Letters to the Editor

Feeling their pain

We live so close to each other and yet we do not feel one another's
pain. When a suicide bomber succeeds in killing Israelis in
Jerusalem, I can usually hear the sirens of ambulances and emergency
vehicles from my apartment in Beit Safafa. I then rush to the TV to
watch the horrible details. I do not like what I see or hear but I
have a big problem. It is a spiritual one.

My problem is that I do not feel the pain of my Jewish neighbors who
lose their lives or are burned, injured or traumatized due to the
bombings. It is a real issue for me because as a practicing Christian
I am called to love my enemies. I think one way to express that love
is to truly share the pain of others when they suffer. When innocent
Palestinians get assassinated by Israeli attacks in Gaza, Jenin,
Hebron, Bethlehem and elsewhere in the West Bank, my heart goes out
in sorrow to them. I wish I had the same compassion for innocent
Israelis who are killed or hurt.

My spiritual dilemma is further complicated by the fact that I am a
pastor of a Christian congregation in East Jerusalem and thus often
preach peace and reconciliation and call on members of my
congregation to love their enemies regardless of racial or political
realities. I confess it is much easier to speak about forgiveness
than to actually forgive and it is much harder to practice love than
to preach it. Then I think if I, a Christian pastor, cannot truly
love my enemies, what must it be like for the average Palestinian?

I have tried to examine my heart in an attempt to understand why I
feel the way I do. Why do I care less when innocent Jews are killed?
The answer to this question is not so much found in my heart as it is
found in my mind. Although I am religious and care much for my
spiritual well-being, I am also rational. Rationality, mingled with a
sense of patriotism, overcomes my spiritual motivation and desire to
love my enemies. Rationality tells me that for every innocent Israeli
killed in these cycles of violence, at least three innocent
Palestinians are also annihilated. Rationality tells me that even if
the death on both sides of the conflict is numerically equal, the
suffering on the Palestinian side far outweighs the suffering of
Israelis.

Palestinians cannot order curfews and imprison Israelis in their
homes and cities. Palestinians have no power to set up checkpoints on
the borders of Israeli cities, Palestinians cannot employ bulldozers
to demolish the homes, businesses and farms belonging to those who
kill them and steal their land. Rationality tells me that a nation
who occupies another deserves the pain resulting from an occupied
population.

I cross the Bethlehem checkpoint on a daily basis. My eyes, which are
windows to my intellect, see injustice every day. I see the
demolished homes, the collapsing economy, the masses under perpetual
and suffocating closures and the daily suffering of an entire
population. When I look eastward, near the check point, the
settlement of Har Homa built on land Israel confiscated from
Palestinians after 1967 on what Palestinians call Jabal Abu Ghnaim,
stares me in the face. Turning to the west I see the Aida refugee
camp, one of three refugee camps in Bethlehem, which is home to
Palestinians who were forced to flee their villages in 1948 in what
is now called Israel. Then I look straight ahead and I see Rachael's
Tomb, a holy place turned into a prison-like fortress. Looking behind
me it is impossible to avoid the settlement of Gilo that was also
built on Palestinian land Israel annexed after 1967.

The realities I view, along with the stories I hear are imprinted on
the walls of my soul and influence my entire person, including my
spiritual outlook. Injustice makes me very upset and definitely
affects my attitude. Consequently, when pictures of innocent Jews
slaughtered by a Palestinian suicide bomber are shown on my TV screen,
I rationalize instead of empathize. I continue to blame Sharon or the
occupation or the latest Israeli bombing attack that snuffed out the
lives of a number of Palestinians.

I long for the day when deep in my heart I can feel the pain of my
Jewish neighbors in their time of calamity as much as I feel the
utter despair of my people. I long for the day when we on both sides
of the political divide can step into each others shoes and
understand the anguish and hopelessness that the other side is
feeling. Perhaps then we can become better aware of our common
humanity, cry together and express forgiveness to the other. Only
then perhaps, will we triumph over those on both sides, who thrive on
violence, destruction and bloodshed.

Reverend Alex Awad
Bethlehem

The writer is dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College

Last evening George and I were teaching a computer class there.
Today all the computers are gone.
Bob


Crack-down on foreign entry to territories, ISM office raided

By Haaretz Staff and Agencies

Israel launched a series of moves Friday to crack down on the
activities of foreign nationals in the Palestinian territories, and
raided the West Bank offices of a pro-Palestinian organization.

Three people were detained for questioning in the IDF raid at the
International Solidarity Movement (ISM) offices in Beit Shaour on
Friday, and computer disks and other equipment were confiscated.

In a further move to clamp down on foreign activity in the
territories, the IDF is to take over control of the entry of foreign
nationals into the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported Friday.

According to the report, individuals who are not Israeli or
Palestinian must request personal authorization to visit Gaza from
the army, which has taken over all administrative procedures relating
to entry to the Strip.

In a separate measure, Israel has demanded that all foreign nationals
entering the Gaza Stip sign a waiver exempting Israel from any
responsibility should they be killed or injured, a move that has
hitherto been restricted to Israelis.

Amnesty International on Friday condemned the demand, saying that it
was "categorically opposed to any attempt to get people to sign away
their rights."

"The signing of 'waivers' does not absolve the Israeli army of its
responsibility in any way, nor the Israeli authorities of their
duties to ensure that armed froces respect human rights in all
circumstances," said a statement on the human rights group's Web
site.

The site also said that several of Amnesty delegates, who had refused
to sign the waivers, were prevented from entering Gaza on Friday.

The moves come at the end of a week in which Israel decided to crack
down on foreign volunteers in the territories, after it became
apparent that the two British men involved in the recent suicide
bombing on a Tel Aviv pub had posed as volunteers while in the Strip.

Israel has also decided to bar pro-Palestinian activists from
entering the country and will try to expel at least some of the
dozens of activists who are already here, according a plan drafted by
the Israel Defense Forces and the foreign and defense ministries.

According to Israel Radio, Palestinian sources said that two foreign
volunteers were taken away from the ISM offices in Beit Sahour and a
Palestinian employee was detained for questioning.

The IDF reported that two women - an American and an Australian in
the country illegally - had been detained for questioning.

About 22 army jeeps surrounded the group's offices in the village of
Beit Sahour, after which soldiers entered and confiscated six
computers, said spokeswoman Laura Gordon.

Arrested were Christine Razowsky, 28 from Chicago, and an Australian
woman who did not want her name released, as well as Palestinian Fida
Gharib, 22, a secretary for the organization, Gordon said.

The military said it had arrested several people who "violated the
law" in the village of Beit Sahour, but refused to release details.

Israel Police spokesman Gil Kleiman confirmed that two foreigners had
been handed over to police custody and were being questioned for
entering a restricted military area.

The interrogation documents and other evidence - including the
computers - will be used by the Interior Ministry to decide whether
the foreigners should be deported, Kleiman said.

"The aim is to deport any foreigner who supports us," said George
Rishmawi, a Palestinian official close to the group. "We consider
these people to be international witnesses to the suffering of the
Palestinian people."

Most of the activists, who come from Europe, Canada and the United
States, belong to the ISM.

Their goal is to act as "human shields" for Palestinian individuals
and houses during IDF incursions into Palestinian towns, and they
have often been involved in confrontations with IDF soldiers. They
also try to help Palestinians pass through IDF roadblocks.

Some two months ago, an American ISM activist, Rachel Corrie, was run
over and killed by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza. Her colleagues accused
the bulldozer driver of having run her over deliberately. The IDF
denies the accusation and decided not to indict the driver. In two
other recent cases, international activists have been seriously
injured by IDF gunfire during confrontations in the territories.

The IDF charges that many of the self-proclaimed peace activists
are "provocateurs" and "riot inciters" who deliberately interfere
with the IDF's work, with the goal of blackening Israel's image. Army
sources noted that in one case, they discovered a wanted terrorist
being hidden by ISM activists in Jenin. The sources said the
activists received training overseas in how to deceive border control
officials at Ben-Gurion International Airport in order to be allowed
into the country.

Furthermore, both the army and the Foreign Ministry fear that
additional foreign citizens might be killed or wounded by the IDF if
the ISM's activities are allowed to continue.

Last week's bombing in Tel Aviv, which was committed by two men who
entered Israel on British passports, added a new reason to the
authorities' desire to clamp down on the foreign activists - fear
that other terrorists from overseas might enter the country under the
guise of peace activists.

Hundreds of Palestinian Minors in Custody

By JASON KEYSER, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM - About 300 Palestinian minors have been rounded up in
Israeli army sweeps over the past year and are being held in crowded
lockups, some without charges, lawyers and human rights monitors say.

The army acknowledges it has locked up teens, but treats those over
16 as adults, despite international conventions defining minors
warranting special treatment as those under 18. Israel says militant
groups often recruit teens, pointing to a 16-year-old suicide bomber,
Issa Bdair from Bethlehem, who killed two Israelis in a blast in Tel
Aviv last year. Several other bombers have been minors.

Roundups of Palestinians have intensified in the past year, and the
International Committee of the Red Cross says a total of 7,600
Palestinians are currently in custody. Red Cross officials say they
have visited 260 minors in Israeli lockups.

Israeli human rights monitors, including the respected B'tselem
group, estimate about 300 Palestinians under 18 are in detention, and
say many of those detained are held for minor offenses, such as
throwing stones.

A 14-year-old, Ali Rahman, said he was jailed for eight days after
throwing a stone at an army jeep that drove past his home in the Aida
refugee camp in Bethlehem. Ali said he slept on a floor with a
blanket, sharing a cell with 15 other boys at the West Bank's Etzion
military detention center.

Israeli human rights lawyer Tamar Peleg represents several
Palestinian teens, including Mohammed Najar from Bethlehem who was
first arrested when he was 15.

Najar is being held in so-called administrative detention, a practice
held over from British Mandate rule that allows the army to jail
Palestinians without trial or charges. He is serving the first of
renewable six-month detentions in the Ketziot tent camp, a crowded
prison in Israel's southern Negev Desert.

Peleg, who works for Israel's Center for the Defense of the
Individual, said military prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to
charge Najar with a crime, but persuaded a military judge he was
dangerous enough to keep locked up anyway.

Before being sent to Ketziot, he spent 45 days in solitary
confinement in a West Bank army lockup because a judge ordered him
held separately from adult prisoners. The day after he turned 16, he
was moved to Ketziot prison, Peleg said.

The lawyer said Najar is one of about 30 minors, half of them under
16, being held without trial or charges.

Some of the other young prisoners she's met at military judicial
hearings have complained of beatings, hunger, overcrowded rooms
stuffed wall to wall with mattresses and too few trips allowed to the
toilet.

Many are interrogated without the presence of lawyers and are held
for months without visits from their parents, she said.

Israel is in violation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the
Child, which defines minors as younger than 18, said Jessica Montell,
director of B'tselem.

The treaty, which Israel signed and ratified, says the arrest and
imprisonment of children should be a last resort and for the shortest
appropriate time, and they should not be jailed with adults. It also
gives minors the right to legal assistance, visits from relatives and
to be informed of the charges against them.

The army blames the arrest of youths on violent Palestinian militant
groups who recruit teens.

"They use the young children, luring them and turning them into
killers," said Maj. Sharon Feingold, an army spokeswoman. "They're
easy prey for these terror organizations. When they are caught, they
are held responsible for what they do."

A senior army official speaking on condition of anonymity said the
Etzion detention center, a facility meant to hold 50 people, now
holds 71 Palestinians.

He said Etzion and other centers are meant to detain Palestinians
only until space can be found at larger military and civilian
prisons, which are already filled with prisoners rounded up during
Israel's hunt for terrorists.

