In every place where Palestinian Chris-tians live, church choirs are getting ready to celebrate what they regard as the defining event in local history. Some will mark Easter along with the western Christian world on Sunday; the majority, followers of the eastern calendar, have another five weeks to wait before their rich Arabic voices take up the Hebrew poetry of the Paschal hymn: "Shine, shine, Oh new Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord has dawned upon you!" Christ himself counselled people not to be too concerned with the specifics of holy places; it was more important to offer prayers "in spirit and in truth" than to pray on the right mountainside or in the right city. But Palestinian worshippers would hardly be human if they did not give a rather literal interpretation to the words they were singing. As a tiny minority within a minority whose lives have been turned upside down since the intifada began, they yearn to travel more easily to and from the earthly Jerusalem of family, friends and cherished places of worship.
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