Arafat intends to go to Bethlehem

12/22/2001

By STEVE WEIZMAN
Associated Press Writer

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Saturday he intends to make his annual Christmas visit to the traditional birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, with or without approval from Israel.

Israel controls the roads in and out of the West Bank town, and Arafat has been effectively confined to the city of Ramallah since Israel destroyed his helicopters at the beginning of the month. The Israeli strike — followed by a tightened cordon around Palestinian towns — came after a Dec. 12 attack by Palestinian militants that killed 10 Israelis traveling on a bus.

``I will go (to Bethlehem) although Israel will not give me coordination,'' Arafat told an Associated Press reporter during a meeting on Saturday with Jewish peace activists from the United States. ``I will go, even walking.''

Israeli officials have hinted that they will keep Arafat confined to Ramallah until Palestinian security forces arrest four suspects in the Oct. 17 killing of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, who was shot dead in east Jerusalem. Israel says the suspects fled to the nearby Ramallah area.

``There is a lot of work for him to do in Ramallah,'' Raanan Gissin, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday. ``He has to arrest Zeevi's murderers.''

Jordan has in the past loaned Arafat a military helicopter to ferry him in and out of Palestinian territory, but Palestinian legislator Hannan Ashrawi, who attended the meeting, said that would also require Israeli approval.

Though the globe-trotting Arafat has not left Ramallah in recent weeks, international delegations have been traveling to meet him in the town, which is just a few miles north of Jerusalem.

Arafat has been going to Bethlehem for Christmas celebrations every year since the town came under Palestinian control in 1995.

Palestinian officials were still trying to resolve the issue with their Israeli counterparts in advance of the Christmas Eve ceremonies on Monday, Ashrawi said.