Arafat sits with Christian clergymen Saturday during festivities marking the start of millennium celebrations in Bethlehem

December 4, 1999
Web posted at: 9:10 p.m. EST (0210 GMT)

In this story: Aides: Arafat healthy Palestinians protest against Arafat RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNN) -- Millennial celebrations are under way in the town of Jesus' birth, now a growing political issue between Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Israel.

Arafat kicked off Bethlehem's Year 2000 celebrations Saturday by lighting the traditional Christmas tree in the town's Manger Square, site of the Church of the Nativity.

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Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers reports on the beginning of millennium celebrations in Bethlehem, West Bank (December 4) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K

The Palestinian leader, clad in his usual military-style fatigues and keffiyeh, or headdress, waved to the applauding crowd but made no remarks as he pressed a switch to light the twinkling white-and-gold bulbs adorning a 35-foot-tall pine.

Afterward, in a speech read by top aide Tayeb Abdel Rahim, Arafat accused Israel of trying to enclose Palestinian- controlled cities such as Bethlehem.

Aides: Arafat healthy

Palestinian officials said Arafat didn't give his own speech for "security and many other issues." They denied rumors that Arafat's health was behind the decision.

A Bethlehem nun helps decorate the town prior to evening ceremonies to begin millennium celebrations

In the speech, Rahim referred indirectly to Palestinian statehood aspirations. The ceremony, he said, was meant as "a message of freedom and independence for those who lack freedom."

Rahim also took a jab at Israel over what he said were problems faced by the Palestinians in renovating Bethlehem, a West Bank town near Jerusalem, in preparation for what Palestinians hope will be a flood of millennium visitors.

"The Palestinian Authority ... worked day and night so Bethlehem could be ready for this fabulous occasion," Rahim told the crowd. "We worked under a very difficult situation -- a lack of infrastructure and continued (Jewish) settlement activity, and the suffocation of this city."

In Israel, there were growing suspicions Arafat has been trying to assume proprietorship of the Holy Land at the expense of the Israelis.

Israel and the Palestinians have been sparring for months over security arrangements in Bethlehem for millennial celebrations.

The Palestinians say Israel's reinforcement of a checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem will hinder this year's Christmas Eve festivities in Manger Square, where the Palestinians expect some 60,000 visitors.

Palestinians protest against Arafat

Meanwhile, Arafat was the target of Palestinian protests elsewhere in the West Bank. In Nablus, about 1,500 marchers waved green flags, the color of Islam, at a demonstration organized by the Islamic group Hamas.

As speakers addressed the crowd, some marchers stood with gags over their mouths in protest of what they describe as a violation of freedom of speech by Arafat's Palestinian Authority.

Lawmaker Moawya al-Masri -- limping from a bullet wound to his foot -- said he was shot Wednesday as punishment for signing a manifesto last week that directly blamed Arafat for corruption in his government.

The document named Arafat in connection with allegations of waste, fraud and corruption in the Palestinian Authority. It also accused Palestinian peace negotiators of selling out their homeland.

At least seven of the 20 Palestinians who signed the document softened their statements after Arafat ordered 11 of them detained and threatened to lift immunity for the other nine, who are members of the Palestinian Authority legislature.

But al-Masri told protesters who gathered at the campus of An-Najah University that he would not back down.

"What happened will not make me go back -- it will make me go forward," al-Masri said. "I will continue my struggle."

Arafat also came under criticism Saturday at two rallies in the West Bank town of Hebron. Marchers called for the release of political prisoners held by his Palestinian Authority as well as those in Israeli jails.

Several hundred marchers from the faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization known as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine burned an Israeli flag. Some also carried banners in support of the manifesto signers, saying, "No to closed mouths."

Earlier, about 300 demonstrators took part in a prisoner- release rally, also organized by Hamas. They carried Palestinian flags and banners and chanted: "No to peace without prisoner release."

Jerusalem Bureau Chief Walter Rodgers and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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