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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ilaine who wrote (23479)	4/4/2002 4:02:51 PM
From: Nadine Carroll	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

A bloodbath in the Church of the Nativity would be a colossal blunder The Palestinians and Israelis are aware of that as anyone, which is why the Palestinians stormed the church in the first place. Bush is pulling the plug, but not too fast...if he wanted it to stop right now, Powell would be on the plane right now. Zinni will talk with Arafat, that's fine, meantime, Israel will collect weapons and evidence of the Al Qaeda-Hizbullah-Iran-PLO alliance.

To: Ilaine who wrote (23479)	4/4/2002 4:04:50 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

>>Priest Says Israelis Destroy Bethlehem Church Door Last Updated: April 04, 2002 07:11 AM ET Print This Article ROME (Reuters) - Israeli troops have destroyed a door into Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity and have battled with Palestinians holed up in the building, one of the priests trapped in the complex said on Thursday. "The situation is very serious. The Jews have knocked down the door of the nativity church where all the Palestinians were," Father Ibrahim Faltas, custodian of the Bethlehem church, said in a telephone interview with RAI television news. "The Palestinians are now in the Convent. There is a battle going on between the two sides and we are in the middle. We are in danger. Try to save us," he said. Some 200 Palestinian militants, many of them armed, have taken refuge in the church to avoid capture by Israeli troops who have surrounded the building. Around 40 monks and nuns are also in the religious complex. Witnesses earlier on Thursday reported hearing explosions and heavy machinegun fire from the back of the church, which is one of Christianity's holiest sites. The Israeli army has denied its forces were in action. << reuters.com I am not willing to believe that Father Faltas is lying about this.

To: Ilaine who wrote (23479)	4/4/2002 4:13:05 PM
From: Win Smith	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

What makes you think the plug is so easily pulled? West Beirut was shelled for two weeks, and that was right at the end of operation "righteous sword" or whatever the '82 deal was called. I remember a story about poor embattled envoy Phillip Habib, on a 3-way call from Beirut to Washington and Jerusalem. Dialog something like this: Habib: Stop the shelling. Jerusalem: We're not shelling. Habib sticks phone out the window. I doubt W remembers much about that deal. I'm sure Sharon remembers it all very well.