The three Palestinians granted exile in Italy after the Israeli occupation army siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity risk cracking under the strain of being closely monitored, one of them, Khaled Abu Nejmeh, told La Reppublica on Monday. "When we arrived in Italy I asked the head of the Italian security service responsible for us... at least give us some personal space and autonomy." Abu Nejmeh, a member of the Palestinian security services, and two resistance activists exiled with him were part of a group of 13 Palestinians exiled to Europe after being holed up with nearly 200 others in the Church of the Nativity during a five-week Israeli siege. Their banishment was instrumental in ending the occupation army's siege of the church.

Abu Nejmeh continued: "We are all very tired. For the last two months we've been going from one siege to another.... According to what we've been promised... my children will arrive in Italy within a month or two and we can finally be together again."

The two activists with him said that relations between Muslims and Christians trapped in the church had been good during the 39-day siege, when they were largely without food or water. One of them, Mohammad Said Atallah Salem, is accused by the occupation authorities of belonging to Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah group, and of planning two suicide attacks on Israeli targets in March. The third exile, Ibrahim Mohammad Salem Abayat, is accused by Israel of being a leading figure of Hamas and of perpetrating anti-occupation acts. | Return |

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