As European countries finalise their arrangements for taking in the 13 deported Palestinians, the justifications Israel gave for its 39-day siege of the Church of the Nativity are being revealed as largely false. Michael Jansen reports from Nicosia Click to view caption The Spanish-brokered agreement to send to various European countries the 13 Palestinians expelled by Israel under a deal which ended the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity hardly inspired confidence in the European Union's (EU) ability to intervene in regional affairs. While the accord, reached on Saturday, provided for Spain and Italy to host three men each, for Greece and Ireland to take two apiece, and for each of Belgium and Portugal to one man, the last man was to be left in Cyprus until a final destination could be found for him. On Sunday Cyprus Foreign Minister Yiannakis Cassoulides flatly contradicted Spain's announcement by saying that no deal had been finalised. He denied the report that the island republic would offer permanent refuge to one of the "Nativity 13". He and the Palestinian diplomatic representative here, Samir Abu Ghazalah, said the matter would be resolved within a few days. On Monday the Cyprus government spokesman, Michalis Papapetrou, told Ahram Weekly, "there is nothing new on our side." Developments will "come from the side of the European Union presidency [held by Spain]. The issue of the 12 has been resolved and negotiations are under way for the 13th. It is understood by everybody that the proximity of Cyprus to the Middle East means that it is not wise to leave this guy here for the long-term." European Envoy Miguel Moratinos met with the 13 men at the Flamingo Beach Hotel in the coastal city of Larnaca to reassure them that the 12 would soon be leaving the island. A Spanish military aircraft was set to arrive in Cyprus on Tuesday and fly them out yesterday, stopping in Athens and Rome en route to Madrid where the others would proceed to Lisbon, Brussels and Dublin. And although the fate of the 13th man has yet to be determined, a Palestinian source says that the issue would be resolved in "a matter of days." Cyprus accepted the men on a temporary basis to end Israel's 39-day siege of the church. Cyprus, which has long supported the Palestinian cause, gained respect from the EU and from Orthodox Christians everywhere by helping to end Israel's siege of one of the holiest sites in Christendom. The church was besieged by the Israeli army after more than 200 Palestinians took refuge in the sanctuary on 2 April when the Israeli army invaded and occupied Bethlehem. At that time there were about 40 clerics in the church compound, and Israel claimed that the church had been taken over by armed gunmen who were holding the clerics "hostage". According to a background paper being distributed to the media as late as 6 May by the Israeli army's spokesperson in Bethlehem, the "number of terrorists who took over the church is estimated to be around 250." The paper listed the names of 10 "leading wanted" men, published their photos and stated Israel's accusations against them. But Israel's depiction of the situation proved to be far from the truth. Initially there were 250 people in the church, and even by the broad definition used by Israel for the term "terrorist", the men were certainly not all "terrorists". Shortly after the siege began, authoritative individuals in the sanctuary, including Franciscan Father Ibrahim Faltas and Bethlehem District Governor Mohamed Madani, reported by mobile phone on the identities of those inside. Amongst those who sought sanctuary were 100 Palestinian policemen, 70 civilians, including two 10-year-olds and 40 teenagers, and an unknown number of men allegedly "wanted" by Israel. There was genuine confusion about who the "wanted men" were because of the presence of policemen, some of whom may have been sought by Israel. Then on 4 May, a complete list was drawn up and handed to Israel. It is difficult to understand why the Israelis so grossly misrepresented the situation in the church at such a late stage in the stand- off. The end of the siege acted as a corrective to Israel's conflicting claims. Although Israel had initially spoken of "250 terrorists", it subsequently said that only 39 of those in the church were "wanted" and only 13 were "senior terrorists". Of the 13 who emerged from the church on the morning of 10 May, only six were on Israel's "leading wanted" list. At least one on the list, Fatah's general secretary in Bethlehem, Kamal Hassan Hamid, was known not to be in the church. The 13 deported to Cyprus are: * Abdullah Dawoud, 40, from Balata refugee camp in Nablus, who is said to be the head of Palestinian intelligence in Bethlehem. He is accused by Israel of masterminding attacks against Israelis and sheltering militants who had fired on the Israeli settlement of Gilo which is near Bethlehem. * Ibrahim Moussa Abayat, 29, is accused of heading a cell of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades attached to Fatah and firing mortars at Gilo and killing three Israelis, including an intelligence officer and one with dual Israeli and US citizenship. * Jihad Jaara, 31, a member of the Palestinian security services is accused of firing at Israeli soldiers at Gilo, providing weapons to Fatah Tanzim militants, allowing his cell phone to be used by "terrorists" and condoning suicide attacks. * Mohamed Said Atallah Salem, 23, is accused of being a senior Tanzim operative involved in the planning of suicide attacks in March 2002. * Aziz Jubran, 31, a pharmacist by profession, is accused of being a member of Hamas and manufacturing weapons. * Ibrahim Mohamed Salem Abayat, 41, a farmer, is accused of being a senior Hamas operative and organiser. The following are not on Israel's list so its accusations against them are unknown: * Khaled Abu Najme is said to be a member of the Palestinian intelligence services. * Rami Al-Kamel is said to be a member of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. * Mohamed Muhanna is reported to be a member of the Palestinian intelligence services. * Aanan Khamis is said to be a Fatah member. * Khalil Abdullah is said to be a Fatah member. * Ahmed Hamamra is said to be a Fatah member. * Mamdouh Al-Wardiyan is said to be a Hamas member. An official Palestinian source told Al-Ahram Weekly that the names are correct, but would provide no additional information. A member of the Abayat family said that 10 of the deportees are from his clan, while another source puts the number at six or seven. Two leading members of the family, Hussein and Atef, were assassinated by Israel. The actual list of deportees shows that of the 13, Israel has levelled serious accusations against only the first four. These men seem to be the four originally demanded by Israel. The rest -- and the 26 transferred to Gaza -- seem to have been added to the list to give weight to Israel's claim that "terrorists" had taken over the church and were holding dozens of people hostage. Four "terrorists" could hardly impose their control over 250 people. Furthermore, Israel could not justify holding so many people in the church for 39 days if the number of "terrorists" was only four. EU members who have agreed to host the deportees appear to be sceptical about Israel's accusations. The men are to be granted a year's residence after which they can apply for asylum. They will receive a monthly stipend, shelter, clothing and provisions. They will live under police protection and will not be permitted to travel abroad. Family members will be allowed to join them. The EU says that Israel has agreed not to apply for extradition but some Israeli government spokesmen insist that their government has not ruled out seeking extradition. They also say that the "Nativity 13" will not be allowed to return to their homeland as long as Israel remains in control of its borders. The agreement, consequently, created a very dangerous precedent as it was the first time that the Palestinian Authority itself approved the deportation of Palestinians. The last time Israel deported Palestinians was in 1992, when it forcibly transferred more than 400 members of the militant Hamas group to the border with Lebanon after a series of attacks on Israel.
