(incomplete, will fully update indetail soon)
May 10, 2002: Israeli Occupation Forces and their tanks and troop withdraw from Bethlehem city after 38 days of suffering , demolishing , and total curfew ..
02.30 - URGENT: INTERNATIONALS ARRESTED Ten Internationals Arrested by Israeli Police Inside Nativity Church in Bethlehem "PRESS RELEASE"
May 09, 2002 02.30: The people inside the Church of the Nativity have been told to prepare to leave, however it is still not clear exactly when anyone will leave, nor in which order. Those going to Gaza are expected to come out first and the men being exiled will remain inside for a time after all others have left. Our witnesses report that it will be a while yet before details are actually clarified and anyone will be leaving the Church. IMC-Palestine : "The Trick of Security Sacred"
May 08, 2002: Food, provided by the mothers of Bethlehem, has been delivered to the Church this afternoon. This positive event was marred by the Israelis who took advantage to terrorize the people inside the Church by shooting at the door where the food delivery was to be made and letting off sound bombs.
May 07, 2002: Nativity Church:
Under arrangements brokered by the United States and the European Union, 13
Palestinian militants on Israel will be sent into exile in Italy while 26
others will go to jail in the Gaza Strip. The other Palestinians surrounded
inside the church will be set free in an effort to end the 36-day standoff
at the Church of the Nativity.
Deheishah Refugee Camp: Israeli occupation forces move back in to Deheishah
camp and are arresting more people, one of them a young man who had left the
church was arrested earleier, has been re-arrested.
May 05, 2002: The siege at Nativity
Church continues: On the Holy Day of Easter, the Nativity Church, the accepted
birthplace of Jesus Christ, remains under siege. There are, and have been,
conflicting reports in the media concerning the situation inide the church
and the treatment of some of those inside. The ISM witnesses want to make
clear that they have been given unhindered and unrestricted access to both
the church complex and the people within. They absolutely refute allegations
of hostage taking.
Some food arrivedinto the church this morning, however, this was no more than
an IOF PR exercise. read
more....
Life
under curfew. by IMC Palestine
May 1, 2002: 22.50: The soldiers holding siege to the Star Hotel have begun to pull out. No other details are available at present.
April 30,2002: Twenty eight civilians
have left Nativity Church, the "IOF" arrested them for investigation.
They have taken them to Etzion area, near hebron
April 29, 2002: IMC-palestine; a Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli occupation soldiers as he hid in the compound of the besieged Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem where some 200 people have been sheltering for nearly four weeks. Nidal Hueida, 28, was firing on Israeli troops when he was killed.the shooting came while fifteen civilians being freed today. more
April 28, 2002 17:00: A group
of 20 internationals from the ISM forced their way through barbed wire
and fencing to gain access to Manger Square and proceeded to the Church of
the Nativity. Their aim was to deliver food, water and medicine to those trapped
inside the church.
As they walked in to the square a smoke bomb was let of by the entrance in
an attempt to block the view of journalists.
As the group marched across the square some with hands in the air, others
displaying banners proclaiming support for the Palestinian people and demanding
an end to occupation, a tank was mobilized and tropps rushed at them. They
managed to get to the door of the church and sat in front of it, hoping that
they could pass the aid through.
The soldiers rushed them, kicked away the foodstuffs and pulled,dragged and
marched the peaceful protesters away.
They were then held, told to remain together and wait for a military escort.
As the ISM refuses to obey demands made by the Israeli occupation forces they
continued to walk, in group formation, away from the area, circumnavigating
soldiers who tried to prevent them. None of the group were arrested.
17.33: the internationals right now are standing
in front of the Church door , and the Israeli Occupation Forces are preventing
them from getting into the church .
18.00: The IOF forced Internationals to leave
the Nativity Church, none of them have been injured.
April 27, 2002 01.30: Israeli Violence
in Bethlehem Continues, Threatens Negotiations :
As the corporate media focuses on "encouraging developments" at
the Church of the Nativity, Israeli Occupation Forces have assassinated one
person who left the church. The fear is that as people slowly come out of
the church, they will be arrested or killed by IOF. There have also been two
martyrs today as the IOF shot into the church. Fateh is indicating that Church
of Nativity negotiations may be over because IOF is showing that they will
kill or arrest people coming out .
Salah Al-Ta'mary, spokesperson of the Palestinian Negotiating Committee, has
said that "negotiations have been constructive," but later said
that Israeli actions have confused the process, but we don't have to stop
negotiation and " let's the door open". Israeli insistance on military
negotiations, instead of political negotiations, have also jeopardized the
process. While some of the people in the church are "gunmen," many
are youths or militants who have thrown down their guns, so corporate media
reports of an armed Palestinian fortress are exaggerated.
Meanwhile, IOF violence continues with gunfire being reported at Deheishe
and Doha, even as George Bush again "puts his foot down" and demands
that Israel end the invasion. People are afraid that IOF may invade Deheishe.
April 08, 2002: The Israeli army
drives around Bethlehem, warning over loudspeakers that anyone in the streets
will be shot. details
Today curfew was supposed to be lifted from 1300-1700 but was arbitrarily
reimposed on the city of Bethlehem at 1500. People mobbed the bakeries and
shops desperately trying to stock up on food supplies.