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CNN Live At Daybreak
Evacuation of Palestinians From Church Goes Smoothly
Aired May 10, 2002 - 06:02 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Israeli forces are preparing to pull back from Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. This after all the Palestinians inside left the church today, finally bringing an end to that five-week standoff. The church is built on the spot where Christians believe Jesus Christ was born.
CNN's Walter Rodgers is outside the church, where he witnessed it all -- Roger, tell us about us -- or Walter, tell us about it.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. The evacuation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the evacuation of Palestinians proceeded as smoothly as the diplomatic road to this conclusion was marred with potholes. This effectively ends a five- and-a-half week standoff here in Bethlehem between the Israel army, which has had this historic Christian shrine surrounded, and inside, there were Palestinian gunmen who turned the church, the ancient church into a fortress.
It all ended extremely quietly. The first to emerge from the Church of the Nativity were the most wanted by Israeli, 13 Palestinians who are to be deported. They have just landed in Cyprus. These are the men that Israel said were senior terrorists responsible for dispatching suicide bombers, responsible for making explosives and responsible, according the Israelis, for attacks on the Israeli army and Israeli civilians.
There still are the diplomatic -- or excuse me -- still the peace protesters inside the church. They are refusing to come out, but for all intents and purposes, everyone inside the church who rushed into it weeks and weeks ago are out at this point. Those inside the church, the peace protesters, 10 of them, are refusing to come out simply because they are afraid when they do, the Israelis will deport them almost immediately.
Many of the families of the Palestinians who left the church were standing in rooftops trying to wave goodbye to their loved ones, the ones being deported they may never see again, because if Israel has its way, those who were inside the church who are being deported and the others being sent to Gaza, 26 in that second group, are never to return to this part of the world again; again, if Israel has its way.
There was one woman, however, who had a very joyous moment this morning. Her son, Mohammed (ph), was among those Palestinians who were swept up in the rush to the church. He had no record against him. The Israelis didn't want him. And when she saw him emerging from the church a short while ago, she was waving and crying, "Mohammed (ph), Mohammed (ph)," and she will have the joy of having her son home later this evening.
Now, of course, the Israelis say that this was a mission to try to end the attacks of terror that they have had waged against them. And we need to point out that this city, Bethlehem, is a very strong Hamas city, and an Israeli general in charge of planning this entire operation, Eival Gilady, said it was a success.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIG. GEN. EIVAL GILADY, ISRAELI DEFENSE FORCES: Finally, we could solve this crisis peacefully without entering this church. The Israeli soldiers didn't (ph) ever enter this church. It was very important for us. I would say the most important issues, not allowing any of the terrorists, a total of 39 people, to return back home or to return back to terror activities, and to be sure that their arms will be left here, not to be returned. These were the conditions for us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RODGERS: The Israelis and the clergy at the Church of the Nativity are now mingling. You can see those live pictures from the courtyard in front of the Church of the Nativity, the traditional site of Jesus' birth. The last item to be attended here, of course, was the collection of Palestinian guns inside the church by U.S. agents. Those U.S. agents have collected more than a few Palestinian guns. Those were, of course, all forfeited before the Palestinians left.
Also in camera now, you can see the Israeli trucks, which are beginning to haul out Israeli supplies from this town. The Israelis have made it very clear from the outset that once the hardcore militants, the 39, were out of the Church of the Nativity, and once everyone else was out, their mission, their business here in Bethlehem was finished, and they would be going back to Israel -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Walter, I have a question. For the Palestinians who were holed up in that church, what did they gain by this, if anything?
RODGERS: An awful lot of publicity, and they did try to make the case that Bethlehem is a Palestinian city. Remember, this was not planned however. When they went into that church, they had no scheme. They did not have a deliberate plan. They were literally fleeing Israeli tanks and helicopters, which had charged into Bethlehem searching for Palestinian militants, particularly from Hamas, because this is a Hamas city.
Having said that, once they got inside the church, the militants there decided that they would use the event, the fact that they had control of one of the holiest shrines in Christendom to their own political advantage, and they did make a stand here. And from their political purposes the way they would see it was that they had made a case for their cause, which is to say the eviction of Israelis from any Palestinian territory. They are trying to get the world to see that the Israeli occupation of Palestine or the Palestinian territories is not a good thing from the Palestinian point of view -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Thank you -- Walter Rodgers live in Bethlehem this morning.
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