Gee I can't imagine why.
Posted on 04/24/2002 6:58:19 AM PDT by TheOtherOne
PALESTINE: Corpses may have to be buried in Bethlehem church.
By Michael Georgy
08:16 ET
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2002.
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, April 24 (Reuters) - A Palestinian negotiator said on Wednesday people trapped in Bethlehem's besieged Church of the Nativity would soon have to bury two corpses in its compound unless Israel agreed to their removal.
"I am afraid the people inside will be forced to bury them in the church if the Israelis don't allow for burial outside. They are decomposing," the negotiator, Palestinian legislator Salah Taamari, told Reuters.
"We told this to the Israelis during the talks but they were evasive. This is unacceptable and unethical," he said.
Israeli negotiators were not immediately available for comment, before the start of a second day of talks with the Palestinians on ending the three-week stalemate at the church where dozens of militants have taken sanctuary.
The two dead men, who are Muslims, were killed by Israeli gunfire some two weeks ago, hospital officials said. The burial of Muslims at the site revered by Christians as the birthplace of Jesus is a sensitive theological and political issue.
Armed Palestinians, including militants wanted by Israel, took refuge in the church to escape Israeli troops who reoccupied the West Bank city on April 2 as part of an offensive unleashed after suicide bombings that killed scores of Israelis.
There are about 230 people inside the church, including militants, gunmen, civilians, Palestinian security forces, priests and nuns.
The complex is surrounded by soldiers and snipers, armoured personnel carriers and tanks. Israeli armour also still rings the Ramallah headquarters of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Israeli forces completed a pullback from other West Bank cities on Sunday.
ISRAELIS SAY SHOT GUNMAN
Late on Tuesday, Israeli forces wounded an armed man who shot at them from the church compound and evacuated him to hospital, an Israeli army spokesman said. Israeli military sources said he was one of the militants on Israel's wanted list.
The army said two Palestinians who had taken ill inside the church were allowed to leave on Wednesday by Israeli forces.
Israel has insisted wanted gunmen in the church surrender, giving them a choice between trial in Israel or exile. Palestinians have rejected the demands and want the men to face Palestinian justice in Gaza.
"Even if the men inside the church accept deportation, we will reject it," Taamari said. "Palestinians have suffered enough from exile.
"We don't want to set a precedent here. Nobody can guarantee that if these men are guilty, that they will not commit violent acts from abroad. We can control them in Gaza."
Taamari said the Israeli team had initially accepted a Palestinian proposal to send the men to Gaza, where he said Palestinian authorities would prevent them from engaging in violence in a deal that would be guaranteed by a third party.
"At first the team accepted this, and then they backtracked. It seems Israeli negotiators are prepared to accept it but the Israeli leadership will not because of domestic reasons," he said.
Taamari said the Palestinian side was waiting for Israel to provide a list of the wanted men in the church.
"At this stage it's not a question of us compromising. It is now up to the Israelis to give us information on these men," he said.
Taamari said if Israel was planning on wearing down the people inside the church to avoid making concessions, that strategy would fail.
"The Israelis are miscalculating if they think the people inside the church are weak and will surrender," he said.
Asked if the 30 militants and gunmen wanted by Israel were showing signs of desperation after three weeks of nightly psychological warfare, frequent shooting around the church and reports of food running out, Taamari said: "They are strong. The Israelis are miscalculating."
He said the gunmen inside the church would accept any deal reached to end the crisis.
Gee I can't imagine why.
Exile from where? Their parents' basement? The Shopping malls in Tel Aviv? I'll send them an Orange Julius and a Pretzel.
And as far as the DEAD Pali Terrorists?...Only the GOOD should be buried at the church of the Nativity...They've already performed the only act they could have done to merit GOOD Pali Terrorist status...go ahead and plant them! We can always fumigate.
The Muslims say that these gunmen are "martyrs," and that according to their tradition, "martyrs" must be buried where they died (which then becomes "sacred" to Muslims). Naturally, Christians, particularly the monks entrusted with guarding the holy sites, do not want this, and the Palestinians are trying to force it upon them or put the Israelis in a position where they appear to be forcing it on the Christians.
The Israelis have blundered in the past in their dealings with Muslims and Christians - for example, when they agreed to let the Muslims build a huge mosque right across from the Church of the Annunciation. This project was stopped by the current Israeli government, fortunately, but it's a sensitive issue, and the Palestinians are clever enough to know how to play it.
The Saudis refuse the burial of its Christian workers in any part of their country! They are afraid it would contaminate the camel crap/sand of their filthy country! The Christians should object to the burial of the filthy Moslems in our holy church rather then the Moslems worried about their terrorist being buried in a church ground!
Desecration, Blasphemy, Travesty! The World will pay a Dreadful Price!
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