He said the army is holding 14 Palestinians younger than 16. He
didn't have a figure for how many were between the ages of 16 and 18.
Some of them are detained for aiding suicide bombing missions, others
for such minor offenses as throwing stones at soldiers, he said.

One of them, 16-year-old Hussein Ramadan from Bethlehem's Dheisheh
refugee camp, was arrested in November after soldiers confronted him
about being part of a group of rock throwers, said his father,
Ismail.

"This boy should be in school, not in prison," the father said. "The
occupation is at our doors and provokes the children."

Bilal Ibsharat, 17, from the northern West Bank village of Tamoun,
was held for seven months without trial and then released. He thinks
he ended up in custody for being singled out by an informer, perhaps
a classmate who didn't like him.

Ali Rahman, the 14-year-old stone-thrower, said his eight days in
jail shook him up badly. "I was really scared in prison and never
want to go back," he said.

____

Associated Press reporter Ibrahim Hazboun contributed to this report.

U.K. peace activist shot by IDF troops

By Tsahar Rotem, Haaretz Correspondent and News Agencies

On Friday, IDF troops firing from a tank critically wounded a British
man as he and other activists in a pro-Palestinian group approached
an army position on the edge of a Gaza refugee camp, witnesses said.

Thomas Hurndall, 21, from Manchester, suffered a head injury that
left him comatose and hooked up to a respirator, said Shira Chen, a
spokeswoman at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva. It was unclear whether
there was any brain activity. His condition was described as serious
but stable.

He was the second foreigner to be injured in a week. A third member
of the group, the International Solidarity Movement, was killed while
trying to stop an IDF bulldozer a month ago, near where Hurndall was
shot Friday.

Military sources said early Sunday that according to an initial
investigation on the incident, soldiers claim that they shot at a man
wearing a camouflage uniform seen opening fire and advancing towards
their position.

Israel has said Palestinian gunmen often use civilians as human
shields and thus endanger them.

Friday's incident began when about a dozen members of the
International Solidarity Movement, including foreigners and
Palestinians, walked toward IDF tanks on the outskirts of the Rafah
refugee camp, near the border with Egypt, said Khalil Hamra, a
photographer on assignment for The Associated Press.

The tanks patrol a road used by the army for incursions into the
camp. The activists wanted to set up a protest tent on the road, in
an attempt to block incursions, said Hamra and Khalil Abdullah, a
Palestinian who works with the group but who is not a member.

Along the way, the protesters were joined by several children, the
witnesses said. When the group was about 200 yards away from three
tanks, soldiers opened fire from a tank-mounted machine gun, the
witnesses said.

Hurndall and another foreign activist tried to get two children out
of the line of fire, Hamra and Abdullah said. "Thomas grabbed one of
their hands and as soon as he did that a tank fired at him, hitting
him in the head," Hamra said.

The photographer said the children were not throwing rocks at the
troops and that he saw nothing that would have provoked the troops.

Hurndall was declared brain dead after arriving at Rafah Hospital,
said Dr. Ali Musa. He was later transferred to Soroka Medical Center
in Be'er Sheva.

Rafah has been a flashpoint of clashes between IDF troops and
Palestinians. Troops have repeatedly raided the camp, demolishing
scores of houses the army said were used by Palestinian gunmen as
firing positions.

A few blocks from where Friday's shooting occurred, American activist
Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed on March 16 while trying to stop an IDF
bulldozer.

Witnesses said the bulldozer ran her over and then backed up. The
army said the driver did not see her and that her death was an
accident. Corrie, a student in Olympia, Washington, was the first
member of the group to be killed in 30 months of fighting between
Israelis and Palestinians.

Last week, Bryan Avery, 24, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, was shot in
the face while walking with a fellow activist in the West Bank town
of Jenin. Witnesses said he was wounded by IDF fire. The IDF said it
was firing at gunmen in the area and was not aware it hit Avery.

Legendary birthplace faces a slow death

A 30-foot-high concrete wall will destroy what is left of the little
town of Bethlehem

By Alfredo Lanier.

Alfredo Lanier, a member of the Tribune's editorial board, recently
visited Israel

April 8, 2003

While American and British forces invade Baghdad, a far quieter but
no less effective campaign of military attrition and economic
strangulation continues against Palestinians on the West Bank
territories occupied by Israel since 1967. And the fabled little
town of Bethlehem, with its population of 28,000, showcases the
tragic effect Israeli policies are having on the Palestinian
population.

Shooting occasionally breaks out in Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem,
as it did last month, when Israeli soldiers shot three suspected
Palestinian militants, along with a Palestinian family in a car,
killing a 10-year-old girl and seriously wounding her father, mother
and sister.

But the rest of the time, Bethlehem--which for centuries has lived
off its status as the birthplace of Jesus--is dying a slow,
asphyxiating death.

Where tour buses used to park bumper-to-bumper on Manger Square,
gangs of grungy kids now roam like tumbleweed, hustling coins from
anyone resembling a tourist. Veteran guide Nidal Al-Korna, pacing
outside the Church of the Nativity, says up to 5,000 tourists a day
used to crouch through its incongruous 4-foot-high entrance. Now
he's lucky to see 40 or 50.

In his second-floor City Hall office, overlooking the empty square,
Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser can barely control his anger. In
September, the Israeli government announced it will annex the site
of Rachel's Tomb, a Jewish religious shrine on the northern edge of
Bethlehem, along with a clutch of Palestinian homes. Worse still,
the Israelis will seal off the entire area with a 30-foot-high
concrete wall around the tomb--and down the middle of the two-lane
access road into Bethlehem.

Israeli authorities blame the recent fortifications, and the crash
of Bethlehem's tourist economy, on terrorism. An Israeli army
spokesman said two soldiers have been killed in the vicinity of
Rachel's Tomb since the latest Palestinian uprising exploded two
years ago, and several Jewish worshippers also attacked, though no
one in town recalls the latter. Most days only a couple of armored
buses from Jerusalem bring worshippers to the impregnable tomb. A
mile up the road, a military checkpoint also greets all visitors to
Bethlehem.

The wall is but the latest yank on the noose the Israeli government
has laid around the Palestinians in Bethlehem. Since 1967, the
Israeli government has built the huge Har Homa and Gilo settlements
on the east and west sides of town, along with connecting
expressways--modestly called "settlers' roads"--bypassing Bethlehem.
On the south lies a refugee camp, a no-man's town run by the United
Nations and housing approximately 23,000 Palestinians.

And now a Berlin Wall-like structure, with watchtowers--and a
military checkpoint that will creep closer toward the center--on the
remaining northern access to Bethlehem.

When asked about it, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon invokes a
vision, ever more elusive, of a Palestinian state side-by-side with
Israel.

But the all-important "facts on the ground"--the baseline for any
negotiations--point to a policy of land annexation by Israel. What's
left is not a Palestinian state but rather an archipelago of
scattered Palestinian islets.

Menachem Klein, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University
near Tel Aviv, and author of an upcoming book about the status of
Jerusalem, dismisses government claims that security concerns are
behind construction of the wall around Rachel's Tomb. "This is just
a cover, the idea is to make the wall into a permanent border," he
says. "You begin negotiations from that point forward, because the
wall becomes a `fact on the ground.' "

Nasser, 63, has been Bethlehem's mayor for seven years, vice mayor
for 23, and says his family has lived in the city since 1609. He has
Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate of Palestine land titles for
anyone who doubts his claim.

"The Sharon government has decided to annex Rachel's Tomb, which is
in the heart of Bethlehem," he says. "They will build a wall down
the middle of the road leading to town, and around 42 Palestinian
homes that will become a ghetto. I feel very sad when I use this
word, it reminds me of the Jewish ghettos of Poland. But what is
going to happen to these Palestinian families who are going to be
completely isolated?

"They are trespassing on the land of Bethlehem. This is robbery.
This is theft."

No one disputes that approximately 500 Palestinians will be trapped
inside this ghetto--who will need permits to come and go--or that
the wall down the two-lane access road to Bethlehem will choke the
town.

According to Nasser, a dozen small hotels, and scores of trinket and
souvenir shops have folded during the past two years. City
government could not meet payroll in January because hardly anyone
in town is paying taxes.

Construction of the security wall is farther along north of
Jerusalem, where it very roughly follows the 1967 border. In many
areas it cuts through square miles of valuable farmland, effectively
annexing it--in Palestinian eyes--to Israel. More "facts on the
ground."

The 41,000 residents of the Palestinian city of Qalqilya, northeast
of Jerusalem, are by now almost entirely surrounded either by a
concrete wall with watchtowers, or a series of fences, barbed wire
and ditches. Part of the wall cut through Palestinian farms that
were expropriated without compensation. The single bottleneck
entrance to town is controlled by the Israeli army.

Qalqilya's economy, which depended on nearby farms and trade, is
withering. About 4,000 residents have fled the city, some
permanently, others to work outside and send money for their
families left behind.

Mayor Nasser says he will file suit to stop construction of the
wall. On Feb. 24 the presidents of the Bishop's Conference in
Jerusalem issued a declaration, nothing if not melodramatic: "The
inhabitants of Bethlehem, and particularly Christians, seeing
themselves closed in, and threatened to the point where some of them
may feel [forced] to leave the country, appeal to you! This is an
S.O.S. cry!"

Qalqilya's Mayor Maarouf Zaharan also has hired lawyers and
commissioned aerial pictures of the Israeli wall rapidly surrounding
his town. But as Israeli bulldozers continue to rip through nearby
farms and olive groves, you can tell he's losing hope.


Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune

An Israeli undercover unit has shot dead a 10-year-old Palestinian
girl and wounded her parents and 15-year-old sister in Bethlehem in
what a military source said was a tragic accident.

Israeli radio said the troops had been trying to arrest suspected
Hamas militants in the West Bank town on Tuesday evening when the
suspects opened fire from their car.

They had fired back, killing three men, when the car carrying
Christine Shehadeh and her family appeared on the scene and the
soldiers opened fire on it, believing they were under attack.

Palestinian sources accused the troops of killing innocent civilians
and firing indiscriminately.

"An army unit went on an arrest operation but before they did
anything they were fired on from a car and a gun battle ensued," an
unnamed Israeli military source told Reuters news agency.

"It appears another vehicle entered the area at the time and was shot
at. A tragic turn of events took place in the battle initiated by the
terrorists in the midst of the town centre."

The mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, said that the surviving members
of the Shehadeh family were all taken to hospital with wounds.

Boy shot dead

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the three men killed
in the attack were all "civilians" and it said that the troops had
removed two of the bodies.

It named one of the dead men as 40-year-old Muwaffaq Abd-al-Razzaq
Muhammad Badran from the al-Jadwal area.

Palestinian witnesses to the attack told Reuters that the undercover
troops had fired wildly at the second car.

Correspondents say that there had been a comparative lull in the
conflict between Israel and the Palestinians since the war in Iraq
began.

Also on Tuesday, the Israeli army said it had killed a 14-year-old
Palestinian boy and seriously wounded a 12-year-old in the West Bank
town of Jenin after they climbed onto an armoured vehicle and tried
to seize a machine gun.

And in the Gaza Strip, Jewish settlers reported that troops had
opened fire on two intruders at the settlement of Morag.

The settlers said the troops had sealed off the area but there
appeared to be one body on the ground.

James Bennet/NYT The New York Times
Tuesday, February 18, 2003

BETHLEHEM Claire Anastas, 34, spent most of the last week trying to
keep her four children playing or studying while they were cooped up
in their home here, under Israeli curfew.

