Posted on 05/11/2002 12:31:59 PM PDT by knighthawk
BETHLEHEM: US experts searching the Church of the Nativity yesterday found "booby traps" in the compound, an Israeli army spokesman said.
He was unable to specify how many there were, or where they had been placed, but said that after the discovery the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, who has partial custody of the church, had asked Israeli troops to search the buildings. About 20 soldiers entered the church complex to check whether there were any remaining explosives.
An army spokeswoman said the searches had found five concealed rifles and about 40 explosive devices, primed for use.
Almost immediately, the Palestinian leadership accused the Israeli army of desecration and of violating the terms of the deal to end the 38-day siege of the basilica, one of Christianity's holiest sites.
It said the Israeli army had "desecrated the church under the pretext of looking for three rifles".
Palestinian militants who had holed up in the church for five weeks left their weapons behind when they were allowed out on Friday night.
The group of Palestinian fighters left the Church of the Nativity for exile and Israeli troops withdrew from the city following the deal that ended the standoff.
The 13 Palestinians on Israel's most-wanted list were flown to Cyprus, the first stop in an exile that will take them to third countries under a European-brokered deal to end the siege.
Twenty-six others whom Israel considered less serious offenders were expelled from the West Bank and taken by armoured bus to Gaza. They were greeted as heroes by flag-waving crowds and will be housed in a hotel.
IN Tulkarm, on the West Bank, Israel blew up an apartment building that was home to a Palestinian suicide bomber whose killing of 29 people in an Israeli hotel was followed by an Israeli offensive in the West Bank.
The army ordered about 70 relatives of the bomber to evacuate the four-storey building before blowing it up. The explosion totally or partially destroyed eight other apartments in two adjacent buildings and shattered windows of scores of other houses. About 100 people were left homeless, residents said.
In Washington, the Qatar Foreign Minister said that without adequate preparation and a timetable for steps to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Middle East peace conference proposed for next month could end up as a forum for arguing and achieve nothing.
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani said after talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell and Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage that it might not be possible to hold the conference in June as planned.
"Before the conference everyone (must) know . . . what will be achieved from that conference," he said.
The US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations have proposed the conference.
Arab and Israeli reactions have been wary.
Another peace conference? Please.
Cool.
What nerve the PA has.
The Palestinan terrorists desecrated and defiled the church when they entered it. They proceeded to trash and deficate in the church. They showed no respect for hallowed ground. Nor any respect for themselves. To make matters worse for their cause, they left traps for Christians or Jews who would enter the church after they left.
These are not the acts of people who claim to be struggling for "freedom" or "statehood." These are the orchestrated acts of a group of thugs who wish to placate an egotistical politician who wants to create a state. Afterall, a Palestinian statehood would give credibility to an Arrafat or whatever leadership happens to be "installed". Just think, another statehood with another Saddam who could churn out more Osamas, and force women and children to blow themselves up in shopping malls all in the name of Allah.
The Saudi's created Osama. The Saudi's exiled the Palestinians, as did the Syrians, as did Egypt, Jordan, and every other Arabic state in the region. Please note that not one Arabic country has even offered the Palestinians a few acres of land as a token of goodwill toward their Arabic brothers. Please note that the Palestinians are not blowing themselves up in any of those countries in retaliation for their being turned into refugees. Isreal did not create the Palestinian plight. Theirs was a problem long before Isreal became a state.
It appears Arabic countries are seeking a Palestinian statehood at the expense of the only democratic country that exists in the Middle East. The racial overtones are frightening, and mixed with extremists who exist soley to exploit their own people in quest of power. They chose Isreal as their target. That the UN supports their actions, and condems Isreal only excerbates hostilities on a global basis. Our elected officials should not continue to allow our tax dollars to be distributed among all these countries in the name of "aid". To do so would only "aid" the terrorists on all sides. Nor should the United States support or report to the "United Nations" in any way whatsoever.
There's nothing a bureaucrat loves more than a meeting that achieves nothing: it gives him the chance to hold yet another meeting.
Since I categorically reject "newspeak" I feel entitled to ask the question:
What gives the subhuman "palestinians" the illusion that they can define what desecration of a Christian church is?
Hint: breaking into it as an armed filthy muslim is a desecration.
Claiming to be "protecting" a Christian church is both a desecration and a puerile joke.
Attempting to steal objects from the church is a desecration.
I do hope all those savages were searched as they departed the premises.
Well, as they say in Texas, "Ya don't have to be a weatherman to know that a feller is a liar when he is p---ing on your boots and telling you it's rainin'."
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