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Posted on 04/07/2002 11:04:58 PM PDT by Jean S
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli forces on Monday shot at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, one of Christianity's holiest sites, after a standoff with gunmen trapped inside, the city's governor said.
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The Israeli army said gunmen had opened fire from the church compound and it blamed the fire on the people inside, saying they had thrown grenades.
It said two soldiers had been hurt and that soldiers had "fired toward the source of the shooting" as they rescued the wounded men.
Madani said soldiers in the municipality building 100 meters (yards) to the west and gunners in two tanks to the south were shooting at the church, which Christians believe marks the site of Jesus's birth.
It was also not immediately clear if some 200 gunmen and civilians trapped inside the church with several members of the clergy were firing back. They burst in there last Tuesday and took refuge after tanks and troops entered the city.
Army commandos were on the roof of the church, and helicopters hovered overhead.
A priest inside the church compound said: "The Israeli soldiers carried out an armed attack on the Nativity church. They set fire to the parish building in front of the basilica."
"Palestinians inside the basilica tried to put out the fire and one of them (Israeli soldiers) opened fire and killed a Palestinian. There is damage to the face of the Church itself," he said.
A Reuters correspondent watching from nearby said she heard Israeli soldiers shouting through loudhailers for those inside to give themselves up.
In Rome, the Franciscans condemned the shooting at the church.
Father David Jaeger, spokesman for custodians of Catholic sites in the Holy Land, who is currently in Rome, told Reuters: "This is an act of indescribable barbarity. It is a violation of every law of humanity and civilisation.
"It is a violation of the explicit and repeated public and diplomatic guarantees of the State of Israel with consequences that will be long-term and incalculable," he said.
The Israeli army is the 11th day of a sweep of the West Bank for militants following a spate of Palestinian suicide bombings. Its tanks and troops entered Bethlehem, just south of Jerusalem, last Tuesday.
and even that would be so heavily misrepresented and biased that we could learn nothing from Reuters, so ...nothin to see here, folks.
Storm the facility. Get those 200 terrorists. I wonder... WHO they are and WHY it is so important to protect them, that CHRISTIANS who worship a Jew as God, would betray their faith for them... Could it be that some of these PRIESTS are from jew hating countries, anti-semites?
Could some of the Al Queda types actually be operatives of our "European allies"? heh heh... should be interesting.
Is this a Greek Orthodox Church or one of the ones where all types of Christian Groups have a convent, or facility on the grounds?
I am guessing that there are folks who call themselves Christians, suffering from "stockholm syndrome" who are also helping the terrorists.
Kidnapped, yes, most of them.. but all of them... I don't think so. We shall indeed see, if things go critical tonight.
Plus, those churches were more expendable. There's only one Church of the Nativity.
"It is a violation of the explicit and repeated public and diplomatic guarantees of the State of Israel with consequences that will be long-term and incalculable," he said.
Thus sayeth with fragmentary basis an inhabitant of the continent that set loose the pigs that murdered - among others - 6 million Jews.
I say the hell with this cr-p from Reuters & its sources when they know full well that gunmen with their weapons chose to hole themselves up in the church - not for peaceful sanctuary but as a shield to wage battle.
If this forum has tought me anything in the last few weeks it's that 1) Reuters is blatantly & reliably antisemetic 2) Europeans have learned *nothing* from what they did 60 years ago and 3) the world can sure be a stupid place sometimes.
Everyone knows the Catholic Church is antisemitic. Pope Pius XII did everything but yell "All Aboard" when trains left Italy headed for Auschwitz you know.
The Clinton excuse. "Everybody does it so it is OK."
Check your history dude or dudette... the enemies of Israel are ALREADY playing this to the hilt. In the end, the pallies will likely blow the joint up at its most holy place... and then swear the Israelis did it.
you know it, I know it, the world knows it. That the europeans and the religious leaders who bent over for hitler's goons, would do the same thing for the "palestinian nail distribution network" comes as small surprise. None really.
Of course with all the buggery going on these days in religious circles... the "moral authority" of the leadership is MORE than a little tarnished...
Lots of our religious politicians are quite anti semitic... or put bluntly JEW HATERS. They abound in the USA.
I suspect it would be best to just level the building. Kill the baby bombers. And hang any religious leaders that collaborated. Build a new building. Try and smooth things over... and when it does not work out (big surprise right?) try and go on. Winning the war and keeping the peace requires brute force.
palistinian nailsalesman are counting on IDF not having the balls to pull this off. I think they are miscalculating the effect of their incursion into Christianity.
When the building burns, most of us won't blame IDF... we will blame the kidnappers and hostage takers, and their collaborators. BTW the collaborators are going to DIE before they face the reality of their own acts...
Ever heard of JUDAS PRIESTS? They exist.
You are kidding right?
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