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Palestine.If liberation theology any time had any meaning ... by Tausch, Arno 10 April 2002 09:19 UTC |
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then please, dear friends, visit: http://www.sabeel.org/ Sabeel Statement March 13, 2002 In the context of the rapid escalation of conflict in the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel, and in Israel, we at Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center remember the call of the prophet Micah to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God. In the spirit of this call we ask the global community of every family, language, people, and nation: 1. to call for an end to Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank including East Jerusalem implementing UN Security Council Resolutions 194, 242, and 338; 2. to demand Israel's compliance with international law and the IV Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in occupied territories, including · fulfilling nations' obligations under the IV Geneva Convention to intervene and bring to an end the present deadly cycle of violence caused by the current Israeli incursions into Palestinian refugee camps and cities, the continuing bombardment of civilian areas, and the terror it has created on both sides; · to end the Israeli policy of collective punishment and humiliation of the whole Palestinian population; · to require Israel to end the killing of Palestinian doctors and other medical workers and targeting of ambulances and all other Grave Breaches of the Convention, which constitute war crimes; 3. to support the protests against the Occupation voiced by Palestinians and those Israelis who stand for a just peace; 4. to honor, encourage and stand in solidarity with the many people who are engaged in non-violent resistance 5. to pray for the victims of violence, the wounded, and all of their families on both sides of the conflict; 6. to support church-related and other international programmes of monitors to the Occupied Territories for the protection of Palestinian civilians, and again call upon the world community to provide the same. The Palestinian people have the right to struggle for freedom and independence. Occupation is the source of this conflict. Until it ends more suffering will take place. We appeal to the global community to bring about a just resolution to this long-standing conflict by upholding international law and enforcing the implementation of all relevant UN resolutions and the Geneva Conventions. also: http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/580/index.htm especially: http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/580/fr2.htm http://www.ahram.org.eg/weekly/2002/580/op2.htm furthermore Murdering Arafat What folly has beset this people? Uri Avnery remembers the Romans Al Ahram, 580, 4-10 April 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- If Ariel Sharon succeeds in murdering Yasser Arafat, as he wants to, the Palestinian leader will remain in the collective memory of his people, and the whole Arab world, like the Moses of Jewish memory. Moses rebelled against Egyptian oppression, led his people forth from "the house of bondage," led them for 40 years in the desert, made a new people out of them and brought them to the threshold of the Promised Land. He did not enter the land itself -- God only showed it to him from afar. That will be told about Arafat, too, if he becomes a martyr now. Moses is, of course, a mythological figure. No serious scholar in the world believed that the exodus from Egypt really happened. Experts explain that it could not have taken place at all. But that is not really important: the mythological Moses shaped the consciousness of the Jewish people more than any flesh-and-blood leader of a nomad tribe in the desert could have done. The Haggada, the book read on Passover's eve by almost every Jewish family throughout the world, commands us to feel as if we ourselves had set forth from Egypt. The basic Jewish ethos is built on this premise. The text of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomium V explains why on the holy Sabbath the servants and slaves must be allowed to rest, too: "Remember that thou wast a slave in the land of Egypt." In the new myth that is being born before our eyes, Sharon is the Pharaoh and we are the ancient Egyptians. In the story about the Exodus, the Bible lets God say: "I have hardened (Pharaoh's) heart and the heart of his servants." After every calamity that befell him, Pharaoh broke his promise to free the Israelites. Why? What was God's purpose? He wanted the Israelites to become hardened by the hardship, before they started on their long march. This is what is happening to the Palestinians now. So what will happen if an Israeli bullet kills Arafat now? After Moses, no second Moses appeared, but Jehosuah, the merciless warrior who committed genocide. (This, by the way, is also a myth. All serious scholars believe that this holy genocide never actually happened.) After Arafat, the heir will not be Abu this or Abu that. It will be Brother Kalashnikov -- like the song we used to sing in our youth, during the fight against the British occupation: "Give the floor to Comrade Parabellum, Give the floor to Comrade Tommy-gun." The parabellum was a pistol, the tommy-gun a sub-machine- gun. There will be no Palestinian Quisling -- and if a candidate were found, he would be killed the next day, like Sharon's Lebanese Quisling, Beshir Jemayyel. Dozens of local guerrilla leaders will take over, and they will start a campaign of revenge that may go on for many years, not only in the country, but throughout the world. The life of every Israeli will become hell, all the world will become a Jerusalem- style Ben-Yehuda Street. No Israeli embassy, no airplane, no tourist will be safe. Arafat dead will be far more dangerous than Arafat living. The living Arafat is able and willing to make peace. The dead Arafat cannot. He will eternalise the conflict. In our days, historians wonder what folly took possession of the Jewish people 1,930 years ago, causing them to start a hopeless rebellion against the Roman empire and bringing utter destruction upon the Jewish commonwealth in Palestine. A hundred years from now, historians will ask themselves what folly took possession of this people, causing them to elect Sharon, who has done nothing in life apart from shedding blood and setting up settlements. What folly took possession of this people, causing them to prefer settlements and some territories to peace and conciliation? And how do such a people remain indifferent, when the whole