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CNN Live Today

Bethlehem Struggles Under Curfew

Aired April 30, 2002 - 14:06   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Bethlehem right now. Much of what we have seen there concerns the standoff at the Church of the Nativity. But there's another rather significant story happening in that town.

John Vause reporting. Bethlehem is struggling under a near total curfew that has closed virtually everything, including the schools in that town.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They gather in small groups at homes around Bethlehem. Children of all ages, locked out of school, now taking their lessons under siege.

Ibrahim al Fseisi normally sells souvenirs to tourists. These days, there are no tourists. SO for the past few weeks he's been teaching fourth grade English, Arabic, math and science.

IBRAHIM AL FSEISI, SUBSTITUTE TEACHER: It is a little bit difficult for me, but I am trying my best. So even the children, they are helping me, because they want to learn.

VAUSE: Classes are held four hours a day, Sunday to Thursday, all ages, taught by parents who are worried their children are missing out on the most basic education.

FSEISI: We like our children to be educated. Because if a child is not educated, he will lose his future.

VAUSE: Israa Salhab is 13 years old. She wants to be a teacher. And while she enjoys the home schooling, like everyone else, she looks forward to the day when the curfew will end.

ISRAA SALHAB, STUDENT: We miss our teachers, and my friends, and the school.

VAUSE: Everywhere else, Bethlehem has come to a standstill. Piles of garbage grow higher by the day. An estimated 1,500 tons litter the streets. Damaged buildings and roads are left unrepaired, because when the curfew is lifted for a few hours every few days, there is frantic rush to buy groceries, and especially cigarettes.

City officials estimate it will cost at least $8 million and two years to rebuild from this occupation, and say another $15 million has been lost because no one has gone to work for almost a month.

(on camera): This is the Old City's main market. Under normal circumstances it would normally be crowded with people buying fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. But for almost a month now it's been covered with these festering piles of garbage.

The smell is bad and it's getting worse by the day. And there are flies, flies everywhere, all of them with the potential for spreading disease.

(voice-over): The biggest danger is to young children, especially from dysentery. And as this standoff continues, there are warnings that soon the people here will openly defy the curfew.

ZIAD AL-BANDAK, BETHLEHEM DEPUTY MAYOR: Within some days, the citizens of they city will go out and they will say, we are not going to stay in our homes. We will -- we will see what the Israelis are going to do if we go in masses in the streets.

VAUSE: It seems the Israelis may soon be facing another dilemma: not only how to get the Palestinians out of the Church of the Nativity, but how to keep thousands more inside their homes. John Vause, CNN, Bethlehem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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