HHMI Newsgroup Archives
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, January 14, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, Jan. 14, 2001 / Tevet 19, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. OFFICIAL P.A. ANTI-SEMITISM: DONKEY DRESSED IN A TALLIT
2. P.A. EXECUTES COLLABORATORS
3. "THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS THE HEART"
4. YAHALOM FOR SHARON
1. OFFICIAL P.A. ANTI-SEMITISM: DONKEY DRESSED IN A TALLIT
Hundreds of Palestinians, including leading Palestinian Authority and
Fatah officials, conducted a hate-filled rally against Israel on
Friday, complete with a donkey clad in a tallit [Jewish prayer shawl,
known as a Jewish religious symbol all around the world] treading over
a swastika-adorned Israeli flag.
The hatred - which was manifest in Ramallah, the city in which two
Israeli soldiers were brutally lynched three months ago - also
featured the burning of an Israeli flag, speeches against Clinton's
bridging proposals, and calls not to give up on the "right of return"
or Jerusalem. Afterwards, some of the demonstrators made their way to
the northern entrance of the city, where they began shooting at IDF
soldiers and attacking them with large rocks.
2. P.A. EXECUTES COLLABORATORS
Yesterday's two executions by the Palestinian Authority of
collaborators with Israel place the PA, Israel's General Security
Service, and international human rights' organizations such as Amnesty
and B'Tselem in a bad light. So say some Israeli legal sources today.
Allan Bani-Odeh and Magdi Mikkawi were executed by the Palestinians
for assisting Israel in the assassination of terrorist leaders. The
executions took place in Gaza and Shechem, in front of cheering crowds
of thousands. Tel Aviv attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who
volunteered to represent one of yesterday's two executed Palestinians
last month, says that the sentence was handed down after only a
two-hour trial; "the world can now see that the PA is a 'banana
republic' with a brutal justice system that completely disregards
human rights."
"Where are the international organizations like Amnesty International,
Middle East Watch and B'Tselem," questioned Darshan-Leitner, "which
made no effort at all to save Bani-Odeh?" This morning, B'Tselem
director Eitan Fellner condemned the executions - but said that he
sees no difference between them and the recent Israeli policy of
targeting and killing Palestinian terrorist leaders. "The Israelis
are trying to prevent terrorist attacks," he said, "while the
Palestinians are trying to prevent cooperation with Israel in what
they consider terror against the PA." Prime Minister Barak condemned
the PA executions, saying that they are reminiscent of "dark periods
in history."
Atty. Leitner said that after she wrote to the GSS asking it to take
immediate action to save Bani-Odeh, the organization denied that he
was a GSS agent. "These agents endangered their lives in Israel's war
against Palestinian terrorists," she said today, "and when these
agents are captured, the GSS must do for them whatever it would do for
any of its soldiers taken prisoner on the battlefield by any of its
enemies. The GSS simply abandoned Bani-Odeh to the Palestinian
security forces." The PA has announced that additional executions
will take place this week.
Israel Resource News Agency reports that Voice of Palestine radio
reported prominently on the executions of the two men convicted of
"cooperation" with Israel. IRNA notes that, "This is the only use of
'cooperation' in the context of Israel that has been heard on
Palestinian radio," despite the current efforts supposedly being made
for "security cooperation" with Israel. Palestinian human rights
organizations reported to Israel's Channel Two last night that
Arafat's regime has assembled a list of more than 20,000 Palestinians
who are slated for execution for working for Israel.
A committee of Arab supporters of Israel - branded as collaborating
traitors by Palestinians - has petitioned the Supreme Court to order
the government to cut off all ties with the Palestinian Authority.
The reason given for the suit: the executions by the PA of
collaborators with Israel. The committee states that the executions
are in violation of the Oslo accords, and places many collaborators in
mortal danger.
