[b]Alright. I've had it. Wipe them out. To the
last freaking man, woman, and child.

***************************

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP)--Dozens of armed Palestinians - uniformed police and militiamen - shot their way into the Church of the Nativity on Tuesday, forcing priests to grant them sanctuary from Israeli troops encircling one of Christianity's holiest shrines, witnesses said.

The armed men rushed into the church, built over Jesus' traditional birth grotto, after several hours of intense battles with Israeli troops who fired machine guns from tanks and helicopter gunships flying above Manger Square.

Israeli forces took over Bethlehem early Tuesday, as part of a 5-day-old offensive aimed at crushing Palestinian militias that have carried out a spate of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians. Tanks patrolled the city throughout the day, enforcing a strict curfew, as troops exchanged fire with roving bands of gunmen.

The heaviest fighting was reported outside the Church of the Nativity, and the bodies of four members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, were found about 50 yards (meters) from the church, near Manger Square, on Tuesday evening. Elsewhere, three Palestinian civilians were killed in the fighting.

Israel accused Palestinians of firing from inside the shrine and a nearby Roman Catholic convent, exploiting Israel 's jitters about inadvertently damaging religious sites. Col. Miri Eisen, an Israeli intelligence officer, said the army chief, Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, had issued orders to his troops to refrain from shooting at churches.

The gunmen insisted they were simply seeking sanctuary.

"First of all, most of the guys have run out of bullets and secondly, we're completely surrounded," said a Palestinian policeman in the church, who would only give his first name, Samir. "This is the only place that's safe for us to be."

After nightfall Tuesday, about 120 armed men were hiding in the church, said Marc Innaro, a correspondent for Italy's RAI TV, who was trapped in the compound by the fighting, along with five colleagues.

About 20 of the gunmen were wounded, and were being tended to by several nuns and priests, Samir said. The armed men were resting on the stone floor of the church or sitting in the pews, with little to do. "They've run out of cigarettes. There's no food either," Samir said in a telephone interview.

A Greek-Orthodox priest said clergymen asked the gunmen to leave, to no avail. "We told them it's forbidden to enter the church with weapons," said Father Elia Melinkovicz, a visiting priest from Yugoslavia.

Innaro, the Italian TV correspondent, said he was in the compound when the gunmen forced their way in. He said he and his colleagues were resting in an adjacent pilgrim's hostel when they heard bursts of gunfire, and were told later by priests that the gunmen had shot open a door leading into the church.

Father Ibrahim Faltas, a Roman Catholic priest in the compound, was evasive when asked about the forceful entry, saying only the gunmen didn't seek his permission.

The six journalists, five Italians and an Armenian from Jerusalem, were in Bethlehem on Tuesday and decided to head out when they were stopped by two Israeli armored vehicles, Innaro said.

The journalists sought shelter in the Church of the Nativity compound. Innaro denied claims by Israeli officials that he and his colleagues were being held against their will. "We are not hostages," Innaro said.

Gun battles also raged near the Santa Maria convent in downtown Bethlehem, run by the Salesians, a Roman Catholic order. Israeli government spokesman Arieh Mekel said several nuns were being kept against their will by Palestinian militiamen. Church officials couldn't be reached for comment on the allegations.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires 02-04-02

Where's Janet Reno when you need her? [pyro]

Real charmers, those "Palestinian gunmen".

Notice the Israelis haven't shot the place up to kill these swine.  They respect another religion's icons.  The paleswines do not.

Gentlemen, I propose we take up a collection for a stained-glass window for installation in the Church of the Nativity honoring the holy sanctuary given the terrorized terrorists.

It will appear as.....a bunch of friggin cowards, trembling, pizzing themselves, and hiding under the habits of the Nuns.

I'm certain that it will soon become a place of pilgrimage for all believers.

Eric The(Rude)Hun[>]:)]

Low on ammo, 20-odd wounded, tanks closing in, bad odds . . . can't say I favor the methods, but seeking/forcing refuge seems to have saved dozens of lives.

Bulldoze it!  Probably not the real site of the nativity anyway.  And I am a believer bros!

the palestinians IMHO are a people
brainwashed by their leaders.

the origin of their problems is from
the british occupation government
of the 40's.  the BOG were very anti-semitic
and purposely or not, did not leave any
room for expansion of the populations.

to exterminate a breed of people would be
very difficult - as there are persons who are
part 'palestinian', where does one draw the
line?  this is the same difficulty the nazi's
had in drawing the non-sensical nuremburg laws of 1935(?).

it is my firm belief that it is not the type of blood that flows in your veins that determines the quality of the person, but the type of 'heart' on posseses in their consciousness.

arafat is an old tired man who is most likely
close to expiring physically and wanted to be remembered as a 'hero' to his people, not the one who brought peace to them.  in his demented collapsing (desperate mind) he has reached a point of insanity and would rather lead his young to slaughter.  he leads the tone for his people.  he is the one responsible for the destruction of his people and their enviroment.

trying to discipline the palestinian people is like trying to tame and live with a rabid dog.
is beating the dog tha answer?

no.

this will sound goofy - but i would "over love"
the palestinians,  instead of sodliers, send aid workers, help them build houses, grow crops, send food, medicine etc.  help the palestinian people into the 21st century.  show them that pride and happiness in living is better then living in squaller (sp?) and dying for a prophet who only taught peace and hygine is not tha answer.

they are acting like this because they believe that this is the only answer for them.... we need to change their beliefs....

this will allow a lasting peace in a wonderful land.

steve

Except that they don't want your "over love" because you don't follow their religeon. They are willing to blow themselves up to get you out, regardless of whether or not you bring help. This obviously doesn't apply to every person over there, but we all know that the terr groups (hamas etc) will not stop until the jews are completely gone from "their" land.

Have you been watching this, its turning into a pro-PAL PR circus, even the Pope is intervening, who's next, Jesse Jackson?

These guys are cowards.  They holed up in these holy shrines because they know they will not be attacked there.  As the Hun says, "hiding behind the habits of the nuns".  But also they will resist doing harm to the shrines themselves.  They respect the religions and the houses of worship.  They know they are safe there.  Rat bastard cowards start all their shit and run and hide.  

I I knew a cute nun a while back. Always wanted to get under her habit myself.

Well this will be settled. Probably a SpecOps mission in the works as we speek. And probably too Zinni is trying to negotiate their surrender at this time too. He already has done it once with the men at the PLO secruity force headquarters..

This time I hope Zinni fails.

Just bulldoze it!  The so-called grotto of the nativity is underneath the church... no harm done!  Seriously, the Templar knights were just guessing when they decided that was the place.

Just imagine the reaction of the "Arabs" if a bunch of Israeli soldiers took over a mosque and holed-up there, especially an important mosque like the one in Jerusalem.

GunLvr

Awful lot of propaganda flying around--Palestinians are all "gunmen" but the people sent to kill them are "soldiers" and "troops."


Last I looked, this is a war, and there are two armies fighting in a very lopsided war.

Why do I even care about this shite?  I don't give a damn if every Muslim and every Jew lined up along the border with Lebanon and then exchanged volleys of gunfire until all were dead.

Fuck them all.

Oh my! What a BEAUTIFUL idea! Occupy the Dome of the Rock and exchange it for the Church of the Nativity. We leave when you leave. That is a great idea.