The European countries that agreed to take in some of the thirteen Palestinian militants who were the center of the Church of the Nativity siege are now getting cold feet.
Not, though, because they are terrorists, exactly. It’s just that the actual status of these folks were left in limbo during the negotiations. Once they go to the various EU nations, are they free to wander about? If so, Israel says it will demand their extradition back to Tel Aviv, which would put the EU nations in the position of having to take a clear, explicit stand in the conflict. On the other hand, no European nation is willing to actually file charges against the Palestinians, whose cause has been tacitly championed by them, for fear of rioting among their local Islamic population.
Or maybe it is their background …
Gianfranco Fini, the Italian deputy prime minister, said that after reading the biographies of the Palestinians he had changed his mind. “If even half of what I read is true, we would be taking in some very dangerous people indeed,” he said.
It really makes you wonder what they’ve been reading about these guys before this.
(Via USS Clueless)
UPDATE: No wonder folks are getting cold feet about these guys.