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It is a mistake to paint them as Muslim terrorists when many of these people are Palestinian Christians.

I'm referring to the 200 "Palestinian gunmen" that were inside. You can be sure that no Palestinian political folk, such as Arafat, would define a Christian (even of Arab descent) as a Palestinian. In the context of this church, the "Palestinian gunmen" inside are connected to Arafat. Note this in the story below in which Bethlehem Governor Mohammed Al Madani (not a Palestinian Christian) said they'd abide by Arafat's decision

Herald Sun

April 16, 2002, Tuesday

SECTION: WORLD; Pg. 25

LENGTH: 312 words

HEADLINE: Snipers trade shots around church;
More wounded in siege

SOURCE: REUTERS, AFP

BODY:
BETHLEHEM -- Gunfire erupted around Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity yesterday, with Palestinians and Israelis accusing each other of opening fire and both sides suffering wounded.

Bethlehem Governor Mohammed Al Madani, trapped along with other civilians and some clergy with 200 gunmen in the church marking Jesus Christ's birthplace, said one Palestinian was shot in the leg by Israeli sniper fire. Israeli military officials said two Israeli soldiers had been slightly wounded.

Both sides accused the other of opening fire in the area, declared a closed military zone by the army and forbidden to journalists.

A TV crew reported ex plosions and flashes just after midnight from the West Bank city's centre, Nativity Square.

Earlier, Abu Youssef, a Palestinian who described himself as a civilian, said the surrounding troops had opened fire unprovoked.

"Israelis fired on the church heavily and threw sound (stun) grenades at the church," he said.

He said that the gunmen in the church did not shoot back.

Israel has said it would not violate the sanctity of the church, which was stormed by Palestinian gunmen seeking refuge from the Israeli army's West Bank offensive, launched on March 29 after a wave of suicide bombings against Israelis.

Since then, two Palestinians have been killed, and an Armenian priest and two Israeli soldiers wounded, in clashes around Nativity Square.

The Israeli army says the gunmen have fired from within the church compound.

On Sunday, Israel gave visiting US Secretary of State Colin Powell a proposal for ending the stand-off, whereby the gunmen in the church could surrender and be tried in an Israeli military court or go into exile for ever.

The proposal was rejected outright. Governor Al Madani said the Palestinians would abide by any solution endorsed by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

LOAD-DATE: April 16, 2002

It is a mistake to paint them as Muslim terrorists when many of these people are Palestinian Christians. Bethlehem still has a very large Palestinian Christian population some of whom are in that Church including the Palestinian Franciscan monk Father Ibrahim.

There may be innocent civilians who are Christian in the church, but keep in mind that the people who are there shot their way in. They shot locks off of the doors. When the priests said this was a holy site and guns were not permitted, they pushed the priests aside and forced their way in. If they are not terrorists they have no reason to stay. Israel has offered to let everyone out. The only people who have anything to fear are those who have committed terrorist acts against Israel. All others will be free. Further, if there are Christians in the church who were not part of the terrorist group - what are they doing there? The church was closed at the time this group of armed men forced their way in.