HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Thursday, January 13, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Thursday, January 13, 2000 / Sh'vat 6, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. BARAK ADMITS FULL WITHDRAWAL
  2. ANOTHER FORCIBLE EVACUATION FROM MAON
  3. ISRAELI REACTION TO PAPAL VISIT
  4. SYRIA CALLS ON BARAK TO BE STRONG AGAINST OPPONENTS

1. BARAK ADMITS FULL WITHDRAWAL
The Prime Minister admits, for the first time, that he has agreed to withdraw from the entire Golan Heights.  A rough copy of the agreement with Syria formulated by the Prime Minister's Office and published in Ha'aretz today indicates that Barak is willing to withdraw up to the international border, except for an Israeli presence on Mt. Hermon.  The Israeli version also stipulates that only IDF soldiers will be withdrawn from the Golan, but not Israeli residents - as opposed to the Syrian demand that no Israeli presence remain in the Golan.  Opposition leader Ariel Sharon says that the publication of Barak's desire to keep the Golan settlements in place is merely a "Machiavellian trick," since it is clear to all that it will be impossible to live under a Syrian regime.  "Barak is merely hoping in this way to soften up the opposition to a Golan withdrawal," Sharon said today. Even Meretz leader Yosi Sarid says that the idea of the Jews remaining in the Golan Heights is "a good one, but not practical."

Michal Reikin, a member of the Golan Residents Committee, when asked if she was happy with the news, said, "Look, if this was actually an ultimative demand by Barak - that we be allowed to remain in our homes - then this could be the beginning of an understanding by Barak that the Golan settlement enterprise must not be allowed to be destroyed.  But I have my doubts that this is so.  I think that this is merely his attempt to show that there was some bargaining going on there - but according to our reports, this is simply not true...  This is of course a beginning, and cannot be ruled out altogether, but obviously we must carefully examine whether we will be able to grow and develop, or whether we have simply been decreed to a slower death." 

The Prime Minister's office responded to the publication of the memo by stating that it is a preliminary American paper without legal validity, and that Israel has already made numerous comments to it.

2. ANOTHER FORCIBLE EVACUATION FROM MAON
The police and army, using an inordinate measure of force, evacuated this morning some 150 Dor Hemshekh [Next Generation] members from the Maon farm.  Hundreds of other activists attempting to reach the farm before dawn today were prevented from doing so, when police tracked the buses hired by Dor Hemshekh.  Maon was evacuated and razed two months ago in the framework of the "outposts compromise" between Prime Minister Barak and the Yesha Council.  The farm was built by Dov Dribben and two friends; Dribben was murdered by a band of local Arabs over two years ago.

Arutz-7's Effie Meir reports that many of teenaged participants walked up to 15 kilometers to bypass the army's checkpoints.  The reason for today's attempt to take over the farm was explained by activist Hevron Shilo:  "The army until now was here to protect the site, as the agreement stated.  This past Thursday, the army simply left, and Arabs took over and destroyed whatever was left.  We promised - and we're not politicians, so we keep our promises - that if the army leaves, we'll be back.  So we came." Correspondent Meir reported that one activist behaved in what was clearly an exaggeratedly violent manner: "He struck a policeman and lightly injured him.  He acted in a way that was obviously different than everyone else, and the other activists feel that he may be another agent-provocateur of the GSS."  Twelve of the would-be settlers were arrested. Dor Hemshekh leader Shimon Ricklin promised that they will return to Maon yet again, "to ensure that this site remains in Jewish hands."

3. ISRAELI REACTION TO PAPAL VISIT
Israel greeted the official announcement of Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel with mixed emotions.  Amidst its satisfaction at the Pope's impending trip, the government also expressed disappointment - according to CNN's interpretation - that his only visits to important Jewish sites would be to the Western Wall and Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial.  The government
cryptically announced yesterday, "The government of Israel is convinced that the Pope, too, regrets that due to circumstances beyond control, he will be unable to dedicate more of his time to study in depth the resurrection and renewal of the Jewish people in the land of their forefathers." 

