Christmas Choir tour which began in Nazareth on Monday.

The tour, entitled "Prepare the Way Concert Tour 2007: Peace on Earth, Good Will to All", will unite American, Israeli, and Palestinian musicians in an effort to "prepare the way" for peace between Israel and Palestinians.

Last month, Israeli and Palestinian leaders made a historic agreement to begin to negotiate a peace treaty that will create a Palestinian state by the end of 2008.

US President George W Bush hosted the Mideast peace conference, which included many Arab nations such as Syria and Saudi Arabia, and concluded with top Israeli and Palestinian officials shaking hands to a two-state solution.

"It has been a dream of mine for many years to try to remind people everywhere that the world can live in peace - a just peace," said organiser the Rev Sam Morris, senior pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Columbus, Mississippi, and adjunct professor at the Jerusalem Institute for Biblical Exploration (JIBE). "Bethlehem, for many in the world, is a place of renewing that hope."

Some 150 American volunteer musicians from seven states began their journey to the Holy Land last Friday to join 20 singers based in Jerusalem and members of The Palestine Youth Orchestra (PYO) of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.

The choir will sing alongside one of the world's greatest tenors, Stuart Neill, and be led by renowned conductors Dr Robert McBain and Dr Eric Thorson. Vocalists along with the orchestra will perform portions of Handel's Messiah to deliver the message of "Peace on earth, good will to all" to audiences in Nazareth, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Amman, Jordan.

"While the music is the traditional Christmas music of Handel and John Rutter, the presence of the singers, orchestra and soloists transcends the differences existing among peoples of the world, and unites us in friendship and hope in this deeply symbolic season," said Morris.

"If just for a moment, a wrinkle in time, in the little town of Bethlehem, let the songs of the angels be heard that kindness and love can win over hatred and bitterness. I believe it. And when you look into the faces of these wonderful musicians, you will see it too," said the Methodist pastor.

In 1995, Bethlehem had a Christian majority which made up 62 per cent of its population. But now, the population of believers has fallen to a historic low of about 15 per cent due to the continuous exodus of Christians escaping persecution by radical Muslims, according to the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.

IFCJ is providing funds for a special holiday programme to feed underprivileged Christian Arabs in Bethlehem through First Baptist Church of Bethlehem. The programme will provide food aid to hundreds of Christians.

The Christmas Eve concert in Manger Square, meanwhile, will feature annual festivities celebrating the birth of Jesus that will include processions by various local churches.