Bethlehem Reemerges With Joy and Lament

This city rejoiced Friday as a five-week siege of the Church of the Nativity ended, Israeli tanks retreated, and people emerged from their homes after weeks under strict curfew.

As they headed for Manger Square and the church’s half-size Door of Humility, however, their joy and relief were tempered by shock at seeing how the sacred Christian site had served for weeks as a sort of weapon-strewn boarding house.

“I can’t believe this,” said Sandi Shakin in tears, as the 18-year-old worshiper surveyed the cigarette butts, spent shell casings and dirty dishes littering the church. “This is the house of God and the place where Jesus was born. What a dark moment.”

While parts of the 4th century religious compound that forms the center of this community reeked of urine, old shoes and human sweat, structural damage was relatively modest.

“Given all the explosives around and all the firing, thank God it only happened to this extent,” said Archbishop Anistacios of the Greek Orthodox Church. “There are negatives, but we have to overcome it.”

A statue of the Virgin Mary in a courtyard abutting St. Catherine’s Chapel was hit in the neck and arm by gunfire. Several windows were broken. Mosaics high on the left side of the church appeared damaged. And part of an outer building suffered extensive fire and smoke damage, following a firefight and grenade blast early in the standoff.

Bethlehem became the object of global attention in early April after more than 200 Palestinians, including heavily armed militia members, took refuge in the church to avoid advancing Israeli soldiers. The Israelis invaded Bethlehem and other West Bank cities in response to a Passover holiday suicide bombing that killed 28 Jews.

Early Friday a deal was reached under which 13 of those considered most dangerous by Israel were exiled to Europe, with another 26 bused to the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip.

Twelve of the 13 are at the three-star Flamingo Hotel on the shore of Larnaca, Cyprus, under armed guard. The 13th is hospitalized with a leg injury.

The Israelis say the militants sent abroad had committed a number of serious crimes, including the killing in June of Israeli military officer Yehuda Edri; the killings in September and January, respectively, of Israeli citizen Sarit Amrani and Avi Boaz, an American; training suicide bombers; selling arms; and producing explosives.

U.S. officials Friday collected weapons the Palestinians left in the church as part of the agreement. Israeli soldiers then searched the church for explosives and said they unearthed 35 homemade grenades, five guns, 40 magazines and eight bulletproof vests.

A last hiccup in resolving the crisis took place Friday morning when 10 members of an international group of pro-Palestinian activists refused to leave the compound. After a short delay, they were escorted out by Israeli police in riot gear to face deportation. “We are leaving against our will,” one activist told reporters before being dragged off.

As the Israeli military pulled out, Bethlehem residents reclaimed the square and church, which have been locked behind barricades, barbed wire and menacing checkpoints. An almost carnival atmosphere followed as the Israeli armored personnel vehicles were replaced by Palestinian taxis, ice cream trucks and sauntering pedestrians.

In the church’s main sanctuary, near-chaos ensued after residents were allowed in. Worshipers lighted candles and bemoaned the filth, as children raced underfoot, monks studied the damage, and curiosity seekers kicked and prodded the bedrolls, food scraps, pills and dirty pots strewn around.

Aisha Ali Jadallah, a 38-year-old Bethlehem housewife, stood before the altar proudly detailing her blockade-running skills, employed after the Israelis cut off all food, water and electricity in an effort to force those inside to emerge. For several days running at the beginning and end of the siege, she smuggled food into the church by using special knocks and whispering the Arabic password “achmed” at a less conspicuous side door or hurling food over the compound wall at night.

“I would do the same thing all over again,” she said. “Those were my neighbors in there.”

Members of the three Christian orders that share jurisdiction--the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Armenian--said each was responsible for cleaning its area of the church, with certain “neutral” parts such as the roof left as is.

The three share the sacred compound under a complex set of rules, known as the “status quo,” designed to avoid conflicts, preserve areas of influence and set down permitted activities. The first public services in more than a month are scheduled for Sunday.

Across town, another drama was unfolding as 84 Palestinian civilians who’d also been holed up in the church were released from two buses in front of Hussein Hospital after a brief interrogation at Israel’s Gush Etzion military base. Israeli soldiers in three jeeps looked on impassively as the men emerged, kissed the ground and yelled, “Allahu akbar!”--God is great!--to the enthusiastic cries of waiting relatives.

“I lost 30 pounds and was sick for the past 13 days,” said Allah Barakat, a 27-year-old naval policeman in a grimy sweatshirt. “But I’m so excited to be out.”

By late afternoon, evidence of Israel’s extended military campaign was apparent in smashed street lights, damaged sidewalks and scarred roads caused by tanks negotiating city streets at high speed.

Johnny Hanania, a 50-year-old taxi driver, said he was delighted that the curfew was over, the worst of several he has experienced. For safety’s sake, his family decided to retreat to his in-laws’ house in the terraced hills outside the city after reasoning that it would be more dangerous in town. Being cooped up for days on end takes its toll physically, mentally and financially, he said.

“You’re locked in, you’re not making any money and you’re spending more,” he explained, seated on a couch facing a large satellite television set. “Instead of eating three meals, you eat five, and instead of smoking a pack a day, you smoke two. You get fat, watch TV all day. Some days you never get out of your pajamas, compounded by the friction of having the kids around all day.”

With shops closed and transport paralyzed, many like the Hanania family have taken to planting vegetables in the area around the house.

“It’s a real problem suddenly having your husband around all day,” added his wife, Maha, 43. “So we’ve worked out a deal to avoid snapping at each other. When he’s in the house, I go to the field.”

Not everyone finds the curfew unpleasant, however.

“I’m so happy I don’t have to go to school,” said Ramez, their 14-year-old son. A month at home also offers its own twisted lessons, as he and his sister rattle off the various sounds, color and weaponry of the tanks, armored personnel carriers and jeeps patrolling the neighborhood. “Tanks are the noisiest,” he said. “They make the floors shake.”

By noon Friday, backhoes and dump trucks were threading through the narrow alleys of the old city cleaning up the accumulated garbage, smashed vehicles and rotting food piled up over the past month in hopes that the economically crucial tourism industry can be revived after all the terrible publicity, just one piece of the rebuilding job ahead.

“And we have to build relationships between peace-loving people in both the Israeli and Palestinian societies to remove the radical elements,” said Mohammed Madani, Bethlehem’s governor. “Our problems are only starting now that the siege is over.”