4. SYRIA CALLS ON BARAK TO BE STRONG AGAINST OPPONENTS
The Syrian newspaper Al-Ba'ath calls upon Ehud Barak not to give in to the demands of Israelis who object to the giveaway of the Golan.  "It is dangerous for the Barak government to listen to racists and murderers who caused the fall of the Peres government when they dragged him to carry out the slaughter in Kfar Kana."  The paper said that the giant pro-Golan rally this week in Tel Aviv was an act of blackmail by the Israeli government against the American administration.

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News Brief:  Friday, January 14, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Friday, January 14, 2000 / Sh'vat 7, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. GOLAN PEOPLE DON'T LIKE NEW PLAN
  2. ABU DIS OR HAR HEVRON, BUT NOT BINYAMIN

1. GOLAN PEOPLE DON'T LIKE NEW PLAN
Representatives of the Golan Residents Committee wish to meet urgently with Prime Minister Ehud Barak,  in light of his proposal that the 32 Jewish communities remain in the Golan under Syrian sovereignty.  The GRC does not accept the proposal, explaining that "like the entire Zionist settlement enterprise in Israel, the Golan communities' purpose is to establish Israel's borders and to manifest its sovereignty."  The organization sees the Barak gesture as a direct result of the massive outpouring of objections to uprooting the Golan towns.  Residents of the community of N'vei Ativ - the northernmost Golan town - were quoted today as saying that they will protect their homes "at any cost."

The Syrians, for their part, did not totally reject this proposal, and undertook to look into the legal aspects of having Israeli citizens in Syrian territory.  Nevertheless, the Syrians are not expected, in the end, to accept this condition. 

It was reported yesterday that an IDF simulation game had recently found that the Golan Heights would be of limited less value in the event of war than previously thought.  The exercise found that if war were to break out under the present circumstances, Israel would lose thousands of dead, and hundreds of missiles would fall upon Israel's territory.  Analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA, speaking on Arutz-7 last night, noted, however, that the simulation's conclusions do not seem to take into account what would happen in case of a Syrian attack if Israeli forces were *not* situated in the Golan.  Lerner also notes that the rough drafts of the peace agreement with Syria do not include clauses specifying respect for human rights, the repeal of hostile legislation, and acting to remove pejorative references to Israel from conventions of which Syria is a member - clauses that do appear in the Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty.

2. ABU DIS OR HAR HEVRON, BUT NOT BINYAMIN
The coming withdrawal from areas of Judea and Samaria, scheduled for next Thursday, will be different than that drawn up by former Prime Minister Netanyahu.  Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that a basic change made by Ehud Barak is to decrease the extent of the withdrawal in the Ramallah-Binyamin area, and to increase it either in the Southern Har Hevron area or by giving over Abu Dis, just east of Jerusalem.

Binyamin residents will benefit in that the Wallerstein Road, for instance - which leads from Beit El to Dolev - will not pass between two totally-Palestinian areas.  On the other hand, most of the Har Hevron area will come under total Palestinian control, leaving Beit Haggai and Otniel largely surrounded by PA areas.  Har Hevron can be largely spared, however, if the security cabinet agrees this Sunday to withdraw from Abu Dis instead.  This would enable the terrorist cells in the Har Hevron region to remain under Israeli military control - but would be the beginning, say Jerusalem area leaders, of the division of Jerusalem.

