Oh Little Town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and restless sleep, a missile glideth by. And over dark streets soundeth the mortar’s deadly roar While children weep in shallow sleep for friends who are no more. How silently, how silently their hope has gone away. No laughter rings; no choir sings in shepherds’ field this day The angels in the heaven are hushed in sad lament. Messiah’s home has been burned down by those to whom He was sent. Oh sing for wholly innocents who hurled a hopeless stone. Who ran from tank, who, wounded, sank in gutters all alone. Their eyes by bullet blinded, their lungs by gasses burned. In sad exile, the Holy Child knows Herod has returned. O Holy Child of Bethlehem, descend to us we pray. Your love bring down on David’s town; Drive fear and hate away.

Emily Jacir 2000 Awake the ire of nations, let justice be restored. Rebuild the peace in silent streets where once your love was born.     Poem by Don Hinchley Littleton, Colorado,

SITUATION IN BETHLEHEM - 2002

This is a first-hand report of the scene in Bethlehem on Thursday, April 17, 2002. I have seen this with my own eyes--there is no exaggeration whatsoever. Please read, pass on, and whenever possible publish for the world to see what has happened to the little town of Bethlehem where barbaric destruction is underway by the Israeli occupying forces of Sharon.

In one bakery in Beit Jala, people were given a serial number with the number of bundles they require and waited in line for their turn. Latecomers left empty-handed as bread ran out before their turn came. Shoppers, I noticed, were either left with some money and were buying whatever they can provision; or else, they were running short of money and were bargaining with some opportunist merchants to get the most with the little they were left with; others yet waited until they got last of the supplies which were stale and unfit for human consumption but still paid half or third of the original price to get them; and there were those by-standers who just stared and watched and were unable to even collect the remnants of thrown away food. Obviously, all luxury-item selling shops were closed since people are only concerned with their daily bread at this crucial economic stage.

On the sides of the roads, garbage containers either lay tank-crushed or else, if they were still intact were full to the rim, and high heaps of garbage stacked around them. At the main garbage container at the southern entrance of the Azzeh refugee camp, one lane of the two-lane street was covered with stacked garbage forcing cars to drive around them. In other areas of the city, people have established garbage collection sites at virtual location, creating a precedent for future dumping. From a distance, I could see scattered clouds of smoke vanishing in the cool spring skies. These turned out to be incinerating sights of uncollected garbage.

Further to the south, and along the Jerusalem-Hebron road that runs alongside the Dheisheh refugee camp, the site of the garbage was even more horrifying. The unattended scattered garbage ran for hundreds of meters with parts of the lane on one side totally blocked. The rotten smell of the garbage was mixed agreeably with that of the running sewers since it seemed to me that the whole drainage system in that area was totally destroyed. The tires of my car still carry this mixture of aroma.

The damages also reached a number of electric poles. Some of these poles originally stood silent at the side of the streets carrying electric current and phone tone to the city; the other poles centered in the middle of the main streets and which were recently erected played a more interactive role by illuminating the quiet streets of that little town of Bethlehem. Traffic lights, which were first introduced to Bethlehem in 1987 at the start of the first Intifada but were never operational, and were once more reintroduced in 1989, added an extra light effect to the nights of Bethlehem. But now, some of these once essential posts were no longer. Many had been run down and over by the hundreds of Israeli military vehicles that have ceaselessly de virginized the city. Others were hanging loose from the electric wiring, standing literally in the air. Still others that were partially knocked down, and which stand on a thin, shattered parts of their bases, risk the danger of collapsing causing possible damage to adjacent buildings, parked cars, or even the occasional pedestrian. All this damage caused to the poles has paralyzed the surrounding area where they are located. Technicians from the telephone or the electricity companies cannot repair the damage because of the curfew. Many people that I have spoken to have not had electricity for over thirteen days. Yesterday, our home phone and hundreds of others in the city, I am sure has been damaged for a similar period.

Driving through the heavily armored streets armored with Israeli tanks, personnel carriers and jeeps, all patrolled and surveyed from the air by American made Israeli Apaches one cannot help but notice the massive destruction to buildings and parked cars from the heavy shelling. Shattered windows, destroyed walls, pierced water tanks, and tank-crushed cars are all within eye distance and reach from every passer-by. I passed a number of moving cars, of which one was a Red Crescent ambulance; they all had missing windshields or side windows.

