Christian leaders blame Israel for Palestinian militants' abuse of Christ's birthplace

Desecration of holy shrine greeted by Church inertia
BY SIMON CALDWELL
CATHOLIC leaders have refused to condemn explicitly the terrorists who desecrated one of Christianity's holiest shrines.
While the Pope expressed relief that the 38-day siege of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem was over, other clerics blamed Israel for the violence.
The siege ended last Friday when 13 Palestinians, described by Israel as "senior terrorists", were deported to Cyprus and another 26 gunmen taken by bus to the Gaza Strip, where they received a hero's welcome.
But before they departed, the militants left explosive boobytraps in the 5th century basilica, built by St Helena, mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great, over the site where Jesus Christ was born.
Israeli bomb experts found 40 devices, some hidden in corners and behind cupboards.
American officials, who had entered the building earlier, recovered more than 90 assault rifles and pistols, some of which had been brandished and used, in defiance of the Christian principle of sanctuary.
The gunmen forced their way into the complex of buildings on April 2 by shooting off the locks to the door of St Catherine's Church. An anti-tank rocket was later fired from the Lutheran church and other church buildings were used as firing points by the terrorists.
In the ensuing siege, nuns were used as shields and priests and church workers were taken hostage. Fires destroyed part of the compound and mosaics were damaged by bullets.
Negotiations began on April 4 when the terrorists took complete control of the Church of the Nativity. Israeli forces, which shot seven people in the precincts of the building, allowed the 200 occupants food and supplies and offered to remove dead bodies.
However, last weekend, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah of Jerusalem defended the actions of the terrorists.
"To go on speaking about Palestinian terrorism, without seeing the right of the Palestinians to their freedom and to the end of the occupation, is condemning oneself not to see reality and to remain impotent in reaching a solution," he said.
"As long as the root of evil is there the violence will stay. The root of evil is the Israeli occupation ... as long as the occupation lasts, they have the right and the duty to claim their land and their freedom and to organise resistance in order to reach this goal."
Israeli priest Fr David Jaeger, the spokesman for the Franciscans in the Holy Land, said: "Obviously, the invasion and occupation of the shrine by armed men was a violation of applicable legal norms, as pointed out by the Holy See. Likewise, the siege of the basilica was wrong."
Journalists who entered the basilica last Friday described how it stank of urine and how the Armenian altar was littered with cooking pots and an ashtray. Soiled bedding, bags of food, filthy cups and broken glass lay strewn along the nave.
Sandy Shahin, a Palestinian Catholic, sobbed after she visited the church. "This is the place where Jesus was born. I can't believe this is the house of God, just look at it," she said.
"It's not a church any more. It's a place filled with beds and trash."
Fr Nicholas Torregon, a Franciscan friar present in the church during the siege, said the gunmen stole icons, candelabra and "anything that seemed like gold", and also broke into the adjacent convent to steal food.
Other priests complained that a group of 10 so-called international "peace activists", including one from Britain, had desecrated the church by drinking alcohol and smoking.
Only the grotto marking the spot of Christ's birth, below the main body of the church, was said to have remained in a "pristine" condition. Militants and peace activists who slept there because it was warm were persuaded to leave by priests.
The basilica was reconsecrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch, Irineos I, the most senior cleric in the Holy Land, because it had been used as a mosque by the occupants, with communal prayers held in the nave five times a day.
On Sunday, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the papal envoy to the Holy Land, celebrated Mass in St Catherine's Church. Opening with "shalom, salaam", the Jewish and Arabic words for peace, he declared: "Peace among men, peace among the cities can only arise and increase if it exists first in each man, in each city."
In Rome, John Paul II thanked the Catholic, Armenian and Orthodox custodians of the church and expressed relief that it had been "restored to God and the faithful".
The Pope said: "The universal message of Bethlehem is love, justice, reconciliation and peace. On these foundations a future can be built, respectful of the rights of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, with mutual confidence."
Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, Vatican foreign minister, was most critical of the occupation, which he described as a "deplorable fact". He said Rome would push for an "internationally agreed statute" to "preserve the unique and sacred character of the holy places".
"In a certain sense, the holy places of the three great monotheistic religions present in the Holy Land are the patrimony of all humanity," he told Corriere della Sera. "Therefore, the international community should find adequsre means to protect not only their free access, but also their identity and characteristics."
Among the terrorists deported to Cyprus were the two Bethlehem leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade and Hamas.
At least three of the men are wanted for sending suicide bombers into Israel while another three are being sought for the murders of Jews.
Dr Zaki Badawi, the principal of the Muslim College, London. told The Catholic Herald the Koran obliged Muslims to respect Christian holy places and people who did not should be treated with "contempt".
But he indicated his belief that overall culpability lay with Israel. "FranIdy, the blame lies with the strong," he said.
His view was echoed by Dr Michael Whelan, lieutenant of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, which supports the Christian community in the Holy Land.
"The fundamental issue in that part of the country is recognition of Palestinians as civilians who are entitled to peace and their ways of life," he said.
"What we have seen in Bethlehem is an accumulation of years of frustration. Until Israel withdraws to its 1967 boundaries I don't believe you will get an overall peace in that country. You cannot oppress people and not expect them to retaliate."
Neither the Chief Rabbi nor any senior member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales would agree to give a comment as The Catholic Herald went to press.
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