Israel bans Arafat Christmas Eve visit


Arafat said he would walk to Bethlehem if necessary

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel has barred Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas Eve services in Bethlehem, saying he has not done enough to fight terrorism.

The move was issued Sunday in an Israeli Security Cabinet statement released by the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"The Cabinet made its decision based on the fact that Arafat is not acting to dismantle Palestinian terror organizations and to prevent terror against Israel from Palestinian Authority areas," the statement said.

Newspaper reports over the weekend indicated Israel would not allow Arafat to travel to Bethlehem unless the Palestinian Authority arrests the head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmed Sa'adat, and those whom they believe killed tourism minister Rehavam Ze'evi. To reach Bethlehem in the southern West Bank, Arafat would need to cross Israeli-ruled land.

Arafat filed a request Friday with the Defense Ministry to attend Bethlehem's Christmas celebrations. Arafat told Christian clerics last week he intended to be there even if he had to walk.

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Arafat has attended Christmas Eve services at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity since the town came under Palestinian rule in 1995.

Israel has confined the Palestinian leader to his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah -- about 15 miles (24 km) north of Bethlehem -- since Israel retaliated for Palestinian suicide bombings in Jerusalem and Haifa, and destroyed Arafat's helicopters.

The decision to bar Arafat was taken after a telephone poll of security Cabinet members, resulting in a narrow 7-6 vote. All Labor Party ministers, including Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, opposed Sharon's decision to bar Arafat from attending the services.

Bethlehem, the town where Christians believe Jesus was born, was under high security Sunday as the Christmas celebrations drew near. Stores were shuttered and few pilgrims were in the town.

The security Cabinet made its decision despite Friday's announcement by Palestinian militant group Hamas that it would suspend suicide attacks inside Israel.

Islamic Jihad refused to follow the lead of Hamas, accusing the Palestinian Authority and Arafat of selling Palestinians' security to buy the security of the enemy.

A high-ranking Islamic Jihad official told CNN the group would not suspend "any resistance activities."

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine also rejected Arafat's recent call for a cease-fire.


Sharon has been urging Yasser Arafat to pursue a sustained effort to end the region's violence

Hamas is an Islamic fundamentalist group whose military wing, Izzedine al Quassam, carries out terrorist operations against Israelis. Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a militant group dedicated to the creation of an Islamic Palestinian state and the destruction of Israel.

Two top leaders of the radical Islamic Jihad group were arrested Saturday, Palestinian police said.

Shadi Mohanna, and his second-in-command, Mahmud Jahud, directed the wing of the militant group in northern Gaza, police said.

Their arrests come a day after six Palestinians were killed during a clash between Palestinian police and protesters in Jabaliya, a refugee camp in northern Gaza.

An estimated 72 others were wounded -- 10 of them critically, Gaza hospital sources said.

The Israeli government rejected what it said were "mixed messages" from the Palestinians and said Hamas still posed a serious threat.

Arafat has come under increasing pressure from the United States, Israel and Europe to crack down on terrorists in territory under Palestinian control since a string of December attacks killed 35 Israelis.

The terror bombings prompted the Israeli Cabinet to cut ties with Arafat and sanction retaliatory strikes on the West Bank and Gaza.

Israel allows event in East Jerusalem

In a separate development, Israel decided to allow a top PLO official to hold a Christmas party Sunday in East Jerusalem, as planned.

A similar reception planned to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr was banned last week by Israeli authorities, and the ranking PLO leader in East Jerusalem, Sari Nusseibeh, was taken in for questioning about the event.

Israeli Public Security Minister Uzi Landau said that Sunday's Christmas reception, to be attended by international diplomats, is a "private event" and would be allowed to take place.

Washington called Nusseibeh's detention "provocative and counter-productive" and filed a complaint with the Israeli government. At the time, Israeli officials cited rules prohibiting Palestinian officials from conducting political activity in Jerusalem.

Nusseibeh is widely considered to be a moderate among Palestinian officials. He's publicly urged the Palestinian leadership to drop its demand for the so-called "right of return" for Palestinian refugees.

The invitations to Sunday's Christmas reception did not include Nusseibeh's official title, unlike the invitations to the Eid al-Fitr event, his spokesman said.

The Israeli Security Ministry said that although it has deemed the Christmas reception a private event, it would monitor the reception at the Christmas Hotel in East Jerusalem to ensure "political elements" were not involved.