Paul Calvert spoke with Raed Haneah about what it's like at Christmastime in Bethlehem

Paul: Do they sing the traditional Christmas Carols?

Raed: Yes they do. Thousands of people will be in front of the Nativity Church praying, singing together. It's really nice. Even the Moslems, they celebrate with us at Christmas.

Paul: Now the Shepherds came to Bethlehem on that glorious night, how far are the Shepherd's fields from Bethlehem?

Raed: A few kilometres, not that far.

Paul: Do you get many tourists coming into Bethlehem around Christmastime?

Raed: A lot, really a lot! You can see the Hotels are full and you can see a lot of tourist buses in Bethlehem. You see a lot of people walking here and there. In the Mass at Nativity Church it will be full of tourists more than local people. If you go the next day to the Shepherd's fields you will see a lot of buses and tourists there also.

Paul: Now the most important question is does Santa Clause visit Bethlehem?

Raed: Yes he does. We see many people dressed up as Santa Clause in the street, giving out presents and sweets to the children. They start from the beginning of December with the lights and with Santa Clause; you can really feel that Christmas is coming from the end of November and the beginning of December. I work in a Dutch organisation with disabled children and they celebrate Christmas on the 5th of December. They make a lot of special cookies which they give to the children and also black pita, which is from the Dutch culture. Everyone loves it.

Paul: What's your prayer for Christmas this year?

Raed: To have peace in this land and that we can have lots of visitors to Bethlehem from all around the world because I know that there are many people who would like to visit Bethlehem but they can't. There are some difficulties, but it's very nice so I pray that they all can come. This is where Jesus was born and we hope that everyone loves each other.