An estimated 15,000 tourists packed hotels in Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas attended the traditional midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity which was broadcast around the world. Palestinians said they were also celebrating the recent upgrade of their United Nations status to a non-member observer state. Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal called for peace. “From this holy place, I invited politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of the sufferings in the Middle East,” he said.