Posted on 04/28/2002 9:33:01 AM PDT by Stultis
Palestinian youth: 'I couldn't stay any longer'
By Greg Myre
During the first chilly nights Abed Abu Surour spent inside the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, he huddled with 30 young men in the tiny stone grotto revered as the spot where Jesus was born.
And on his final full day at the church, the hungry 16-year-old Muslim youth slipped into a church garden to pick green beans, only to be chased off by Israeli army fire.
Abu Surour, a lively, talkative kid, was among nine youths to emerge from the church on Thursday. On April 2, the day the standoff began, he was heading to Bethlehem's market to meet friends when Israeli troops advancing into Bethlehem began battling Palestinian gunmen, forcing him to seek cover.
He followed others through the 1.5-meter-high doorway into the church, one of the holiest sites in Christendom. The Palestinians, almost all of them Muslims, took refuge in the church, believing it was the safest place from Israeli fire - even more secure than the mosque at the other end of Manger Square.
Israel says it is only interested in the gunmen, and the others inside are free to come out at any time. And while some Palestinians have trickled out, most have stayed put, citing various reasons.
Most priests and monks, totaling about 40, have said they want to stay to protect the church. Several nuns - the only women in the church - have also remained. One is a trained nurse who has patched up Palestinians shot by the Israelis.
Four Palestinian policemen came out on Friday. However, more than 100 policemen are still inside, along with about 50 civilians, including 10 youths, who Abu Surour said are there to support fellow Palestinians.
"It was a personal decision to leave the church. Those inside accepted that we were leaving," Abu Surour said.
"I felt the need to show solidarity, but I also felt I couldn't stay any longer."
After the nine youths emerged Thursday - the largest single group to come out so far - the Israelis interrogated them about the gunmen.
"We told them we don't know all the people inside," said Mohammed Najar, 16. "The situation is extremely difficult. There isn't food, there isn't medicine, and there isn't enough water. The injured people are in very bad condition and must get medical treatment soon."
Conditions were rough from the very first night.
As the group looked for a place to sleep in the cold, cavernous church, they opted for the warmest spot they could find - the small cave believed to be the site of Jesus's birth, located down a series of steps from the basilica.
Up to 30 people, most of them youths, gathered there the first few nights, before later moving upstairs to the basilica, where they conducted Muslim prayers, Abu Surour said.
In the long days filled with boredom and punctuated with occasional bursts of gunfire, the darkest moments came when two Palestinian policemen were shot dead.
In the first instance, a policeman had helped extinguish a fire in the Franciscan part of the compound, caused by Israeli stun grenades. As the policeman was crossing a yard to return to the basilica, he was shot in the head, Abu Surour said.
In the second death, a policeman ran an electrical extension cord into the adjacent Casanova Hotel, which was subsequently used to charge 14 cell phones. But after making the connection, the policemen was shot in the chest by an Israeli sniper, Abu Surour added.
The policeman staggered back to the basilica, shouting, "I don't want to die." But he collapsed minutes later.
As the standoff has dragged on, conditions have grown increasingly desperate. Abu Surour said that like most, he wore the same clothes throughout, and couldn't wash, aside from splashing water on his face.
Food, which came from the monks' cupboards, was rationed from the beginning. Palestinians and the priests have been eating only one meal a day - rice or spaghetti. Surour said he would also eat onions and drink as much water as possible to keep hunger pangs at bay.
"You didn't waste anything," said Abu Surour, a slim youth who said he lost 13 kilograms. "If you dropped a grain of rice, you picked it up." (AP)
I guess they can hide behind the nuns in a pinch.
Their very presence desecrates this holy spot.
Right, and Allah might not be pleased with children of the Prophet taking sanctuary in the house of the Infidel's God. Just think what the international press reaction would be had the IDF holed up in the mosque across the way.
He was not armed.
Those who seek sanctuary in a church must leave their arms outside else they cannot be said to be properly claiming the sanctuary of Holy Mother Church.
He was not armed and he was fleeing crossfire.
Those who seek sanctuary in a church must leave their arms outside else they cannot be said to be properly claiming the sanctuary of Holy Mother Church.
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