WEST BANK: LUTHERAN CHURCH ORPHANS CAUGHT ON FRONTLINE OF BATTLE AGAINST PALESTINIAN GUNMEN

Record ID: 566205

  • Title: WEST BANK: LUTHERAN CHURCH ORPHANS CAUGHT ON FRONTLINE OF BATTLE AGAINST PALESTINIAN GUNMEN
  • Date: 30th August 2001
  • Summary: (W6) BEIT JALA, WEST BANK (AUGUST 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 1. SLV ISRAELI TANK IN FRONT OF CHURCH; SCU GUN OF ISRAELI TANK; SCU TANK TURRET MOVING (3 SHOTS) 0.17 2. MV PALESTINIAN GUNMEN RUNNING IN STREET; MV PALESTINIAN GUNMEN TAKING UP POSITIONS (3 SHOTS) 0.31 3. SCU ZOOM OUT SIGN ON ORPHANAGE READING "RUN BY LUTHERAN CHURCH, GATES OF CHURCH"; SCU SIGN READING "HOLY PLACE, CHURCH PROPERTY"; MV PALESTINIAN GUNMEN OUTSIDE ORPHANAGE, CHILDREN PLAYING IN ORPHANAGE; MV ORPHANS PLAYING INSIDE GATES OF ORPHANAGE; MV ORPHANS SEATED INSIDE HALL IN ORPHANAGE; SCU FACE OF ORPHAN; MV ORPHANS SEATED AT TABLE IN DINING HALL (7 SHOTS) 1.15 4. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ROBERT, ORPHAN FROM BEIT JALA, SPEAKING IN ORPHANAGE "I ran to the bedroom where my bed is and I hid under my bed." 1.24 (W6) BEIT JALA (AUGUST 28, 2001) (REUTERS) 5. SCU GOLDEN CRUCIFIX WORN BY HEAD OF THE LUTHERAN ORPHANAGE IN BEIT JALA, ZOOM OUT HEAD SPEAKING ON CELL PHONE; SCU ORPHANS (2 SHOTS) 1.37 6. (SOUNDBITE)(Arabic) FATHER MUNEEB YUNAN, BEIT JALA CHURCH LEADER SPEAKING IN FRONT OF CHURCH, SAYING "They (Israeli Soldiers) got on to the roof of the church and there is a tank on the church grounds." SHOOTING BREAKS OUT AND PEOPLE START RUNNING AND TAKING COVER; SLV JOURNALISTS AND CHURCH LEADERS SCRAMBLE FOR COVER (2 SHOTS) 2.00 (W6) BEIT JALA (AUGUST 29, 2001) (REUTERS) 7. SCU ZOOM OUT SIGN READING "VIRGIN MARY STREET"/ TANK IN STREET; MV RESIDENT OF BEIT JALA TRYING TO LEAVE IN CAR; SLV RESIDENT OF BEIT JALA ARGUING WITH SOLDIER AFTER GETTING OUT OF CAR; SCU SOLDIER INSIDE TANK (4 SHOTS) 2.33 8. SLV FAMILY OF LOCAL CLERIC, FATHER GEORGE SHAHWAN, AND HIS FAMILY FLEEING IN CAR TO NEARBY BETHLEHEM (2 SHOTS) 2.51 9. (SOUNDBITE) (English) KARIM AND KATHERINE SHAHWAN SPEAKING BEFORE LEAVING "Only my message to (U.S. President) George Bush (is) to read the bible again, to know what is Christianity. Not to say God bless America and to send his message to kill people in another country. We are Christians. And he will understand me when I say to read the bible again." SHOTS RING OUT AND COUPLE RUN TO CAR 3.16 10. MV CHRISTIAN FAMILY TRYING TO LEAVE ISRAELI CONTROLLED AREA OF BEIT JALA 3.30 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 14th September 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BEIT JALA, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Reuters ID: LVA3OI84MD0UNQLI2VKREIB5FTQG
  • Story Text: The Israeli army's move into Beit Jala has left dozens
    of children at a Lutheran church orphanage caught on the
    frontline of the battle against Palestinian gunmen.

    When Israeli troops seized the West Bank town of Beit
    Jala on Tuesday (August 28), they also seized a Christian
    community centre and a secondary school, parking tanks and
    armoured personnel carriers at several key junctions and
    imposing a total curfew.

    At the Lutheran orphanage in Beit Jala, church leader
    Father Nuneeb Yunan said that Israeli soldiers got on the roof
    of the church and brought a tank into the grounds. As he spoke
    of his experience, gunfire rang out and he was forced to run
    for cover.

    And outside the gates of the orphanage, while children
    played in the yard, Palestinian gunmen crouched in position.

    The gunmen have used Beit Jala, strategically placed
    across a shallow valley, to stage nightime attacks on Gilo, a
    settlement Israelis consider a neighbourhood of Jerusalem.

    Israel has repeatedly warned the gunmen against striking
    Gilo, which it considers a neighbourhood of Jerusalem, and has
    said it would only leave when the shooting stops.

    Until then, about 150 Beit Jala residents, most of them
    Christians, remain trapped in their homes.

    Local cleric Father George Shahwan and his family were so
    traumatised by the soldiers presence that they fled to nearby
    Bethlehem.

    They said they could not bear the situation any more. They
    claimed that Israeli soldiers who had taken over their house
    would not even let them use the bathroom because they were
    shooting from the window.

    As they left, Karim and Katherine Shahwan called on U.S.

    President George Bush to read his bible again before allowing
    the violence to continue.

    "We are Christians." said Karim, "and he will understand
    me when I say to read the bible again".

    The family sped off as bullets rang out across the town.


  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register