Then, on Sunday, the army informed her that it would soon build a new
wall, at least 7.5 meters (25 feet) high, outside her house. The wall
will separate her neighborhood from the rest of Bethlehem, and her
children from their schools.

"This is a nightmare for us," Anastas said. "We're trapped."

Under the plan, Palestinians like Anastas will be left on the Israeli
side, and they will have to pass through an army checkpoint in the
wall to reach the rest of Palestinian Bethlehem.

The family's predicament underscores the difficulty Israel is having
untangling the knotted populations, and their intertwined political
and religious traditions, as it builds a new barrier fence in the
West Bank.

According to the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Israel
must build the wall through the northern outskirts of Bethlehem to
protect Jewish worshipers at the shrine they revere as the Tomb of
Rachel, wife of the Biblical Patriarch Jacob.

The tomb, hidden by 4.5-meter concrete barriers and guarded by
soldiers in battle gear, is just across Yasser Arafat Street from
Anastas's house. Less than 500 meters inside Bethlehem, it has been a
flashpoint for years. Worshipers arrived there Monday in an armored
bus.

"There's a very important historical and religious site which has
been the target of repeated attacks," said Raanan Gissin, Sharon's
spokesman. "The main purpose here is not to annex that land, but to
provide security."

The new wall is a segment of the barrier fence that Israel is
building in what it calls an effort to separate Israelis from
Palestinians. The government says that the snaking path of the fence
is being guided not by politics or religion but by security needs.

But the blurriness of those categories is at the very root of this
conflict. Rightist Israelis have been pushing to incorporate Jewish
settlements and holy sites in the West Bank into the Israeli side of
the fence. The proposed path of the fence already means it will
include thousands of Palestinians on the Israeli side, undermining
the fence's stated purpose of separation.

Gissin said that, in Bethlehem, the government "decided to change the
route of the fence" to ensure "freedom of access and freedom of
religion."

Bethlehem residents say it is they who are in danger, from Israeli
fire. Having watched the army beef up its presence around the tomb
and repeatedly seize control of Bethlehem over the last year, they
accuse Israel of now grabbing the last relatively open spaces for
Bethlehem to expand.

"Bethlehem is the Bethlehem ghetto now," said Jad Issac, director-
general of the Applied Research Institute here, as he examined a
satellite photograph of the area Monday. He said that, rather than
seeking to ensure freedom of religion, Israel was pushing Bethlehem's
Christian Palestinians to voluntarily pack up and leave. "Once they
get rid of the Christians, then they will label the rest as
terrorists," he said.

About 360 Palestinians would be trapped on the Israeli side of the
wall, he said. Palestinians here said that the army told them they
would not be granted status as Jerusalem residents, meaning they
could not freely travel into Jerusalem from their neighborhood,
either. But Gissin said it was possible that affected residents would
receive some sort of enhanced status.

Under the Oslo agreement in the mid-1990s, Israel retained security
control of the tomb, with a guarantee it would maintain the "present
situation" there.

Shmuel Berkovitz, a lawyer and expert on Jerusalem's holy places,
said that the effect of the new wall would be to annex Rachel's Tomb
to Jerusalem "as a matter of technical separation, without an
official declaration." He said that Israel's military leaders balked
at taking that step after the Six Day War, for fear of provoking the
Palestinian Arabs.

He noted that both the Ottoman and British rulers of this territory
had recognized Rachel's Tomb as a site holy to Jews. The structure, a
small stone building with a dome, was built in Ottoman times. It is
now completely enclosed by the concrete fortifications the Israelis
built in 1996 and 1997.

"Right now, you can't see any romantic place there," said
Berkovitz. "You can see it only as a military position." Muslims say
that the tomb contains a mosque, from which Israel now excludes them.

Bethlehem, which abuts the southern boundaries of Jerusalem, has been
the source of many suicide bombings and shooting attacks during the
conflict with Israel. The army has enclosed it with checkpoints, and
along stretches of its boundaries soldiers have already dug a 1.5-
meter-deep trench and piled coils of barbed wire head-high.

The Israelis also routinely raid Bethlehem and arrest suspected
militants. The army renewed its curfew here last week after an
Israeli officer was shot to death Tuesday night as he patrolled near
Manger Square.

Rachel's Tomb has been relatively quiet in recent months, but this
remains a tense, anxious part of the city. The olive-wood gift shops,
falafel lunch spots and jewelry stores along Yasser Arafat Street
were once the most bustling in Bethlehem, but now almost all of them
are closed. Many residents have also left.

Inside one of the few stores still open, El Quds Auto Parts, the
owner, Yusef Nemah, leafed through a receipt book to determine when
he last made a sale: Sept. 25, 2002, for about $80 worth of parts.

Nemah, who specialized in Fords, said he could not blame his former
customers.

"If this wasn't my store, I would never think of coming here," he
said. He said that he would like to move his store, but cannot afford
to.

The elegant family home of the mayor of Bethlehem, Hanna Nasser, is
on Yasser Arafat Street. He said that the city would sue the Israeli
government to stop the wall, but most residents here seemed already
resigned to it.

"It's a military order," said Amjad Awwad, 37, a grocer, with a
derisive chuckle. "There is no law." Awwad said that he lives a two-
minute walk from the store but on the other side of the wall's path.

Inside the building housing the tomb, the windows are shuttered for
safety, and the air is stale, stinking of sewage. The lights are
fluorescent. But the devout still come to the tomb. One older man,
who asked not to be identified, came from Jerusalem on Monday to pray
for a granddaughter undergoing medical treatment.

He said he doubted that the fence would end the conflict.

"I think it's going to take the coming of the Messiah, or the
eviction of the Arabs," he said.

In the last couple of weeks I've received some good articles that you
might like.  They're posted under the articles section on

http://www.bobmay.info

Think you had it tough going to school as a kid?  Read what the
children in Hebron have to go through in Art Gish's "The Ladder Lady."

Are fruit markets a threat to Israeli security?  Read Mr.
Gish's "Terrorist Among the Apples."

Also posted is another good article by Steve Goldstein called "Peace
and Forgiveness."

While you're there, check out the earlier articles by Steve, Ed Nyce,
Johannes Zang and Carol Dabdoub.
Peace,
Bob

The attempted confiscation of the Nassar family farmland is a typical
example of the daily injustices facing Palestinians here in the West
Bank.  Israeli settlers armed with guns and dogs have tried to force
the family from their land.  More information about this case is
available on my website.  Look for the red link at the top of the
page:

http://www.bobmay.info

Note from Alison Nassar:
For those who are unfamiliar with this case, the Nassar family of
Bethlehem has owned and cultivated 420 dunums of farmland just south
of Bethlehem since 1924. They possess all the necessary private
ownership documents and the land has been properly registered in the
official "Tabu" or land registry over the course of four successive
occupations (Turkish, Mandate, Jordanian, and Israeli). Property
taxes have been paid on the land continuously since 1924.

The Nassar farm is located on a hilltop south of Bethlehem. It is
surrounded by four continuously expanding settlements (Efrat, Neve
Daniel, Maalot Betar, and Eli'ezer), the closest of which is Neve
Daniel. In November 1991, the Israeli government declared the
land "state land." This has been one of several standard methods the
Israeli government has used to "legally" confiscate land owned by
Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank. The majority of Palestinian
farmers are unable to provide the necessary documentation in order to
challenge these declarations because most never resorted to official
land registration. Prior to the advent of Israel's aggressive land
settlement enterprise, it was enough for property to be either
communally owned or for ownership to be informally acknowledged
according to an "honor" system. In the era of Zionist land
colonization, "honor" ceased to be an operative term.

Note from legal advisor Jonathan Kuttab:
The Nassar family is one of the few Christian families left in the
Bethlehem area that owns hundreds of dunums of land. The transfer of
their land to nearby Israelis settlements in contradiction to
international law would deal a great blow to the dwindling Christian
population in the Bethlehem area in these already very difficult
times.

Israel Sets Tight Security Before Vote

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM - Israeli security forces on Monday barred Palestinians
from entering Israel in advance of national elections, while final
opinion polls showed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites)'s
hawkish party far ahead of its rivals heading into Tuesday's ballot.

Concerned about possible Palestinian attacks during the election
period, security forces stepped up already tight travel restrictions
on Palestinians, who will not be allowed to cross from the West Bank
and Gaza into Israel proper until Wednesday, the day after the
voting. Most Palestinians already were prevented from entering Israel
even before the latest move.

The army did lift curfews in several West Bank cities, allowing
residents to come out of their homes and permitting shops to open,
but the curfew remained in force in Nablus and Bethlehem.

It's been several weeks since I last sent news from Bethlehem.  Since
then, it's been a cycle of curfew on and off.  Currently we've been
under curfew for about four days without a minute of (relative)
freedom.  It's situation normal for this place.

-----

Many people are interested in suicide bombings -- the background, the
justification by some Palestinians, the effects, etc.  Here's a link
to an excellent article by Sabeel's Dr. Naim Ateek that offers a
Palestinian Christian perspective, the underlying causes, an Islamic
perspective, a Hamas Perspective, Palestinian condemnation, Israeli
reaction, etc.

http://www.sabeel.org/Cornerstone/suicidebombers/frontpage.html

-----

This week on BBC an American military spokesman was offering
violations of the Geneva Convention and UN Resolutions as a
justification for military operations in Iraq.  In the West Bank, we
found that comment ridiculous!  Here, the United States is doing a
lot to support Israeli violations of the same Geneva Convention and
UN Resolutions.  We experience it on a daily basis -- settlement
building, collective punishment, home demolitions, curfews for
hundreds of thousands of people, etc.  Either you support the Geneva
Convention or you don't.  (And both Israel and the US have signed it
and claim to support it.)  Either you support UN Resolutions or you
don't.  You don't pick and choose.  That makes a mockery of the UN.
It's not fair and just.  It's this American double standard policy in
the Middle East that makes people here very angry.

Until next time,
Peace,
Bob

If you like photos from the West Bank, I've put together my most
popular images of the year:

http://www.bobmay.info/palestine_photos2002.htm

Peace,
Bob

Bishara Awad,
President, Bethlehem Bible College

It is the Christmas season and many of you will be singing the
beautiful carol: "O Little town of Bethlehem, How still we see they
lie" Rev. Simon Oberst, the rector of Bath Abbey in the United
Kingdom and a good friend of BBC, wrote recently: "I cannot sing this
carol without thinking of the plight of my brothers and sisters in
Bethlehem at this present time." As all of you turn your attention to
Bethlehem these days, please remember Our Little Town in your
prayers. Bethlehem now is very sad. All its people are struggling
under very strict curfew since the 22nd of November. It may be hard
to imagine being under curfew. It is very cruel, because no one is
allowed to leave his or her home for any reason. All shops and
schools are closed, as well as pharmacies and work places. There is
no possibility for Christmas shopping, there are no decorations, and
one cannot even go to church. Being a "closed military area" even we
are denied the usual flood of pilgrims. I like for you to sing this
beautiful song and enjoy your Christmas, but before you do think of
the suffering Church in Bethlehem and say a prayer that the curfews
will be lifted up and the siege on Bethlehem will end. You may want
to also write to the nearest Israeli representative and your own
government officials about these cruel acts done against the people
of Bethlehem by the Israeli army. May Immanuel Bless You This
Christmas.

