Posted on 04/16/2002 7:07:12 AM PDT by marshmallow
The Israeli Army is broadcasting ear-splitting screeches and wails at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, traditional site of Jesus' birth, to force out 200 Palestinians besieged there.
Troops brought in a crane to hoist loudspeakers over the ancient basilica, one of the holiest shrines in Christendom, as part of what one person inside called "psycho terror". One of the noises sounds like a car alarm.
Camped outside the church, the army estimates there are about 50 wanted Palestinian militants inside, with clergy and civilians.
The Israeli Government offered a deal on Sunday under which the wanted men would be given a choice between permanent exile and trial before a military court. "If they leave, it's for good but, if they stay, then they will have to stand trial in Israel," said a spokesman for the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. The offer was put by the US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, to the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, during talks on Sunday.
Palestinian negotiators immediately rejected it, saying the men would not accept exile, and if they were to be judged it should be before a Palestinian court. But they would accept any deal that Mr Arafat approved.
In an appeal on Friday the trapped Palestinians called for United Nations intervention to save them from "a slow death".
They have been deprived of food for almost two weeks, and the army has shot at Palestinian youths lobbing bags of bread into the compound.
"We are hearing loud whistles and screeches in the daytime and now at night," said the Governor of Bethlehem, Mahmoud Madani, who is inside the church. "They want to destroy our morale, but the only solution is a negotiated settlement."
The church has responded to the caterwauling by ringing its bells.
In a major blow to the Palestinian resistance, Israel last night arrested Marwan Barghouthi, a leader of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank and regarded by Israel as the top militant in the area, Israeli security sources said.
Barghouthi, sought by Israel since it launched a West Bank offensive on March 29, was arrested in the city of Ramallah, the sources said.
Those selfishless clergy who have provided sanctuary and protection of the holy shrines for millions of pilgims can't do an awful lot with pistols stuck to their heads inside and outside the Church unless you want them to have them witness the murders of each innocent bystander first.
Martyrdom has never been a problem for Christians who trust God before men.
However, why are you and others raising the stakes on protecting this sacred place --This particular Church -- at Easter Time no less?
A baseless assertion. Many Americans are not aware that some Palestinians are still in the church or even that Palestinians went into the church. Most Americans are not aware that there is a Church of the Nativity. Many Americans do not know where Bethlehem is and are not able to point out Israel on a world map.
The priest should leave and let the Israelis do what they have to.
By increasing tensions inside the church (which the Israelis are now invading in a psychological sense) this tactic heightens the danger of the clergy inside (consistent with earlier attempts to force them from the complex), and significantly heightens the risk of a violent breakout, giving the lie to the Israeli claim that they want to make peaceful arrests, and needlessly risking lives on all sides, as well as God's house.
See above as to the "danger of the clergy" They are either in there voluntary, in which case it is "You are either with us or..." you know the rest, or they are hostages to be rescued. Which is it?
As t the issue of that being "Gods House" I advise the reading of St. John 4:21-24. We do not even know for sure if this was where Jesus was born. Even if we did, So what? The idea of Holy Sites is not to be found in the New Testament.
I do not find that superstition is a good reason for attempting to protect murderers.
a.cricket*Donning flame proof suit*
The clergy in the church have testified numerout times that they're not hostages, as have others on the outside. If such statements were being made only for public consumption, it wouldn't explain the vehemence from the Vatican and Rome that the Israelis need to back off.
You appear to have surrendered to the secularist notion that all right and all law come from men. You're wrong there too.
That wasn't much of a flaming, was it?
Soundtracks from "Fiddler on the Roof" and "Yentl".
Oh, these guys must be leaders. Leaders don't do the martyr thing; they only talk about it, like Arafat.
Shrines which attract pilgims are money makers for the Church. To be the cleric in charge of such a shrine is a big deal among the clergy. So the Church and its clergy have a very large stake in preserving the physical site and its religous significance. This is THE problem with organized religion.
"Here at the Copa-, Copa-ca-BAN-a..."
"I write the songs, I write the songs..."
Weren't Noriega and the Davidians also hold up in churches ? Strange similarity...
How does that work ?
On my command, unleash Hell!
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