Arafat 'saddened' he can't go to Bethlehem


Yasser Arafat: "Our message is clear to the whole world that no one can force the Palestinians to kneel or humiliate them."

RAMALLAH, West Bank (CNN) -- Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat said Monday he would not be able to attend Christmas Eve Mass in Bethlehem because of a ban imposed by Israel.

"I address you with a heart full of sorrow and sadness," Arafat said in a speech broadcast on Palestinian TV.

"The Israeli tanks, the cement barriers and the rifles of the oppressors have prevented me from sharing with you our annual celebrations on this divine and blessed occasion which [I] have never missed ever since I returned to this blessed homeland."

"You are looking at the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, as it suffers under terror of occupation, tanks, siege and oppression," he said, referring to a studio backdrop behind him. "I say to all of you, Merry Christmas."

Israel denied Arafat's request to visit the Palestinian-ruled city because it said he has failed to arrest the suspected killers of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi and arrest other militants.

"There isn't a religious question here. This is a question of, 'Are you going to allow someone who harbors terrorists to go free or do you impose certain restrictions on someone who supports terrorism?'" said Ra'anan Gissin, a spokesman to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, earlier Monday.

Gissin said once Arafat "does what he is supposed to do" in Ramallah and arrests four militants, he would be free to travel where he wants.

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Israel prevented Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas services in Bethlehem. CNN's Rula Amin reports (December 24)

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Israel has confined Arafat to his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah since early December after it retaliated for Palestinian suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa and destroyed Arafat's helicopters.

Israeli troops and tanks have sealed off roads and are manning checkpoints. Other Palestinians also have been prevented from entering Bethlehem.

In Ramallah, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah and other Christian leaders visited Arafat to lend him their support. Afterward, Sabbah traveled to Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem where he will celebrate midnight Mass in Manger Square (5 p.m. EST) that Arafat wanted to attend.

Bethlehem was under high security as the Christmas celebrations drew near. Stores were shuttered and few pilgrims were in the town.

Ze'evi was shot dead in a Jerusalem hotel in October. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine claimed responsibility for the shooting, saying it was in revenge for Israel killing their leader.

Arafat has come under increasing pressure from the United States, Israel and Europe to crack down on terrorists in territory under Palestinian control since a string of attacks this month that killed 35 Israelis.

The terror bombings prompted the Israeli Cabinet to cut ties with Arafat and sanction retaliatory strikes on the West Bank and Gaza.

The violence continued Monday. A Palestinian gunman was killed and an Israeli settler was critically wounded during an ambush near the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli police and Palestinian sources reported. The settler told rescuers he shot at least one of the men who attacked him.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. Members said it was a response to the Israeli ban on Arafat's trip to Bethlehem. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade is the military wing of Arafat's Fatah faction.

Israel: Suspects within Arafat's reach

Arafat left the meeting with Christian leaders saying, "From here, from the land of peace and love, the holy land Palestine, our message is clear to the whole world that no one can force the Palestinians to kneel or humiliate them."

The 72-year-old Arafat had threatened to walk the 15 miles (24 kilometers) from his home in Ramallah to Manger Square in Bethlehem if the ban was not lifted. To do so he would have had to walk across hilly, Israeli-ruled land and past Israeli tanks.

Arafat, a practicing Muslim, has attended the Christmas Eve midnight Mass at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity every year since the town was turned over to Palestinian rule in 1995.

Israeli officials say that at least two PFLP militants responsible for Ze'evi's death are within Arafat's reach inside Ramallah.

An Israeli Security Cabinet statement released by Sharon's office Sunday said: "The Cabinet made its decision based on the fact that Arafat is not acting to dismantle Palestinian terror organizations and to prevent terror against Israel from Palestinian Authority areas."

Mediators from the United States, European Union and the United Nations have been trying to persuade Israel to lift the ban.

The Vatican said Monday it was taking "diplomatic steps" to end the standoff. A spokesman for Pope John Paul II called Israel's stance "arbitrary."

Palestinian chief peace negotiator Saeb Erakat said Sharon is sending a provocative message. "He's telling everyone, 'I'm determined to destroy the peace process and the Palestinian Authority,'" Erakat said.

The Security Cabinet made its decision despite Friday's announcement by Palestinian militant group Hamas that it would suspend suicide attacks inside Israel.

Islamic Jihad refused to follow the lead of Hamas, accusing the Palestinian Authority and Arafat of selling Palestinians' security to buy the security of the enemy.

The PFLP also rejected Arafat's recent call for a cease-fire.

Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist group whose military wing, Izzedine al Quassam, has carried out terror operations against Israelis. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.