In His Name
Bishara Awad,
President, Bethlehem Bible College

---------------

Friday 20 December 2002 Day Twenty-nine
Alison Nasser

I'd like to be able to write something noble and uplifting, something
which captures the true spirit of Christmas and transcends all the
ugliness we live with every minute of every day. If that's the kind
of thing you want to read, I suggest you take a look at Bob May's
Christmas message (www.bobmay.info) or perhaps Sandra Olewine's or
Alex Awad's. I'd like to be able to express the kind of simple
thankfulness that I expressed back in May. I'd like to be able to say
that we have been taking advantage of our confinement, listening to
Christmas carols ("O Little Town of Bethlehem") and making Christmas
crafts and spending quality time together. And I know that would make
everyone feel a lot better, wouldn't it? But I am not going to try to
make any of this acceptable for one simple reason. It is not
acceptable. The struggle that most people are going through just to
get from one day to the next is not inspiring. It's not admirable or
heroic or victorious. It's ugly and nasty and hideous and exhausting,
a perfect reflection of what's being done to them. Of what is being
allowed by all the self-righteous champions of freedom, democracy,
and civilization. All you folks who want to be assured of the triumph
of the human spirit so you can sit down to your Christmas dinner,
look elsewhere. You're not going to hear it from me. We have been
invaded six times in the last fifteen months. This is day 152 of
curfew since last October, over five months' worth of suffocating
house arrest. In the last six months we have been under curfew more
often than not. Apart from an almost overwhelming sense of fatigue
and nausea, I don't even know how I feel about that. Does anyone know
or care that the most recent suicide bomber did not even come from
Bethlehem? He didn't even live in Bethlehem, merely nearby. Shouldn't
this small but significant detail have some weight, considering the
severity of the punishment? You are asking me to care more about
those Israelis who were killed on 21 November than I care about my
own family and colleagues and neighbors and the fact is that I don't.
Their deaths were tragic and needless but not more so than the 152
days of our lives that have been tragically and needlessly stolen
from us. I am starting to take it very personally. The army has very
thoughtfully maintained a lower profile this invasion, albeit mostly
for its own benefit. It's easier to lie with a straight face when the
evidence is not so shockingly to the contrary. Yes, this invasion is
somewhat more polite than the last five. Choirboys are not being
assassinated in the Nativity Church compound and historical sites are
not being besieged, unless you count the town of Bethlehem itself and
we no longer do, thank goodness for that. But even though the
savagery is more subtle, it is savagery nonetheless. As usual, it is
the most powerless, the most voiceless, the most impoverished who are
bearing the greatest burden and some of the footage coming out of the
refugee camps over the last month has been breathtakingly barbaric. I
have sat here on my couch and listened to testimonies from women that
chilled my blood, women whose entire lives have been lived as
refugees, whose pathetic homes have been vandalized beyond
recognition, and whose every male relative over the age of fourteen
has been taken into custody. Their experiences can only be described
as appalling beyond belief. Will you pause in your Christmas shopping
long enough to consider the enormity of their suffering and loss? As
Christmas approaches, it is clear that the Christian world would feel
more, well, comfortable if the army would withdraw from Bethlehem.
Most church leaders have managed to mutter that request and thus
ascend to the heights of cynicism. Do they imagine that such a hollow
gesture could make a scrap of real difference in the lives of the
people here, where every other household lives in a state of
Occupation-induced poverty? And would a withdrawal from Bethlehem
mean anything to the citizens of Jenin or Nablus or Hebron? This is
not about anything as easy or superficial as Christmas celebrations,
because even if they do withdraw-and they have made it clear they
won't-no one here will be celebrating. But it would allow the
armchair activists to breathe a little easier, wouldn't it? If the
last two years have taught us anything, it has taught us that the
gesture, the occasional solidarity demonstration or letter to the
editor or twenty-buck donation, is sufficient unto itself as far as
most people are concerned. Like Aid to the Third World, it convinces
us of our own fundamental decency and assuages our enlightened
Western consciences, all the while leaving the mechanisms of
oppression securely in place. And when people write to us from their
comfortable living rooms to say that, even under such difficult
conditions, our religious faith can still give us hope and joy, I
know that they are in fact simply using their religious faith as an
excuse to remain passive and continue justifying this situation which
allows them their comfortable living rooms while perpetuating
our "difficult conditions." So long as the comfortable living rooms
are there and the "difficult conditions" are here, praise the Lord.
As far as I know, Jesus called us to be His arms and legs and mouth,
not His backside. If He expects those who are suffering to endure it
with grace, it is only because He also expects those who are not
suffering to bear witness to those who are and to act, to "remember
those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who
are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering." Anything else is
pure hypocrisy. And only hypocrisy on the most massive scale could
have gotten us to where we are now. I just finished watching the most
obscene piece of footage I have seen this month. In it, a monstrous
ugly green army bulldozer slowly and patiently knocked over a
pathetic little concrete block chicken coop-with all the chickens
still inside-while a dozen fully armed soldiers surrounded the area
standing guard. From a rooftop across the street, the camera recorded
this scene while the neighbor from whose rooftop the scene was being
filmed tearfully commented. It was not her chicken coop being
demolished and the situation did not affect her personally. But as I
listened to the comments of this nameless woman whom CNN will never
interview, I knew that she, more than all the Christian leaders and
politicians and media champions put together, had the moral clarity
to know that what she was seeing was wrong and to say so. Without
consulting the New York Times or the New Testament she, and all of us
who are here witnessing all of this, know that that chicken coop is
not a threat to the security of the State of Israel and that its
demolition is nothing but an act of pure malice committed by bullies
whose intention is simply to further demoralize and impoverish its
already demoralized and impoverished owners. For me this one little
scene neatly summarized the entire purpose and meaning of the last
two years and my tears have never tasted so sad or so bitter as they
do today. Merry Christmas from Occupied Palestine.

Alison Nasser

---------------

Christmas Carols A Security Threat

By Daoud Kuttab

Danny Qumsieh has been working hard this Christmas season to raise
money so that Bethlehem's only local radio station can continue in
its tradition of covering the holiday events. As manager of the radio
station he was frustrated that he was unable to find commercial
sponsors because of the devastating economic situation due to the
Israeli reoccupation of the city. So he turned to NGOs and Christian
organizations asking if they would agree to financial underwrite the
radio's important work. Just when he felt confident that the station
will be able to go ahead with the coverage, an unexpected turn of
events occurred. Israeli soldiers decided on December 23 to take over
the building housing the station. The staff of the radio station and
the entire building was evacuated and the station had to go off the
air.
For seven years now, Radio Bethlehem 2000 has provided live audio
coverage of the traditional Christmas Eve parade, Christmas Eve
Carols from Manger Square and Midnight Mass from the birth-place of
Jesus Christ. I should know. I was there when we first started this
radio tradition in the Christmas of 1996.
Along with three other Palestinians we started this radio station
after the Israeli army exited the city and the Palestinian Authority
welcomed radio license requests. Cell phones had been new at the time
but we were able to convert roving journalists into live broadcasters
using them. That first Christmas eve was so special. Radio is a great
medium to create atmosphere. I remember walking around in Bethlehem
and you can follow Christmas carols sung by the famous Lebanese
singer Fairuz from shops and stores who were all tuned in to our 89.6
frequency. We had been working non stop for nearly 24 hours when a
delivery person brought us some food. I still remember a delicious
shawerma sandwich delivered to our studios by a local restaurant who
wanted to show support for what we were doing.
Covering the Latin Patriarch's parade was so important for the local
community. For decades this Christmas eve parade has taken a
tradition of its own. Different local community and church leaders
meet the patriarch at predetermined positions on the route from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The parade culminates at Manger Square. Our
coverage that day and every Christmas since allowed the public to
know precisely what was happening every step of the way. I vividly
remember an old woman who called the station to thank us for the
coverage saying that even though she has been unable to go out to see
the Catholic bishop, our reporting helped her to feel as if she was
there.
This memory has been brought back to me this Christmas, because of
the insensitive Israeli act. The radio station located about three
miles from the center of Bethlehem has no strategic advantage for the
Israelis. It is in the valley below Bethlehem at the entrance of Beit
Sahour, the traditional shepherds field. At 3:30 pm, on Decembe 23,
soldiers arrived at the Arrart building that houses the radio station
on its fourth floor and ordered everyone outside. No explanation was
given.
Shutting down a voice of reason and joy. Cutting off a medium that
plays Christmas Carols and tries to keep the holiday spirits despite
the anger and destruction around seem totally crazy and insane.
Since November 22, Israeli soldiers reoccupied this Palestinians city
for the 15th time since they evacuated it in Christmas of 1995. They
entered the city because they said that a suicide bomber had come
from the Bethlehem region. He was renting a home in the village of
Khader south of Bethlehem. A 24 hour continuous curfew was placed on
the city and its surroundings ever since. The curfew was eased a
couple of times during an entire month.
A few days before Christmas, Israel announced that it was planning to
ease the curfew and other travel restrictions to allow Bethlehem's
Palestinian Christians to celebrate the Christmas. The radio station
was beaming carols and announcing Christmas related events when this
ugly act took place.
The entry and closure of the radio station was most probably decided
by an officer who had no idea that a radio station was in the
building or that it was playing Christmas carols. Sooner or later
someone might or might not say that this was a mistake. After all he
is a soldier who only cares for security. Such is the nature of a
foreign military occupation. Certainly an occupying force is not
responsible to care about the feelings of Palestinian Christians and
Christians around the world who sing silent night and oh little town
of Bethlehem.
Israeli stupidity, not withstanding, Palestinians will keep tuning in
their radio and looking up in the heavens with the hope that they can
one day see the angels carols song two thousand years ago to the
shepherd become a reality. "Glory to God in the Highest and on earth
Peace."

Daoud Kuttab a Palestinian Christian is a veteran journalist and the
director of the Institute of Modern media at Al Quds University in
Ramallah. He has received numerous international press awards. His
email is dkuttab@...
For further details please call
00 962 6 5528367 or 00 962 795577646
Mailing address
PO Box 19543
Jerusalem 91162

---------------

Daoud Nassar & Family

"GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST, AND ON EARTH PEACE, GOODWILL TOWARD MEN"


Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
Greetings from Bethlehem in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ,

We are living in our country under very difficult and painful
situation, even the city of Bethlehem; the place where Jesus was born
is these days under Siege.

Before more than two thousand years, at the time when Jesus was born,
the situation was not too much different than now, the small town of
Bethlehem was under the Roman Occupation; the people were having a
hard time, all corners, paths and roads of Bethlehem were full of
Soldiers, who oppressed the life of the people and made it
unbearable. During that difficult time and hopeless situation, the
King of peace was born in Bethlehem and brought the message of Peace
to all nations. In Luke chapter 2 we read, the Angel said to
them: "Do not be afraid; for see –I am bringing you good news of
great joy for all the people". King Herod tried to kill that message,
he thought by killing all the children of Bethlehem, he would achieve
that, but he couldn't.

More than two thousand years later, the people of the Holy Land are
still having hard and painful situation. People are killed everyday
in cold blood, children are getting hurt and killed, families are
suffering and the circle of violence has no end. The spirit of Death
and Hatred is growing in the lives of many people and the language of
love, forgiveness, accepting one another and reconciliation is
becoming very strange in our country. People are trying to comfort
themselves in raising words of revenge and words of killing, and
trying to use violence ways to express themselves and their feelings,
instead of lifting their eyes and hearts toward the living God, who
gives the spirit of comfort.

In Psalm 121 we read: " I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made
heaven and earth.. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil, he
shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and
thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore".
And we read also in the New Testament in II Corinthians 1:4 " Blessed
be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of
mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our
tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any
trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God".

Yes Dear Sisters and Brothers, the real comfort to all our troubles
is coming from our God.

The message of the King of Peace and Comfort was much stronger than
Herod and his soldiers; we believe that this message is still very
strong today and will comfort the people who are living in a
situation of fear and sadness.

Our prayers to God to bless you all and keep you in HIS loving care.
We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Please pray with us for peace, justice and reconciliation in the Holy
Land.

