- President Barack Obama made a pilgrimage on Friday to the traditional birthplace of Jesus, receiving a subdued reception from Palestinians at the end of a Holy Land visit heavy on symbolism and lacking in practical steps toward peace.
"Gringo, return to your country," read a sign held by a small group of Palestinian protesters who watched the presidential motorcade roll into Bethlehem from Jerusalem after it passed through Israel's controversial barrier in the occupied West Bank.
Sparse crowds of onlookers were on the streets of the wind-swept Biblical city, where Obama spent only 35 minutes, the final stage of his three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
At the Church of the Nativity, built above the grotto where Christians believe Jesus was born, Obama and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas chatted amiably.
A day earlier, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Obama urged Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel unconditionally, but there was no sign the Western-backed Palestinian leader would do so.
A day earlier, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Obama urged Abbas to return to peace talks with Israel unconditionally, but there was no sign the Western-backed Palestinian leader would do so.
US President Barack Obama tours the Church of the Nativity, built on the site where tradition says Jesus was born, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on March 22, 2013, on the final day of Obama's 3-day trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAU
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