Mideast - AFP
Christians gather to celebrate Palm Sunday in Jerusalem
Date: Sun Apr 4, 4:50 PM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Hundreds of followers from different branches of Christianity began Easter celebrations Sunday by parading through the streets of Jerusalem's Old City before praying at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Groups of Boy Scouts from the Catholic, Armenian, Greek Orthodox and Assyrian communities banged drums, followed by crowds shouting "Hosannah" and waving palm fronds and olive branches to mark Palm Sunday.
They congregated at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, believed to the final resting place of Jesus Christ, for a special service.
Palm Sunday marks the Sunday before Easter, when Jesus is said to have ridden a donkey down the Mount of Olives and into the holy city to a joyous welcome from the crowds, who scarcely a week later were calling for his death.
Numbers were markedly down on the levels seen before the start of the Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in September 2000, which has seen many tourists steer clear of the Holy Land.
Many Palestinian Christians have also been unable to attend celebrations, with Israeli authorities restricting travel from the occupied territories.
One Arab resident of Jerusalem said she had been hoping that the rest of her family, who live near the West Bank town of Ramallah, would have been able to join her.
"None of my brothers and or sisters have been able to come to Jerusalem," said the woman who would only give her name as Labiba.
"Our family was meant to come and celebrate together and pray together. The Israelis said they would allow Palestinians to come but this is not true."
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