PROFILE: BETHLEHEM UNDER PALESTINIAN CONTROL

All Things Considered: July 16, 2003

ROBERT SIEGEL, host:

Israelis are celebrating the rescue of an Israeli taxi driver who was kidnapped last Friday by Palestinians. The driver was unharmed, and no shots were fired during the rescue. Israeli officials say despite promises of help from the Palestinian Authority, they received only limited assistance. Palestinians dispute that.

MELISSA BLOCK, host:

The rescue comes as Palestinian police and security personnel are back on the streets in Gaza and Bethlehem after the withdrawal of Israeli troops. Undertrained, and in many cases unarmed, these are the men now expected to confront militant Palestinian factions. NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

PETER KENYON reporting:

A 61-year-old cabbie, Eliahu Gorel, celebrated his rescue with his family in Tel Aviv. Israeli officials said they were disappointed that the Palestinian Authority didn't do more to help. A Palestinian intelligence source said he was surprised by that comment. He said Israel was given the identities of some of the kidnappers and the neighborhood west of Ramallah where Gorel was found. Israelis said the break came when their forces captured and interrogated Palestinians involved in the kidnapping.

So far, the only West Bank city where Israeli forces have withdrawn and left security matters in Palestinian hands is Bethlehem.

SOUNDBITE OF TRAFFIC

KENYON: A knot of Palestinian police and security men clustered in a downtown Bethlehem street recently, stopping traffic, checking license and registration papers, and occasionally looking for weapons. These men say they're under orders not to speak to the press, but Mahti Alatari(ph), a commander with the preventative security force, is willing to answer a few questions. He says tracking routine criminal behavior is part of the job, but the main task is to enforce Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas' directive that only the Palestinian Authority should be armed.

Commander MAHTI ALATARI (Palestinian Authority): (Through Translator) We have our own priorities. Our first priority is to collect all unlegal weapons from Bethlehem and to stop any act against Israel that would come from our area. And also, we have other jobs, like to get stolen cars and this kind of stuff.

KENYON: For the Israelis, the number-one job of the security forces is to disarm Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant factions as called for in the international road map for Mideast peace. At the street level, it's shaping up to be a painful fight. Palestinians say their forces are underpaid and often unarmed, and are still recovering from more than two years of pounding by the Israeli army.

SOUNDBITE OF RESTAURANT ACTIVITY

KENYON: At a restaurant in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis, a policeman who asked not to be identified says the idea of arresting Hamas or Islamic Jihad fighters makes him uncomfortable, but he'll do it.

Unidentified Policeman: (Through Translator) First of all, we are hoping that we will never reach this point. But whenever it happens, we should obey the orders of our commanders. But still, I cannot ignore that this Hamas member is one of my people, and what he is doing is for the sake of the Palestinian people.

KENYON: In Bethlehem, some policemen have the additional problem of living outside the city and having to cross Israeli checkpoints to get to work. One officer, Amasri Abiad(ph), recalls being stopped one morning on his way to a meeting about the security hand-over in Bethlehem. He says he told the soldier how long the meeting was scheduled to run, and was only allowed to pass after it was over. Abiad says there have been weapons confiscated and bombs seized from militants here, although he can't say how many.

Officer AMASRI ABIAD (Palestinian Authority): (Through Translator) The problem is that all the people who are militants here do not trust the occupation, and they think that occupation will come back, and so why would they give up their weapons. But of course, in the end, they are giving up their weapons. Many would argue about this issue, but in the end, all of them have given up their weapons.

KENYON: A number of police and security men said they're comfortable with their role, knowing that the issue isn't whether Palestinians should struggle for their own state, but how to go about it. They're also aware that they're in the spotlight, and their success or failure could determine the future of the current peace efforts. Peter Kenyon, NPR News.

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