There's been no escaping the sad symbolism of Christmas in recent years in the Israeli-occupied town of Bethlehem.
According to religious tradition, this is where the baby Jesus was born, coming into the world to bring peace.But his birthplace has become a site of war and bloodshed.
Since 1967 its Palestinian residents have suffered under the Israeli occupation. Since 1987, when the "intifada" (uprising) erupted, celebration of Christmas in Bethlehem has been officially banned out of respect to the victims of that uprising and as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle.
But this year a new symbol of hope is replacing the sad images of the past. Manger Square, which is reputed to mark the exact spot of Jesus' birthplace, will be decked out in lights for the first time in six years. A special Christmas tree will be flown specially from Norway.
"Following the peace accord between Israel and the PLO and the implementation of the Gaza-Jericho First agreement, I believe this year we should celebrate," said Elias Freij, the longtime mayor of Bethlehem.
The scars of the conflict are still in strong evidence. A few miles down the road lies the city of Hebron, which has become the flash-point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent weeks.
In Bethlehem itself, steel shutters seal shops on national strike days. Vivid graffiti sprayed in red, black and green paint cover many walls. A heavily guarded police and army compound overlooks Manger Square. Local Palestinians can often be heard shouting messages to their relatives and friends inside.
Freij is one of the 35,000-strong Christian minority of the Bethlehem region, where some 45,000 Muslims also live. But he says that even the Islamic fundamentalist movements like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which violently oppose the peace accords, won't dare to interfere with the Christmas celebrations.
"Our Muslim brothers respect our holidays," he says. "There has never been an incident, and I don't see any reason why the Hamas would harm us."
Israeli military sources back Freij's assumption but are taking no chances. There will be a powerful troop presence as always in Bethlehem, and the security procedures for entering the main area of festivities - Manger Square and the Church of Nativity - will be as stringent as ever.
Bethlehem expects to have a record number of pilgrims this Christmas. According to figures released by the Israeli Tourism Ministry, 55,000 tourists will visit the town, up 5,000 from last year and a full 33,000 from 1990, when the Persian Gulf War proved a disaster for the town's tourist industry.
But the new circumstances of this year's Christmas have people speaking with a new note of hope. In conjunction with the Israeli Tourism Ministry, Bethlehem University this year organized a conference on how best to plan for the coming years.
Entitled "Dreaming of Peace - Christmas in Bethlehem," the event brought together local officials, tourist enterprises and government bodies to exchange ideas on how the tourism industry could be developed in the era of peace.
The tourism figures Bethlehem's experts predict may be exaggerated but are still stunning. One million Muslim tourists are expected in the next five years, and some 3 million pilgrims will visit Bethlehem's holy sites.
"This tourism can give us the income to manage our Palestinian state," says Freij.
Businessmen are excited at the prospect and busy planning month-long Christmas festivites and special tourist attractions, which include vague ideas about a theme-park dubbed by local skeptics as "Jesusland."
Local Palestinian folklore - currently fast disappearing - also will be revived by the tourist influx.
Craftsmen and women who make distinctive olive-wood statues, mother of pearl ornaments and local Palestinian woven cloths have been leaving their trades for lack of buyers, says Nicola Canawati, who runs a local crafts and souvenir shop.
"The increase in demand may save our culture," she says.