MIDDLE EAST: Palestinian Authority President Mr Yasser Arafat announced yesterday that there "won't be any Christmas" this year in Bethlehem, because of the Israeli military closure there.
The announcement, which made few waves in Israel, was dismissed by officials as an attempt by the Palestinian leader to exert international pressure on Israel to leave the city, where Jesus is believed to have been born.
Israeli troops reoccupied Bethlehem last week after 11 people were killed in a suicide bomb attack on a bus in Jerusalem. The military said the bomber came from Bethlehem.
"The most dangerous escalation is the closure of Bethlehem, which will last until the end \ December," said Mr Arafat. He called the reoccupation of the city an "international crime" and berated the international community for "staying silent". The deputy governor of Bethlehem, Mr Mounir Salameh, said that Christmas celebrations had been officially cancelled, except for the traditional midnight mass at the Church of the Nativity, which was still likely to go ahead.
An official in Jerusalem said Israel was "fully aware of the sensitivity of Bethlehem during the Christmas period" and that the army might well "reorganise" its presence in the city ahead of the holiday in order to allow the celebrations to proceed.
"If the conditions allow," he said, "the army will not stay until the end of December." Mr Arafat traditionally attends midnight mass, but last year he was absent because of a travel ban imposed on him by the Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, who decided to confine the Palestinian leader to the West Bank town of Ramallah.
At the time, the Palestinian leader vowed to be in Bethlehem for Christmas, even if he had to go on foot. Mr Arafat has been confined to Ramallah ever since.