Christians celebrate despite problems

Few foreign visitors went to Bethlehem over the Christmas holiday.
LONDON (AP) -- From soldiers who donned red Santa hats in Afghanistan to devoted worshippers visiting Bethlehem, Christians around the world celebrated Christmas Day with the sobering thoughts of peace and tolerance even as open war flared in Somalia.
Two dozen U.S. peacekeeping troops celebrated the holiday among elementary schoolchildren in Partes, a Serb village in the snow-covered hills of eastern Kosovo with a school, a yellow-bricked Serb Orthodox church and modest houses.
They dug into a box full of toys and handed out dolls, cars, water colors, chess and bowling sets -- as they marked Christmas morning in the troubled province, far from family and friends in Puerto Rico and Massachusetts.
"It's a beautiful thing," said Blagoje Stojkovic, an elementary school teacher, as children began unwrapping and comparing toys.
At the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, pews were packed with hundreds of worshippers, but foreign visitors critical to the town's economy were largely absent, deterred by recent Palestinian infighting and the conflict with Israel.
Spirits were high, however, among the few foreign pilgrims who went to Manger Square to celebrate Christmas in the West Bank town.
"The experience was incredible," said Nick Parker, 24, of Goodland, Kan. "I could feel the true spirit of Christmas here in Bethlehem."
Appeal for peace
The theme of Middle East peace resonated with others. Britain's Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, fresh from a visit to the Holy Land, said in his annual address as spiritual leader of the world's Anglican Communion that the world must not turn its back on Israelis or Palestinians.
Queen Elizabeth II, in her annual Christmas broadcast, called for religious tolerance and mutual respect between the young and old in a fast-changing world.
"It is very easy to concentrate on the differences between the religious faiths and to forget what they have in common -- people of different faiths are bound together by the need to help the younger generation to become considerate and active citizens," the monarch said.
Foreign troops in Afghanistan woke up to a white Christmas and snowball fights. Soldiers wearing red Santa hats and even a couple dressed as elves walked around Camp Eggers, the main U.S. base in Kabul, the capital.
Shoppers packed malls awash with tinsel, plastic pine trees and special promotions in mostly Buddhist Japan and predominantly Hindu India, reflecting the spread of the season's commercial appeal.
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