Oh, somber town of Bethlehem

Associated Press

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Israel kept Yasser Arafat away from Bethlehem’s Christmas celebration for the first time in seven years, and residents of the birthplace of Jesus watched the annual Manger Square procession Monday with few pilgrims on hand and little joy in their hearts.

Scouts playing drums and bagpipes marched beneath Palestinian flags and posters of the absent Arafat, who has been restricted by Israel to the West Bank town of Ramallah since early December.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Arafat must arrest the suspected assassins of an Israeli Cabinet minister who was gunned down in October before the Palestinian leader will be allowed to leave Ramallah.

Addressing his people in a prerecorded speech broadcast on Palestinian TV, Arafat, a Muslim, said he spoke “with a heart full of sadness.”

“The Israeli tanks, the barriers and the rifles of the oppressors have prevented me from sharing with you our annual celebration on this divine and blessed occasion,” he said. “The whole world that has seen what happened … has to know what kind of terror the worshippers in this Holy Land are facing.”

On top of 15 months of conflict, crippling Israeli blockades and unrelenting tensions that have crushed Bethlehem’s tourism-based economy, Arafat’s absence lent a somber tone to this Christmas.

In contrast to years past when pilgrims and choirs from all over the world flooded this biblical town, only local Christians gathered in Manger Square. The square was almost devoid of decorations. A Christmas tree was decorated with one light and a few colored balls. A large banner read, “Sharon assassinates the joy of Christmas,” referring to the Israeli prime minister.

Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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