Even trees that have been planted to add beauty to the city were not spared. Broken branches and leaves mixed with the dust and the flying empty plastic bags in the streets. Exhausted, many of the familiar faces I saw just had this look of desperation.

Since the incursion, all businesses including postal services and banks have been closed and people have not gone to work since then. Many might not get paid soon, and others might never return to their jobs. A number of businesses would most likely shut down their operations. The money available with the people would soon run out and they would have nothing to buy food with. Passing in front of two major banks on Manger Street, I noticed they were open. I assumed they opened to try to make cash available to and in the disposition of the very few who are left with money in their accounts. When I looked inside the bank, they were almost empty. People, I realized have started to run out of money.

When I called into check on a next-door neighbor, his wife who answered the phone, beseeched for some food. She said they do not have money her husband and his four brothers have been out of work since the incursion and they have been left with no money to feed the whole family of 20 members or so. So I collected some of the canned food and rice I had stored at home, and bought some of the available vegetables in the market and handed them to her. Thankfully she took the bags from and insinuated that they had also run out of cooking gas. So I took one of the two butane tanks I have at home and delivered it to them. I wonder how will they manage next time!!

As the time for the imposition of the curfew drew nearer, I headed home. In mind was the image imprinted of the city and the destruction that has befallen it. With a quick calculation, I thought to myself that the city will require one whole year with round the clock work to be restored to the state it was in before the first incursion back in August of last year, with the assumption that all necessary material, equipment, vehicles, manpower, and money needed for the renovation are at the immediate disposal (and with no shortage whatsoever at any time) of the municipality and the Local Government and provided that there is 100% efficiency in the implementation of the restoration process.

Amidst all of this chaos in town and the preoccupation of the Palestinians in their day-to-day survival, the Israeli government was quickly and surely going ahead in the continuous confiscation of the Palestinian land at the northern most borders of Bethlehem with Jerusalem. The Israeli army bulldozers are undergoing a major facelift to create a highway that connects the two Israeli settlements founded on the Palestinian lands of Al Malha and Abu Ghneim (named Gilo and Har Homa by Israel upon confiscation in 1967 and 1992 respectively) and a multi kilometer fence that runs from west to east separating Bethlehem from Jerusalem.

All of this is happening under the unexplained and unjustified silence of the international community, the Islamic and Christian worlds, and the so-called peace-seeking countries.

With all of these thoughts boomeranging through my mind, I realized that the sounds of vehicles outside was diminishing as people were rushing to reach home before the curfew is imposed once more. Only the sounds of my cars tires rubbing against the marks left by the Israeli tanks and army vehicles could be heard. It is such a disturbing sound and such a useless way for tires to wear and tear. Maybe the one-year period I was referring to for the restoration of the city is not enough. Lets say maybe two year.

Bethlehem under Israeli guns

By Christine Hauser - Reuters

Smoke billows over the West Bank town of Bethlehem Saturday after a building near the Syrian Church, center, was hit twice with a shell. (photo by Peter Dejong/AP)

BETHLEHEM — Palestinian Christians held a service inside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity compound on Sunday, surrounded by Israeli occupation troops and tanks in a week-long standoff.

“We have done a little mass for those of us who are in the chapel,” Father Amjad Sabbara told Reuters by telephone from inside the Catholic Church in the Nativity compound. “There were 10 persons. Our congregation in Bethlehem is 5,000.”

Israeli soldiers, tanks, and armoured troop carriers have surrounded Manger Square where the churches are located and declared it a closed military zone, preventing journalists and residents from approaching.

On Sunday, Israeli soldiers bellowed through loud hailers for the Palestinians inside the church, some of them armed, to come out, alleging they would not be harmed.

The tolling of church bells was interspersed with the sharp crack of gunfire. Israeli tanks and armour groaned up the hilly streets, belching exhaust as they passed battle-damaged shops and houses.

Sabbara said the Palestinians inside the church had told the priests they were members of the Palestinian security forces, tourism police and church guards. There were also civilians inside with them, Sabbara said.

“We see them speaking to each other. We are giving them food from our supplies. They are sleeping in the basilica,” he said. “They are planning to leave when the problem is solved. They have said they can't make a decision without a decision from Arafat. It should be between the two governments.”

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat is in the West Bank town of Ramallah, pinned down in his headquarters by Israeli troops.

Sabbara said that he could not see the square because he was afraid to look out the window. He said another priest was recently shot at when he tried to do so, and the bullet hit the window but the priest was unharmed.

