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Palestinian National Authority (PNA) officials condemned on Monday Israel's decision to prevent Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from attending Christmas Mass in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Secretary General of the PNA cabinet said the Israeli decision "is aggressive" and it "is not only against President Arafat, but also against all the Palestinians, Christiansand Muslims who usually head to Bethlehem to pray for the domination of peace on earth."
Ra'anan Gissin, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said earlier in the day that Arafat should not attend the Midnight Mass in Bethlehem on the Christmas' Eve this year because he is not a man of peace.
Abdel Rahman denounced that "the Israeli government is the one which stands against peace and doesn't want the world to hear one word of peace from President Arafat from the place where Jesus Christ was born."
Such an Israel stand "would of course increase hatred between the two people," he said, adding preventing Arafat "is a violation of all the signed agreements before the whole world."
The PNA official also denied that the PNA held any contacts withthe world countries to practice pressure Israel into letting Arafatvisit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2002)
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