The three Palestinians granted exile in Italy after the Israeli army siege of Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity risk cracking under the strain of being so closely monitored, one of them told La Reppublica on Monday.
"When we arrived in Italy I asked the head of the Italian security service responsible for us not to track us too closely. I told him, “at least give us some personal space and autonomy or we could just explode”, Khaled Abu Nejmeh told the daily.
"We are all very tired. For the last two months we've being going from one siege to another, deprived of the affection of our loved ones," Abu Nejmeh told the paper, who said its reporter had met the men by chance at the home of the Palestinian Authority's representative in Rome.
"According to what we've been promised, and if God wills it, my children will arrive in Italy within a month or two and we can finally be together again," he expressed.
The two activists with Abu Nejmeh said 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 Israel of belonging to the 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.
He stated he had been responsible during the siege for the well-being of a group of 20 children aged between 10 and 15.
The third exile, Ibrahim Mohammad Salem Abayat, is accused by Israel of being a leading figure in Hamas and of perpetrating attacks against Israeli targets.
He said Muslims and Christians had respected each other during the bloody ordeal at the church.
"The priests celebrated mass twice a day and we said our five daily collective prayers but out of respect for the church we abstained from holding the traditional Friday sermon," he said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