“It was the Israelis, they are the only ones outside. From time to time we hear shooting and... grenades.”

Israeli soldiers have told Reuters that there are Palestinian snipers still on rooftops. The soldiers completely control the streets, darting from corner to corner with their rifles pointed upwards.

“It's a critical situation. We have Palestinians inside the basilica and Israelis surrounding it,” Sabbara said. “We are afraid one of the two will make a mistake. It will be a massacre.”

Israeli tanks and troop carriers rolling down manger street past bombed buildings and destroyed shops, sidewalks and facilities.

Palestinians imprisoned in homes.

Israeli tanks clog the narrow passageways from all sides leading to the square in Bethlehem's old city district. At night, some of them sleep in Palestinian homes, shepherding residents into one room.

Israeli soldiers with detailed photographic maps of Bethlehem tucked into their uniforms go house-to-house in search of weapons, asking residents if there are any Palestinians from outside town.

One occupation soldier said they found bags of weapons and ammunition placed outside on the streets, apparently by Palestinians afraid the soldiers would find the arms in their homes.

Soldiers said they had also found at least one homemade mortar as well as petrol bombs.

The priest Mitri Raheb walked through the stone-paved streets of the old district, checking to see if food supplies had arrived for Palestinians sheltering in homes under curfew.

On Sunday at midday, one week after Easter, the 40-year-old cleric said he should have been delivering a sermon to a congregation of about 100 in the Lutheran Church.

“The gospel for this day is a gospel taken from John about eight days after the resurrection,” said Raheb. “The first disciples were behind closed doors, fearing for their lives.

“It seems what we are facing today is something similar. The Christians in Bethlehem have to stay behind closed doors. We hear (in the gospel) Christ came to them through closed doors.

“The door to the church (compound) has been damaged by tank shelling. Even if people came today it's stuck,” said Raheb, standing outside the gates of the Lutheran Church, its door marked with an `X' spray-painted by Israeli soldiers indicating that they would not enter it during searches.

“It's a symbol of the situation here. You don't see any window of opportunity any more,” Raheb said.

• SITUATION IN BETHLEHEM - Fall 2001

  This is what is happening to our friends,	beloved towns and homes.

  
  

• Letter from Bethlehem, January, 2001
  
  Dear Friends,
  I am so sad to tell you that St. Nicholas and St. Michael Greek Orthodox churches were shelled last night too, by Israeli missiles and heavy artillery. Two of the of the oldest churches in Bethlehem and Christiandom, were hit. It is extremely outrageous to think that with Christmas coming, instead of decorating churches with a tree or with lights, churches are decorated with broken windows and broken icons. Jesus' home has not been saved from the Israelis for the second time in history. The history repeats itself again when Jesus and his family, Joseph and Mary, had to leave their home to come to Bethlehem. Families in Beit Jala, Beit Sahur, Al-Khader village and in many other cities in Palestine had to leave their homes and come to Bethlehem trying to find safety from Israeli raids and attacks.
  

  It makes me angry to see human beings being killed so brutally by Israeli soldiers and settlers, churches getting shelled and homes being destroyed and leaders of the world sit still watching. Where is Mr. Clinton who calls himself a Christian while his churches are raided and attacked. Where is European leaders who also claim Christianity and they see the original churches of Christianity, much older than their own countries being shelled by Israeli tanks and missiles and do nothing? Where are Moslem leaders of the world who claim support of Palestinians, but still wait four more months to meet and take decisions against Israel?

  I can keep asking more and more questions, but I know that I won't get an answer from any of these leaders!!

  Abdul Karim, 10-year-old son of Sabri Awad Khader and mother, crying after they saw the father's body who was killed on Tuesday by Israeli troops when he was working in his fields in Al-Khader (photo by Hatem Mousa/AP)

  Dear Friends, please help me to understand why is all this happening? Please help me to understand why a young man called Yousef from Irtas village have to be shot twenty two bullets, by two Israeli soldiers who were trying to compete who fires more bullet at one person? Are they humans who do such things? Are they God's creation who have so much hatred to keep shooting 22 times at a single unarmed Palestinian who is 21 years old? How can Yousef's parents ever forget what Israel has done to the son they have been raising up year after year, until he was 21 years old? How can they see their son with 22 bullets in his young body and feel but hatred and revenge towards any Israeli on earth? I saw Yousef's body on Television and believe me there is no single part of his body which is not torn into pieces. His father and brother weeping their heads out when they saw his shredded body......... I am sorry to have to describe such a dreadful scene, but I feel numb and cannot feel anything in my brains any more.........
  
