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Last update - 23:10 16/03/2008 Jews, Arabs, Americans join Jerusalem Palm Sunday march By The Associated Press Tags: Palestinians, Palm Sunday  Waving palm fronds, thousands of Christians from around the world celebrated Palm Sunday, walking the path they believe Jesus rode on his donkey as he entered Jerusalem days before his crucifixion. The procession with the top Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Patriarch Michel Sabbah, started at the Bethphage Church, where tradition says Jesus mounted the donkey. Participants walked up to the Mount of Olives, then down to the ancient stone walls of the Old City. Advertisement Marching pilgrims strummed guitars, some of them wearing "I love Jesus" shirts, as they braved unseasonable heat in an early Jerusalem springtime. Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus' followers shaking branches to greet him as he entered the holy city. The festivities mark the start of Holy Week when, according to the New Testament, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, crucified and then resurrected on Easter Sunday. "It gives you a chance to actually feel what Christ went through, because it's a steep hill," said Norman Dsilva, 47 and a financial analyst from Concord, New Hampshire in the U.S. as he waited for the walk to begin. Michelle Alignay, 28, a preschool teacher from San Diego, California, was visiting the Holy Land for the first time. "All your life you grow up learning, and now I am finally able to walk in the footsteps of Jesus and see where it all happened," Alignay said. "It wasn't just a story." Even some Jewish Israelis joined the procession this year as part of a course they are taking called Between Judaism and Christianity. Their Hebrew mixed with the Arabic of the Palestinian teenage scouts from the West Bank city of Ramallah in the courtyard of the Bethphage Church as they waited for the patriarch to arrive. Israel granted the Palestinian scouts special permission to enter Jerusalem for the festivities. For many years, during the height of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, they were not allowed in, the scouts said. Some pilgrims said they were wary of coming, concerned by recent bloodshed, including a Palestinian shooting attack on the Mercaz Harav religious school in Jerusalem in which eight students were killed, as well as violence in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel. "It's amazing to be here," Ramallah resident Alexandra Nafi, 20, said after she applied lipstick in a corner of the cobblestone churchyard. "But we are afraid a little bit in general because of the violence. I feel like something is going to happen any minute." Taxi drivers said Sunday the number of tourists showed that few had been scared away by the violence. The fighting that began in 2001 seriously damaged the local tourism industry, but it has rebounded in recent years. Christians believe that Jesus stopped in Bethany at the house of a leper on his way to Jerusalem. Sitting in the Bethphage Church's anemone-speckled field as a border police jeep sped by along the cement wall, tourist Maria Irene, 76, said she was making the procession with her sister for their 13th time. "Jesus is here. Here he saved humanity," said Irene, a retired doctor from Porto in northern Portugal. "At home we pray every day for peace in Israel." Bookmark to del.icio.us   Declassifying AIPAC Two former pro-Israel lobbyists charged with revealing secret info. to Israeli diplomats. Jersualem pilgrimage Christian pilgrims flock to Holy City to mark Good Friday and retrace the route of Jesus.   1.   So The Jews For Jesus That Marched Weren`t Really Jews? 23:02  |  Yosemite 16/03/08   2.   A peaceful Holy Week 00:05  |  Angel 17/03/08   3.   Jews for Jesus 00:11  |  Cyasher 17/03/08   4.   #1 READ the article - No Jews for Jesus Here 00:37  |  Kate 17/03/08   5.   i thihnk that is great. jews can join without denying judaism. 01:14  |  ralph 17/03/08   6.   jews for yoshky are not Jews 01:22  |  Troy Mclure 17/03/08   7.   Jews for Jesus 02:13  |  George 17/03/08   8.   What does G-d say? 02:26  |  George 17/03/08   9.   Jesus was the Jewish revolutionary 03:02  |  Jeff 17/03/08   10.   Something to learn 03:22  |  Ben 17/03/08   11.   Cyasher - Jews and Christians 05:02  |  Mark Lincoln 17/03/08   12.   #7 - George 05:18  |  MichaelF 17/03/08   13.   #8 06:21  |  George 17/03/08   14.   Hoshana in excelsis! Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini 07:17  |  hala 17/03/08   15.   In The Words Of Jimi Hendrix... 07:26  |  Yosemite 17/03/08   16.   jews for jesus 16:36  |  Tim 17/03/08   17.   Was it Pesach or Sukkot? 09:51  |  Motic 19/03/08   18.   Jerusalem 15:07  |  Dov Ber 23/03/08

Today Online Hezbollah: We have proof Israel killed Mughniyah Responses: 100 Jerusalem official denies reported truce offer to Hamas, Jihad Responses: 64 Gideon Levy: Blind int'l friendship enables Israel to kill, settle Responses: 48 Cheney in Ramallah: Peace will require 'painful concessions' Responses: 27 Editorial: Swiss gas deal with Iran a disgrace, like WWII neutrality Responses: 30 Rosner's Domain New Guest, Daniel Kurtzer: since '93 U.S. didn't help peace process succeed Govt. to appeal ruling on classified material in AIPAC trial I've known my rabbi for more than 20 years... (WTR) There's no need for American pressure on Israel Poll: Mideast summit in Moscow, a good idea? More Headlines 19:58 Cheney in Ramallah: Rockets kill Palestinian hopes 19:20 IAF Official: All F16I pilots were exposed to carcinogenic substance 16:36 Jerusalem official denies reported truce offer to Hamas, Jihad 17:34 PM: Israel to send back refugees who infiltrate from Sinai 15:59 Shi'ite mourners hail Mughniyah as martyr at Beirut gravesite 19:00 Taibeh resident jailed for 9 years over role in foiled terror attack 16:27 Top PM aide planning Web site to link Diaspora Jews with Israel 15:25 Ethiopian activist: Integration failed, separate schools needed 12:35 Christian pilgrims flock to Jerusalem to celebrate Easter 15:36 Hamas, Fatah officials in Yemen agree to revive direct talks 19:17 Sarkozy's ex-wife due to wed Jewish multi-millionaire in N.Y. 15:45 Israeli singer Yael Naim embraces Apple, Britney Spears for success 19:04 Temperatures soar nationwide as heat wave continues Previous Editions Select Day 21 mar 20 mar 19 mar 18 mar 17 mar 16 mar 14 mar 13 mar 12 mar 11 mar 10 mar 09 mar

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