[fogarty]

"Furthermore, all Christians should be disturbed that the Holy sites have become fodder for the Palestinian and Israeli war."

Perhaps - but let us remember it was the Palestinian terrorists who forcibly entered the church, armed, and essentially took the staff there hostage. These are many of the same Palestinians who are known by Israeli forces and linked by documents found at Arafat's lair to have aided the recent suicide bombings which have killed hundreds of Israeli citizens.

Let's think realistically here. Do you think ANY american would object if one of the surviving 9-11 terrorists had forcibly entered and was holed up in a NYC church, and we used military force to take him down?

The fact of the matter is, the Israelis did not ask for this war. And they did not ask for the 1967 war which resulted in Islamic land being taken. And they did not ask for the literally hundreds of terrorist and bombing attacks prior to the 1967 war which resulted in the occupied land. The fact of the matter is, the Muslims - and the Palestinian's - desired end state is not a Palestinian nation, but the destruction of Israel. You are naive to believe otherwise.

[CWW]

Although I agree with your comments about the Palestinians baing the cause of the problem, you miss my point. The Church of the Nativity has ALWAYS been OFF-LIMITS for gu battles regardless of fault. TYhink about what you're saying -- that the Israelis should be allowed to destroy a sacred Church that marks the birthplace of Christ for the short-term gain of killing a few more terrorist. And remember, those priests and nuns are essentially hostages. It's a bad situation. But to say that the Church does not have the right to criticize the IDF for its tactics when there is an agreement in place for such exigencies is unfair.