  This is not all. Two days ago the Israeli Head of Army issued an outrageous or I can say a crazy order saying that no Palestinian is allowed to drive or travel in his private car between cities. Any private Palestinian car driven on roads between, lets say Bethlehem and Hebron will be shot at by Israeli soldiers and settlers. The Israeli TV reported this order two days ago. For the last two days, I have been thinking of what Palestinians should do.

  For example if a doctor wants to visit a patient or treat an injured person, this doctor cannot drive his own car, he should wait on the road until he gets a taxi or a bus - which we do not have anyway. So for example if a women is in labor and there is no doctor in the village, then the doctor from the nearby town cannot go to this woman in his own car, he should travel only in public transport or in a lorry! Israeli troops and tank blocking road south of Bethlehem

  You see all of the entrances and exits of towns and villages in the West Bank have been closed by rocks and dirt or deep ditches. Beit Jala entrances and exits have been blocked for the last eight weeks. I have friends who live in Husan village which is near Beit Jala and work in Bethlehem they cannot go from one place to the other except on foot. They have to climb over these blocked roads to be able to get to the next town or village. At Inad Theatre we have been going to Hebron area to perform for children, and every time we have to carry our equipment over these blocked roads and transfer from one car to the other until we get to our destination.

  Now with this new order, we will be shot at if we travel in private cars. So every time we move from one side to the other, we have to wait till we get a taxi to take us to the next blocked entrance of a village or a town.....What can I tell you....
  
  On the other hand, Israeli Settlers who live in Hebron area are allowed, of course, to use bypass roads or to be transported by helicopters.
  
  Tomorrow we have two performances in AL-Summou' village in Hebron, and I am really scared. We will make sure to only travel in public transport, but you never know what happens.
  
  I might have written in a complicated way, but believe me it is so hard to understand all what is happening.
  
  Oh, I forgot to mention but Palestinians are not allowed to leave the country from the airports and neither from the Allenby Bridge on the Jordanian borders. Only humanitarian cases can leave and after long procedures. I feel I am imprisoned despite the fact that I do not want to leave the country at the moment.
  
  Life is hell in all its meaning!!. God Keeps you away from our Hell and protect you.
  
  Love,
  Marina

• Olive Harvest...
  By Ibrahim Hazboun
  Associated Press.   12/9/00
  
  Mideast fighting ravages olive season for farmers. They fear reaping trees may cost them their lives.
  Some groves remain unharvested because farmers fear being shot by settlers. Several Palestinians have already been killed .
  
  BEIT JALLA, West Bank -- Farid Shahawan can't remember a worse olive season. His olive presses are working below capacity because farmers, confined to their villages by an Israeli blockade, can't get their produce to him. Across the West Bank, thousands of olive trees have been cut down by Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers who say they served as cover for gunmen during the past nine weeks of fighting. Palestinians say this is just another excuse to enlarge nearby settlements... Some groves remain unharvested because farmers fear being shot by settlers -- one Palestinian has already been killed and nine wounded in such attacks. "I don't want to pay with my life for the olives," said Hisham Alan, 39, who decided to let olives on 120 trees go to waste after a neighbor was critically wounded by settlers last month while harvesting his trees.

  Olives play a central role in towns and villages in the West Bank, even as Palestinians make the transition from an agricultural to an industrial society. More than 12 million olive trees cover the rocky slopes of the West Bank, producing 30,000 tons of oil in a good year and accounting for up to 20 percent of agricultural revenue. Even Palestinians who have left farming for work in factories or offices often still own olive trees, seen as a symbol of continuity and connection to the land. Palestinian housewives agonize over how many gallons of oil to buy for the year. Since December, the Israeli army has been systematically bulldozing these precious olive groves and fruit orchards. The pretext is that they provide shelter to snipers! In fact it is part of their settlement expansion and land confiscation policy.

