International Christian Embassy Jerusalem, April 21, 2003

Worshippers thronged through the narrow streets of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday, making their way to the Western Wall for the biggest city celebration of Pessah (Passover) since the outbreak of the current Palestinian uprising. Meanwhile, in the Old City's Christian and Muslim Quarters, hundreds of Christians marked a quiet Easter Sunday, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Police reported that around 20,000 people flocked to the Western Wall Sunday morning to witness the mass birkat kohanim (priestly blessing), a ritual dating back to biblical times.

Last year's Pessah celebrations were muted, overshadowed by several horrific terrorist attacks, but this year the prevention of a number of serious terror attacks prompted a renewed sense of confidence on the capital's streets.

Security forces have reported arresting 10 would-be suicide bombers and their handlers in the West Bank over the Passover season after receiving 62 warnings of planned terror attacks in Israel. Closures imposed by the IDF in much of the territories over the holiday period and increased security outside synagogues and other public places are believed to have contributed to the quiet.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot reports that Israel's senior military commanders now believes that the IDF has blunted the Palestinian terrorist capability, reducing major lethal terror attacks down from 40 during the first quarter of 2002 to five in the same period this year.

Border Policemen ensured security for the thousands of visitors who wandered through the streets of the Old City on Sunday enjoying street performances and visiting tourist sites in the Jewish Quarter. But police turned back Jewish activists when they tried to enter the Temple Mount complex and the High Court of Justice deferred a ruling allowing Jewish prayer there. Christian celebrations of Easter in the Old City were somber.

Meanwhile, a small crowd of worshippers gathered in the Old City's Church of the Holy Sepulcher to mark Easter, according to a report by Israel Insider. Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah conducted the mass in front of the ornate stone structure that represents the tomb of Jesus.

At the same time, several hundred Protestants gathered at the Garden Tomb outside the Old City walls, an area revered by some as the site of the resurrection. "Thank you for coming to celebrate the best news of the world, that the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive," said Peter Wells, general secretary of the Garden Tomb Association.