Foreign tourists celebrating Easter give hope to Jerusalem residents

Published: 2005-03-28

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- A group of Maltese charismatic Catholic pilgrims filled the square at the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem with joyful singing on Easter as the warm spring morning sun shone upon them. "Praise the Lord in Jerusalem," they sang as they clapped their hands and danced in a circle. "It is great to actually be here where Christ rose," said Matthew, 20, who stood at the outskirts of the circle and declined to give his last name. "The only reason I am not singing is because I lost my voice." In the street behind them, about a dozen tour buses lined the curb -- a sight not seen in Jerusalem since the outbreak of the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, four and a half years ago. Though the numbers were nowhere near those during the climax of tourism in 2000, the buses and the people they bore gave hope to local residents. Frieda Michael, 42, a Palestinian Catholic from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina, said, "It is a sign of hope. We need people to come."

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