Arab world offers them -- perhaps for the last time! -- real peace and normal relations, and the public listens to the silly ranting of politicians and commentators, who ridicule the offer and cheer Sharon on, at the start of a bloody campaign worse than any one before? History remembers the few, who warned the people of the disaster that was bound to follow if they listened to the Zealots. History will remember us, the few who are warning the people now of the disaster that will befall us all, if we follow Sharon and his gang. Let us hope that our voices will be heard in time, so that we can start on a new road. If Arafat is murdered, it will be the moment of no return. The writer is head of the Israeli peace group, Gush Shalom. Sharon's war plans Israel's offensive in the West Bank is the most extensive in 34 years of occupation. But what are its aims? Graham Usher in Jerusalem finds a campaign drenched in ambiguity Al Ahram, 580, 4-10 April 2002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Last Friday the Israeli army called up 20,000 reserve combat officers, the largest mobilisation in Israel since the 1982 invasion of Lebanon. Ten thousand more reservists may be called in the coming days. Together with the army's invasions of Ramallah, Qalqilya and other West Bank cities, the call-up confirmed "Operation Defensive Wall" as Israel's most extensive offensive in the occupied territories in 34 years of occupation. The plan has been honed ever since Ariel Sharon was elected Israel's Prime Minister. But it was brought to the table after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed 22 Israeli civilians and wounded more than 100 in the Israeli town of Netanya on 27 March. It was approved following an eight-hour session of the Israeli cabinet the next night. The debate was long because it reflected the divide that has rent Israel's political and military establishment over how best to crush the 18-month-old Palestinian uprising. Right-wing ministers demanded the destruction of the Palestinian Authority and the banishment or worse of Yasser Arafat. In other words -- though few dared to say so -- Israel's reconquest of the West Bank and Gaza. Labour party ministers balked at all three, aware that reoccupation and the Palestinian leader's death or exile would risk turning the Intifada from an anti- colonial revolt into a regional fire. A tank crushes a car in Bethlehem on 2 April ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---- Instead, they argued that maximum "pressure" must be exerted on Arafat. For Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, this meant neutralising Arafat in his compound to "break the chain of terror" allegedly linking him to the Palestinian militias beyond it. For Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, it meant turning the screw so tight that Arafat would be forced to "accept and implement immediately" the "bridging proposals" for a cease-fire submitted to him last week by US special envoy Anthony Zinni. Sharon staked a middle ground between the two. During the cabinet meeting he was fully behind the right's call for Arafat's expulsion. But he was non- committal over destroying the PA other than limiting its military arms. His summing up of his government's present policy reflected the ambiguity. "Arafat, who established a coalition of terror against Israel, is an enemy and at this stage will be isolated," he said on Friday. But what does isolation mean? Writing in Israel's premier Yediot Aharonot newspaper on 29 March, military correspondent Alex Fishman said Operation Defensive Wall was a military campaign with a political goal. There would be consecutive invasions of each PA area to "eliminate the terrorist infrastructure," with the army "taking over buildings, house-to-house searches, confiscating arms and [mass] arrests." But the goal remained a political solution on Israel's terms: "The aspiration is to raise the confrontation to such a level of harshness that the PA will have no choice but to search for an agreement at the negotiations' table," wrote Fishman. This appears to be the army's view. "The objective [of the campaign] is to change the security reality vis-à- vis the Palestinians so as to allow diplomatic negotiations," the chief of staff told the cabinet meeting on Friday. Sharon turned on him, saying: "What are you talking about? There aren't going to be any diplomatic negotiations." He also made it clear there would be no agreement with a PA led by Arafat. "He is the enemy of Israel and the entire free world, an obstacle to peace in the Middle East and a threat to stability of the entire region," Sharon said in a televised address on Sunday. But the Israeli leader has yet to publicly embrace the call to bring down Arafat's "deadly, destructive and dark dictatorship," advocated by his rival and possible nemesis Binyamin Netanyahu. Does this mean Sharon -- following the crushing military blow he wants delivered by "Defensive Wall" -- still seeks a Palestinian leadership docile and quisling enough to accept his plans for a "long-term interim agreement"? "Yes," says Labour Party parliamentarian Haim Ramon. "Sharon wants Arafat to disappear and for a moderate Palestinian to replace him. He will negotiate and try to convince it [the new Palestinian leadership] to accept a Palestinian state in 50 per cent of the West Bank. Then he will resign and wait for the future. He won't give up more than that. It's an illusion. It will never happen. What will happen is what we are seeing now: the de facto destruction of the PA and Israel's full or almost full reoccupation of the West Bank and Gaza." 08Apr2002 ISRAEL: Nativity Church in Bethlehem still under fire. By Yelena Dorofeyeva. - The Church of Nativity of Christ in Bethlehem is still under fire, a member of the Russian religious mission in Jerusalam said. Celibate priest Feofan told Itar-Tass by telephone on Monday that Israeli troops were using firearms against the Palestinians inside the church who did not fire back, for they "understand that there will be a squall of fire in return". As a result of Israeli fire, one of the rooms used by a Catholic priest in the complex of buildings attached to the church went ablaze. Father Feofan said the fire had been put out but a Palestinian fireman had been killed. Metropolitan Amvrosy, who represents the Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate in Bethlehem, has left the church. However reports claiming that Greek monks have left the church and the Orthodox monastery adjacent to it have proved wrong. Father Feofan said he had talked with one of the monks by telephone earlier in the day who had told