In circumstances yet unclear, Brother Samir Salman, the bell-ringer of the Nativity Church was shot dead today. He was found in the backyard of the church, and his death was confirmed by sources inside the church. At 3.15 p.m. Bethlehem churches rang their bells and mosques called-out simultaneously in prot est against the wide-scale destruction inflicted by the Israeli occupation army.

To whom it may concern

This is indymedia  http://www.indymedia.org & Jerusalem.indymedia.org . We are the biggest anti-globalisation news network in the world. We have IMC journalists trapped in ramallah and bethelem. Some have been injured. Our journalists have been with the international peace movement that was fired on. Our remaining journalist stay online whilst a sniper tries to kill them.

I am writing to broadcast a request which we believe has come from the church of nativity in Bethlehem. They are all slowly dying in the church. Yesterday afternoon, the bell ringer was shot dead by the IDF whilst he was inside the building. Sources have told indymedia that the bells of the church were ringing yesterday afternoon. We think it is a request from the nuns and priests inside the church as they die to the rest of the world. not even the red cross can get anywhere near the three churches.

I believe Indymedia has received a request for every church in the world to ring their bells all day sunday and to pray for peace and for the killing to stop on both sides. I would like for you to broadcast this message worldwide and across all of your contacts. If you have any questions, I would be delighted to answer them. You can find me (Nessuno) in irc.indymedia.org channel #Palestine.

Or e-mail either on

 phreaka@freenetname.co.uk

 sky-indymedia@btclick.com

Taking care...:) . Indymedia will shortly broadcasting the request across its network

can someone e-mail the pope please?

Four of 60 priests trapped in Church of the Nativity released
by nessuno • Friday April 05, 2002 at 09:17 PM
 sky-indymedia@btclick.com


An initial breakthrough was reached in negotiations that took place Friday between IDF troops and Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Four of the sixty priests that had been held by those fortified in the church were released.

Franciscan officials in Rome offered to mediate in the standoff between IDF troops and the armed Palestinians, who have been holed up since Tuesday inside the Bethlehem basilica built on the traditional site of Christ's birth.

The Israeli troops are under orders not to invade with force and have been calling on the some 250 gunmen inside to surrender, but the men continued to resist Friday.

The situation at the complex, which includes the Church of the Nativity, was "very grave," the minister-general of the Franciscans, the Reverend Giacomo Bini, told reporters. "We have 40 brothers and over 200 armed Palestinians. The brothers have shared their food but it is now running out, and we appeal to be allowed to leave the church to go and get supplies."

Bini said the Franciscans' top representative in the Holy Land, the Reverend Giovanni Battistelli, is willing, together with other local religious leaders, to "mediate talks between the two groups - the Israeli soldiers besieging the exterior of the basilica of the Nativity and the over 200 Palestinians who have taken shelter in the monastery."

He also said that he had written to U.S. President George Bush "to ask him to ask Sharon to stop and to start a dialogue."

"We need people to lay down their arms but those in the church will not lay down their arms if they see those outside still have guns," Bini said.

Asked if the Israelis had destroyed a door to the courtyard, as gunmen and others inside the church had said, Bini replied: "They did destroy the door the same way the Palestinians destroyed a door trying to get in."

The IDF has denied the claim, saying soldiers did not make a move on the shrine.

Bini said there had been shots fired into the courtyard but no Israelis had entered the complex.

The standoff began Tuesday when the fighters, who had been battling advancing IDF troops, dashed to the church for refuge.

Besides the 40 Franciscan brothers, in the basilica complex there are four nuns and some 30 Orthodox and Armenian monks.

"Our brothers are tired psychologically and physically," Bini said, stressing, however that the Franciscans are not abandoning the place.

Before the violence, Bethlehem was a popular pilgrimage town. One of the most famous pilgrims was Pope John Paul II, who celebrated Mass in Manger Square, just outside the basilica, two years ago. He called Bethlehem "the heart of my pilgrimage."

Five Italian journalists, who were inside the complex when the Palestinians poured inside, were evacuated Wednesday in a convoy of armored cars with diplomatic plates.


 http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=165956&group=webcast