Yours in Christ
Daoud Nassar & Family
Christmas 2002


Tent Of Nations  - People Building Bridges   – Bethlehem - Palestine
P.O.Box 28 - Telefax: +972-2-2743071- Email: tnations@...

Every day now there are dozens of stories about Bethlehem in the
news.  I've included one of the best from the past week.

If you haven't received your Christmas card from Bethlehem yet,
I've taken photos of my community and made one for you:

http://www.bobmay.info/bethlehem_christmas_card.htm

Peace,
Bob


-------------------------------------

Oh, Little Town Lies Still Indeed

No decorations or festivities are marking this year's Christmas in
Bethlehem. It's 'the most unhappy' the mayor can remember.

By Laura King
Times Staff Writer

December 18 2002

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- There's room at the inn. In fact, at the
Bethlehem Hotel, all 210 of them are available.

Not a single Christmas booking has been made at the comfortable,
well-appointed hotel just down a gentle slope from Manger Square,
where tradition says Christ was born. And the establishment's
Palestinian proprietor, Elias Arjah, isn't expecting any last-minute
rush.

"God help us — not even one guest," he said, speaking over tinny
Christmas tunes echoing through the cavernous, deserted lobby. "No
one, absolutely no one, wants to spend this Christmas in Bethlehem."

The biblical birthplace of Jesus, now a Palestinian city of 28,000
set in the stony hills south of Jerusalem, has been occupied for
nearly a month by Israeli troops who moved in after a suicide bomber
from the Bethlehem area killed 11 Israelis.

The soldiers are unlikely to be withdrawn before Christmas, Israeli
officials say, citing what they describe as the continuing threat of
more terrorist attacks originating from the city and its environs.

"We are assessing the security situation on a daily basis," said
Capt. Sharon Feingold, an Israeli army spokeswoman. "We will try to
make every effort to ease restrictions on the civilian population and
allow festivities to go on as usual."

Festivity, though, is in short supply. The traditional Christmas Eve
midnight Mass will be held in the Church of the Nativity, but only a
smattering of pilgrims and worshipers are expected.

In past years, choral concerts and parades were held in Manger Square
before the Mass began — a sometimes raucous open-air party, complete
with all manner of Palestinian fast food — but no celebrations are
planned this year.

A week before Christmas Eve, at a time when pilgrims would once have
jammed the ancient basilica, the church and its rain-soaked stone
plaza were deserted except for a few ragged Palestinian children
begging for spare change.

The Roman Catholic parish priest, Amjad Sabarra, said the city is
shadowed by a 39-day siege of the basilica and adjoining buildings in
April and May.

Israeli troops, tanks and sharpshooters surrounded the square after
Palestinian gunmen took shelter inside the church. The standoff
finally ended with an agreement that sent most of the wanted men into
exile.

"What a terrible time that was," said Sabarra, who was inside during
the siege. "I would never have imagined such things would happen
here, in the mother of our churches."

To protest the Israeli decision not to allow Palestinian Authority
President Yasser Arafat to travel to Bethlehem for Christmas
observances, the city fathers decided to refrain from putting up any
holiday decorations, eschewing the holiday lights, the fully trimmed
Christmas tree and the giant inflatable Santas that once loomed
incongruously on the corners of old stone streets.

Arafat, who has been confined for months to his headquarters in the
West Bank city of Ramallah, was also barred from the observances last
year.

Since 1995, when control of Bethlehem and other major Palestinian
towns and cities was handed over to the Palestinian Authority as part
of what was then an ongoing peace process, the Palestinian leader had
been a fixture at the annual festivities. Although a Muslim, he
always attended the Mass, greeting visiting dignitaries and diplomats.

Lately, a strict curfew broken by unpredictable interludes has kept
most Palestinians in Bethlehem indoors.

"I have to hurry — I don't know how long we have," said Imam abu Ali,
a 42-year-old widow and mother of four, her brow creased with
worry. "I don't have the money to buy much, but I must find some food
for my children."

Bethlehem's economy, like that of most Palestinian towns, has been
devastated during 26 months of fighting, and residents say the
resulting hardship is unrelenting.

Unemployment is running close to 70%, according to Mayor Hanna
Nasser. In grocery stores, many of those buying food Tuesday were
doing so with Red Cross vouchers.

"This is the most unhappy Christmas I can remember," said Nasser, a
native of Bethlehem whose family traces its roots in the city back
several centuries. "Where will all this suffering end?"

On the Israeli side, a few voices warned of damage to Israel's
reputation if it is perceived as repressing religious observances by
the diminishing Palestinian Christian community. Bethlehem was once
overwhelmingly Christian; now its Christian inhabitants make up less
than half the population.

"The damage inflicted on us in the eyes of the Christian world and
the international community if we remain in Bethlehem during the
holidays is huge," reserve Gen. Danny Rothschild, a former military
governor in the West Bank, told Israeli radio Tuesday.

In a souvenir shop just off Manger Square, owner Tony Michael said he
had abandoned his daily cleaning of his inventory of carved olive-
wood Nativity scenes and mother-of-pearl crosses.

"I might as well let the dust have it all," he said. "No one is ever
going to come and buy."

-------------------------------------------

Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times

Curfew:  Day 23 of this particular curfew?  Something like that.  I
forget.  It's easy to forget the day of the week too.  Each day is
pretty much like the last.  Will the curfew last through Christmas?
I've heard both "yes" and "no," depending on which person in the
Israeli Army or Israeli Government is interviewed.  My guess is that
curfew will be lifted for that day, but that Bethlehem will have a
very subdued celebration.  (I think Bethlehem under curfew on
Christmas day would draw a bit too much unwanted international
criticism for Israel.)

-----

Yesterday neighbors told me that local TV announced someone was
killed by Israeli soldiers in Bethlehem.  I listened to English news
from Amman on Radio Jordan, and they also said that an "activist" was
killed here.  But I couldn't find any other information about it.  No
one I talked to knew anything about the person or the circumstances
surrounding their death.  When I hear the details, I will post them.

-----

As part of my work assignment here, I'm supposed to send out a paper
newsletter three times a year, including one at Christmas.  Well, the
paper newsletter is just not going to happen this Christmas, sorry.
Instead, I've put it on my website.  So if you are on my non-
electronic mailing list, or attend one of my sponsoring churches,
please print it and pass it around.  This would really be a big help!

http://www.bobmay.info/newsletterdec2002.htm

Thanks,
Bob

It's been two weeks, and we're still under this particular curfew in
Bethlehem.  (I believe Bethlehem has been under curfew about four
months this year.)  Today was the Islamic festival of Eid -- as
significant to Muslims as Christmas is to Christians -- but there was
no curfew break for families to get together and celebrate.

For you to have a clearer understanding of what happens during
curfew, I've included my friend Sandra Olewine's journal on the
current situation.

For recent photos of Bethlehem, visit my website:
http://www.bobmay.info

Thanks,
Bob

-----
Day 14 – Thursday, 5 December 2002

Eid Mabruk! Kull saneh intu salmin! Arabic greetings shared on feast
days. But, today, there is no one to share the greetings with as day
14 of our house arrest continues and curfew remains in place.
Eid al-Fitr started today as the holy month of Ramadan ended last
night. But, this normally most joyous feast is anything but that in
Bethlehem. Today, streets should be filled with children wearing
their new shoes, jackets, sweaters. Sweets should be passed around.
Families should be gathering together to celebrate in joy. But
instead, just the screeching sound of the jeep's loud speaker could
be heard, a soldier screaming the familiar refrain that curfew was
on. Some soldiers near Rachel's Tomb even announced that curfew would
be on through Sunday. Whether this is true or not, no one knows.
Why here? Curfew was lifted in parts of Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, and
Jenin so people could at least go outside for the Eid, even if they
couldn't travel to other cities. But not even this little
consideration was given to people in Bethlehem! Everyone I've talked
to see it as an attempt by the Israelis to drive a wedge between
Muslims and Christians in the community, supposing that Bethlehem
will be closed throughout the Eid for Muslims and then opened for
Christmas observances for the Christians. If this is the case, the
community will have to work hard to not fall into this trap.
Here, at the International Center of Bethlehem, the vast majority of
staff continues to make their way through the empty streets in order
to come to the office and work. One can not lose hope when one works
among such persistent and resilient people!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Another Day Like the Others - Day 13 – Wednesday, 4 December 2002

Another day like the others…. Curfew remains in place.
Monday night at 10:30 pm, a building near by in Beit Jala was a scene
like many others. Jeeps and soldiers surrounded the building. I could
hear the loud speakers from my house, calling for the people to come
out. All the women were gathered into one room and all the men (and
male youth) were herded outside, ordered to strip to their underwear
and left in the cold for over a three hours as the soldiers
interrogated them. Eventually a couple of young men were taken away
by the soldiers and the rest were allowed back to their homes.
Yesterday, Beit Sahour was particularly difficult. ICB staff members
who live there said it was the hardest day since this new incursion.
There were soldiers throughout the village and walking, even in their
own neighborhood, was not possible. As I stopped at my grocery store
on my way back home in the mid-afternoon, they laughed,
saying, "You're bad luck – every time you come, the soldiers show up!
They just left again." Not long after I reached home, I could hear
the jeeps in the nearby streets. Small explosions went off over the
next few hours – sound bombs, I imagine – as soldiers screamed over
the loudspeakers their daily mantra, "Mamnou' attajawul." (wandering
is prohibited!)
Today goes on like the others. A few people come out. A few grocery
stores, bakeries and pharmacies crack their doors. Some neighborhoods
can't move at all for a few hours, then the next one can't. Guessing
when the soldiers will be in your area is the most entertaining game
around. Twice in the afternoon today this game surrounded the church.
At one point a huge APC, more like a tank without a turret, crashed
its way into Madbassah Square. People outside rushed for cover. A
number of women and children huddled inside our office entryway
seeking shelter. Troops threw sound bombs on the ground as people
scurried away. People hid in shops and doorways until the APC turned
around and left. A couple hours later, sounds of shots being fired,
people screaming and thundering past the church, coming from the Suq
towards Madbassah Square, filled the neighborhood. We could see men,
women and children running. Behind them came four Israeli soldiers,
chasing them. The vast majority ran on through the narrow road, down
towards the Cinema. The soldiers ran after them. Gas bombs and sound
bombs again were thrown. About 10 minutes later, another crowd ran
back towards the church, and slowly behind them came the same four
soldiers. By this time, most people had left the Square. The soldiers
continued back through the Suq, taking the lower road behind the
church this time.
Eid al-Fitr will begin for Muslims either tomorrow or Friday,
depending on tonight's moon. The big question now is whether curfew
will be lifted at all during the 3-day feast. Even if it is, though,
many have said to me that the Feast is ruined. They have spent half
of the month of Ramadan locked inside. There is no money for alms-
giving, for feasting, for buying new shoes or sweaters for the
children. There is no rejoicing left in them.
Will tomorrow be just like today? We'll have to wait and see…

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Curfew Lifted for 4 hours - Day 11 – Monday, 2 December 2002-12-04

Finally, it seems that the Bethlehem area's house arrest will be lift
from 1:00 – 5:00 pm today. After 11 days of being locked up, the
opportunity to walk about `officially' is a relief. To walk without
looking over one's shoulder wondering whether the approaching vehicle
is a jeep or listening for the sound of an APC or tank around the
corner is an odd gift for which to give thanks in these circumstances.
I made my way up to the Cinema and through to Madbassah Square around
9 am. Already, vendors were setting up on the street. They weren't
supposed to be out until 11:00, so I worried that the soldiers would
come and chase them away. Luckily for those along Paul VI St., this
did not happen. For others, however, going to the Central Market near
Deheishe Refugee Camp, tear gas and sound bombs welcomed their
attempts to go out early.
As the hour drew near to 1:00 pm, the scene from our offices windows
was unimaginable. Cars, trucks, and people jammed every possible open
space. Near the end of Ramadan, as people prepare for the Eid, this
area is often packed, but today was unlike anything I've ever seen
here. People coming to the office said it took 20 minutes to walk
from the Cinema to us, usually a journey of 4 – 5 minutes - if you
walk slowly. Not knowing when curfew would be lifted again, people
poured out of nearby villages and from the city areas getting what
ever they could. No shekels existed anywhere – not at the banks, not
at the money changers, not even in the few ATMs in town. If you don't
have shekels you're just out of luck.
For the first day since the re-invasion, the majority of the
International Center of Bethlehem's staff was able to gather. Like
many other places, we called a meeting to discuss ways in which we
can continue our programming, even under these circumstances. For
both the Youth Leadership Training Course and the Volunteer Training,
we made the decision to try to move to on-line education to allow the
courses to continue even under curfew. The energy in the office
matched the energy on the street as folks rushed to write articles,
to call students, to update the web page, to make 2 or 3 contingency
plans for upcoming events. It was an exhaustive few hours.
As dark fell around 5:00 pm, most people were off the streets. When
my ICB colleague and I made our way home around 5:45 pm, only a few
vendors were still out, putting away their remaining goods. Around
7:00 pm, I heard the first sound of a jeep with a loudspeaker
blaring.
Curfew – house arrest - is again in place.
Sincerely,
Sandra
Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem
solewine@...

