Denverite in Bethlehem siege returns By Kieran Nicholson
Denver Post Staff Writer
Thursday, May 16, 2002

 Entering Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity in the dark of night, Larry Hales said the holy site reeked of urine, unbathed bodies and paraffin oil used to heat the church. Foam mattresses were strewn throughout the nave, and many of the roughly 150 people inside were sick, injured and listless.

Hales, 25, and 10 other international peace activists slipped into the church - which Christians believe was built over the birthplace of Jesus - on May 2 to deliver food to the Palestinians.

"People were very excited" to see us, said Hales, a writer and recent CU-Denver graduate who returned to his Denver home from the Middle East on Wednesday. "They knew who we were."

During the eight days Hales spent inside the church under siege, his greatest fear was the snipers outside, he said at Denver International Airport.

Hales said his group, including three other Americans, brought in enough food - mostly rice and lentils - to feed everyone for two days. Palestinian women sneaked food into the church through a hole in the wall of the fortress-like compound after Hales arrived, he said.

The standoff, which lasted 39 days, started when the Israeli military stormed Bethlehem in response to a wave of suicide bombings. Most inside the church had fled their homes in fear, seeking sanctuary in the church.

While Hales was in the church, a Palestinian police officer was shot by an Israeli marksman as he washed clothes in a church well.

When the siege ended Friday, Hales was taken into Israeli custody before being deported.

Hales said he was led through the Tel Aviv airport in shackles.

"People were looking at me like I was a terrorist," said Hales. "I didn't like that too much."
 

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