him that there were four more monks and on priest with him in the church. No religious service was held in the church on Sunday when Orthodox believers celebrated Annunciation. Members of the Russian religious mission have so far had no chance to inspect its House of Pilgrims in Bethlehem left three days ago by Israeli troops who had used as a firing position. "It is not possible yet to assess the damage caused to the building by the soldiers", Feofan said. According to the guard, doors and windowpanes in the building are smashed, furniture is broken, even suspended ceilings were removed, and the tiles on the ground around the building were crushed by tanks. Bethlehem remains a closed city. A large inter-confessional delegation led by Catholic Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem that headed for the Nativity Church was stopped at a roadblock at the entrance to the city. In the meantime, the Russian Orthodox Church is conducting negotiations with Israeli authorities for the restoration of the House of Pilgrims in Bethlehem. "Our appeal has been met with understanding by Israeli authorities", Vsevolod Chaplin of the Moscow Patriarchate's external relations department told Itar-Tass. Plenipotentiary minister of the Israeli embassy in Moscow, Arkady Milman, said earlier in the day that his country was ready to compensate for the damage caused to the House of Pilgrims. Israeli troops stayed in the House from April 2 to April 5. As a result of protests lodged by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Foreign Ministry, the soldiers left the building and withdrew their tanks from the area around it. The new seven-storey building of the House of Pilgrims for 150 people was commissioned only a month ago. But no one has stayed in it yet because of the deterioration of the situation in then region. -0-zak/. (c) ITAR-TASS 2002. Sources:ITAR-TASS WORLD SERVICE 08/04/2002 06Apr2002 PALESTINE: UPDATE 1-Greek Orthodox monks flee Bethlehem church siege. By Christine Hauser BETHLEHEM, West Bank, April 6 (Reuters) - Three Greek Orthodox clerics and two Palestinian women left Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity on Saturday, but the circumstances of their escape from the besieged holy shrine were unclear. The Israeli army said it had helped them flee the church built over the traditional site of Christ's birth, where dozens of Palestinian gunmen have been holed up for the past five days. But Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, head of the Catholic church in the Holy Land, condemning Israel's siege on one of Christianity's holiest sites, denied reports that some 200 people including priests and nuns were being held hostage there. "False news and rumours were propagated to the effect that Franciscan brothers are being held hostage inside their convent by the Palestinians," Sabbah, the first Palestinian to hold the influential church post, said in a statement sent to Reuters. "We also strongly condemn the siege of the basilica and the psychological war waged by the Israeli soldiers around it," he stated, saying allegations of hostage-taking "add insult to injury". Palestinians and church officials have said more than 200 Palestinians, including some gunmen and some members of Bethlehem's tourist police, sought shelter in the church after Israeli tanks stormed the city on Monday as part of what Israel says is a campaign to root out suicide bombers. ISRAELI SAYS SEEKS PEACEFUL SOLUTION Israeli army spokesman Olivier Rafowicz said the army was negotiating with the gunmen to surrender and free the "hostages" he said they had taken among clergymen and civilians - most of them apparently church workers. "We know there are between 150 and 200 armed men inside the church. We are trying hard to find a peaceful solution," he said. Palestinians say it is the troops surrounding the church who have effectively taken its occupants hostage. Father David Jaeger, spokesman for the Franciscan custodians of Roman Catholic sites in the Holy Land, told Israeli television that Palestinian gunmen had forced their way into the church on Tuesday by shooting off the locks. But he said in Rome that the Franciscan friars were not hostages, and expressed concern that Israel was using the accusation to legitimise a "perhaps imminent military assault". Vatican sources said church diplomats had put forward a proposal to end the standoff. The Franciscan order said an Israeli sniper had fired at its monastery near the church, narrowly missing a friar. The army denied the report, saying soldiers were under strict orders not to fire at the church. It has pledged not to damage the shrine. Witnesses said Israeli and Palestinian snipers were on rooftops throughout the city. Occasional bursts of gunfire echoed through the streets but it was impossible to determine who had fired them. The Roman Catholic, Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches share custody of the church. The army launched its operation in Bethlehem and six other West Bank cities after a deadly wave of Palestinian suicide bombings killed more than 40 people over the Passover holiday. (C) Reuters Limited 2002. Sources:REUTERS NEWS SERVICE REUTERS NEWS SERVICE - MIDDLE EAST REUTERS NEWS SERVICE 06/04/2002 05Apr2002 RUSSIA: Palestine embassy denies reports on hostage taking. Text of report in English by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS Moscow, 5 April 5: Palestinian embassy in Moscow denied today media reports alleging that groups of Palestinians affiliated with the Tanzim organization had broken into the churches of Virgin Mary and Nativity in Bethlehem and forbidden their clergy and foreign reporters to leave the compounds of the shrines. A statement released by the embassy said the media had incorrectly interpreted the words of Patriarch Michel Sabbah, the head of the Roman Catholic Church in Jerusalem. "Reports of that kind are nothing but concoctions," the embassy said. Michel Sabbah said the people who had entered the two churches were officers of the Palestinian police, security service officers and rank-and-file civilians. They were unarmed and did not arrest anyone or take hostages. It is the Israeli troops who are firing at the churches and trying to penetrate them, Sabbah said, stressing that the Christian Church believes its duty is to extend protection to the people. God defends those who are inside a church building, he said. Media allegations about hostage-taking inside Christian shrines "distort the true picture and aim to justify the aggressive designs of the terrorist Israeli government", the Palestinian embassy said. Source: ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in