Out of confinement and into the Door of Humility, Mr Yasser Arafat ducked into one of Christianity's holiest sites today on his first tour of the West Bank since the Israeli army freed him from months of siege.
The Palestinian leader, swathed in traditional black and white headscarf, bent down to pass through the Nativity Church's low wooden door to enter the basilica, its gloomy interior heavy with incense and infused with sparkling lanterns and icons.
Mr Arafat chose the 1,700-year-old church, revered by Christians as the site where Jesus was born, as the first stop on his tour of Palestinian-ruled cities since Israel withdrew its troops from his Ramallah headquarters and Bethlehem.
"This is part of my life as a Muslim, as a Christian and as a human being," said Mr Arafat, urging journalists to photograph the damage to parts of the church from a 39-day stand-off between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters holed up inside.
Mr Arafat was venturing outside his West Bank base of Ramallah for the first time in more than five months and 10 days after Israel lifted a siege of his headquarters.
But now that the siege of Bethlehem and Ramallah is over, many Palestinians seek more from Mr Arafat than dramatic and emotive proclamations in front of religious statues.
Echoing U.S. and Israeli calls, they have urged reforms in Mr Arafat's Palestinian Authority as they begin rebuilding after Israel's bruising West Bank offensive and look towards statehood.
"He is not a president of a state. He symbolises the struggle for one," said Mr Adel Sahouri, a local elderly man.
Reuters