1.   And since January, Israel has opened the area to visits by foreign pilgrims.

2.   Foreign pilgrims have to get down from their bus at the checkpoint, walk past the firepower, to another bus that takes them into town.

3.   In some spots, he was greeted by local Arab Christians or foreign pilgrims.

4.   Regular worshippers were allowed in most sites but foreign pilgrims and tourists, despite having traveled thousands of miles, were not.

5.   The link may be obscure to foreign pilgrims, who are not provided with full translations of the Croatian sermons that thunder down on visiting Croatian soldiers.

6.   The number of foreign pilgrims is far fewer than normal.

7.   The original site, near Jericho on the Jordanian border, was often too dangerous for foreign pilgrims.

8.   The deadline for the arrival of foreign pilgrims expired Sunday, but authorities often make exceptions.

9.   They blame it on the growing numbers of foreign pilgrims, and on a rapidly growing population of young, unmarried Iranian men.

10.   But the celebration was largely festive and relaxed, with Palestinian vendors offering sweets, sandwiches and souvenirs to foreign pilgrims.