English 1614 gmt 5 Apr 02. BBC Worldwide Monitoring/ (c) BBC 2002. Sources:BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS BBC MONITORING FORMER SOVIET UNION - POLITICAL 05/04/2002 05Apr2002 PALESTINE: UPDATE 1-Four priests slip out of Bethlehem church-army. By Christine Hauser BETHLEHEM, West Bank, April 5 (Reuters) - The Israeli army said it helped four priests slip out of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity on Friday, but about 200 Palestinian gunmen and civilians remained inside in a standoff with Israeli troops. A number of priests have been in the church compound since the gunmen burst in on Tuesday after Israeli troops invaded the West Bank town as part of an offensive in which it is rounding up militants blamed for attacks on Israelis. The Israeli army has surrounded the church, built over the spot where Christians believe Jesus was born, but says its troops are under orders not to fire at it or other holy places. Israel accuses gunmen of using the church as a sanctuary and sheltering among scores of nuns and clergymen, in effect taking them hostage. Palestinians say it is the troops surrounding the church who have effectively taken its occupants hostage. "Four priests were taken out by the army, without the knowledge of the terrorists, from the Church of the Nativity and were taken to Jerusalem," army spokesman Olivier Rafowicz said. He said troops did not enter the church, but would give no other details about their departure or their nationality. Father Youssef, a priest inside a monastery next to the Church of the Nativity, said he did not believe any gunfire had been aimed at the church. "Everything is quiet now," he said. Colonel Marcel Aviv, leading what Israel says are negotiations aimed at ending the confrontation at one of Christianity's holiest sites, said on Thursday the army wanted to arrest the gunmen and let the others go. "We offered them one thing: to leave in a dignified manner whereby we will inspect the people," he said. "Those who are not wanted, are not terrorists, will of course be freed." NO GUNFIRE FROM CHURCH Wadi Abu Nasser, a former aide to Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, said he understood that Palestinian gunmen had respected a request from clergymen in the Church of the Nativity not to use their weapons. "I believe there have been no reports of gunfire from the church," he told Israel radio. Asked his opinion on the original entry of the gunmen, who had been fighting running battles with IsraelI forces advancing into Bethlehem at the time, he said religious sites had been used as sanctuaries in many wars throughout history. "It's not unique to our country," he said. "When there is a battle, sacred sites are usually seen as a relatively safe haven, in the eyes of most faiths." So far, the worst has been avoided, but there have been violent incidents close to the church. Church leaders have urged Israel not to storm the church, saying it could result in a "terrible massacre". The army has denied trying to storm the church. On Thursday, a sniper killed the church's bell-ringer, Samir Ibrahim Salman, in Manger Square, each side accused the other of shooting him. (C) Reuters Limited 2002. Sources:REUTERS NEWS SERVICE REUTERS NEWS SERVICE - MIDDLE EAST REUTERS NEWS SERVICE 05/04/2002 05Apr2002 AUSTRALIA: Battle of Bethlehem - Fighting encircles birth place of Jesus. By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN. ARMED and defiant Palestinian fighters remained holed up in one of Christianity's holiest shrines last night while Israeli forces widened their ferocious six-day West Bank offensive by over-running the city of Nablus. The sound of gunfire could be heard in and around the Church of the Nativity, which marks the birthplace of Jesus. The church was ringed by tanks and wary Israeli soldiers patrolled the streets on the lookout for snipers. The stand-off began on Wednesday when about 300 Palestinians, nearly all armed, entered the shrine to escape Israeli forces after hours of heavy gun battles. Father Ibrahim Faltas, the superior of the Franciscan community in the Nativity church, told the Vatican news agency by telephone from inside the church that food supplies had run out and "the situation is critical. Please help us". Earlier, in a filmed appeal to journalists, he said: "We ... are taking refuge in the Church of the Nativity while the Israeli tanks are surrounding the basilica. "We appeal to the international community, nations of the world, to come to our rescue ... unless you do something to solve this issue, we are in a real and great danger of being massacred. Please help us." About 30 Franciscan monks and four Franciscan nuns, along with members of the Greek Orthodox and Armenian communities, remained in church buildings and adjoining monasteries, one journalist said. Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel had "no intention to break into any church" but army officials said those inside would not be allowed to go free. Earlier, the US organised an armoured convoy to evacuate about 15 foreigners trapped in the town. Five Italian journalists and an Armenian colleague, who had been trapped in the church compound by the fighting, were among those evacuated. More than a dozen leaders of Christian churches in the Holy Land, including Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, tried to reach Bethlehem yesterday but were turned away at an Israeli military checkpoint. In other fighting, Israeli forces and Lebanon-based Hezbollah guerillas exchanged cannon and rocket fire yesterday in the disputed Shebaa Farms area. The US, which has been criticised for its dithering and one-sided policy on the Middle East, moved yesterday to calm the intensifying storm. Secretary of State Colin Powell indicated he was not ruling out meeting Middle Eastern leaders in Europe next week. "I'm willing to go to the region," he said. "But I have to have a purpose that I can serve and something concrete to be done. We're examining all possibilities." Mr Powell also warned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel and the US were paying a price in terms of international standing as a result of the Israeli operation. Meanwhile, in an apparent shift of policy, the White House said it was open to pushing ahead with efforts to craft a political resolution to the conflict despite the lack of a ceasefire agreement. