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Israel Bars Arafat From Visiting Bethlehem for Christmas Services
BETHLEHEM, Dec. 23 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Sources close to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said Sunday that in spite of an Israeli ban on him attending Christmas Mass in Bethlehem, his convoy would make its way to the city, and confront Israeli soldiers who try to block his way.
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said in response that Israel would not let Arafat through the Israeli checkpoints.
"We will not give in to the head of an entity that supports terror, while master terrorists roam free at his side." they said. The office of hardline Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel respected freedom of religion, but that Arafat himself was Muslim.
Arafat repeated his pledge Sunday to go to Bethlehem for Christmas, saying, "No one will prevent me from traveling to Ramallah."
Arafat had declared Saturday that he would take part in Christmas Mass in Bethlehem "with or without Israeli approval," even if he has to travel on foot to the church in order to take part.
"I will go [to Bethlehem] although Israel will not give me coordination. I will go, even walking," Arafat told members of two American Jewish groups, Jewish Unity for a Just Peace, and Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel.
The government made its decision late Saturday night, saying the Palestinian leader had not done enough to clamp down on Palestinian resistance groups.
The decision was taken after a telephone survey of ministers in the security cabinet, where the right wing has a majority. Sharon's office said in a statement that, "The cabinet made its decision based on the fact that Arafat is not acting to dismantle Palestinian terror organizations and to prevent terror against Israel from Palestinian Authority areas."
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres signaled the rightist Sharon's coalition government was split over the ban on Arafat, saying he should be allowed to go to Bethlehem.
"I don't want our prevention of Arafat visiting Bethlehem to become the talk of Christmas around the Christian world...Let him go, pray, do what he wants to do," Peres told Israeli Army Radio.
Meanwhile, Gush Shalom head Uri Avineri petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice today, asking it to overrule a decision by Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer from visiting Arafat in Ramallah on Saturday.
Avineri told The Jerusalem Post a delegation of 50 Gush Shalom members could have entered the West Bank by stealth but wanted to conduct their visit above board.
He said the Defense Ministry rejected their request on the grounds that it was unsafe to visit the territories and that Israeli security forces could not guarantee their well-being. Avineri said he had complete faith that the Palestinian security forces would protect the delegation.
The Israeli Defense Ministry decided Sunday to ease restrictions on Palestinians ahead of the Christmas holiday, Israel Radio reported Sunday. Christians from Israel will be permitted to travel to Bethlehem to attend religious ceremonies and visit relatives. Pilgrims will be able to travel to Bethlehem in Israeli buses and Christians from the territories will be permitted to travel to Israel to attend religious ceremonies and to visit relatives.
After much speculation over Arafat's Christmas plans, the Palestinian Authority submitted a request to Israel Saturday to allow Arafat to travel to Bethlehem from his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Arafat has been confined to Ramallah for the last two weeks, ever since Israeli forces destroyed his helicopters and imposed a closure on the city following a spate of deadly bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa that left 25 dead.
Sources in Sharon's office said Friday that Arafat would not be allowed to take part in the mass unless two of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi's murderers were arrested. "Arafat has a lot of work to do in Ramallah," Sharon spokesman Ra'anan Gissin said. "Arafat must arrest Ze'evi's murderers," he added.
The United States proposed to the Israeli Embassy in Washington that Israel allow Arafat to attend Christmas Mass in Bethlehem, Israel Radio reported Sunday. The U.S. request came before the government voted on the issue. U.S. President George W. Bush's administration said that if Arafat were not allowed to attend the mass, they would make their objection public.
The European Union contacted Foreign Ministry Director-General Avi Gil and expressed support for Arafat's request. An Israeli denial of the request, said EU officials, will not be taken well in the Christian world.
Deputy public security minister, Gideon Ezra, of the Likud, criticized the decision, saying that it was important for the region that "signs of joy issue from Bethlehem" and that this would not happen if Arafat were not present. Ezra suggested that the decision to bar Arafat from traveling to Bethlehem, as he has done since 1995, might be revisited.
Opposition leader Yossi Sarid (Meretz) said that the cabinet's decision was "laying the groundwork" for the next attack against Israel by Palestinian resistance groups, and that instead of encouraging Arafat to take measures to crackdown on these groups, Sharon was doing everything to humiliate and weaken him.
Jibril Rajoub, the head of preventive security in the West Bank, said the decision indicated that Israel was not interested in peace and was being led by a "government of war."
The Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas, said on Friday it was halting operations in Israel until further notice in the interests of Palestinian unity. Officials of Islamic Jihad put out mixed signals on Saturday about whether the group would follow suit.
The moves seemed to be aimed at halting fighting between Palestinian police and Islamic resistance activists, which reached a climax on Friday when six people were killed and more than 80 wounded in a gun battle in a Gaza Strip refugee camp.
The clashes, which followed efforts by Arafat to clamp down on activists, were among the worst since the Palestinian Authority was set up in 1994 and marked one of the most serious internal challenges to Arafat's leadership.
Israel has said the announcements by some resistance activists that they were suspending attacks were part of a secret deal with Arafat to avoid his crackdown. The Palestinians say the ball is now in Israel's court to ease the conflict.
At least 790 Palestinians and 233 Israelis have died since the uprising against Israel's continued military occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem began in September 2000 after peace talks froze.
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