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Sunday, January 16, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Sunday, January 16, 2000 / Sh'vat 9, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. MORE P.A. DEMANDS
  2. MORE ZO ARTZEINU ACTION
  3. SYRIAN INTRANSIGENCE

1. MORE P.A. DEMANDS
The next Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, scheduled for this coming Thursday, has been postponed until Prime Minister Barak returns from his next round of talks with the Syrians in the U.S.  The Palestinians demand that eastern-Jerusalem suburb Abu Dis be turned over to full Palestinian control, while Israel is only willing to grant the PA administrative control there.  The Palestinians also claim that the previous withdrawal only gave them 4.7% of Yesha, instead of the promised 5%; they say that Israel calculated the total area of Judea and Samaria without including eastern Jerusalem, the Latrun enclave, and part of the Dead Sea.  Israel claims that the base figure of approximately 55,000 square kilometers for the entirety of Judea and Samaria was agreed upon between the sides years ago.

Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman says that Barak postponed the upcoming withdrawal - the last of several stages of the second Oslo withdrawal - because he wanted the third and final stage of the Oslo withdrawals to be linked to a declaration of final-status principles with the PA.  The third stage of withdrawals is slated for Feb. 11, "but a declaration of principles is still very far off," according to Huberman. "Therefore, Barak's hope of linking the last withdrawal and the declaration of principles does not seem to be in the cards.  Barak can't even be sure that there will be an agreement on such principles, in which case there might not be a third withdrawal." 

Another factor that prompted the delay, Huberman explained, is Barak's expectation that Arafat would initiate an artificial map crisis, as he did prior to the most recent withdrawal.  "Then Arafat would meet Clinton this week, " Huberman said, "and would complain about the maps and Abu Dis and the like. Barak just didn't want this headache now.  Barak's move could very well backfire on him, though: the postponement could invite even more pressure from Clinton, who may argue that Barak 'owes Arafat one' for delaying the withdrawal."

Regarding Barak's upcoming trip to Washington to meet again with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shara, Interior Minister Natan Sharansky (Yisrael B'Aliyah) asked Barak at today's weekly Cabinet meeting why he is so anxious to leave so quickly for yet another round of talks.  Barak responded that Israel is under no pressure in this matter.  Shas leader and minister Eli Yeshai said that the talks with Syria are being conducted incorrectly, and that it is unacceptable for the Prime Minister to travel abroad every week.  Yeshai, echoing a point made by the Likud opposition party, added that A-Shara's counterpart, Foreign Minister David Levy, should be heading the Israeli delegation instead of Prime Minister Barak.

2. MORE ZO ARTZEINU ACTION
Moshe Feiglin, head of the Zo Artzeinu (This is Our Land) organization, sees no reason to rest.  After the group's large rally protesting the Moslem Waqf 's desecration of the Temple Mount, Zo Artzeinu members will gather in Ariel's Eshel Hotel this evening to review plans for their next major effort:  a parade of vehicles from Gamla in the Golan Heights, and from other areas of the country, to Jerusalem.  Within the capital, marchers will continue in a procession, carrying torches to the Kidron Valley, at which the Waqf dumped over 100 truckloads of the remains of archaeological treasures from under the Temple Mount.  Feiglin told Arutz-7 today that the Gamla-Jerusalem procession is being carried out in coordination with the police: "At this point, we don't plan to operate beyond the law. We hope that what will do will have its impact, and we won't have to [take more extreme measures]."

Feiglin explained that the purpose of the nation-wide event "is to connect the struggle for the Golan and Yesha to the struggle for our heart, Jerusalem... The need to stress the Jerusalem issue is related not only to its centrality in Jewish life, but to the extent to which its abandonment is going unnoticed...  With Jerusalem, there are no referenda, no Knesset votes, or any major events to raise public awareness.  They are simply stealing Jerusalem from right under our noses!  Sure, we have heard lofty talk from politicians for years now - you know, 'Jerusalem will forever remain the undivided capital of Israel,' and the like.  But we all understand that this rhetoric is a simple con-job," he said. 

