Calling himself "a Muslim, a Christian and a human being," Yasser Arafat chose Bethlehem yesterday to launch his first tour since emerging from Israeli-imposed confinement.
Arafat, a Muslim married to a Christian, invoked an ecumenical spirit as he inspected Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, battered by a 39-day-long stand-off between the Israeli army and Palestinian fighters who were holed up inside.
"This place will be in our hearts and minds forever," the 73-year-old Palestinian leader said three days after Israeli troops withdrew and the 39 gunmen went into exile, some abroad and others to the Gaza Strip in a European-mediated deal.
The 1,700-year-old church, revered by Christians as the site where Jesus was born, was left in an unholy mess -- despoiled by refuse and reeking of urine -- at the end of the siege. But the structure was intact.
Arafat bent down to pass through the church's Door of Humility to enter the basilica, redolent with incense and its gloom relieved by sparkling icons.
"I've seen a real tragedy. This can't be accepted internationally and from a religious point of view I am appealing to the whole Christian [world to make sure] it is not treated again as it has been here," he said.
Why had he come, reporters asked. "This is part of my life as a Muslim, as a Christian and as a human being, not to forget that the only woman who was mentioned in the Koran is our Saint Maria," he said, referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus.
The Palestinian leader was venturing outside his West Bank base of Ramallah for the first time in more than five months, 10 days after Israel lifted a siege of his headquarters.
Flanked by security men, Arafat examined the church's medieval grotto, regarded by Christians as the site of Jesus's birth.
Then he went to the adjacent Roman Catholic church of St Catherine where, clutching the hands of priests, he approached the carnation-bedecked altar and made a deep bow in front of it. A nun scrambled among the pews to snap a picture.
He strode into the centre of Manger Square where, with church bells tolling, he flashed "V for victory" signs to cheering local Palestinians.
"Abu Ammar! Abu Ammar!" they chanted, using the nom de guerre of the man who has travelled the world for decades lobbying for the cause of Palestinian independence.
"It's good for the people of Bethlehem to have their president back," said Father Amjad Sabbara, a Catholic priest.
But others pointed to widespread destruction in Palestinian-ruled areas by an Israeli army offensive last month after a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings.
"Although people love their president, most will not waste their time coming here, because it's been a long time since they went to work and they need to buy bread for their children," said Mohammed Fanoun, in the Manger Square crowd.
Arafat's realm is a shattered shell of what it was when Palestinian towns obtained self-rule under interim peace deals with Israel. A Palestinian uprising against occupation erupted in September 2000 after negotiations for a final agreement broke down.
Arafat traveled later to Jenin, a northern West Bank town whose refugee quarter was partially demolished by Israeli bulldozers after a bloody battle with dug-in gunmen.
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