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer also renewed the US call for the Palestinians to make "100 per cent" efforts to halt anti-Israeli violence while sticking by Washington's support for Israel's "right to defend itself". Palestinian leaders have reiterated calls for their militia to resist. "The Palestinian leadership urges our people to close ranks in a long-term struggle against this occupation and to mobilise all its resources ... to confront this unjust and criminal war," the Palestinian Authority said in a statement. The only major Palestinian towns spared from the violence are Hebron and Jericho. (c) Nationwide News Proprietary Ltd, 2002. Sources:DAILY TELEGRAPH (SYDNEY) 05/04/2002 P3 05Apr2002 ISRAEL: News And Features - Massacre fears for 200 trapped in Bethlehem. By Ross Dunn, Herald Correspondent, in Jerusalem, and agencies. Two years ago, when the Israeli-Palestinian clashes began spreading back into Bethlehem, Nicola Andonia was married in the church next to his house. /In tro Two years ago, when the Israeli-Palestinian clashes began spreading back into Bethlehem, Nicola Andonia was married in the church next to his house. It is not just any church. It is the Church of the Nativity, the shrine built over the cave where, tradition holds, Jesus was born. Mr Andonia never imagined then that the conflict would enter the hallowed sanctuary itself. But yesterday more than 200 Palestinian gunmen who shot their way into the church were refusing to surrender to Israeli troops outside. Three loud explosions and heavy gunfire were heard, and a Palestinian, Mazen Hussein, said by telephone from inside that Israeli forces were machinegunning a back door of the church. The Israeli army denied its forces were responsible. A priest at the church, Father Ibrahim Faltas, appealed for international help to avert what he called a potential massacre. "We appeal to the international community, nations of the world, to come our rescue. Unless you do something to solve this issue we are in a real and great danger of being massacred." Bethlehem's mayor, Hanna Nasser, told the Herald that Israeli authorities should not even contemplate storming the Church of the Nativity. "I call on the Israelis to think not twice but one thousand [times] before they attack the church, or this will become an international crisis." Ibrahim Abayat, a leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, said by phone from inside the church: "The situation is very difficult here. The tanks ... are in Manger Square. We have wounded inside the church." Mr Andonia, a Greek Orthodox Christian who lives metres from the church, described the scene: "Tanks are beside our house and there has been shooting. The Apache [helicopters] are over our houses and they have been shooting at the mosque [across from the church] and people in Manger Square." He said the Omar Mosque, across from Manger Square, had been in flames on Sunday but Israeli forces had prevented fire engines from reaching the area. Mr Nasser, who has served on the council for 30 years, said he could not remember a worse period. He has taken refuge in his home after Israeli troops took over the municipal offices. "I don't know how this problem is going to end," he said. The area was under military rule and the residents were terrified to leave their houses. "The only people in the street are the Israelis. Anybody who moves is in danger of being killed automatically." The Anglican Bishop, the Right Rev Riah Abu al Assal, along with other church leaders including the Latin Patriarch of the Holy Land, Michel Sabbah, were prevented by Israeli troops from entering Bethlehem yesterday. Patriach Sabbah pleaded with Israel to withdraw its troops. "I think the fight is over," he said. "The Israelis have done the fight, they have won the fight, so there is no more reason for them to remain in Bethlehem. They can go back peacefully." An Italian journalist who witnessed the dramatic events that placed the church at the centre of the conflict said the Palestinians had shot their way in. "They shot at the doors ... with machine-guns and they opened the doors and rushed inside," Marc Innaro said. "We were in a monastery, which is very close, 25 metres near to the Nativity Church, where there are 200 Palestinian gunmen. "The 200 men are very determined and they don't want to surrender to the Israeli Army." Innaro said there had been no attempt by the Israelis to attack the church, but they had maintained a presence around the shrine. "I can see clearly three tanks parked 150 metres from me. The Israeli troops are not firing towards the church." The Church of the Nativity is built over the grotto where the Virgin Mary is believed to have given birth to Jesus. It was established in the 4th century and has been repeatedly rebuilt and extended. It has been damaged by earthquakes and fire. Copyright John Fairfax Holdings Limited 2002. Not available for re-dissemination. Sources:SYDNEY MORNING HERALD 05/04/2002 P1 04Apr2002 USA: ISRAEL TAKES WAR TO ANOTHER CITY - TANKS RUMBLE INTO NABLUS - TROOPS ENCIRCLE JENIN REFUGEE CAM By Hazboun, Ibrahim. STOREDYES[THREE STAR Edition]BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST Israeli tanks rolled into the West Bank's largest city, Nablus, on Wednesday. Other Israeli troops, meanwhile, laid siege to a refugee camp in Jenin, battling Palestinians who barricaded entrances and fought back with bombs and guns. Soldiers also encircled hundreds of Palestinian gunmen who are holed up in the church that tradition says marks Jesus' birthplace. Twelve Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed on the sixth day of Israel's offensive, which is aimed at crushing Palestinian militias and stopping terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon convened Cabinet ministers to approve the next stage of Operation Protective Wall. Only two major West Bank towns - Hebron and Jericho - were still under Palestinian control late Wednesday. President George W. Bush repeated his support for the Israeli assault, and Secretary of State Colin Powell said he was weighing a meeting with Israeli and Arab leaders during a trip to Europe next week. U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni remained in the region in an effort to implement a truce plan authored in June by CIA Director George Tenet. The U.S. Embassy has not released any information on Zinni's activities in recent days, and no meetings were scheduled with either the Israelis or the Palestinians. But daily anti-Israeli protests in the Arab world grew more violent. Thousands of Lebanese and Palestinians clashed with security forces Wednesday outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, with about 25 reported i njured as protesters threw stones and security forces used tear gas and water cannon. Under pressure to cut off ties completely with Israel, Egypt took a more limited