Thousands gather in Bethlehem, Christians in Gaza, Lebanon celebrate
++CLIENTS PLEASE USE THIS CORRECTED EDIT++
SHOTLIST
Bethlehem, West Bank
++NIGHT SHOTS++
1. Wide top shot of crowd attending Christmas concert
2. Zoom in to motorcade arriving
3. Wide Band preparing to perform on stage
4. Musicians performing on stage; UPSOUND music ++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
5. Rooftop shot, zoom in to Christmas tree
Beirut, Lebanon
++NIGHT SHOTS++
6. Pan of cars decorated with Christmas lighting arriving; UPSOUND music
7. Various of people dressed as Father Christmas distributing gifts to children; UPSOUND music
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Karen Nassif, resident
I hope that the situation in Lebanon will be better and that we won't be afraid to live in Lebanon anymore and all people who have left Lebanon will come back and feel it's a safe country to live in.
9. Wide of traffic near Christmas decorated trees
10. Tilt down on Christmas tree
11. Various of Nativity scene, near roadside
Gaza City, Gaza Strip
++NIGHT SHOTS++
12. Wide exterior of church
13. Scouts gathered in front of church
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Faisal Hijazi, priest:
Today is Christmas so we came to Gaza to pray for peace. After the war in Gaza last month, (it was) a disaster for the children, for the people, for all the area so we decided to come and to pray, prayers for peace, to bring peace for this land, for Gaza, for Palestine.
15. Family in front of church
16. Close up of child dressed as Father Christmas
++INTERIOR SHOTS++
17. Wide of people inside church for mass
18. Close of Christmas tree
19. Various of celebration of Mass
STORYLINE
Catholics throughout the Middle East celebrated Christmas Eve on Monday evening.
A concert was held in Manger Square in Bethlehem with hundreds of worshippers attending to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born.
In Beirut, a group of Lebanese dressed as Father Christmas toured the city in festively decorated cars and delivering gifts to the children.
I hope that the situation in Lebanon will be better and that we won't be afraid to live in Lebanon anymore and all people who have left Lebanon will come back and feel it's a safe country to live in, said resident Karen Nassif.
Meanwhile, Catholics in Gaza celebrated the traditional Christmas mass, but in small numbers.
Though Christianity was born in the Holy Land, the situation here is fragile for followers.
The West Bank has seen its Christian population dwindle over the years to roughly 50,000 people today, less than 3 percent of the population, the result of a lower birthrate and increased emigration in search of a better quality of life.
Just one third of Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Christ, is Christian today, down from 75 percent half a century ago.
In the Gaza Strip, governed by the Islamic militant group Hamas, the situation is even more precarious.
Fewer than 3,000 Christians live among 1.7 (m) million Muslim residents, and their numbers have rapidly shrunk in recent years because of turmoil in the territory.
Despite the numbers, father Faisal Hijazi, who arrived to Gaza from Bethlehem, said he will pray for peace after an eight day air offensive from both Israel and Hamas in November.
After the war in Gaza last month, (it was) a disaster for the children, for the people, for all the area so we decided to come and to pray, prayers for peace, to bring peace to this land, for Gaza, for Palestine.
Responding to months of daily rocket salvos from Gaza, last month Israel unleashed its air force, starting with an airstrike that killed Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari.
under the short border.
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