Tuesday, November 23, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 7
World
7
Churches close to protest planned mosque
Israeli Christians upset about plans to build in heart of Nazareth
The Associated Press
NAZARETH, Israel—The gates of churches across the Holy Land swung shut in protest Monday as church leaders made a final attempt to block the building of a mosque in the heart of Nazareth, the town of Jesus' boyhood.
The two-day, Vatican-backed closure highlights the increasingly volatile relations between Christians and Muslims, as well as Israel's ambiguous — some claim politically tainted — role as mediator.
The dispute also has spilled into Mideast peace talks, with
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat backing the Christians in Nazareth in hopes they will support him when he negotiates the future of Jerusalem with the Israelis.
Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam's holiest shrines, supported Arafat's efforts, offering to pay for a new mosque at an alternate spot in Nazareth, away from the Basilica of the Annunciation, to avoid friction.
The church closures, just weeks before the last Christmas of the millennium, left many pilgrims disappointed. Some endorsed the protest, while others said Christians should set examples of tolerance and not block construction of the mosque.
"Nazareth should be a city for everyone," said Jozpeh Wietsiers, 54, a Roman Catholic who had
walked more than 2,400 miles since May on a pilgrimage from his hometown in Oss, Holland, only to find the Basilica closed.
But the highest Roman Catholic authority in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah, said the Christians, a tiny minority of about 100,000, had to take a stand.
"We closed the churches so the world can hear, and the world did," Sabbah said at a news conference in Jerusalem.
The dispute is uncharacteristic of Israel's Christians, who usually keep a low profile to avoid friction with Muslims.
Sabbah hinted that Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas, set for March, still could be called off if the Nazareth dispute was not resolved.
The argument began two years ago, when the city's Christian
mayor, Ramez Jeraisi, announced plans to build a tourist plaza on a half-acre plot outside the Basilica to make the congested, noisy downtown more appealing to millennium visitors.
The city's Islamic movement said some of the land was Muslim-owned and set up a protest tent on the lot.
In a compromise brokered by the Israeli government, the mosque is to be built on one-third of the land, the plaza on the remainder. Jerusalem reluctantly accepted the deal, saying he wanted to avoid more strife, but was overruled by Roman Catholic, Armenian and Greek Orthodox patriarchs who said a mosque near the church was unacceptable.
Churches closed across the Holy Land, including in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and the Gaillee.
Troops surround Grozny, expect militants to flee
The Associated Press
SLEPTSOVSKAYA, Russia— Russian forces are moving steadily to encircle Chechenya's capital and expect civilians will encourage Chechen militants to abandon the city rather than wage an all-out battle, Russia's top army officer said Monday.
Russia pounded parts of Chechnya from the air and ground, with warplanes running about 50 combat missions in a 24-hour period, the Interfax news agency said. Fearful civilians continued their exodus from Chechnya.
So far, Russia's march across Chechnya, which began two months ago, has not produced major battles reminiscent of the 1994-96 war in the breakaway territory. The outgunned Chechens have regularly retreated rather than confront the larger and more heavily armed Russian formations.
With the Russians now on the outskirts of Grozny, some 5,000 to 6,000 militants have barricaded themselves in the Chechen capital in anticipation of a Russian assault, the Russian military said.
But Gen. Anatoly Kvashnin, the chief of the army's general staff, stressed that his troops would not try to storm the capital. As with other towns captured by the Russians forces, Kvashnin believes civilians do not want to see widespread destruction and will urge the militants to withdraw, allowing the Russian forces to move in with little resistance.
Russian aircraft and artillery
have been pummeling the city for weeks, and Russian forces have already surrounded 80 percent of Grozny, according to the military.
The Russians expect to have the city completely encircled by early
December, the Interfax news agency said, citing Russian military sources in Mozdok, the main military base just to the west of Chechnya.
Much of Grozny was destroyed in the previous war, including most buildings in the center of the capital, and little has been rebuilt.
The Federal Migration Service said Monday that 222,556 refugees had fled Chechnya since the current fighting began. More than 1,850 left Chechnya during the past 24 hours, the Interior Ministry said.
Weary-looking refugees, mostly women and children, piled out of pickup trucks at the border with Ingushetia, and began their trek to find shelter in tent camps or private homes.
Kosovars start to question U.N.'s authority, control in land ravaged by conflict
Workers hover over the sky blue control panel, waiting for the communist-era monoliths to clatter to a halt. The infrastructure collapse is not surprising here. Very little works in Kosovo, the land between governments that President Clinton visits today.
OBILIC, Yugoslavia — Dust fogs the air of Obilic's cavernous power plant, where two massive turbines turn on the lights in Kosovo — every now and then.
Gone is the government of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, excised by war and the arrival of NATO troops in June. In its place is a U.N. administration so beleaguered that five months after its arrival, its primary accomplishment has been getting organized.
So far, it has failed to contain crime, halt ethnic violence, establish a judiciary or just about any other structure of government. Pristina, the provincial capital, is a city where the streets have no names, most cars have no plates and people can't produce documents to prove they are alive or their relatives are dead.
The troubles attracted the notice of the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Henry H. Shelton, when he visited Kosovo.
The Associated Press
"There is a void between what the military can accomplish and what is needed for a sustainable peace," Shelton said.
Welcome to life in the void, where even U.N. officials acknowledge they've been slow in getting started, primarily because the mission lacked quick money to jump-start it.
Efforts to get police officers on the streets, for example, have been delayed by their failure to show up:
Of the 3,000 police pledged in June, only 1,700 had arrived by November. Serbs and other ethnic minorities continue to flee attacks leveled in revenge for the estimated 10,000 people killed during the 18-month crackdown by forces loyal to Milosevic.
But U.S. officials said today's situation was a big improvement from a year ago.
The United Nations moved into a region suffering catastrophic collapse, and not just from the war. Roads, bridges, hospitals, water lines and other infrastructure elements are crumbling from a lack of maintenance.
"This will be a difficult winter, but it will be a hell of a lot better than last winter when the Kosovars were being killed," National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said.
The U.S. and European nations pledged $1 billion last week to rebuild Kosovo and that should accelerate the pace of progress, officials said.
Nevertheless, the U.N. failure to accomplish its goals quickly is shattering the Kosovars' confidence in the mission, said Fron Nazi, a senior editor for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting.
Nazi faulted the U.N. top administrator, Bernard Kouchner, for the U.N.'s wimpy reputation, saying the former French health minister who helped found Doctors Without Borders directed his early efforts toward political consensus.
Now, Kosovars have reason to be cynical. Hundreds of public employees show up for work, but don't get paid.
Then there are the water system's constant shutdowns, the rarely working mobile phone system and the long power blackouts.
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