step Wednesday, announcing it would suspend all diplomatic contacts with Israel except those aimed at helping the Palestinians. In New York, the U.N. Security Council debated a Palestinian-backed resolution aimed at pressuring Israel to withdraw from its cities. In five major Palestinian towns under full Israeli control - Ramallah, Qalqiliya, Jenin, Tulkarem and Bethlehem - tanks patrolled streets, enforcing strict curfews that confined hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to their homes. In Ramallah, residents were without water after city officials said Israeli troops destroyed the main pumping station during the shelling of a Palestinian security compound. The incursion into Nablus - a city of more than 100,000 people in the northern West Bank - began Wednesday evening. Shellfire thundered as tanks began rolling into the city. Gunmen and Palestinian police were moving in the streets, closing roads with sandbags and planting mines. A Palestinian woman was killed and five people wounded, apparently when shells hit two apartments in downtown Nablus. Israeli forces, backed by a ttack helicopters, surrounded the four Palestinian refugee camps next to the city, witnesses said, and exchanges of fire erupted. The Israeli military had no comment. Fighting was heaviest Wednesday in Jenin, a militant stronghold north of Nablus that Israel has invaded six times before in the past 18 months of fighting. Dozens of tanks entered Jenin and surrounded the adjacent refugee camp early Wednesday. Helicopters and tanks fired machine guns at gunmen who threw grenades and fired from assault rifles. Five people, including a militia leader, a nurse and a 13-year-old boy, were killed in the fighting. An Israeli officer also was killed. Armed men in the camp had prepared large amounts of homemade grenades and bombs and built barricades to make it harder for Israeli tanks to enter. Militiamen claimed they had damaged tracks of six tanks. In Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, Israeli and Palestinian officials failed to resolve a standoff at the Church of the Nativity, one of Christianity's major shrines that is built over the site where tradition says Jesus was born. About 300 Palestinians, almost all of them armed, have been holed up in the shrine since Tuesday, running from Israeli forces after hours of heavy gunbattles near the church and adjacent Manger Square. Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel did not intend to break into the church, but army officials said those inside would not be allowed to go free. Five Italian journalists and an Armenian colleague, who had been trapped in the church compound by the fighting, were evacuated Wednesday. More than a dozen leaders of Christian churches in the Holy Land, including Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, tried to reach Bethlehem on Wednesday but were turned away at an Israeli military checkpoint. Several dozen Palestinians, including some who were armed, also sought sanctuary at St. Mary's, a Roman Catholic convent near Manger Square. At one point Wednesday, a priest and seven nuns emerged from the convent, but by then, the gunmen had slipped out the back, the army said. The Israeli army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Ron Kitrey, said that the bound body of a Palestinian man wearing a camouflage jacket was found in the building, but that the circumstances of his death were unclear. The bodies of five more Palestinians, including at least two gunmen, were found elsewhere in Bethlehem. One of the corpses was discovered in a mosque that witnesses said had been damaged by an Israeli tank shell. The journalists trapped near the Church of the Nativity and several other foreigners staying at the Bethlehem Star Hotel, near Manger Square, were evacuated by security officials Wednesday and driven to safety in a convoy of five armored vehicles. Witnesses said U.S. Marines aided in the evacuation. The names of the 15 or so evacuees, including Americans and Britons, were unavailable. In Ramallah, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat remained a prisoner of Israel, confined to a few rooms in his former headquarters. Raanan Gissin, an adviser to Sharon, said Arafat "won't communicate (with the outside world) until ... we see he is no longer a threat and not instigating terrorism." Arafat, who is accompanied by about 300 people, including aides, security guards and several dozen foreign volunteers, still has use of a mobile phone. Israel insists that it is trying to keep him relatively comfortable. On Wednesday, the Israeli military released a detailed list of supplies shipped to Arafat and his entourage that day, including 66 packages of yellow cheese, 55 cans of sardines, 34 cases of mineral water, 145 pounds of coffee and packages of painkillers. In Jordan, Arafat's neurologist said that his medical checkup was four months overdue, but that the 72-year-old Palestinian leader seemed in good spirits when the two spoke by phone over the weekend. PHOTO, MAP; Caption: (1) Color Photo by ALBERT FACELLY / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - The tower of the Church of the Nativity (left) rises above smoke billowing across Bethlehem on Tuesday. Since then, scores of Palestinian gunmen have been hiding inside the church, built on the site where, in Christian tradition, Jesus was born. Israelis have surrounded the shrine. (2) Color Map from KRT - VIOLENCE IN THE WEST BANK Source: The Associated Press Jenin: Troops lay siege to a refugee camp. Nablus: Israeli tanks move into the northern West Bank's major city. Ramallah: Thousands of American citizens who live in the city are trapped in the conflict. Bethlehem: Israeli troops encircle scores of Palestinians inside Church of the Nativity. Copyright Pulitzer Publishing Company Apr 4, 2002 (Copyright 2002) c2002 ProQuest Information and Learning; All Rights Reserved. Only fair use, as provided by the United States copyright law, is permitted. ProQuest Information and Learning makes no warranty regarding the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the Publications or the records they contain, or any warranty, express or implied, including any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not be liable for damages of any kind or lost profits or other claims related to them or their uses. Sources:UMI ST. LOUIS POST - DISPATCH 04/04/2002 04Apr2002 UK: Palestinian gunmen granted sanctuary at Christ's birthplace. By Ross Dunn in Jerusalem and Stephen Farrell in Ramallah. THE scene of the Nativity turned into a theatre of war yesterday as Israeli soldiers laid siege to the church on the spot