It's been a week, and we're still under curfew in Bethlehem
with not a single break to go out and get food.

Here's a Thanksgiving Message from my friend Sandra
in Bethlehem.

For recent photos of Bethlehem, please visit my website:
http://www.bobmay.info

Thanks,
Bob

----------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

	  On this day, people in the US are celebrating Thanksgiving.
One of my favorites hymns on this day is, "We Gather Together to Ask
the Lord's Blessing."  As we begin day 7 of the curfew in the
Bethlehem area, those words have poignant meaning as we are not able
to gather together!

	 Last night around 10 pm an announcment appeared on local TV
stations saying that curfew would be lifted today from 1:00 - 5:00 pm
for people to be able to restock food.  However, by 9:00 am this
morning that word had been revoked.  Curfew would continue today
unabated.  For Bethlehem area residents, it is day 7 or Hebronites it
is day 11, for those in Nablus it is day 8.  Hundreds of thousands of
regular folks are locked into their homes, unable to get to doctors,
to schools, to work, to shops, to worship.

	 As I made my way through the empty streets towards the
office, though this morning, I noticed that one pharmacy and two
grocery stores had cracked their doors.  A few mintues later one
truck loaded with produce appeared.  Those close enough to get safely
to the truck and stores are able to get a few things.  But, for those
in neighborhoods were tanks, APCs and jeeps are present, such
movement is not possible.  After seven days without being able to
shop, everyone is running out of everything.

	 The young man who runs the store where I go told me that his
family is going to open everyday from 9 - 3 regardless of what the
army says.  "People have to eat.  Our dairy products will go bad. So,
we're going to keep opening no matter what the curfew situation is
until there is no more food available on our shelves."  He turned
from me and began to call customers to let them know he would be
there today and that they should come.  Out came their little account
book as one person with no money came to get food - "Don't worry, pay
later."  Khader explained, writing down the family name and the
amount owed.

	 Curfew - house arrest - none of these words really describe
the reality of 24 hours/day day upon day of everyone being closed in
their houses.  One man was shot and killed near Bethlehem yesterday
as he was riding in a car, breaking curfew.  Another woman,
prohibited from going to the baby hospital in Bethlehem, lost her
baby.  The daily lives of people are completely arrested.  And that
is just here in our locality.  The stories multiply countless times
across the West Bank and Gaza.

	 Yet, even in these situations, I still give thanks to God.
Even under curfew, people do gather together to help each other.  So,
today I lift up people like Khader who are willing to risk their own
safety to allow others to get food.  I give thanks for doctors who
risk getting to their patients when their patients can't get to
them.  I give thanks for truck drivers who risk being shot to bring
necessary produce to people under seige.  I give thanks to neighbors
who come by my house with fresh fruit from their gardens, because
they are afraid I don't have any.

	 Today the only Thanksgiving parade I may see will be armoured
vehicles.  But, the spirit of God is greater than these things and so
able still to rejoice, I wish you and yours a blessed Thanksgiving!

	 Salaam - Peace - Shalom,
	 Sandra

	 Rev. Sandra Olewine
	 United Methodist Liaison - Jerusalem

Friends,
Bethlehem is under curfew again.
For photos of the Israeli invasion, please visit my website:

http://www.bobmay.info/nov222002curfew.htm
http://www.bobmay.info/nov222002curfew2.htm

Peace,
Bob

---------------------------------------------------
Israeli Forces Invade Bethlehem

By LEE KEATH, Associated Press Writer

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) - Israeli troops reoccupied Bethlehem early
Friday, searching homes and deploying tanks outside the Church of the
Nativity after 11 bus passengers, including four youngsters, were
killed in a Jerusalem bombing.

With troops back in Bethlehem, Israel was again in control of all
Palestinian cities in the West Bank except for the quiet oasis of
Jericho — mirroring the massive deployment that capped military
offensives in April and June.

However, Israel's range of responses is limited; it is under pressure
from the United States to keep a lid on Mideast violence while
Washington concentrates on its campaign against Iraq. In responding
to Thursday's Jerusalem bus bombing, the Israeli military was
expected to stick to tried methods, such as hunting down militants
and demolishing homes of terror suspects.

Expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, an option previously
raised by hardliners in the Israeli Cabinet, was not discussed by
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz
in consultations Thursday.

Israeli police said Friday that the bus bombing was carried out
jointly by the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, though
neither issued a clear claim of responsibility. The bomber, 22-year-
old Nael Abu Hilail from Bethlehem, blew up 11 pounds of explosives
strapped to his waist while riding on a Jerusalem city bus that
carried many youngsters on their way to school. Among those killed
were seven adults and four youths, ages 8, 13 and 16.

Following the bombing, Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed
Rabbo condemned "all acts of violence which target Palestinian and
Israeli civilians and claim the lives of innocents from both sides."
He blamed Israel for the violence, but called on Palestinian factions
to stop targeting Israeli civilians.

Early Friday, Israeli armored vehicles rolled into Bethlehem, just
south of Jerusalem. Three tanks and armored personnel carriers were
deployed outside the Church of the Nativity, Christianity's holiest
shrine, to prevent a repeat of what happened in the April offensive
when gunmen sought shelter there, leading to a monthlong standoff
with Israeli soldiers.

Army officials said the Israeli presence was open-ended, but that
troops hoped to be out by Christmas. "The idea is to have a
completely safe atmosphere by Christmas so that tourists can come
without fear of a terrorist attack," said an army spokesman, Doron
Spielman.

However, in the past 26 months of fighting, Israeli soldiers have
repeatedly kept foreign visitors out of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional
birthplace, citing security reasons. Palestinian merchants have
complained that the closure is destroying the town's economy, which
depends on tourism.

Troops imposed a curfew on Bethlehem, the nearby towns of Beit Jalla
and Beit Sahour, as well as the Dheisheh refugee camp. Lt. Col. Guy
Hasson, a senior commander, said troops soldiers were searching for
30 Palestinians involved in Thursday's attack and other bombings. By
early Friday, 12 people had been arrested.

In one raid, two armored personnel carriers parked next to an olive
grove surrounding a one-story house. Soldiers banged on the door. An
elderly man in a bathrobe and a man in his 20s came out. Soldiers
ordered the young man to lift his windbreaker and place his hands on
a wall before leading him off to other houses.

It was not immediately clear whether the young man was on Israel's
wanted list or being ordered to serve as a "human shield" in knocking
on doors of neighbors — a practice outlawed by Israel's Supreme
Court.

In Jerusalem, five of the victims of the bus bombing were laid to
rest Thursday evening. First was Hodaya Asraf, an 8th grader at a
Jerusalem arts school. "Her friends said the last thing she drew were
leaves," said a teacher, Chena Ben-Yaakov, who attended the
funeral. "The leaf has fallen."

Israel pulled troops out of Bethlehem in August after a two-month
occupation as part of a large-scale Israeli invasion in the West Bank
that followed earlier suicide bombings in Jerusalem.

The pullout was part of a plan called "Judea First," referring to the
southern West Bank — restoring Palestinian security control there
as
a test for pulling Israeli forces out of other West Bank towns and
cities.

Israeli officials let it be known Thursday that the "Judea First"
plan was off. Spielman said that since Israeli forces pulled out in
August, Palestinians have set up a "terror infrastructure" and
prepared suicide bomb attacks. He said the Palestinian Authority
(news - web sites) had "failed miserably" in its responsibility to
prevent attacks.

Denunciations of the suicide attack came from the United States,
Europe and other parts of the world. Netanyahu took ambassadors to a
Jerusalem hospital where victims were being treated.

For photos of some of the places Sandra mentions in her article, you
can visit my website:

http://www.bobmay.info

Thanks,
Bob

----------------------------------------------------

Dear Friends,

Over the last few weeks there has been concern that the Israeli
forces were preparing to come back into Bethlehem.  There have been a
number of occasions when small number of forces has entered different
parts of the larger Bethlehem area searching for people, arresting
some. Almost every Thursday for the last 5 weeks, Bethlehem has been
closed with roadblocks.  Some days there have been the big bulldozers
or APCs at the main checkpoint.  Early Tuesday morning, Israeli
forces went into the village of El Khader (just south of Bethlehem)
and arrested a man allegedly connected to the Tanzim. Attack
helicopters circled overhead for a couple of hours in the early
morning and the Bethlehem checkpoint and tunnel road were closed
until around 10 am.

When I came home last evening from Jerusalem, my colleague Doug
picked me up at the checkpoint.  As we drove we were blinded by 2
very bright lights which were perched on top of a vehicle.  They were
so bright one couldn't tell what was there.  As we made the turn
towards Caritas Street, I glanced back and could see 1 APC and what
looked like a tank or an APC with two tall chambers on top.

This morning, again in the early hours, Bethlehemites reported that
soldiers came into the area just south of Nativity Church and
arrested a number of people.

When word came about the bombing in Jerusalem this morning, everyone
I ran into said, "Just wait – for sure, they'll announce
he is from
Bethlehem.  The Israelis have just been waiting for an excuse to come
back in."  Sure enough, this was the announcement.  The latest
report
is the bomber was a member of Jihad Islami and had been living in the
area of Bethlehem just south of the Church of the Nativity.  Whether
this report will hold, we don't know yet.

But, the market area is abuzz.  People are rushing to get supplies
for their homes.  People at work places are backing up files. Others
are trying to just plod through their work as if nothing is going on
around them.  But, the tension is palpable.  Many are angry that once
again a Palestinian has acted against a bus full of Israelis.  Some
said to me, "It is as if they are working in collaboration with
Israel, giving Sharon excuses to invade towns and villages.  Do they
not care even for our children?  What good will this do?  It damages
everything."

The Israeli Cabinet is scheduled to meet at noon today.  So, we
wait…  Will the soldiers come back?  If so, when?  If so, for how
long?  And the vicious cycle of violence continues…

Sincerely,
Sandra

Rev. Sandra Olewine
United Methodist Liaison
solewine@...