What are the movement's short and long-term goals?  Feiglin: "In the short run, we want to show the government, Israel's decision-makers, that what is going on will not be quietly tolerated.  The Jewish people will respond when they understand that Jerusalem is being forfeited, and we have to be the ones to wake them up to what is happening.   We must first and foremost look to ourselves to change things!  Someone who just sits at home, who does not go and cry out and protest against what is happening, cannot blame anyone later - not Rabin, not Barak, not Bibi - no one...  For the long run, we submit that the answer is neither 'right' or 'left,' and we will consolidate ourselves as an alternative national faith movement." 

3. SYRIAN INTRANSIGENCE
Syrian newspapers write today that no Israeli residents will be allowed to remain in the Golan following its transfer to Syria.  The state-controlled Tishrin writes that Syria demands not only the
withdrawal of Israeli military forces but also of the residents.  The Syrian Times writes that Syria will reject Israel's Golan water demands.

A survey of 1000 American citizens conducted by John McLaughlin and Associates and published in the Middle East Quarterly indicates that 64% oppose the stationing of American troops on the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement between Israel and Syria.  Almost the same number oppose a multi-billion dollar package to Syria in exchange for peace with Israel. 

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To:            arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@arutzsheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Monday, January 17, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Monday, January 17, 2000 / Sh'vat 10, 5760
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. DRY-OUT TO CONTINUE
  2. SYRIA: NO TALKS UNTIL ISRAEL AGREES TO WITHDRAW
  3. GALILEE NEXT?

1. DRY-OUT TO CONTINUE
The Yesha Council accuses the government of essentially "carrying out a drying-out policy in every sense of the word" in Judea and Samaria. Council leaders met with Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh last night, in what they described as a "very difficult" meeting.  Sneh told them that he will not approve any construction activity in Yesha other than for schools, health, landscaping, etc.  He expressed anger at the Council's campaign against the government's plan to give Abu Dis to the Palestinian Authority.  Sneh told Arutz-7 today that even those areas that the government intends to keep in Israeli sovereignty "do not have to be built up all the time.  Our intention is that until the end of the talks - which we plan to conclude by the end of the current year - there will be no changes in the map." 

Sneh said that small neighborhoods of "20 houses" would not be a problem to approve, and that by-pass roads are not being frozen.  Sneh also claimed that there is no intention to give over Abu Dis to the Palestinians.  Prime Minister Barak also said today, in response to a question on the topic, "We will carry out the next withdrawal from 6.1% of Yesha within three weeks. I do not think that Abu Dis will be included in this withdrawal."

Yesha Council spokesman Yehoshua Mor-Yosef, speaking with Arutz-7 today, did not accept what Sneh said.  "There are even freezes in places that are in the national consensus, such as Ma'aleh Adumim - the entire Yesha Council and others had to spend hours simply getting approval from the Deputy Defense Minister's office for two buildings in Ma'aleh Adumim to be switched on the zoning plan - and the like...  We don't buy his sweet-talking answers - for instance, he said that there are by-pass roads being planned, and that he is fighting for them to be budgeted.  If so, why didn't they simply appear in the just-passed national budget?"  Mor-Yosef concluded, "He was given to understand that we will give him until the end of the week, and if the answers that we receive then are not sufficient, we will take action in the field." 

2. SYRIA: NO TALKS UNTIL ISRAEL AGREES TO WITHDRAW
Following hours of uncertainty and Syrian threats not to show up for the next round of talks with Israel in Shepherdstown, Damascus now says officially that it will not renew the talks until Israel agrees to retreat all the way up to the June 4, 1967 borders.  Radio Damascus said this afternoon that the mission of the Shepherdstown "borders" working-group was to draw the exact line of the June 4, '1967 border, and not to discuss the extent of the withdrawal. 

The Prime Minister's Office says that it has not received an official notice of cancellation of the talks, which were scheduled to resume this Wednesday.  "If they want to push off the talks," said Prime Minister Barak today, "let them."  The Syrians have denounced Israel for leaking an American memorandum on a rough draft of the peace treaty - but have said nothing about their own, earlier leak of a different version of the agreements to a London paper.  Barak told reporters today that if the Syrians think they can pressure Israel by threatening to hold up the talks, they will not succeed.  The Golan Residents Committee stated today, "In order to avert a situation wherein we are left with neither the Golan nor peace, the government must stop the talks with Assad, and leave the Golan under Israeli control, as most of the public wants."

