"Bethlehem residents can get fired up over issues," said Opinion Pages Editor and former executive editor Susan Graves.

A report on Bethlehem residents stated both Christians and Muslims wished to leave but the Christians possessed better contacts with people abroad and higher levels of education.

Bethlehem residents said that soldiers ordered the shops to close today and that they confiscated the identity cards of the shopkeepers who refused.

Bethlehem residents say it is they who are in danger.

In the past year more than 400 Bethlehem residents have received at least some part-time work, mostly in housing restoration.

The Christians objected, however, to a call by Muslim fundamentalists for a strike on Monday, Christmas Day, and the protest has been postponed, Bethlehem residents said.

"There are so few people, and there are soldiers everywhere -this is not Christmas," a Bethlehem resident said.

Encircled by a tight cordon of army checkpoints, Bethlehem residents seethed with anger after the killing of the four Palestinians.

Indeed, a Palestinian priest was reportedly stabbed and seriously wounded on Tuesday in a dispute with another Bethlehem resident.

On Monday, Bethlehem residents were allowed out for six hours.