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Christmas eve
A villager wearing a traditional peasant galabiya gown inspects Christmas trees in El Kosheh, Egypt, on December 18, 2018. (RNS photo/ Fady Hadny)
December 28, 2018, 4:07 pm
Egypt’s Coptic Christians celebrate Christmas, ponder changing date
With evergreen firs and red-robed Santas relatively new to rural Copts, a community with longstanding traditions has mixed reactions to moving the holiday to align with the West
By Mina Nader and Jacob Wirtschafter
A Palestinian band performs on Manger square in front of the Church of the Nativity in the biblical West Bank city of Bethlehem, on December 24, 2018. (HAZEM BADER/AFP)
December 24, 2018, 3:10 pm
Pilgrims gather at Jesus’s traditional birthplace for Christmas
Palestinian scouts and a bagpipe band parade in Manger Square across from the Church of the Nativity, as Bethlehem gets into the spirit for Christian festival
By AFP
A participant joins in a 'Fiddler' reading at the Royal Theater in West Los Angeles, part of the Laemmle chain. (Courtesy of Laemmle.com/via JTA)
December 21, 2018, 5:04 am
A new Jewish Christmas tradition: Watching ‘Fiddler’ at your local movie theater
Showbiz hosts, singalongs, trivia and a costume contest are part of the fun at Laemmle Theatres’ holidays showings, which have spawned copycats in Chicago and Seattle
By Tom Tugend
Egypt Coptic Pope Tawadros II leads the Christmas Eve mass at the Nativity of Christ Cathedral in Egypt's new administrative capital, 45km east of Cairo, on January 6, 2018. (AFP PHOTO / KHALED DESOUKI)
January 6, 2018, 10:44 pm
Egyptian Copts mark Christmas Eve after bloody year
‘You are our family, you are from us, we are one and no one will divide us,’ President Sissi tells adoring crowds
By Maram Mazen
Still from filmmaker Larry Weinstein's 'Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas.' (Courtesy)
December 25, 2017, 9:37 pm
Call Adam Sandler: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was Jewish, too
In ‘Dreaming of a Jewish Christmas,’ filmmaker Larry Weinstein shares why Christmas is just another Yiddishe holiday
By Tracy Frydberg
Illustrative: A man dressed as Santa Claus waves from a sidecar of a motorbike on Christmas Eve in Jerusalem Old City, Decemeber 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
December 25, 2017, 12:30 pm
In Bethlehem and Gaza, Christmas celebrations nixed over Jerusalem decision
Only prayer services go ahead as politics and inclement weather leave Manger Square, usually packed with tourists, nearly empty on Christmas Eve
By Dov Lieber and AP
Pope Francis celebrates mass on Christmas eve at St Peter's basilica in Vatican, December 24, 2017. (AFP Photo/Andreas Solaro)
December 25, 2017, 2:02 am
In Christmas homily, Pope says Bethlehem trek like today’s global migrations
Francis likens the journey of Mary and Joseph to those of millions of today’s immigrants ‘driven from their land’
By AP
Christmas decoration in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 13. 2016. (Sebi Berens/Flash90)
December 13, 2017, 6:35 pm
Jerusalem to hand out 150 Christmas trees
City says it is preparing decorations, cleaning crews and traffic arrangements for holiday celebrations
By TOI staff
Pope Francis kneels as he celebrates the Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
December 25, 2016, 4:05 am
In Christmas message, pope laments children in war, poverty
Francis celebrates somber Eve Mass, urges his flock to reflect on how kids today aren’t always loved by their parents as Jesus was
By Nicole Winfield
A Christian worshipper lights a candle at the Church of the Nativity, built atop the site where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born, on Christmas Eve, in the West Bank City of Bethlehem, Saturday, Dec. 24, 2016 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
December 25, 2016, 3:38 am
Thousands of faithful celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem
Security tight due to recent anti-Christian attacks in the region; one reveler says UN anti-settlement resolution like a ‘Christmas gift’
By ISMA'IL KUSHKUSH
An Israeli soldier walks past a Palestinian man dressed up as Santa Claus outside Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem's Old City, on December 23, 2016. (AFP/Ahmad Gharabli)
December 24, 2016, 2:39 pm
Stabbing attack foiled in Jerusalem Old City
Police arrest 35-year-old women, resident of Jerusalem. No injuries reported; forces on alert for Christmas Eve
By TOI staff
A Palestinian man walks past a Christmas tree at the Manger Square near the Church of the Nativity, revered as the site of Jesus' birth, on December 20, 2016, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. (AFP PHOTO / MUSA AL SHAER)
December 24, 2016, 10:57 am
Bethlehem Christmas procession brought forward
After concerns about severe weather, organizers says annual march will start at noon
By TOI staff
Chaimie (Jamie Elman) and Laizer (Eli Batalion) of YidLife Crisis in 'Crisismukkah' episode. (YouTube screen shot)
December 18, 2016, 3:45 am
Get ready for the 8 days of Chrismukkah
Retailers rejoice as Hanukkah and Christmas fall on the same day this year
By Renee Ghert-Zand
Palestinian security forces and military medical services stand guard outside the Church of the Nativity as Christians gather for Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on December 24, 2015. (AFP/Musa al-Shaer)
December 25, 2015, 8:00 am
Palestinians beef up Bethlehem security amid fears of IS attack
16 radical Salafists detained by PA security as Christians flock to biblical town for holidays, but turnout lower than usual
By TOI staff and Agencies
A nun prays inside the Grotto at the Church of the Nativity, traditionally believed by Christians to be the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on Christmas Eve, Thursday, Dec.ember 24, 2015 (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
December 24, 2015, 4:03 pm
Christians arrive in Bethlehem to mark Christmas Eve
Marching bands play festive music in Manger Square but mood dampened by three-month wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence
By Daniella Cheslow
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