The New York Times · 25 December 1995

CP-1995-021

Christmas in Bethlehem: Arafat at Midnight Mass

By SERGE SCHMEMANN

Scan 860 × 1034 pixels

Transcribed from the clipping

BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Monday, Dec. 25 — The night was certainly not silent and it was not always calm as Bethlehem marked its first Christmas under Palestinian control with thunderous fireworks, choirs, bagpipes, dances and laser lights.

While the revelry flowed over Manger Square, Yasir Arafat, the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, took his place in the front pew of St. Catherine’s Roman Catholic Church, part of the larger complex including the Orthodox Church of the Nativity, for the traditional Midnight Mass in his role as the new leader of Bethlehem and the Palestinians of the West Bank.

… “It’s good, it’s big, and it’s a good deal of money,” rejoiced a Palestinian man peddling haroup, a sweet non-alcoholic Arab beverage, from a large backpack decorated in flowers. “Everything is different from before. There are many more people, much more celebration.”

Amal Shukri, a Christian Palestinian from Bethlehem, came out with two children, ages 8 and 7. “I told them this is a very special Christmas,” she said. “It’s wonderful that Arafat is here. We’re very happy to have him.”

How this transcription was made

Transcribed from a scan of the printed page. The page carries a running head, but THE YEAR IS CUT OFF THE SCAN: it reads 'THE NEW YORK TIMES INTERNATIONAL MONDAY, DECEMB...' and is trimmed mid-word at the right edge, with the folio '2' and the edition code 'L+' at the left. The date is therefore established by the weekday in that running head agreeing with the dateline 'BETHLEHEM, West Bank, Monday, Dec. 25' - 25 December fell on a Monday in 1995 - and independently by the article's subject, Bethlehem's first Christmas under Palestinian control, Israeli forces having withdrawn from the town on 21 December 1995. The page number is printed and is recorded. THE EXCERPT CONTAINS AN ELISION, marked with an ellipsis, so that the two quoted Palestinian voices sit inside the record's press text. 'haroup' is the paper's transliteration and has been kept. Read from crops magnified to between twelve and eighteen times page scale.

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