Freedom dawns on day like any other in Bethlehem

By JUSTIN HUGGLER in BETHLEHEM

It was supposed to be Bethlehem's day of liberation, but nobody was buying it. The Israeli Army withdrew from the city and handed control of it back to Palestinian police.

It was billed as the end of 15 months of agony for the birthplace of Christ - 15 months that saw a city whose narrow, limestone streets were once thronged with pilgrims and tourists reduced to a ghost town echoing only to the sound of gunfire.

Last year the smashed wrecks of cars lined the burning streets and the Church of the Nativity was besieged by the Israeli Army with Palestinian militants holed up inside.

But with yesterday's withdrawal all that was supposed to be over. It was the first Israeli withdrawal in the West Bank under the "roadmap" peace plan personally backed by United States President George W. Bush.

But there was little sign of celebration in Bethlehem and none of the people seemed to believe that this withdrawal would change anything.

Three Palestinian policemen ducked through the narrow doorway of the Church of the Nativity to change into their uniforms, and then emerged rather sheepishly into the sunlight of Manger Square.

The bells rang out, and after them the muezzin at the mosque recited the Koran in celebration, his voice echoing over the city. Then the police did a lap of victory round the square in a jeep, sirens blaring.

The police quickly put on a show of force around the city, four policemen directing traffic at a single intersection, others hurriedly setting up roadblocks.

Sitting on the steps of the town hall in Manger Square, the mayor, Hanna Nasser, looked despondent. Someone walked up to him and offered his congratulations.

"Congratulations? For what?" said the mayor. "This is all a big bluff by the Israelis. They want to show the world they have made this big withdrawal, when the reality is the checkpoints are still here."

From everyone in Bethlehem came the same message: nothing had changed because the city was still surrounded by Army checkpoints which prevent Palestinians from going in or out.

Israeli soldiers were still guarding Rachel's tomb, a Jewish pilgrimage site that they guard under the Oslo peace accords.

Yesterday's withdrawal is the first of many steps under the roadmap. It may be the beginning of a change in the suffering of the people of Bethlehem. But few of them believe it yet.

- INDEPENDENT