Israeli Occupation Soldiers Kill Palestinian in Gaza as Bethlehem Marks Cheerless Christmas

25/12/2002| IslamWeb

Israeli occupation soldiers killed a Palestinian teenager in the Gaza Strip, raising tensions as Christians prepared for the Christmas holiday in Israeli-occupied Bethlehem and other West Bank towns. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation soldiers fired a tank shell at a group of Palestinians between the Karni and Erez crossings with Israel, killing one young man and wounding three others, Palestinian hospital officials said. Further information on the victims was not immediately available.

Earlier, Israeli occupation soldiers blew up a Gaza Strip house the occupation army claimed contained a tunnel used by resistance groups to smuggle weapons from Egypt. Palestinian resistance men fired on the occupation troops as they demolished several other abandoned buildings along the Gaza-Egypt border.

BETHLEHEM MARKS CHEERLESS CHRISTMAS

Occupation Troops pulled back to the outskirts of Bethlehem, where Christians believe Jesus was born, but the Israeli occupation army presence was felt in the small town. There were no Christmas decorations - a form of protest against the Israeli occupation.

Palestinian Christians comprise about half of Bethlehem's 27,000 people. This will be the first year since 1944 that they celebrate Christmas under Israeli occupation, and many said they could not recall a less festive occasion.

"People are not exchanging gifts as usual, especially kids are not getting what they are expecting from Santa," said Raed Zarrouk, 26. "(It's) the worst Christmas I ever had in my whole life."

Several dozen protesters - most of them foreigners - marched around the square with signs denouncing Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. "No peace with settlements," read one, referring to the 150-odd Jewish communities in the West Bank and Gaza.

ARAFAT COMPLAINS ABOUT LACK OF INTERNATIONAL ACTION

Arafat, barred by Israel from Bethlehem for the second Christmas in a row, complained on Lebanese TV about the lack of international action to force Israel from the town. "Isn't it my right to ask why the world did not move when Israeli guns were turned toward the statue of the Virgin Mary?" he demanded. In the front row of St. Catherine's Church, an empty chair draped with an Arabic keffiyeh headdress symbolized Arafat's absence.

Arafat, a Muslim, had participated regularly in the Christmas festivities since 1995, the year Israel handed Bethlehem and most other West Bank towns to the nascent Palestinian Authority under interim peace accords.

LATEST VERSION OF 'ROADMAP' PLAN HARSH ON PALESTINIANS

The latest version of a U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan links Palestinian statehood to the Palestinians "acting decisively against terror," and calls on Palestinians to "immediately undertake an unconditional cessation of violence," according to a draft obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday. Israel welcomed the changes to the plan, which is expected to be proposed in early 2003.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian medical workers wheel in the body of 14-year-old Mohammed Breaka after he was hit by an Israeli tank shell, at Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday Dec. 24, 2002. (AP Photo/Adel Han