Update 22/4/02

According to an article in Yedeot Ahranot, of 22 april 2002, (site www.arabynet.com) written by Diana Bahour:

“Ariel Sharon is studying a future plan to take palestinian territories under Israeli control and transform them into a security band where Israeli forces shall be spread. According to an Israeli political source, this plan will be executed when the palestinians declare unilaterally a palestinian state, or when negotiations arrive to a dead end. If there is no agreement between both sides, Israel shall spread its forces along the security band on the green line and west of Jordan. These regions are necessary for us, and an agreement from both sides could be reached or else it shall be a unilateral decision. The Israeli forces will spread unilaterally on this security band, 20 km to the east of the green line, and 5 km to the west of Jordan, so as to prevent any eventual control by the palestinians on the Jordanian border points as it was planned according to Clinton’s proposal.

The minister of transport, declared that according to Sharon’s plan, the palestinians will have 50% of the west bank instead of the 95% according to the labor party agreements and 5% in the arrangement for territorial exchanges.”

This would go with the new preparations for the constructions of new walls and fences in the neighborhood of Aida camp and the north of Bethlehem area these days.

On the other side, the situation in the Nativity church remains the same. No body is willing to surrender whatever the price is. The 30 or so Palestinian resistants inside the church are not wlling to be arrested or exiled… They say they were defending their homes and occupied zones under their own palestinian authority control, and resisting against the occupation in no way whatever considered as terrorism by all international laws.

Religious people, priests, monks and nuns, civilians and freedom fighters joined hands and declared that their destiny is the responsibility of the silent world… they are responsible for the complicity with the Israeli terror forces, and the brigandage propagated by this Israeli offensive army

AbdelFattah Abu-Srour, PhD