Arafat rebuffed on Bethlehem visit

With efforts to revive peace talks at a standstill, Israeli leaders sent a mixed message to the Palestinians: Israel is ready to negotiate but will take unilateral action if peace talks fail.

Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has advocated a unilateral pullout from occupied lands in recent weeks, warned the public to be ready for painful concessions. He said "tens of thousands" of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza would be uprooted.

Meanwhile, violence continued in the West Bank. Israeli soldiers fired at a crowd of stone throwers in the Balata refugee camp, critically wounding a 15-year-old boy in the head, Palestinian hospital workers said. The army said it fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd, but had no information about the boy.

Arafat told a Christian delegation at his sandbagged headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that he hoped to participate in the Christmas festivities this year in Bethlehem, believed to be the site of Jesus's birth.

"I haven't missed it, except since being besieged in this building," Arafat said.

Arafat, a Muslim, regularly attended the Bethlehem celebrations -- a politically motivated move aimed at asserting Palestinian control of the town -- before Israel confined him to Ramallah two years ago. Israel accuses the Palestinian leader of failing to prevent suicide attacks.

The Palestinian Authority had requested that Arafat be allowed to make the 12-mile trip from Ramallah to Bethlehem, an Israeli official said.

But Israel's policy is that "Arafat stays where he is," the Israeli official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, called Israel's decision "unfortunate."