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April 17, 2002
Friars say Israelis won't let them move body out of church compound
Priests concerned Israelis will stage a military operation at church
By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) — Franciscan friars at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity compound said the Israeli army would not let them remove the body of a Palestinian killed in a gun battle.
They also said they had no electricity and were running out of food and that the Israelis were not permitting supplies to reach them.
Father David Jaeger, spokesman for the Custody of the Holy Land, said that as of 8:30 p.m. April 9 the body still had not been removed from the church, nor had any supplies reached the compound.
"For two days the (Israeli army) has absolutely refused the International Red Cross from taking out the body," he said. "This leaves us totally speechless."
He said the friars remained concern that the Israelis would stage a military operation against the Palestinians inside the church compound. Israel maintains that a number of men who are responsible for terrorist attacks against Israelis are among those holed up in the church.
Father Jaeger said although Israel had promised not to attack the church, he considered the events of April 8 as breaking that promise.
"We are terrified of a military operation at any time," he said. "We keep calling on both the Palestinians and Israelis to accept a plan for an honorable and responsible solution to this intolerable situation ... and let it end before a catastrophe happens."
In a telephone interview April 9, Franciscan Father Amjad Sabbara, who lives in the compound occupied by about 200 Palestinians, said it remained fairly calm the day after the Israeli-Palestinian gun battle.
"The problem is that they (the Israelis) are not willing to allow the Red Cross ambulance to cross" into the compound to get the Palestinian's body, Father Sabbara said.
An Israeli army spokesman said April 9 the army was coordinating the evacuation of the body of the Palestinian, who was from Gaza, and also the delivery of supplies to the Church of the Nativity.
"It is a tense situation and it is a difficult area to get near. Two Israeli soldiers were injured there yesterday, so we are being cautious," he said. "The coordination of these things takes time. It is not a simple issue."
Earlier, Father Sabbara said ancient mosaics on the walls of the West Bank church, traditional site of where Jesus was born, were damaged by gunfire.
"Even during the Persian occupation, while they destroyed all the other churches here, only the Church of the Nativity was undamaged. Now the basilica of Bethlehem has been touched. We did not expect that," said Father Sabbara.
In a telephone interview April 8, he said there had been Israeli soldiers on the roof of the compound but they had left by late afternoon, though they remained in their positions surrounding the church.
Early morning gunfire April 8 ignited a fire in the parish hall, Father Sabbara told Catholic News Service. The shooting began around 4:30 a.m., with nuns and friars gathering in one room for support, he said.
"We don't know exactly what happened," he said.
"I don't have experience in identifying (gunfire), and I can't tell from which direction they (shots) came," he said.
Father Sabbara said community members avoid being near windows after a priest was nearly shot over the weekend.
Israel maintained that the friars were being held as hostages by nearly 200 Palestinians, including gunmen, inside a convent adjoining the church. The friars and church leaders denied this charge, calling it "disinformation."
"The position of the Franciscans who are the Custody of the Holy Land is that we are staying here in good times and in bad times," said Father Sabbara.
"We are messengers of peace, as St. Francis said, `Make me a channel of peace.' We are saying to all the world and both (Palestinian and Israeli) leaders to seek and find a peaceful solution. We are not leaving. We are staying in our home," he said.
Christian leaders attempted to march peacefully into Bethlehem April 8 in a show of solidarity with residents, but were turned back by Israeli soldiers.
"Peace cannot be obtained by the war nor by the tanks or by the bloodshed, especially in Bethlehem," they said in a statement read at the checkpoint. "There is no need for more bloodshed in Bethlehem. This morning blood was shed. We refuse all bloodshed, Israeli or Palestinian. Bethlehem must not remain any more a place of war.
"We ask the Israeli authorities to withdraw all its instruments of war, to go in peace, and to send back their soldiers to their families," they said.
Some 200 Palestinians — mostly heavily armed gunmen — broke into the Church of the Nativity April 3. They fled to a neighboring convent the next day after a mid-morning explosion outside the church.
Both sides accused the other of initiating gunfire.
Over the April 6-7 weekend two Greek Orthodox priests, a Greek Orthodox nun and two women who worked at the Greek Orthodox part of the church were evacuated from the church compound. They declined to speak with the press.
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem issued a statement calling on Christians to pray for peace. He condemned the "siege of the basilica and the psychological war waged by the Israeli soldiers around it." He also denied that the Franciscan friars were being held hostage, calling it "false news and rumors."
"From Bethlehem our heart goes to all of the other cities and locations which had been invaded and are now under siege. We call upon all of you faithful, Christians and Muslims alike, to keep faith and courage. We are with you, and peace-loving people all over the world are with you," he said.
He said world leaders, including Pope John Paul II, were working for peace in the Holy Land.
Meanwhile, church leaders met with Israeli government officials April 8, hoping to find a solution to the situation.
Among the leaders were Patriarch Sabbah; Franciscan Father Giovanni Battistelli, custody of the Holy Land; and Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican's diplomatic representative to Israel and the Palestinian territories. All declined comment after the meeting.
Representatives of the Armenian and Greek Orthodox churches — whose monks also were confined at the Church of the Nativity compound — also attended.
The Israelis assured the leaders of their sensitivity to the importance of the Church of the Nativity to Christians and said they had no intentions of damaging the church. They said they wished to find a peaceful solution to the tense standoff and promised to facilitate humanitarian aid to the compound.
Armenian Orthodox Bishop Aris Shirvanian said the Christian leaders wanted to avoid any more bloodshed. He noted that it was difficult to verify different versions of events given by the Palestinians and the Israelis.
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