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The Nativity Thirteen By Bennett M. Epstein May 10, 2002 The "not in my back yard" maneuvering being played out with respect to the thirteen remaining Palestinians holed up in the Church of the Nativity is quite enlightening. Italy has officially said that it is afraid of them. Spain, which hopped right on the Jenin "massacre" bandwagon, doesn't want them, either. The Europeans, who rarely pass up an opportunity to blame Palestinian terrorism on Israel are now falling all over themselves to find clauses in their immigration laws which prohibit their acceptance. Appeasement is apparently fine when those being killed are Jews, but potential of terrorists in the Tivoli Gardens is quite another thing. Even the governments of Jordan and Egypt have refused to give refuge to these brethren, the fighters that they routinely praise as heroic, and the Saudis, whose generosity to the cause of martyrdom is now legendary, haven't held so much as one little telethon to build these living martyrs each a villa outside Riyadh. What is at play is a classic example of European smugness and anti-semitism. When threatening the existence of Israel, these are "freedom fighters" and the poor desperate victims of occupation. But allow them into their own neighborhood, even for the sake of saving the church? Mon Dieu, they are thugs and murderers, not worthy of so much as a tourist visa. The Scandinavians also have enough Arabs, thank you very much. The sudden lack of Arab hospitality is not so sudden. It is derived from nothing less than the same combined hatred of Israel that causes the refugee camps to still exist generations after the "refugees" were created. To countries like Egypt and Jordan, accepting the "nativity thirteen" would be like inviting a pack of wolves to the family picnic. Mubarak would clearly prefer they go to Gaza and maybe they will chew through the fence, hopefully not anywhere near the Rafah crossing. Once they are accepted somewhere, which they are bound to be after the U.S. pays a reverse ransom in aid to a "host" country or countries, what will be most interesting will be the "where are they now" segment on Al Jazeera in about 10 years. How many years, months or even hours will they remain in the charming cities of Europe? Who will use the opportunity to live a normal life or further an education? And, as Jews recite on Yom Kippur, who will come to a timely end, and who to an untimely one? Views expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
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