Nativity Church deportees flee Gaza, stranded at Jordan's airport
Date: 01 / 07 / 2009 Time: 16:02
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Bethlehem - Ma'an - Nativity Church deportees who left Gaza last week were
detained at Jordan's Queen Alia International Airport after Egyptian
authorities refused to allow the men to return to their port of origin.

The two men, Nadir Abdul Aziz and Issa Abu A'ahour, were deported from the
West Bank to the Gaza Strip in 2002 following the siege of the Church of the
Nativity and its negotiated end which saw the thirteen men dispersed to
locations in Gaza and Europe with promises not to return to the West Bank.

Abdul Aziz and Abu A'ahour left Gaza on Tuesday using Jordanian passports
via the Rafah crossing, and flew to Jordan where they had arranged to live
with their wives and children, from whom they have been estranged since
their deportation.

As West Bankers supported in part by the Palestinian Authority, who
negotiated their release, the men said previously that they felt at risk in
their non-native Gaza, particularly following the Hamas takeover and waves
of internecine fighting.

The men were denied entry into Jordan and when authorities called Egypt to
notify airport officials that they were being deported to their port of
origin, Egyptian authorities said they would not receive the men. They
remain in custody at Queen Alia International Airport.

The families of both men have appealed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas
to convince either the Egyptians or the Jordanians to host them, so far
without success.