39 terrorists leave Bethlehem

After 39 days, the Church of the Nativity siege was finally over.

The Church of the Nativity siege which had begun on April 2, 2002, when some 200 Palestinians, including 50 armed fighters, entered and occupied the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, one of the holiest shrines of Christianity, has finally come to an end.

The 13 most heavily wanted terrorists - responsible for the murder of many Israelis - left the Bethlehem church Friday, May 10th, boarded a British plane for Cyprus, and are currently being held under police guard in a Larnaca hotel. The militants will be held under close police guard in Cyprus, which agreed to take in the men temporarily until they could be sent onward to countries willing to take them in. Several European countries including Austria and Italy have agreed to take some of the men.

There were differing reports on whether or not they would be placed in prison in their new host countries.

"All these 13 [gunmen] had blood on their hands," government spokesman Ra'anan Gissin told CNN. "I think it is only a just solution to a very complicated situation."

The 13 are to remain there between three and six years, unless a Palestinian state is established first, in which case they would be permitted to enter it.

Twenty-six others of the terrorists who forced their way into the Church of Nativity and held dozens of Christian clergymen hostage in the church for nearly six weeks arrived in PLO-controlled Gaza today, and were given a raucous welcome in Gaza City on Friday and fired assault rifles in the air to acknowledge cheers from the crowds in the streets.

The 26 were driven to a Gaza hotel. As they emerged from the bus, they kissed the ground and knelt in prayer.
"They are heroes. I hope that together, we can celebrate our victory," said Ibrahim Hassouna, a bystander who had come to greet the militiamen.

One of them said, "We agreed to leave as a humanitarian gesture… With the help of Allah, we will win and liberate our land."

In the third stage of the evacuation of the church, 84 Christian clergymen hostages left the building, underwent security checks, and returned to their homes.

In addition, ten left-wingers from abroad who originally refused to leave the building were removed; Deportation proceedings against them have begun. The Israeli forces have now begun to evacuate their forces from Bethlehem

Peres: Israel has right to extradite 13 Palestinian militants

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said Friday that Israel reserved the right to seek the extradition of the 13 militants who were exiled to Europe.

"We reserve the right to ask for extradition depending on the circumstances. You have to remember that these are people whose hands are stained with blood and every country that agrees to take them should keep an eye on them," Peres told a news conference.

Peres was asked under what conditions Israel may decide to seek the extradition of a militant who has been exiled to Europe.

"For example, if they are set free, then we have the right to ask for their extradition. There are many possibilities," he said at the end of a day of meetings with Italian and Vatican officials. He added: "Look, to tell things as they are. It's not a clear-cut juridical arrangement. Let's be open about it. Namely, it's a political arrangement to overcome an extremely complicated juridical situation. "

Palestinians finally leave Nativity Church

The first person to leave the church was stopped several times at an Israeli metal detector and had to take off his jacket before being cleared. Wearing a black and white checked Arab scarf around his neck and accompanied by two priests, he approached two IDF soldiers, who talked to him briefly before directing him to a red and white Israeli bus.

An IDF spokeswoman said a bus carrying the 13 gunmen had stopped at a nearby military base, where their identities were verified and one of them was treated for a leg wound, and that they were then taken to Ben Gurion airport.

The last apparent obstacle was cleared away late April 9th when European officials said a group of European countries, and possibly Canada, would take in the 13 deportees. An earlier deal fell apart when Italy refused to accept all 13.

Early that morning, talks that appeared to be successfully concluded hit a snag, and Israelis and Palestinians charged each other with creating the new difficulties. The deal finally became possible after Cyprus announced it was willing to temporarily take in the 13 wanted gunmen holed up in the shrine.

"Cyprus has agreed to take the 13 people as a temporary measure," Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Cassoulides told reporters at a hastily convened press conference held at the foreign ministry building in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia.

He said a British military aircraft would fly to Tel Aviv from the British air base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, collect the militants and land on its return at Cyprus's Larnaca airport.

Minor damage caused to church, but grotto untouched

Minor damage was discovered to the Church of the Nativity at the conclusion of the 39-day standoff, but the grotto marking the spot where Christian faithful believe Jesus was born was untouched.

Father Nicolas, a Franciscan monk who had been trapped in the church, told reporters that some of the mosaics in the church windows were damaged. He also said some of the militants had broken into the Armenian section of the church compound and stolen a bishop's chain, icons, a candelabra and "anything that looked like it was gold."

CIA enters Church to look for weapons and misses 40 bombs

CIA agents entered the Church shortly after it was evacuated, in order to inspect and confiscate the weapons left behind by Palestinian gunman. However, the CIA did not find what the IDF was able to locate.

"We have found 40 explosive devices and five rifles hidden there and the IDF is dismantling them now," an IDF spokeswoman said.

In other words, the PLO gunman had booby-trapped The Church of Nativity, so that it would explode when clergy would return the church to its rightful owners.

Murderers of us citizen released through negotiations led by aAmerican government

United States citizen 72 year old Avi Boaz, a building contractor, had close personal relationships with many Palestinian Arabs and traveled to Bethlehem on the morning of January 15, 2002, on business. As he entered the city, he was stopped at a Palestinian Authority roadblock, where he showed the PA policemen his U.S. passport. The PA police then allowed Fatah terrorists to abduct him to Beit Sahur, where they murdered him.

Ibrahim Moussa Salem Abayat and Ismail Hamdan, both freed from the Church and both prominent members of Arafat's Fatah Tanzim, were involved in numerous terrorist attacks, including the murder of Avi Boaz. Boaz's family is understandably upset by the United States State Department and Secretary Powell deep involvement in the negotiations for the release of these terrorists and others who have shed innocent blood. The United States has jurisdiction to prosecute violent crimes against American citizens anywhere in the world. Pursuant to 18 USC section 2332: "Whoever kills a national of the United States, while such national is outside the United States, shall - if the killing is murder - be fined under this title, punished by death or imprisonment for any term of years of for life, or both.

Demonstration against release of terrorists

Protestors against the release of the terrorists stood along the roadside of the Gush Etzion army base where the terrorists were being first taken. As the buses approached the protestors tried to stop them. After a few scuffles, the buses passed. The terrorists are on their way. On the side of the road, mothers and fathers stood. "Don't let terrorists be released.", read the signs of the protesters.

Yehudit Dassberg, stood in disbelief, holding a sign, "My daughter also wanted to travel." Yehudit's daughter Effie, and her husband, Yaron, were not as lucky as these terrorists. They were murdered in their car on the way home to Gush Etzion. Effie was pregnant with her third child and the couple's eight month old baby, who was strapped in his car seat was found screaming in terror beneath the slumped figure of his mother who had sustained 50 bullet wounds to protect her baby. Now Yehudit has to raise their grandchildren as their own, since they don't have parents to hug and hold them.

All this occurred on Jerusalem Day, the same day that Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Rachel's Tomb were liberated in 1967.

Points to Ponder

2. How will exile help Israel's security in the long run?

3. The EU pressured Israel to end the siege of the Curch of the Nativity. Why was the EU so reluctant, then, to accept the 13 Plaestinian terrorists who were inside?

4. How should the exiled Palestinians be treated?

Exiled Palestinian militants ran two-year reign of terror http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=11994