where Christ was born, after more than 100 Palestinian gunmen sought sanctuary there. Several bodies, including a mother and son, were strewn across Manger Square, ambulances unable to reach them in the crossfire, as Israeli tanks surrounded the Church of the Nativity and helicopter gunships hovered above. The gunmen were granted sanctuary after agreeing to lay down their arms and were resting on pews and the ancient stone floor near the grotto. "In this case, we have an obligation to give refuge to Palestinians and Israelis alike," Michel Sabbah, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, said. Such was the Vatican's concern that it summoned the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See and accused Israel of "imposing unjust conditions and humiliations" on the Palestinians. The Vatican said that 40 Franciscan friars and nuns and 30 Greek Orthodox and Armenian monks were also inside the church, which both Israelis and Palestinians have promised not to damage. Marc Innaro, an Italian television journalist in a monastery 25 yards away, described how the gunmen forced their way into the church when Apache helicopters began the assault on Manger Square on Tuesday night. "The doors were locked, so to open the gates - the doors - they shot with machineguns and rushed inside." The Israeli Army said that militiamen had opened fire from the church and accused the Palestinians of exploiting holy sites. The Mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, said that Israel should not contemplate storming the building. "I call the Israelis to think not twice but a thousand times before they attack the church, or this will become an international crisis," he said. Mohammed Madani, the Governor of Bethlehem who is trapped in another section of the church, denied that the gunmen had opened fire and said nuns were treating the injured. "The biggest problem we have is that some of these people haven't had food for two days and the injured don't have any medication," he said. "It is not just gunmen in here, anyone who was in Manger Square when they started shelling rushed into the church to escape the gunfire." Daily briefing, page 16 Border tensions, page 17 Leading article, page 23 (c) Times Newspapers Ltd, 2002. (c) Not Available for Re-dissemination. Sources:THE TIMES 04/04/2002 P1 04Apr2002 UK: Struggle to continue until "victory", says Palestinian official. Secretary-General of Palestinian National Authority Council of Ministers Ahmad Abd-al-Rahman has described Palestinian President Yasir Arafat as "unshakable like the mountains of Palestine" who is "deeply rooted like the olive trees". The following is the text of a telephone interview with Abd-al-Rahman in Ramallah, by Iman al-Sharif in the Gaza television studio, broadcast live the by Palestinian TV on 4 April; subheadings inserted editorially: [Al-Sharif] How can you describe this Israeli arrogance and this fierce onslaught against the Palestinian people in all the Palestinian territories? The Israeli forces are storming the city of Nablus. There are fierce clashes near the Jenin camp. The city of Jenin is also being stormed. [Abd-al-Rahman] First of all, I would like to say this line of poetry to the Israelis and Sharon: You are butting a hard rock, but only harming yourself. The Palestinian people are the owners of this land. They have been deeply planted in its soil for thousands of years. No Israeli bulldozer or tank can eliminate the Palestinian people. The Israelis have been trying for a 100 years since the Basle Conference to deny the existence of the Palestinian people, but to no avail. They wanted a homeland without people for people without a homeland. Has this come true? This has been proven to be a lie. Golda Meir denied the presence of Palestinian children. She asked where the children of Palestine were. We tell her yes they are the RPG carriers and they are the boys and girls of camps who are today standing in the face of the Israeli aggression. The Israeli war machine cannot at all shake the Palestinian people's faith in their right to this land. [Al-Sharif] Can you reassure us about President Yasir Arafat at these critical hours? Arafat "symbol and leader" [Abd-al-Rahman] This man - a man of a historical dream and leader of the revolution and people in their march to Jerusalem - is unshakable like the mountains of Palestine and deeply rooted like the olive trees of Palestine. He does not weaken or shake. All that is going on around him proves the credibility of this man's faith in his homeland and people. Therefore, regardless of the daily Israeli aggression against the presidential compound and despite water, telephone and power outages, President Yasir Ararat, who believes in his people, realizes that he has behind him an invincible people. Today I tell the Israelis that Yasir Arafat has linked his personal destiny to that of this homeland. He triumphs with its triumph and falls martyr with its martyrdom. Yasir Arafat is today the symbol and leader. He is an example to be emulated. Accordingly, every Palestinian today is called Yasir Arafat. Eight million Palestinians are today called Yasir Arafat. Despite the current difficult circumstances and for the seventh day, he continues to say he sees light at the end of the tunnel. It is the light of victory, freedom and independence. This dark night will certainly come to an end and the bright dawn of Palestine will certainly break. Our blood lights the way to Palestinian freedom. Our blood will flow profusely for the sake of the freedom of this homeland. Therefore, I say that President Yasir Arafat is leading the march from where he is now and from what remains of the presidential headquarters. He is a firm, steadfast and solid believer because there are people behind him in spite of what is going on in Nablus, Jenin and heroic Bethlehem. I seize this opportunity to salute Patriarch Michel Sabbah and all Christian clergymen from all communities and all Muslim men of religion in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ. They are true men who yesterday stood up and defied the occupation forces at the military roadblock near Bethlehem. They are now with the Palestinian civilians at the Church of the Nativity, extending to them food, drink, first aid and protection. These people, Christians and Muslims, are recording a miracle and legend because they were brought up after Yasir Arafat's manners and adopt his policy - the policy of firm national unity, the policy of Christian-Muslim fraternity, and the policy of protecting the Christian and Islamic holy places. Palestinian state to be in Gaza [Al-Sharif] Some political analysts say the