Representatives of the Committee met today with Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and the Chief Rabbinate board.  At one point, Peace Now activists burst into the meeting, eliciting a strong condemnation from the Rabbis.  The Chief Rabbis said that the Golan is an intrinsic part of the Land of Israel regarding Halakhic [Jewish legal] matters, but that on issues of Israeli sovereignty, they must hear the government's opinion before expressing their own.

3. GALILEE NEXT?
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane reports on possible Israeli concessions and ramifications of an agreement with Syria and Lebanon:  "One Israeli concession that has been discussed has been a symbolic demilitarization of none other than the Galilee.  It's not clear what this means exactly, but it is reminiscent of the consent once given by Yitzchak Rabin for Syrian officers to be present on Mt. Meron in the Galilee, in exchange for an Israeli presence on Mt. Hermon in the Golan.  The spirit of such proposals seems to jibe with something that Gen. (res.) Amos Gilbo'a told Arutz-7 last week.  He said, 'I was present at a session of the Council for Peace and Security when a senior IDF officer said that the Galilee is not a vital interest for the existence of the State of Israel.  He said that in the worst case, if we give away the Golan, and a war breaks out, and the Syrians capture the northern Galilee, it would not be so terrible.  It was simply traumatic for me to hear a senior IDF officer speak this way.'"

"In the western Galilee," continued Kahane, "other measures are planned in case of a pullback from southern Lebanon.  The army has written a letter to the heads of communities on the northern coast, telling them that for the first few months after a withdrawal, the coastline from Nahariya up to Rosh HaNikra [about 12 kilometers] will be declared a closed military area [in case terrorists attempt to attack Israel via the water].  This decision has already been the subject of strong objections from local residents, many of whom depend on water sports and tours for their sustenance.   Sasi Shemesh, head of the Achziv resort, said that the law will have damaging economic results, and is not very enforceable - 'but I gave up a long time ago trying to find logic in the authorities' decisions...'"

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, January 18, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.ArutzSheva.org>
Tuesday, January 18, 2000 / Sh'vat 11, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. BARAK HOSTS ARAFAT
  2. TALKS CONTINUE, DESPITE SYRIAN ANNOUNCEMENT
  3. YESHA CITY THREATENS TO CANCEL PROTECTION
  4. B'NAI BRITH CHANGES POSITION ON ARAFAT

1. BARAK HOSTS ARAFAT
Prime Minister Ehud Barak hosted Yasser Arafat in his home in Kokhav Ya'ir last night for a meeting that lasted several hours.  Barak attempted to convince Arafat to agree to a delay of up to two months in the third Oslo withdrawal, which - according to Barak's plan - was to have been executed together with the signing of final-status principles.  An agreement on such principles, however, is still apparently far off. Arafat reportedly demands, in return, that the third withdrawal be significantly larger than the 1% of Yesha that has been mentioned by Israeli leaders until now.  The final stage of the 2nd Oslo withdrawal, scheduled for this week, will take place within three weeks, according to Barak.

2. TALKS CONTINUE, DESPITE SYRIAN ANNOUNCEMENT
The Syrians have called off the next round of talks with Israel, which was to have begun in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, tomorrow.  Assad demands that Israel agree to withdraw to the June 4, 1967 border.  Barak refuses to give such a commitment- although it was learned today that IDF personnel completed within the past few days a study of the exact location of the pre-Six Day War border.   Journalist David Bedein of the Israel Resource news agency notes that despite press reports of a "deadlock in the talks" and the like, the Israeli-Syrian working groups continue to meet in Shepherdstown.  He said that State Department Spokesman James Rubin said specifically last week that the presence of Barak and A-Shara would not be necessary in order for the talks to continue.

