Christians, Jews fill Jerusalem to celebrate Easter, Passover

Published: 2006-04-17

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Christian and Jewish pilgrims filled the winding alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem as they celebrated the holidays of Easter and Passover. "It's exhilarating to see so many people," said Jamileh Mina, 48, a Greek Orthodox Palestinian who was at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher celebrating Palm Sunday April 16. "It brings more beauty to the feast, and it is nice to see people worshipping together. It is good to see more believers." Greek Orthodox often celebrate Easter a week later than Catholics. About 90,000 tourists came to Israel to celebrate the holidays; this is a 20 percent increase from last year, according to the Israeli Ministry of Tourism. Palestinian shop owners were doing a brisk business selling rosaries, incense and Christian icons next to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. An Israeli police officer asked vendors to keep sidewalks free for pilgrim traffic by displaying their wares inside stores instead of displaying them along the sidewalk. A Palestinian vendor smiled as he hung colorful dresses outside his shop and agreed that there were plenty of pilgrims and tourists this season.

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