Arafat Vows to Go to Bethlehem on Foot Despite Israel's Decision

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 24, 2001

Arafat Vows to Go to Bethlehem on Foot Despite Israel's Decision

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat said Sunday that he would go to the West Bank holy town of Bethlehem on foot to attend the Christmas ceremony despite Israeli government decision to prevent him from going there.

"There is no doubt that this is my duty, and I would follow up this subject (of going to Bethlehem) and I would go there even if I had to walk on foot," Arafat told Palestinian radio Voice of Palestine on Sunday morning.

Arafat said that "No one could prevent me from going to attend the Christmas ceremony in Bethlehem on Monday night."

The Israeli government inner cabinet had decided in a meeting on Saturday night that Israel would prevent Arafat from going to Bethlehem, either by cars or by a Jordanian Helicopter from Ramallah to Bethlehem.

Since 1995 when Israel handed over the West Bank towns and cities to the Palestinian National Authority including Bethlehem, Arafat had been attending Christmas services and ceremony every year in the city.

Palestinian Minister of Information Yasser Abed Rabbo accused Israel of "turning the religious occasion into a political issue."

"It is a shameful decision taken by the Israeli government," Abed Rabbo told reporters. "Israel is preventing Palestinians from celebrating this occasions that is so cheerful and an indication for peace among all peoples."

Arafat told reporters in Ramallah when he visited the Palestinian Ministry of Education that the Israelis are preventing Muslims and Christians from going to pray in mosques and churches.

He said that the Palestinian people respect the Jewish religion and appreciate it, adding that the Palestinian people do not respect and appreciate the Zionists who are banning them from doing their prayers.

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