Top Roman Catholic cleric in Holy Land prays for elusive Mideast peace

Top Roman Catholic in Holy Land prays for peace

BETHLEHEM, West Bank — The top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land delivered Christmas wishes Thursday for peace in the Middle East — and prayed for the day when Palestinians would no longer be confined by Israeli barriers.

Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal began Christmas celebrations with an annual procession from Jerusalem to the West Bank town of Bethlehem, Jesus’ traditional birthplace.

“The wish that we most want, we most hope for, is not coming. We want peace,” Twal said after he passed into Bethlehem.

“We don’t have a shortage of food, we don’t need aid,” he added. “All we want is peace, and that is the wish that still has not been answered.”

Twal and his convoy of dozens of vehicles entered the Palestinian territory through a massive steel gate in Israel’s heavily guarded West Bank separation barrier, escorted by Israeli soldiers and police in jeeps.

The barrier and the heavy Israeli security presence was a potent reminder of the fractions and hostilities that have made peace impossible.

“We want freedom of movement, we don’t want walls,” Twal said after passing through the barrier. “We don’t want separation fences. We hope that things will become more normal for us.”

Israel began building the barrier of towering concrete slabs and electronic fences after Palestinian militants carried out a series of suicide bombings that killed dozens of Israelis. But Palestinians see it as a land grab because its route juts into the West Bank in various places, putting that land on the “Israeli” side of the enclosure.

Thousands of people were already milling around Manger Square when Twal arrived: tourists from all over the world, locals hawking food at stalls, and Palestinian scouts decked out in kilts and playing bagpipes, as they do each Christmas.

Balloons of all colors gave an added note of cheer to the festivities.