WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: LATIN PATRIARCH MICHEL SABBAH AND OTHER CHRISTIAN LEADERS VISIT PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT AT HIS RAMALLAH HEADQUARTERS
Record ID:
566137
WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: LATIN PATRIARCH MICHEL SABBAH AND OTHER CHRISTIAN LEADERS VISIT PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT AT HIS RAMALLAH HEADQUARTERS
- Title: WEST BANK/JERUSALEM: LATIN PATRIARCH MICHEL SABBAH AND OTHER CHRISTIAN LEADERS VISIT PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT AT HIS RAMALLAH HEADQUARTERS
- Date: 24th December 2001
- Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, (DECEMBER 24, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. PAN DOWN: EXTERIOR OF PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT ARAFAT'S OFFICE 0.11 2. SCU: PALESTINIAN GUARD STANDING OUTSIDE OFFICE 0.15 3. SV: ARAFAT AND ENTOURAGE OUTSIDE OFFICE 0.26 4. CLOSE UP ARAFAT 0.30 5. MV: LATIN PATRIARCH MICHEL SABBAH'S CAR ARRIVING 0.39 6. SV: SABBAH ARRIVING AT MEETING GREETING ARAFAT 0.49 7. MV: SABBAH WALKING INTO MEETING 0.55 8. SV: ARAFAT GREETING SABBAH'S ENTOURAGE 1.07 9. MV: ARAFAT WALKING INTO MEETING 1.16 10. WIDE OF ARAFAT AND SABBAH 1.26 11. MV: SABBAH AND ENTOURAGE 1.29 12. SV'S: SABBAH AND ARAFAT (2 SHOTS) 1.35 13. SV: MEMBERS OF MEETING SITTING 1.38 14. MV: MORE OF ARAFAT AND SABBAH, SCU: MEMBER OF SABBAH'S ENTOURAGE (2 SHOTS) 1.45 15. SV: ARAFAT AND SABBAH LEAVING MEETING 1.55 16. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LATIN PATRIARCH MICHEL SABBAH SAYING: "So far he (Arafat) is not going to attend the Christmas eve at Bethlehem, we still hope that he will. We came here to thank him for sharing our joy, and to pray on our Christmas holiday." 2.22 17. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT YASSER ARAFAT WHEN ASKED ABOUT SHARON SAYING: "Who is Sharon? Who is Sharon?" / ARAFAT AND ENTOURAGE WALK BACK IN TO OFFICE 2.38 JERUSALEM (DECEMBER 24, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 18. PAN: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON ENTERING MEETING 2.47 19. SV: ISRAELI COMMUNICATION MINISTER REUVEN RIVLIN ARRIVING AT MEETING 2.49 20. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) RIVLIN, ASKED ABOUT ISRAEL DENYING ARAFAT'S ARRIVAL TO BETHLEHEM CELEBRATIONS SAYING: "Arafat really thinks that he can on one hand use terrorism, and then apply and address complaints against Israel to the entire world saying that they are avoiding him from attending a Messa a real holy day, a real sacred prayer to God. Arafat is not Christian." 3.09 21. VARIOUS OF SHARON AN CABINET MINISTERS AT MEETING (2 SHOTS) 3.28 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 8th January 2002 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK AND JERUSALEM
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Reuters ID: LVA5O9BRF86ZSDPI5B0AQPWIZFNV
- Story Text: Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah and other Christian
leaders have shown their support for Yasser Arafat by paying a
visit to the Palestinian leader who has been banned by Israel
from attending Christmas Eve celebrations in Bethlehem.
Israel set a condition on Monday (December 24) for
lifting a ban on Yasser Arafat's annual pilgrimage to
Bethlehem, in the first sign it might ease up on a Christmas
Eve showdown with the Palestinian leader.
Arafat would be able to go to the town revered as Jesus'
birthplace "if he arrests people involved in the killing (of
an Israeli cabinet minister) who are in Ramallah -- and the
Palestinians know who they are -- by this evening," a senior
Israeli political source said.
The frail, 72-year-old Palestinian president said he would
defy the order and attend Christmas Eve festivities in
Palestinian-ruled Bethlehem even if he had to walk all the way
to historic Manger Square from his Ramallah headquarters.
Israeli forces tightened their blockade on Ramallah
overnight -- a move which Israel's Army Radio reported was to
prevent Arafat from sneaking out but which an army spokeswoman
said was part of a broader security operation.
Israel said on Sunday it decided to bar Arafat's journey
to Bethlehem, through roads sealed off in places by Israeli
tanks and troops in the West Bank, because he had failed "to
dismantle Palestinian terror organisations".
It was a clear attempt to strike another symbolic blow
against Arafat. Israel recently branded him "irrelevant" to
efforts to end 15 months of bloodshed, but the United States
and much of the international community has opposed the
declaration.
The churches at the centre of Christian religion in the
town of Jesus's birth have become the focus of political
struggle over Arafat's plans to attend Christmas Eve mass
there.
Arafat has been there every Christmas since the West Bank
town came under his rule in 1995.
The ban has added to the taut atmosphere as Palestinian
Christians mark the second Christmas since the start of an
uprising against Israeli occupation in September 2000.
With Israeli tanks and troops encircling Palestinian-ruled
areas, Arafat's proposed journey to Bethlehem from his
Ramallah home became more a political signal than a religious
gesture to his people's Christian minority.
Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah greeted Arafat in his
Ramallah headquarters on Monday, and disappointed by the
Israeli order, said; "the dignity of Arafat is the dignity of
all Palestinians."
"So far he (Arafat) is not going to attend the Christmas
eve at Bethlehem, we still hope that he will. We came here to
thank him for
sharing our joy, and to pray on our Christmas holiday," said
the Patriarch.
But Arafat remained determined saying after their meeting,
"Who is Sharon to decide whether or not I shall go to
Bethlehem?"
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held a cabinet meeting
on Monday morning, for further discussion about the new
Israeli budget plan.
On his way in to the meeting Israeli communication
minister Reuven Rivlin said; "Arafat really thinks that he can
on one hand use terrorism, and then apply and address
complaints against Israel to the entire world saying that they
are avoiding him from attending a Messa a real holy day, a
real sacred prayer to God. Arafat is not Christian."
A majority of Israelis oppose a new economic package aimed
at boosting Israel's struggling economy that includes sweeping
budget cuts and a steep reduction of interest rates, a poll
published on Monday showed.
The Dahaf survey of 506 people published in the Yedioth
Ahronoth newspaper, Israel's largest daily, showed that 51
percent of Israelis polled were against the plan. The poll had
a margin of error of 4.5 percent.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Finance Minister Silvan
Shalom and Bank of Israel Governor David Klein unveiled the
programme on Sunday night. It proposes a total cut of more
than six billion shekels to the 2002 national budget and a
reduction of two percentage points to Israel's key lending
rate.
Only 19 percent of people surveyed after the plan was
released said they supported the government's economic plan,
while 11 percent were undecided and 19 percent had not heard
about it.
The poll's findings also sharply contrasted with Sharon's
high marks in the Israeli public for adopting a hardline
approach to combating a 15-month-old Palestinian uprising.
On the economic front, 51 percent of Israelis in the poll
rated Sharon badly for the economic package, compared with 41
percent who gave him good marks.
The Finance Ministry has said that it needs to make cuts
to its 254.8 billion shekel ($60 billion) budget next year
because a recession in Israel will likely bring in far less
tax revenues than anticipated.
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