  This was to have been a fertile year. However, as farmers began preparing for the harvest, Israeli-Palestinian fighting broke out at the end of September. Nearly 300 people have been killed, the vast majority Palestinians. The harvest continued through the upheaval but was often disrupted, especially by what Palestinians say were unprovoked attacks by Jewish settlers on Palestinian farmers. Settlers say they acted in self-defense. In the village of Beit Furik, 1,500 olive trees cannot be harvested because they stand near Itamar, a Jewish settlement, said Mohammed Seifi, a member of the village council. "Farmers are afraid to go to their fields," Seifi said. On Oct. 17, 28-year-old Beit Furik farmer Farid Nasasra was killed and three other villagers were wounded by two settlers near Itamar. Israeli police arrested the settlers, but released them after several days, saying the Palestinians refused to cooperate with the investigation.
  

  ---

• In Holy Land, a somber Christmas
  By Matthew Kalman
  Cover Story in USA TODAY

• Christmas may not have been officially called off in the town where the Bible says Jesus was born. But the bright flame of peace that lit the region last January now flickers amid the renewed ravages of war.

  The new Palestinian intifada (uprising) exploded Sept. 29 after Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon visited the Noble Sanctuary, known as the Temple Mount to Jews. Control over the site, holy to both Muslims and Jews, and of much of Jerusalem's Old City is one of the key issues that brought the U.S.-brokered peace process to a standstill after months of unprecedented progress.

  Since that visit, Israeli-Palestinian battles have raged on the borders of Palestinian-controlled areas in the West Bank and Gaza. The conflict wore on this week, despite the resumption of low-level talks in an apparent attempt to make the most of the interest and engagement of the outgoing U.S. administration.

  For the Arab Christians of Bethlehem, the collapse of the negotiations and the ensuing unrest have precipitated an economic disaster because tourists can't, or won't, come here. The mayor says local businesses are denied vital foreign dollars, further crippling the economy. ''Israel is not allowing tourists to enter Bethlehem, unfortunately,'' Nasser says. ''The economic situation in the city is very bad and is deteriorating. The hotels are empty. The restaurants have no clients. Our workers are denied the right to go outside and earn a living.'' Israel claims that despite the ban on Palestinians leaving Bethlehem, tourists can still enter. The problem is that gun battles at Rachel's Tomb, an enlarged Jewish shrine dedicated to the wife of Jacob

  at the main entrance to Bethlehem, causes Israeli troops to blocked the road.

  A Palestinian man carrying carton of eggs stopped by israeli troops  (photo by Nasser Shiyoukhi/AP)

  ''Bethlehem is open at all times to any foreign citizen,'' Israeli army spokesman Maj. Yarden Vatikai says. ''When there are serious gun battles and the road is dangerous, the army closes it even to tourists. Our intention is to allow free access to all holy sites while not endangering the safety of our visitors.''

  The Israeli army also has been denying Palestinians entry into Israel. Because at least 200,000 Palestinians earn their living as day laborers in Israel, many Palestinian households -- both here and elsewhere in the West Bank and Gaza -- have no income.

  George Mascoby, a guide who works with Near East Tours in Jerusalem, says he has continued to lead tours into Bethlehem since the clashes started. But he says that there are few tourists to take. ''We are in constant touch with our friends in Bethlehem and other places to make sure we are warned in advance of any problems,'' he says. ''If the road is closed, we go somewhere else. The problem is that there are no tourists.''

  Vacant rooms, empty streets:

  More than $200 million had been invested to prepare for Bethlehem 2000. Half came from the private sector. With the millennium declared a Holy Year for Christians, a grand project was set in motion to rehabilitate the infrastructure to accommodate a record number of foreign visitors. The mayor says 1 million tourists came to Bethlehem in 1999. Until September, it looked as if the number would exceed the year's target of 1.7 million.

  The Jacir Palace Inter-Continental Hotel was opened in May in a spectacular renovated merchant's palace built by Suleiman Jacir in 1910. But last week, the hotel's fabulous arched courtyard, whispering fountains and gilded lounges were vacant. The hotel is a few yards from the Rachel's Tomb flash point. Even though its doors remain open, there isn't a single guest in the 250 rooms, even at the knockdown price of $140 a night. The grand opening was canceled and hasn't been rescheduled.

  Younis Arar, 29, is the hotel's banquets manager. A Muslim from nearby Hebron, he slips through the Israeli blockade each day and says he supports the uprising, even though it is crippling business. ''We are fighting the occupation, but we are fighting for peace,'' he says. ''What alternative do we have?''

  Munib Younan, the Lutheran bishop of Jerusalem, says religious leaders must speak out and remind politicians that most people want peace above all else. ''We have to tell our politicians that our grass roots are fed up of injustice, fed up with bloodshed, fed up with fighting, fed up with these prejudices, fed up with retaliation,'' he says.