US Congress leaders push for military action against Hezbollah,
Hamas

By MAXIM KNIAZKOV

Agence France Presse

18 November 2002

WASHINGTON -- The United States should conduct military strikes
against Hezbollah and Hamas facilities in the Middle East before
engaging in any military action against Iraq, the leaders of an
influential US Senate committee demanded Sunday.

Democratic Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham and his
Republican counterpart, Richard Shelby, made their recommendation
amid increasing concern among member of the US intelligence
community that if faced with certain downfall, Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein could hand over weapons of mass destruction to regional
terrorist groups.

"Against those international terrorists such as Hezbollah and Hamas,
we need to be launching attacks on their headquarters and their
training camps so that they will not be in a position to provide
support for their terrorists that are embedded in the United States
or be developing the next generation of terrorists," said Graham,
appearing on CNN's "Late Edition" program. Shelby, interviewed on
the same show, agreed.

"Hezbollah and some others are probably the A team, not the B team
or the C team, as far as potential terrorist threats to this
country," he said.

The White House had no immediate comment. But if accepted, the plan
would represent a dramatic broadening of the war on terror, which so
far has been focused on Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network blamed
for the September 11 attacks on the United States.

President George W. Bush and other US officials have repeatedly
mentioned the possibility of Iraqi transfers of chemical or
biological weapons to groups bent on causing harm to Israel and the
United States as the prime rationale for seeking the removal of
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power.

But Washington has refrained from direct military action against
most of the organizations mentioned on the State Department's
terrorism list because of diplomatic consideration, according to US
officials.

Hezbollah, which has extensive bases and training camps in Lebanon
as well as cells in various part of the world, enjoys strong
material support of Iran and Syria, the officials said.

The radical Shiite group is blamed for the 1993 suicide truck
bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, and the 1985 hijacking
of a Trans World Airlines plane, during which a US Navy diver was
murdered. It is also the chief suspect in the 1994 bombing of an
Israeli cultural center in Buenos Aires.

The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, operates primarily from
the West Bank and Gaza Strip and draws its financial support from
Palestinian expatriates, Iran, and private benefactors in Saudi
Arabia and other Arab states, according to the officials.

Hamas has claimed responsibility for scores of suicide bombings in
Israel, but so far has not directly struck any US targets.

With the White House considering military action against Iraq,
Graham warned it would be dangerous to move against Baghdad without
first neutralizing these groups that could be recruited by Iraq for
revenge missions and inherit his weapons of mass destruction.

"In my judgment, it is a dereliction of duty to the American people
not to disable those organizations to the maximum extent possible
before we get into that position where we are the bull's eye of
Saddam Hussein's attack, and we have the capability of such
disablement," the senator said.

Graham argued that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who he said has
control over Hezbollah and other terrorist organizations, should be
given an ultimatum: "We expect you to take care of this problem, but
if you don't, we're going to take care of this problem," he said.

***********************************************************

For first time, Arafat bans rallies in support of Saddam

KHALED ABU TOAMEH Oct. 20, 2002

The Palestinian Authority has decided to ban rallies in support of
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, a senior PA official in Ramallah said
yesterday. He explained that the decision, which went into effect
over the weekend, was made by PA Chairman Yasser Arafat.

This is the first time the PA has banned such rallies. Over the past
few weeks Palestinians have held demonstrations in the West Bank and
Gaza Strip supporting Saddam and condemning the US for its threats to
wage war against Iraq.

In addition, PA-appointed mosque preachers have been instructed to
stop their attacks on the US and the West for fear that the sermons
would damage the PA's relations with these states.

Palestinian security forces were instructed over the weekend to
enforce the new measure. On Friday, Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip
were summoned by the police and told that they would not be allowed
to hold a rally on the same day to express their solidarity with
Saddam. The ban was condemned by Hamas and other Palestinian groups,
which accused the PA of succumbing to US and Israeli pressure.
The PA official told The Jerusalem Post that Arafat was concerned
that the international media were using the pro-Saddam rallies to
portray Palestinians as supporters of terror.

Also, Arafat does not want to further alienate Washington by allowing
Palestinians to burn American flags and effigies of US President
George W. Bush, he added.

"Arafat is working hard to repair his relations with the White
House," the official explained. "He wants to show the Americans that
he is still in control and that nothing moves without him."

Saddam has been paying millions of dollars to Palestinian families in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip as part of his strategy to support the
intifada. According to PA officials, the Iraqi president has so far
spent more than $15 million in financial aid to Palestinians,
including the families of suicide bombers, prisoners, "martyrs," and
the wounded.

Last week Saddam's representatives in the Gaza Strip delivered checks
to 40 families in Rafah and Khan Yunis. Each family received $10,000
from the Arab Liberation Front, a small pro-Iraqi party operating in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Some PA officials have expressed their concern over Saddam's
increased intervention in Palestinian affairs, complaining that the
Iraqi leader had become more popular than Arafat in certain parts of
the Gaza Strip.

Oct. 16, 2002
IDF closes off roads to Bethlehem's Rachel Tomb, witnesses say
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

IDF troops blocked streets leading to Rachels' Tomb, at the edge of
Bethlehem, on Tuesday, a step toward connecting the area to
Jerusalem, witnesses said.

The government decided on Sept. 11 to include the West Bank site,
where Jews believe the biblical matriarch Rachel is buried, inside a
security fence that is to surround Jerusalem, just 500 meters away.
That would involve moving the main IDF checkpoint between Bethlehem
and Jerusalem to the West Bank side of the tomb.

The IDF had no comment about activity near the tomb, and would not
confirm reports from witnesses that it had been declared a closed
military area, banning civilians from the site. The witnesses said no
further work appeared to be underway late Tuesday.

The tomb, turned into a fortified Israeli military position because
of repeated gun battles there during two years of Palestinian-Israeli
violence, is on the main road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. De-
facto annexation of the site to Jerusalem would mean bringing part of
a Palestinian neighborhood and some shops under Israeli rule.

A Muslim cemetery is next to the tomb, which was once the site of a
mosque. Palestinians reject Israel's claim to the site, though free
Jewish access is guaranteed by interim peace accords.

Bethlehem Mayor Hana Nasser said the tomb and the surrounding area
should be under Palestinian control. "All these unilateral measures
violate United Nations resolutions and all the peace agreements,"
Nasser said after the September decision.

6 Palestinians Killed, Israel Blamed
(Edited to only include sections on Bethlehem - Beit Jala)
Sun Oct 13, 7:16 PM ET
By IBRAHIM HAZBOUN, Associated Press Writer

A Palestinian militant, whose clan has been targeted previously by
Israeli security forces, was killed Sunday when a public telephone
exploded in his hand — one of six Palestinians to die in a day of
violence, Palestinians said.

Mohammed Shtewie Abayat was speaking on the phone just outside the
Beit Jalla Hospital near the West Bank city of Bethlehem when it blew
up, killing him instantly, according to doctors. Relatives said he
belonged to a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's
Fatah movement.

Palestinians blamed Israel, as they have when two other members of
the Abayat clan were killed over the past two years. The Israeli
military declined to comment. There were concerns that the killing of
Abayat could lead some Palestinians to seek retaliation.

In Beit Jalla, Abayat's brother Moussa said the two had brought their
mother to the hospital and 28-year-old Mohammed went outside to use
the public telephone. He "started to speak on it and it suddenly blew
up. Parts of his body were everywhere," Moussa Abayat said.

"I believe it is an assassination of my brother," he said, adding
that his brother was a member of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, which
is linked to Arafat's Fatah movement.

Israel has carried out dozens of targeted killings against militants
suspected of violence against Israelis. Israel has acknowledged
carrying out many attacks, though in some cases, it has refused to
confirm or deny involvement.

One member of the Abayat clan in Bethlehem, Atef Abayat, died when
his car exploded in October 2001. Another, Hussein Abayat, was killed
in an Israeli rocket attack in November 2000. Israeli accused both
men of killing Israelis.

A number of Palestinian militants have been killed by exploding
telephones in recent years.

In the most prominent case, an exploding mobile phone killed Yehia
Ayash, chief bombmaker for the Islamic group Hamas, on Jan. 5, 1996.
Israel never claimed responsibility.

Israelis Order Demolition of 120 Homes

by Bob Wing
editor, War Times
www.war-times.org

Beit Sahour, West Bank
October 6, 2002

Israeli courts have upheld an Israeli Army order to demolish 120
newly built Palestinian homes in Beit Sahour, a Palestinian town
adjacent to Bethlehem. Residents today demonstrated against the order
and launched an international campaign to save their homes.

The new homes were built by a group of limited income Palestinian
Christian families who banded together as the Arab Orthodox Housing
project to build a new life. They obtained a 99 year lease from their
Church, the Greek Orthodox Church, 22 years ago and then began the
agonizing process of organizing and saving enough money to start
construction.

"We were renters for 40 years," Dalal Awad, a mother of five told
me. "We saved for 22 years and built this home with our neighbors. It
cost $42,000. We built it with our hearts, our own labor. Now the
Israelis want to kill our dream."

A year ago the first families moved in, even though Israel refused to
provide electricity and the road to the homes was not completed. More
than 40 familes now live there. The entire project will house 850
people.

Hanan Bannourah, her father, 82, and her mother, 78, settled in
March 2002, as did her brother's family of seven in a neighboring
unit. "The Israelis bulldozed our first home in 1991. We saved and
saved to build our new home." Then, at the end of May, Israeli police
and soldiers told them they planned to destroy it.

Israeli courts recently rejected the residents' appeal. Now they
will take the case before the Israeli Supreme Court.

"Israel wants to protect their settlers just over the hill [in
Har Homa] says Ms. Bannourah. "They are trying to surround
Bethlehem with their new settlements, and to cut it off from
Jerusalem. They are trying to take over all of Palestine."

A new Israeli bypass road is being built to Har Homa that will
surround and then cut right through Beit Sahour. Har Homa will
house 30,000 Israeli Jewish settlers. Beit Sahour consists of
Christians and Moslems living side by side, resisting the Israeli
military occupation.

According to the Oslo Agreement, Beit Sahour is part of Area B,
which means it is supposed to be under joint control of Israel
and the Palestinian Authority. The municipality is supposed to
have control over land use.

The Arab Orthodox Housing Project received permits from Beit
Sahour to build, and was on the verge of completing the entire
project when Israel sent its demolition order. Suddenly Israel
claimed the land is in Area C and therefore completely under its
control.

No one knows when the Israeli Army plans to destroy the homes.
But the residents are not waiting.  "We know that when Israel decrees
an order they do not care whether families will be made homeless." To
fight, the families have launched an international information
campaign to save their homes. They plan to march and organize a
hunger strike.

"If necessary, I will build a tent here. Our dream will not die. I am
not leaving," says Ms. Bannourah.

My apologies to those who could not access my "News from Bethlehem"
website during the last few weeks.  I blamed the problem on
everything from AOL to Apple, when...ummmm, it was my own faultly
code.  Sorry.  Things should be loading much faster now.
Peace,
Bob
http://www.bobmay.info

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Israel gave no indication that it would pay heed to the text (UN
resolution), bringing new dangers for America. Some delegations
instantly pointed to the inherent hypocrisy in demanding that Iraq
abide by all UN resolutions to the letter while allowing resolutions
aimed at Israel to go ignored.
***************************************

US refrains from veto of resolution demanding end of Arafat siege
By David Usborne in New York
25 September 2002
www.independent.co.uk

The United States, anxious not to anger Arab nations as it pushes for
the toppling of Saddam Hussein, declined yesterday to block a United
Nations resolution demanding that Israel end its siege of the
headquarters of the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.