Dr. Mordechai Kedar of Bar Ilan University's Arabic Language Department told Arutz-7's Ron Meir today www.a7.org/engclips/180100/kedar-assad.ram that though the Syrians' feigned toughness is part of normal Middle East negotiating tactics, Assad refuses to allow the issues of borders and normalization to be equated, and that for Assad, "receiving the entire Golan is everything."

The Syrian Times wrote today, "The American Administration is called upon not to stand by Israel...  Syria asserted that she refuses the policy of deception, procrastination, and intransigence being practiced by the Israeli side."  Syria's Tishrin newspaper wrote on Sunday, "There are half a million Syrian immigrants who are waiting to return to Golan, regain their properties, and live normally under the Syrian flag...  Israel has no choice but the complete withdrawal from Golan and southern Lebanon."  The paper emphasized that Syria will not sign any peace agreement unless Israel's dispute with Lebanon is resolved, which requires reaching "a fair solution for the Palestinian refugees [in Lebanon]."

3. YESHA CITY THREATENS TO CANCEL PROTECTION
The Yesha Council continues its struggle against the army's decision to reduce - by 40% - military protection for Yesha communities.  Council Chairman Benny Kashriel, who is also the Mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim, threatens to call off public guard duty throughout his city, and will advise other municipal heads to do the same.  In a letter to Prime Minister and Defense Minister Barak, Kashriel writes that municipal authorities are responsible for education, health, and the like, and "need not serve as security networks in place of the Israel Defense Forces."  Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon has complained to Barak about the cuts that were forced on him.  Of the 500 soldiers who have  served until now as guards in Yesha communities, 202 will be cut by February 9, and 52 of them have already been reassigned to other positions.  In the western Shomron, the cuts will reach 56%, and the residents themselves will have to take up the slack.

Arutz-7's Ron Meir asked Yesha Council spokesperson Yehudit Tayar today whether Kashriel's threat to remove the security personnel from within Yesha cities was "not cutting off his nose to spite his face." Tayar explained that it would be pointless to worry about the safety of children, for instance, only while they are in school - "but what happens to the children when they are at home, or on the way to school?"  She said that they must be protected there as well.  "I think it is rather a question of the Prime Minister understanding that he can't play this trick...  he can't have selected pockets [throughout the country] where he says that the onus is on the local council, the city, or the Yesha Council...  The protection of the citizens of Israel falls under the jurisdiction of the Israeli army or the police.  It is unthinkable that the Prime Minister would simply say 'I'm washing my hands of it - it's your problem now.'"  The entire interview can be heard at www.a7.org/engclips/180100/tayar-guard.ram.

4. B'NAI BRITH CHANGES POSITION ON ARAFAT
Journalist David Bedein of the Israel Resource news agency also reports that several American Jewish organizations have combined forces to lobby for U.S. aid to Syria as part of an Israel-Syria peace deal.  One of those groups, the B'nai Brith Anti-Defamation League, sent ten representatives to the Middle East this week, who met with leaders not only of Israel, but also of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Damascus.  "The ADL leaders met with Yasser Arafat on Sunday night,"  Bedein told Arutz-7 yesterday.  "I personally feel that meeting with Arafat and confronting him with his wayward ways has a certain value, but the ADL members did not ask him even one difficult question.  They did, however, present him with a painting as a gift." 

Bedein added that his conversation with one ADL mission member revealed that the latter had "simply no idea of Arafat's 'indiscretions'" - such as the continuing anti-Israel incitement in the PA school curriculum or Arafat's insistence on providing PA refuge to murderers of Jews.  The same ADL, several years ago, wrote a letter to New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani expressing support for the Mayor's decision to deny Yasser Arafat the "unqualified hospitality of the City of New York...  We believe that support for the peace process does not require embracing Arafat."

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