  Bethlehem's mayor insists that despite the conflict, which has reached past Bethlehem's threshold, plans for Christmas will proceed. ''We will have our traditional religious processions, as usual,'' Nasser says. ''We will have a Christmas tree in the square. We will have choirs singing. . . . But what's missing is the smile on the faces of the children.''

  Inside the Church of the Nativity, where visitors usually wait in line at least half an hour to descend into the tiny grotto where Jesus is said to have been born 2,000 years ago, there are few visitors and no foreigners at all on this day.

  Teacher Suad Khair shepherds a class of 7-year-olds from the Greek Catholic school in the nearby town of Beit Sahour, scene of heavy gun battles between Palestinian militia and Israeli soldiers guarding a nearby army base. ''The children are so sad, so afraid,'' she says. ''Every day we wake up not even knowing whether we will finish the school day or whether the fighting will start again.''

  In Beit Sahour, traditional site of the Shepherd's Field where news of Jesus' birth was first heard, Majdel Atrash surveys the ragged hole where an Israeli missile smashed into the wall of his children's bedroom a couple of weeks ago. Still nursing the cuts on his arm caused by flying shrapnel, he says it is a miracle no one was more seriously hurt.

  ''We will still have Christmas, for the children,'' he says, ''But this year, we will have new decorations to hang on our tree.'' With a grim smile, he deposits the contents of a bag on the coffee table: shrapnel and twisted metal, the remains of the bullets and shells dug out of his walls and furniture.

  Outside, the children are playing in the garden. One boy, holding a wooden rifle, crouches behind an old stove. The other children throw stones at him until he surrenders. Then they attack and capture him. They call the game intifada -- just like the Israeli-Palestinian battles they see on TV.

  Sana' Abu Amsha, 35, a mother of three and English teacher at the Latin School in Beit Jala, on the other side of Bethlehem, is close to tears. She says her children have nightmares and wet their beds because of the nightly gun battles.

  ''I'm afraid to even let my daughters take part in the marches, in case there is an attack,'' she says. ''Instead of going out and watching the events or visiting friends, I think this Christmas, we will just stay at home and hope that nothing happens.''

  On top of the fear, there is anger. The residents of Beit Jala had hoped that the Israeli troop withdrawal from Bethlehem in 1995 -- part of the peace negotiations that aimed to give the Palestinians sovereignty over their land -- would lead to peace and independence. Instead, negotiations dragged on, and now there is war.

  Spiritual leaders are urging the Palestinians and Israelis to return to negotiations. The alternative, they say, is unthinkable: a bloodbath in the Holy Land. ''We don't want to see'' Israeli helicopters ''in the heavens,'' Bishop Younan says. ''We want to see the real star of Christmas that is telling the Palestinians we will have our own liberation, we will have our peace, we will have our legitimate rights, and telling the Israelis they will have their security also. When this star is shining in Bethlehem, then it will be full of joy.

• Palestinian Resistance Countered with
  Israeli Sanctioned Assassinations:

  On Oct. 29, 2000 a fearless Palestinian boy faced down an Israeli tank at the outskirts of Gaza City. As 13 year old Fares Udah defiantly hurled stones at the menacing Israeli tank, AP photographer Laurent Lebours took the adjoining photo. This photo became to symbolize Palestinian resistance just like the courageous young man who faced a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989 symbolized Chinese Freedom. Unfortunately, this kind of publicity upset the Israeli army, who could not tolerate the challenge of even a 13 year old boy standing up to their oppression. Nine days later, while the cameras where not looking, Fares Udah was tracked down and assassinated. This young innocent spirit was snuffed out by long range sniper fire to the neck.

  Since October, Israel's army has adopted a new tactic for quashing the  Palestinian uprising -- tracking down and killing Palestinian militants, often with sniper fire. Quoting a senior Israeli army officer, the Israeli radio report appeared to confirm what Palestinians

  call a policy of assassination which has led to the killing of at least 19 activists. This  policy has outraged world public opinion, especially in Europe. Even Israeli peace activists protested this criminal policy by recently demonstrating in front of the Israeli supreme court in Jerusalem. They call it "political assasinations" referring to what Israel officially calls pinpoint killing of "undesirable" Palestinians.

• BACK TO BETHLEHEM APPEAL