The resolution, which condemns Israel for laying siege to Mr Arafat's
Ramallah complex, was adopted in the early hours after 11 hours of
tense negotiations in the UN Security Council. The final text was
shepherded through a fractious council chamber by Britain and France.

Diplomats viewed the passage of the text as a signal moment for the
council, which in recent times has watched as Washington has
repeatedly stymied Arab-inspired drafts seeking to censure Israel.

This time, however, America, under strong pressure from European
Union countries, resisted the temptation to use its veto and
abstained, allowing the passage of the resolution by 14 votes to
zero. The text also called on Palestine to ensure that those
responsible for terrorist acts in Israel be brought to justice.

A compromise text offered by the American delegation also contained
language on Israel that was seen as highly unusual in its tough tone.
It asserted that Israel's actions "aggravated" the situation and
did "not contribute to progress on comprehensive Palestinian civil
and security reforms". One Western diplomat observed: "That alone
shows that American patience with Israel is not infinite."

But America stopped short of supporting the final text when other
delegations refused to agree to the naming of the two terrorist
organisations seen by Washington as most responsible for the suicide
attacks in Israeli territory – the Syrian-backed Islamic Jihad
and
Hamas groups.

James Cunningham, the US deputy ambassador, said: "The resolution
that we've adopted was flawed in our view in that it failed to
explicitly condemn the terrorist groups and those who provide them
with political cover, support and safe haven in perpetuating conflict
in the Middle East.''

Hanging over the entire debate was the American campaign for regime
change in Iraq. The decision to allow the resolution to pass was
widely seen as an effort by Washington to avoid further alienating
Arab opinion as it tries to muster support for an attack on Iraq.

The resolution "demands that Israel immediately cease measures in and
around Ramallah, including the destruction of Palestinian civilian
and security infrastructure" and asks for the "the withdrawal of the
Israeli occupying forces from Palestinian cities".

At the same time, it calls on the Palestinian Authority to "ensure
that those responsible for terrorist acts are brought to justice",
and reiterates a demand for a halt to violence.

Israel gave no indication that it would pay heed to the text,
bringing new dangers for America. Some Arab delegations instantly
pointed to the inherent hypocrisy in demanding that Iraq abide by all
UN resolutions to the letter while allowing resolutions aimed at
Israel to go ignored.

Nine Palestinians, including at least six civilians, were killed when
the Israeli army smashed its way into Gaza yesterday. The tanks
withdrew after demolishing a few buildings, but there were fears that
the operation might have been a precursor to a full-scale
reoccupation of the Gaza Strip.

Late last night there were smaller demonstrations in Bethlehem like
those in other West Bank towns.  Some gunshots were fired, church
bells rang, and people shouted their support for President Yasser
Arafat, currently under siege in Ramallah.
Bob
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Israeli army shoots dead four demonstrators

By Justin Huggler in Jerusalem
22 September 2002
www.independent.co.uk

Israeli soldiers killed four demonstrators who were among thousands
of Palestinians, many defying military curfews, who poured into the
streets early today protesting at the Israeli assault on Yasser
Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah.

Mr Arafat is trapped as the Israeli army reduced his presidential
compound to rubble around him. There was international condemnation
and calls for restraint as aides with Mr Arafat said they feared for
his safety.

In the compound, Israeli threatened several times over loudspeakers
to blow up the building where the Palestinian leader is holed up -
the only one left standing - unless wanted men inside surrendered.

Israel has said it does not intend to harm Mr Arafat, and the army
later said it had no plans of blowing up the building.

Mr Arafat's Fatah movement led protest marches in several West Bank
towns, defying Israeli curfews.

In Ramallah, troops fired tear gas and live bullets to disperse
hundreds of men, women and children chanting "long live Arafat, long
live Palestine." Two protesters were killed by army fire, hospital
officials said.

Two more people were killed in Tulkarem and the Balata refugee camp
outside Nablus. In Tulkarem, gunmen walking in a crowd of about 1,200
people traded fire with Israeli troops. In the town of Rafah in the
Gaza Strip, about 5,000 people joined the protests, some firing
submachine guns into the air and holding up Arafat pictures.

The Palestinian leader is trapped inside his office building, one of
only two still standing in the compound. The others have all been
destroyed by the Israeli army in response to two suicide bombings in
the past week, in which seven people died.

Mr Arafat was showered with rubble when an Israeli tank shell hit the
floor directly above him yesterday, according to Palestinian
officials inside the building. They said the Palestinian leader slept
on the floor overnight, with an Uzi machine-gun beside him.

Israeli officials say Mr Arafat will not be harmed, nor will they try
to force him into exile – a move Ariel Sharon is said to favour.
They
say they want the surrender of 19 alleged militants inside the
building with Mr Arafat.

Israeli television, however, has reported that the real aim of the
operation is to make life so uncomfortable for Mr Arafat in Ramallah
that he volunteers to go into exile. Yesterday Mr Arafat was adamant
he was staying put.

Responibility for last week's suicide bombings was claimed by Hamas
and Islamic Jihad, two groups over which Mr Arafat is known to have
little control.

Dramatically, Mr Arafat called for an end to attacks on Israeli
civilians from his besieged office building yesterday. "I reiterate
my call to the Palestinian people and all our parties to halt any
violent attacks inside Israel because Sharon exploits them as a cover
to destroy the peace of the brave," Mr Arafat said.

But Mr Arafat was also defiant yesterday. "We are ready for peace,
not for capitulation and we will not give up Jerusalem or a grain of
our soil from our homeland," he said.

The European Union called the demolition of Mr Arafat's
compound "counter-productive". And on Friday, in a rare rebuke, the
White House called for Israeli restraint, saying it had "a need to
bear in mind the consequences of action".

I've been back in Bethlehem for a few days.  The situation here is
better now than when I left.  It's also better in Bethlehem than it
is in the rest of the West Bank.  Although the checkpoints have been
tighter recently due to the Jewish holidays, Bethlehem is no longer
under curfew.  This means that we can move around freely inside the
town.  I'll continue to post information about life for Palestinians
on my website.  (Last evening we all enjoyed George's engagement
party.)  It's good to be back.

http://www.bobmay.info

August 20, 2002

Suzan Sahori
Israeli troops have withdrawn from Central Bethlehem District

Early last night the news started to spread that Israeli troops will
withdraw later in the evening. Meetings were held last night between
representatives from the PNA and the Israelis to discuss the
procedure of handing back the district to the full control of the
Palestinian Authority. Of course, the Israeli occupation forces have
not left the area entirely; Bethlehem is still surrounded by the
military, we just do not have the curfew imposed upon us now and we
do not have the occupation forces driving through the streets.

Early this morning we all noticed the increased noise out in the
streets; cars, trucks and people have been out since early in the
morning, trying to catch up on the many lost days that were spent
under the Israeli curfews. According to this morning's Al Quds
newspaper, one hundred Palestinian policemen have arrived from
Jericho and have taken up positions throughout the city to ensure
security. We have suffered mass destruction from the repeated
invasions and occupation of the area and our infrastructure has been
decimated. Thirty percent of the Palestinian security forces are
martyrs or prisoners. It will take a long time for us to rebuild and
recover from the devastation. Discussions are also underway to reopen
the DCO (District Coordinating Officer) in Beit Jala where
Palestinian and Israeli security forces work alongside each other.

In reality though, what hope does this offer us? I do not know. We do
know that the siege imposed since the beginning of the Intifada
forbids us from freedom of movement into other Palestinian areas as
well as Israel. Without full withdrawal, by which I mean an end to
the occupation of all our land, our life will not change. Trade will
still be restricted and controlled, check points will still prevent
us from moving freely between towns and cities, Palestinians will
still be abused and humiliated. And what of the other areas which are
under occupation and curfew? How long will it take before we see the
Israeli occupation forces move out of those areas?

But we can at least hope that students can have an atmosphere more
conducive to study where they can go to schools and colleges
regularly with out the fear of closure or imposed curfews.

We will keep you updated on the new situation and how things
progress. We need to get used to a new routine now since we have been
under almost constant Israeli invasion and curfew since March, 2002.
Despite this so-called withdrawal, we are not free; our lives are
still under the direct control of the Israelis. I am sure people
would expect us to be more positive, and to be expressing some
feelings of joy that the Israeli occupation forces have withdrawn,
but until we have true freedom and real justice, we have nothing to
celebrate.
____________________________

Suzan Sahori
International Public Relations Officer
Beit Sahour Municipality
Beit Sahour
http://www.beitsahourmunicipality.com

"It found that people in the Arab countries do not hate America or
Americans or American culture or democracy. They just hate our foreign
policy."

Charley Reese

For Friday, August 9, 2002

Foreign Policy Wrong

Last September, when President Bush declared his war on terrorism, I
said that you can't kill your way out of a terrorism problem. I cited
the Israelis as an example.

Does anyone want to argue with that? Israel is still wracked with
terrorism, despite having reoccupied virtually all of the West Bank
and having killed Palestinians at a prodigious rate. Nor have we
solved our terrorism problem, even though, for the time being, the
terrorists are lying low.

I also said in October that American troops would be in Afghanistan
long enough to realize that Afghanistan's summers are as blazing hot
as its winters are cold. That was when everyone was celebrating the
"short" war. Our troops are still there. Moreover, the Bush
administration doesn't have the foggiest notion of how long they will
have to stay.

We are in this mess because the Bush administration foreign policy is
based on lies. It is based on lies in order to avoid the politically
incorrect truth that our problem with terrorism is solely the result
of our outrageously unjust policy of blind support of Israel. Neither
Bush nor Congress wants to admit this, so they come up with absurd
lies that terrorists are jealous of our freedom and wealth.

Really now, do you suppose that a multimillionaire (Osama bin Laden)
who chose to live in caves is jealous of American wealth? That makes
no sense at all. The Zogby organization, which has emerged as one of
the country's most competent polling organizations, recently did
extensive face-to-face interviews with a cross section of people in
several Arab countries. What did Zogby find?

It found that people in the Arab countries do not hate America or
Americans or American culture or democracy. They just hate our foreign
policy. As Zogby put it, "It's the policy, stupid."

While I could write 10 columns on the injustices of that policy, one
example will suffice: We have inflicted a terrible economic siege and
periodic bombings on Iraq in the name of enforcing United Nations
Security Council resolutions. A former secretary of state, Madeleine
Albright, said on global television that 500,000 dead Iraqi children
were "worth it to enforce the resolutions."

At the same time, the state of Israel stands in open,
stick-it-where-the-sun-don't-shine defiance of more than 60 U.N.
Security Council resolutions. It is able to do so because the United
States refuses to allow any enforcement actions to be taken against
Israel.

You do see the contradiction, do you not? Enforcing U.N. resolutions
against Iraq is OK, even if it means killing half a million Iraqi
children, but no U.N. resolution can be enforced against Israel. It is
not surprising that Arabs do not like that policy. Their dislike is
quite rational and moral.

The only thing the Arab world, and indeed the Muslim world, asks of
the United States is simple fairness. Israel's terrorism problem will
never be solved as long as it continues to occupy the West Bank and
Gaza. Instead of pressuring Israel to do the right thing, President
Bush is trying to imitate the Israelis' failed and blood-spattered
policy.

Get a video of the American film "The Patriot," with Mel Gibson. In
your own mind, substitute the Palestinians for the American patriots
and the Israelis for the British. You will have a correct analogy of
what is going on in Palestine. Every time the Israelis kill and maim
Palestinian children and commit other injustices, the Palestinian
determination to fight grows 10 times stronger.

It is sad indeed that our government rejects the Palestinian freedom
fighters and instead supports the oppressor, Israel. We'll pay for
that stupidity in blood.


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© 2002 by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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