WEST BANK: Flower shop owners work overtime to produce palm branch arrangements for Christian festivities

Record ID: 560750

  • Title: WEST BANK: Flower shop owners work overtime to produce palm branch arrangements for Christian festivities
  • Date: 18th April 2011
  • Summary: PERSON HOLDING FLOWER AND BRAIDED PALM ARRANGEMENT DURING CHURCH SERVICE PALM BRANCHES DURING PRAYER CHRISTIANS ATTENDING CHURCH SERVICE CRUCIFIX ADORNED WITH PALM BRANCHES CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS SERVICE IN PROGRESS AT CHURCH OF NATIVITY
  • Embargoed: 3rd May 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVADESHGPBSA75WH7ZYHGL8L35R0
  • Story Text: Flower shops in Bethlehem, the place of Jesus Christ's birth, hope to do a roaring trade in braided palm branch arrangements as Christians celebrate Palm Sunday, the start of Holy Week.
    Bethlehem shop owner Jiris Bandak and his assistants have been busy braiding palm branches and tying them into bunches.
    It's all in the hope that the Christian celebration of 'Palm Sunday' (April 17) will bring a roaring trade in the fronds.
    "The palms are imported from Jericho and we braid the branches. It used to be a simple branch but through the generations we have developed our style. It became part of our traditions and heritage," Bandak explained.
    Lilan Mana and her children were among hundreds of Christians to participate in a Palm Sunday service at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the West Bank town that is the birthplace of Jesus Christ.
    Mana told Reuters her youngest son had been fighting with his siblings for the honour of carrying a palm branch on the holy day, in keeping with tradition.
    "They are so happy. He has been waiting since yesterday to carry it (the palm branch). They have also been fighting about who is to carry it," Mana said.
    Olive branches were handed out to worshippers ahead of the church service in the Church of Nativity.
    Palm Sunday marks Jesus's entry into Jerusalem before his arrest and crucifixion, when followers strewed palm branches in his path.
    "Palm Sunday is a tradition through which we commemorate the entrance of Jesus Christ from Beit Faji to Jerusalem. The city (Jerusalem) was under Roman ruler; and they used to worship at Suliman's temple. Jesus Christ wanted to go to the temple in order to tell the people that the real temple was to be found in his body not in stones," Catholic Priest Marwan Dadas explained.
    In the Christian calendar, Palm Sunday is the first day of the Holy Week which culminates in Easter Sunday, when Christians celebrate Christ's resurrection from the dead.
    Later on Sunday Christian worshippers will participate in the annual procession from Jerusalem's Mount of Olives into the Old City, carrying palm branches and chanting hymns.
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