Israelis do not want to occupy Gaza because they are planning to set up a Palestinian state there. What is your comment? [Abd-al-Rahman] Great Gaza is in the heart of every Palestinian, and all of Palestine is in the heart of every Gazan. Why have the people and heroes of Gaza made sacrifices over the years? They sacrificed [themselves] for the sake of Jerusalem, Nablus and Jenin. Are the martyrs of the national security forces and all other services not from valiant Gaza? They are fighting in Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarm and Bethlehem. There is no room for tampering with the unity of the Palestinian homeland. Palestine, just like the Palestinian people, cannot be divided or split. They tried to remove us from the Middle East political map and from history, but Palestine as geography and history returned because it has such heroes in Gaza, Jerusalem and currently rising Nablus. It has heroes in the heroic Jenin camp, which is teaching the aggressors an unforgettable lesson. These heroes are destroying the [Israeli] tanks with their bodies. I salute all the sons of our people and tell brave and steadfast Gaza that Palestine is your Palestine and it is a trust deposited with you. You are the ones who made sacrifices for Palestine over the years. Your role is coming in order to teach the Sharon-led arrogant Israeli occupiers a lesson that tells them that great Gaza extends to become all of Palestine. I tell those who lie and concoct plots that Gaza is the heart of Palestine. It is part of Palestine. It lives for the sake of Palestine and it [offers] sacrifices for the sake of Palestine and Jerusalem under the leadership of our president and symbol Yasir Arafat. Arab Knesset members [Al-Sharif] The Israeli forces attacked Arab Knesset members like Dr Ahmad al-Tibi in total disregard for international laws, norms and charters. They attacked children and prevented them from bringing food and other essential needs. We see world silence over the massacres being perpetrated against the Palestinian people. [Abd-al-Rahman] I salute our beloved people in Nazareth, Galilee, the Triangle and the Negev who demonstrated yesterday in support of their kinsfolk and extended medical and food aid to them. They were headed by Knesset members. All of them went out. Four of them were wounded. Muhammad Barakah, Al-Tibi, Abd-al-Malik al-Dahamishah and Azmi Bisharah were wounded. They were all in the front lines. This is the Palestinian bravery. This is the national Palestinian cohesion. Yesterday, they exposed the falsehood of the Israeli democracy. Muhammad Barakah said: They beat the Knesset members with the butts of their guns, so imagine the crimes they are committing against the Palestinian people in Ramallah and the besieged cities. Yes, yesterday our people in the Triangle, Galilee and Negev recorded a bright page in the book of the our people's heroic deeds. They are the people of the valiant Land Day. They announced years and years ago that they are Palestinians who adhere to the land, and that they will not relinquish their identity or land. Greetings to our sons, greetings to the men who went to the Qalandiyah roadblock yesterday and defied the occupation forces. They finally managed to send food and medical assistance to our besieged people in Ramallah. [Al-Sharif] Thank you very much, Ahmad Abd-al-Rahman, secretary-general of the Palestinian Cabinet in Ramallah. We will continue to be in touch to know the latest developments. We will also be together until we reach Jerusalem, God willing. [Abd-al-Rahman] Thank you and may God bless you. Source: Palestinian Satellite Channel TV, Gaza, in Arabic 0940 gmt 4 Apr 02. BBC Worldwide Monitoring/ (c) BBC 2002. Sources:BBC MONITORING INTERNATIONAL REPORTS BBC MONITORING MIDDLE EAST - POLITICAL 04/04/2002 04Apr2002 LEBANON: Vatican condemns 'injustice' by Israel - Pope speaks of 'great danger' facing Bethlehem. Compiled by Daily Star Staff Alarmed by fighting in Bethlehem, the Vatican stepped up its diplomatic drive Wednesday, condemning terrorism and the treatment of Palestinians. Vatican officials have met over the past two days with the Israeli and US envoys to the Holy See and a representative of the Arab League. Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said the Holy See's position expressed in the meetings includes an "unequivocal condemnation of terrorism, from whichever side it comes," and a disapproval of the "conditions of injustice and humiliation imposed on the Palestinian people" as well as reprisals that it said "only increase the sense of frustration and hatred." The Vatican, Navarro-Valls said, also calls on all parties to respect UN resolutions, proportionality in the use of legitimate means of defense and the protection of sites holy to Christians, Muslims and Jews. In the meeting with the Arab League representative, the Vatican insisted on the need for an end to "indiscriminate acts of terrorism." Pope John Paul II is said to be closely following the situation. On Monday, just hours after Israeli tanks entered Bethlehem, he spoke of his "apprehension" at the "great danger" confronting the town where Christians believe Jesus was born. A standoff is continuing between Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen, who had sought refuge in the Church of the Nativity, one of Christianity's holiest sites. Witnesses said between 200-300 people were holed up without food. They said most were civilians, including women and children, and six were wounded. But Raanan Gissin, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said "dozens of armed Palestinians, some of them implicated in terrorist activities, are hiding in the building and exploiting a church. "The Palestinians inside must surrender and come out with their hands up," he said. "We do not intend to kill them. Those involved in terrorist activities will be arrested and interrogated, and the others set free." Palestinian security sources said a 39-year-old Palestinian was killed by sniper fire outside the Church of the Nativity. Michel Sabbah, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, said the Palestinians could claim sanctuary and had already laid down their arms: "In this case, we have an obligation to give refuge to Palestinians and Israelis alike." The Palestinians were pinned down in Manger Square, where witnesses say the Israelis arrested about 20 people but Israeli reports say 25 armed Palestinians were detained. - With agencies. COPYRIGHT (c) THE DAILY STAR, BEIRUT, LEBANON. Sources:THE DAILY STAR 04/04/2002 Kind regards, and Salam Aleikum, Shalom, Peace Arno Tausch
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