Arafat Vows to Visit Bethlehem

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat vowed Sunday to defy an Israeli order prohibiting him from attending Christmas celebrations in Bethlehem, and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refused U.S. and European pleas to reverse the decision.

A sharply divided Israeli government voted to prevent Arafat from traveling from his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has been under virtual house arrest for much of the month, to Bethlehem, the traditional birthplace of Jesus, for Christmas Eve midnight Mass and other festivities.

Bethlehem and Ramallah, just 12 miles apart, are under Palestinian control. But to reach one from the other, Arafat would have to cross into Israel and thus seek Israeli permission.

The Israeli government said it was blocking Arafat’s annual pilgrimage because he has not done enough to crack down on terrorists and has not arrested those responsible for the October assassination of an Israeli Cabinet minister--even though Israeli security officials say they have provided him with the names and addresses, in Ramallah, of the alleged killers.

The dispute reflected the often petty, personal and visceral nature of a conflict that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in the last 15 months.

Palestinians said the travel ban was an outrage and a provocation. And quite a few Israelis said it was just plain stupid.

Arafat, a Muslim, has been presiding over the annual Bethlehem Christmas ceremonies since the little town south of Jerusalem was handed over to Palestinian Authority control six years ago.

“No one, regardless of who he is, regardless of the weapons he has, can prevent us from worshiping at the Nativity Church” in Bethlehem and other holy sites, Arafat said Sunday. He repeated his pledge to get to Bethlehem, even if it means walking.

At one point Sunday, Arafat and his aides seemed determined to try to push their way through the Israeli army checkpoints that seal off Ramallah. Cars in Arafat’s convoy revved their engines, an ambulance was in the motorcade; they demurred only after U.S. officials urged them to give diplomacy a chance. In theory, the soldiers could have arrested Arafat, turned him back or engaged in a gun battle with his security guards.

Israeli troops tightened the main roadblock out of Ramallah and erected two additional checkpoints, apparently on the lookout for Arafat.

“Sharon is playing with fire--he wants blood and tears instead of Christmas carols,” said Yasser Abed-Rabbo, the Palestinian culture and information minister. Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said he would boycott the Mass if Arafat is not allowed to attend.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer tried but failed Sunday to persuade Sharon to reconsider the travel ban, Sharon’s spokesman Raanan Gissin said. Kurtzer asked Sharon to view the Bethlehem appearance as a religious event that should be allowed to proceed as customary, Gissin said.

“Religious my foot,” Gissin said Sunday night. “He is not going there for a religious purpose. . . . He is going because he needs the publicity. He is trying to exonerate himself and re-legitimize himself. Why should we give him a stage? . . . He can’t embrace terrorists with one arm, and Jesus with the other.”

European governments joined the U.S. in attempting to gain Arafat’s free passage, but to no avail by late Sunday. Normally, Arafat would go in one of his helicopters, but Israel destroyed those Dec. 3 in retaliation for suicide bombings that killed more than two dozen people. Jordan’s King Abdullah II offered to supply a helicopter for the journey to Bethlehem, but that too would require Israeli permission.

There were numerous dissenters within Sharon’s government, including the defense minister. Industry and Trade Minister Dalia Itzik, from the center-left Labor Party, said the decision was “stupid, brainless and unwise” and will squander the international support that Israel has gained in recent weeks.

“This does us no good,” Rabbi Michael Melchior, Israel’s dovish deputy foreign minister, told Israeli radio. “We have a just cause, to fight terrorism. But that does not include humiliating Yasser Arafat.”

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres was also among the dissenters. But he may have a bigger showdown brewing with Sharon. Israeli newspapers reported Sunday that Peres has been negotiating with a top Palestinian official and is readying a new peace plan.

If true, such negotiation would fly in the face of Sharon’s stated refusal to talk to the Palestinians while violence persists. Peres was furious that details of the purported plan--including the recognition of a Palestinian state and agreement on borders--were leaked. Sharon dismissed the reports as pure fiction, “imaginary and dangerous.” Right-wing politicians demanded that Peres be fired.

Despite the dispute over Arafat, the Defense Ministry said Sunday that it was easing travel restrictions for Christians from all over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Israel who wish to go to Bethlehem, which has suffered heavy damage in Israeli-Palestinian fighting and is devoid of tourists.

Israel’s Public Security Ministry, meanwhile, allowed the top Palestinian official in Jerusalem to hold a Christmas reception for diplomats, religious leaders and other dignitaries Sunday. The same ministry arrested Sari Nusseibeh last week when he attempted to hold a similar event for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

At the time, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said receptions were part of the “terror activities” that the Palestine Liberation Organization sponsors in East Jerusalem. Landau’s remarks and the arrest of Nusseibeh--a prominent, widely respected moderate--brought rare and stinging criticism from the U.S.

This time, Israeli authorities said they had decided that the Christmas reception was not political because Nusseibeh had not attached the PLO moniker to announcements of the event.

“We used a Christmas logo instead of a PLO logo,” a smiling Nusseibeh said Sunday night as he greeted a long line of guests at the Christmas Hotel in East Jerusalem.

Even at the reception, though, thoughts turned to Arafat.

Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, a Palestinian who is the highest-ranking Roman Catholic prelate in the Holy Land, said he had spoken to Arafat and was reassured by him that he would reach Bethlehem.

“Whether the president does or does not come, he will be with us,” Sabbah told the crowd.