Posted on 5/12/2002, 1:07:20 PM by marshmallow
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- The most difficult moment of the more-than-one-month standoff at the Church of the Nativity was when armed Palestinian gunmen entered the church, said a Franciscan friar who left the compound May 10.
"When the Palestinian gunmen entered, we found ourselves invaded by these people with guns. It was frightening, since we were unable to hide and we had not expected this," said Father Nicolas Marques, master of clerics of the Franciscans.
"We found ourselves between two forces, the Palestinians on the inside and the Israeli military on the outside.
"The church should not have been occupied, because the Palestinian Authority had guaranteed protection for all the holy places, so they should not have come inside, but maybe, with the situation the way it was, it was their only option," he said.
"I am not condoning it nor am I justifying it; I just don't think it was an appropriate place for the gunmen," he said.
On May 10, Palestinians and Israelis reached an agreement allowing for the 13 most-wanted Palestinians to be flown by the British to Cyprus until they are dispersed among various European countries. Twenty-six others were sent to Gaza. Some 75 Palestinian civilians also left the church.
The evacuation was delayed for several hours when a group of 10 international peace activists who had broken through Israeli army lines and entered the church refused to leave for fear of being taken into Israeli custody and deported. Eventually, they were escorted out of the church by soldiers.
Israel said it would leave Bethlehem as soon as the church crisis was resolved. It appeared the army was preparing for its departure as a number of army transport trucks arrived in the city.
The first few days the friars shared their food with the Palestinians, Father Marques said. Eventually, the Palestinians took the food for themselves from the convent kitchen and garden. They also broke into the Casa Nova pilgrim hostel and took pillows and blankets, he said.
The Israeli army did supply a minimal amount of food that the friars used, he said.
During the siege, the gunmen entered the Armenian section of the church and took gold objects, including a candelabrum, icons and the bishop's pectoral cross, said Father Marques, who had been into the Armenian section to confirm the thefts.
"Anything that seemed like gold they took," he said. "I don't know why they did that."
Later, the Palestinians said they had returned the objects, but Father Marques could not confirm that detail.
He said the Palestinians had at least 40 guns inside the church. He said there were moments of extreme tension when the Palestinians waited for a possible Israeli attack.
"But I must say that the Palestinians respected us and never were violent toward us or disrespectful," he said. "Only when they stole the food, but that is understandable because they were hungry."
Throughout the ordeal, he said, the friars celebrated Mass twice a day at the grotto. Before the Israeli army cut phone lines, the Franciscan community was strengthened by phone calls of solidarity from their superior, who passed on the prayers and thoughts of others around the world, he said.
The only women inside the church were four Franciscan sisters and several women who worked at the Greek Orthodox monastery, he said.
He said no damage had been caused to the Church of the Nativity other than some shattered windows and damage to some of the mosaics. Two fires caused extensive damage to other parts of the church compound, he said. He said he did not know how the fires had started, nor did he know who started the shooting at different times.
"I can't distinguish between one rifle and another," he said.
Father Marques said the Palestinians first placed their dead near the stairs leading down to the grotto that marks the traditional place of Jesus' birth and later took them to the Franciscan convent, then to the Greek Orthodox monastery. No gunmen died inside the church, he said.
The first photos of the church showed a disarray of blankets and bed sheets, dirty cooking utensils, stoves and empty and half-used tins of food strewn about the Greek Orthodox section of the church.
At first the people were dispersed throughout the church, said Father Marques, but later they were concentrated in the Greek Orthodox section.
"When somebody comes and occupies your house without knocking on your door, it is obvious how you feel," he said. "Still, we are healthy physically and spiritually, and now we wait to give our thanks to God."
Because Father, they were a gang of pillaging cut-throats.
What are they teaching in seminary? Certainly not logical tracking. This, from a Catholic paper, points up the obvious: the big Christian spokesmen are cowards, waffling about justifications and unclear about who to blame. As a Catholic, I'm ashamed of my church and its Protestant cohorts, where is the anger that these heathen with weapons ransacked a sacred site?
If Christianity cannot sort out who is at fault here, how can it pretend moral authority? This is not a minor question.
Well, I think this truly proves that Father Marques is not a worldly man.
Seriously, there is a big problem here. If too many of the religious folks who make the Church of the Nativity their life are as blunt as the Armenians, local Muslims will probably retaliate against the Christians. I don't know the answer.
From what I understand about the situation, (coming from an Arab Christian family from Bethlehem) your assesment is the closest to the truth. According to my friends who were born and raised in Bethlehem and who are now US citizens, Arab Christians, priests, nuns and Western workers who live in that region walk a tightrope and must be wary of the Muslim element that has grown increasingly fanatical in recent years. Criticism, however disturbing and truthful against Palestinian Muslims, must be tempered because the Muslims don't like to be "humiliated" and get angry when any non-Muslim dares to accuse them or one of their Islamic brothers of "misbehaving."
My friends told me that some of the Christian clergymen in charge have forged tentative relationships with the Palestinian Authority by way of taking bribes from them, being anti-semetic themselves (they believe that the Jews are still responsible for Christ's death, etc. and are evil) along with just wanting to maintain some semblance of safety for themselves, their parishioners and, of course, the Church of the Nativity from the more radical Islamic elements.
Not in the least - this fact can be ascertained by the fact that so few Christians are willing to answer it...
So true. It was akin to a female graduate student I heard from Howard University, complaining that someone who had out debated her on TV had "disrespected" her.
Choose ye this day whom ye shall serve, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord. I am willing to answer the question as to who has the fault in this matter, unequivocally. Those who enter sacred ground by force of arms can NEVER be said to be "seeking sanctuary". Any who say otherwise are, at best, deluding themselves...
the infowarrior
When I was in the Navy, our ship's Chaplain was a Jesuit. He had a wall plaque that read, "If you ain't a Jesuit, you aint sh*t".
I graduated from a Jesuit high school which may contribute to my lack of Political Correctness.
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