Bush visits Jesus birthplace in charged West Bank

By Matt Spetalnick

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Passing through a tiny "Door of Humility", U.S. President George W. Bush made a pilgrimage to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Thursday in the occupied West Bank.

Revered by Christians as a place of peace, Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity stood in contrast to symbols of conflict Bush saw earlier in a motorcade from Jerusalem to the city of Ramallah, where he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The drive took Bush past Israel's towering concrete and barbed wire barrier in the West Bank, military checkpoints and red-roofed Jewish settlements -- hated symbols of occupation for Palestinians.

In a courtyard next to the centuries-old church in Manger Square, Bush voiced hope a future state would allow Palestinians freedom from the type of security Israel says is needed to stop suicide bombers.

"Some day, I hope that as a result of the formation of a Palestinian state, there won't be walls, and checkpoints. People will move freely in a democratic (Palestinian) state," Bush said.

"That's the vision, greatly inspired by my belief that there is an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to each man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom."

After voicing confidence in achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal this year, Bush travelled by helicopter to Bethlehem, a town whose lifeblood tourist industry has been hit hard by the past seven years of violence between the sides.

UPLIFTING VISIT