“We are so lucky to be here,” said May Bathish, a 40-year-old chorister at Father Sabbara’s church in the Old City. “When you walk the same steps that Jesus did, it is the highest privilege.”For much of the past year, the pandemic kept the Old City eerily empty. But with nearly 60 percent of Israeli residents fully vaccinated, the city’s streets were once again thrumming, even if the foreign tourists were still absent. “When it is empty, it is like a city of ghosts,” said Ms. Bathish. Now, she added, “it is a city of life.”At the gathering point for the procession on Friday, there was scarcely space to stand.

Source: International New York Times April 03, 2021 07:11 UTC