From siege to exile

Yasser Arafat's "deals" to end the Israeli siege of the Church of the Nativity, as well as his own captivity, has brought his approval rating among Palestinians plunging. Michael Jansen reports from Bethlehem
The evacuation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem began early on the morning of 10 May as, one by one, 12 of the 13 Palestinian militants on Israel's most wanted list ducked through the low "Door of Humility" and stepped into Manger Square. They passed through a metal detector set up to ensure they did not enter the mini-bus -- waiting to whisk them off to Tel Aviv and exile -- armed. The 13th, Jihad Jaara, whose leg was shattered by an Israeli bullet, was brought out on a stretcher and loaded onto an ambulance.
The men were then driven to Israel's Ben Gurion international airport for the short flight on a British military transport plane to Cyprus where they were put up in a seaside hotel until their final destinations were negotiated with the countries that have offered to host some of them. Italy, which was initially floated as a refuge for the entire group, stalled the operation for three days by rejecting the deportees. Twenty-six lower level activists filed out next and were transported to the Gaza Strip. Finally 84 Palestinian policemen, civilians and clerics left the church, were identified and set free.
But a mini-stand-off between foreign peace activists and Israeli forces continued until mid-afternoon when soldiers entered the church and arrested the 10 foreign peace activists and a news photographer who gained entry on 2 May. Israel freed the photographer but detained and deported the activists. Thus, the 39- day siege of one of the holiest places in Christendom was brought to an end, not with a clash but with an evacuation.
The deal, brokered by European diplomats and the US Central Intelligence Agency's Tel-Aviv station chief, Jeff O'Connell, conceded Israel's demands on numbers but not on terms. Israel had wanted all 39 "wanted" men tried and sentenced. But, according to European Union Envoy Miguel Moratinos, who visited the men in Cyprus, the 13 deportees volunteered to go into exile as free men. As regards the 26 internal exiles, the rapturous heroes' welcome they received upon their arrival in Gaza, makes it seem highly unlikely that the Palestinian Authority will prosecute or jail them.
The Palestinian legislator and human rights activist Hanan Ashrawi said Palestinians did not want to see those resisting the Israeli occupation exiled "without trial or due process." She said that there is "no evidence against them, only unsubstantiated Israeli allegations." Ashrawi made the point that the Geneva Convention does not allow someone living under alien military occupation to be expelled from his homeland. The deportation of the 13 creates a bad precedent which could lead to further explosions. According to Ashrawi, the men's exile is meant to be "temporary," and one of the militants was quoted as saying that he does not expect to be abroad for longer than six months to two years.
Bethlehemites flatly reject deportation. Before the deal was implemented, Tamam Abayat, a forceful woman from the Abayat clan from which 10 of the exiles come, told Al-Ahram Weekly, "It's better for them to die in the church than to accept this agreement." There is also strong opposition to the plan to split up the men. Since family and communal bonds are of paramount importance in Palestinian society, dividing the exiles into several groups is seen as punishment rather than a means of sharing the burden of hosting the men or providing them with protection.
Palestinians everywhere, whether in the West Bank or Gaza, are sharply critical of the deals that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat made in securing the lifting of the siege on his compound in Ramallah -- the muqataa -- and the church in Bethlehem. On the former, a Jerusalemite stated, "He is free to leave his headquarters but we are still imprisoned and blockaded in our cities and towns. He should have negotiated freedom of movement for us before he secured liberty for himself." The latter is seen as a betrayal of the men who fought the occupying Israeli army. Arafat's approval rating, which soared to 75-80 per cent during his ordeal his headquarters, has begun to falter and fall towards its pre-crisis level of 23-25 per cent.
Israel, determined to use for its own purposes the deal's ambiguous terms, has said it will apply for the extradition of all 13 militants from the countries that end up hosting them.
Forty-eight hours after the sanctuary was evacuated, thousands attended Sunday services of thanksgiving in the 1,400 year old Orthodox Basilica of the Nativity and the adjacent Latin Church of St Catherine. While the sanctuaries were left untidy by the refugees, major damage was confined to outer buildings which caught fire when Israeli troops fired stun grenades or attempted to gain entry to the complex.
The Orthodox church was packed for the service of reconsecration, conducted by Patriarch Irineos, while at St Catherine's the mass was led by Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, an envoy of the pope, and Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah. Joyful bells rang out to celebrate the end to Israel's harsh curfew and destructive occupation of the little town of Bethlehem and its sister cities of Beit Jala and Beit Sahour.
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