3. "THE TEMPLE MOUNT IS THE HEART"
Rabbi Yehuda Amital, co-Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion and leader
of the left-wing religious party Meimad, likens the possibility of
giving away the Temple Mount to a Torah law for which one should "be
killed and not violate." Makor Rishon newspaper reports that during
his Tenth of Tevet lecture to his students nine days ago, Rabbi Amital
said, "Just like the life of an individual is not the supreme value,
and there are prohibitions [such as idol worship] which we are
commanded to uphold even at the expense of our lives, so too in our
national life there are values for which the society and the state
must place itself in danger. In our national life, there are issues
that are 'red lines,' for which we must 'be killed and not violate.'"
Giving up our sovereignty on the Temple Mount can be thought of as one
of these, Rabbi Amital said, adding that a society that places the
sanctity of life above every other single value, "will deteriorate to
ethical corruption. Peace, too, no matter how important it is, is not
the sole supreme value, and there are things which we may not give up
even for peace." He also said that giving away the Temple Mount would
lead to the detachment of masses of Jews from their Judaism, as it
would be a break from "historic Judaism."
Health Minister Roni Milo, of the Center Party, handed in his
resignation from the government today. His resignation letter states
that as early as July, during the Camp David talks, he said that he
would not be able to serve in a government that would agree to give up
the Temple Mount.
Popular protests against the government's policies continue. Women in
Green stood outside the Cabinet meeting this morning, chanting, "Only
Three Weeks Left for this Government of Blood."... A convoy of cars
from Pisgat Ze'ev - the northern Jerusalem neighborhood that is
threatened with isolation and encirclement under the Clinton/Barak
Jerusalem plan, and where a firebomb was thrown Friday night - set off
for the Prime Minister's home last night. Close to 100 cars joined in
the spontaneous protest... At the Furedis Junction in the
Haifa/Zikhron Yaakov area, a rally was held under the theme, "The
Temple Mount is the Heart." ...
4. YAHALOM FOR SHARON
Shas and Likud party leaders met this afternoon for a
campaign-strategy planning session. Cooperation between the two
parties on behalf of Ariel Sharon's Prime Ministerial campaign has
been lame thus far. The election will be held on Feb. 6th. Earlier
today, Sharon met with National Religious Party faction head MK Sha'ul
Yahalom. Yahalom told Arutz-7 afterwards, " Sharon told me
unequivocally that he would never agree to a division of Jerusalem,
nor to a withdrawal from the Jordan Valley, and that all the
settlements will remain in place because he sees all of them as being
in necessary security zones." Yahalom added a word of caution: "I
would advise all my friends on my [political] right not to press
Sharon too hard, and allow him some room for vagueness - after all, we
don't want only the right-wing to vote for Sharon, we want also some
of the center..."
Asked if thought that there was a possibility of war breaking out if
Sharon wins, Yahalom said, "I think that there is a greater
possibility of such if Barak remains Prime Minister - because if he
doesn't reach an agreement, then the Palestinians will wage war, but
if he does reach an agreement, then our security will be as weak as if
there was a war - even IDF Chief of Staff Mofaz says the agreement as
currently formulated is very dangerous for Israel..."
**************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, January 15, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, Jan. 15, 2001 / Tevet 20, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. FRIEND OF VICTIM TALKS ABOUT SECURITY SITUATION IN GAZA
2. CANDIDATES' REMARKS
3. ARAB MAN, SUSPECTED OF COOPERATING WITH ISRAEL, WAS MURDERED
1. FRIEND OF VICTIM TALKS ABOUT SECURITY SITUATION IN GAZA
Shai Chemo, a friend of Roni Tzalach and a fellow-resident in the
small community of Kfar Yam, spoke today about the security situation
in Gush Katif (south Gaza): "I took part in the search last night for
my friend Roni, and with all due respect, I was ashamed of the IDF's
performance. The army took such a long time to show up and dispatch
search teams that we civilians began the search on our own. We found,
right across from the entrance gate to [the Jewish town of] N'vei
Dekalim, a powerful pair of IDF binoculars inside an Arab greenhouse.
The greenhouse was a full-fledged observation post, where the
binoculars were used to note every single car that entered N'vei
Dekalim [the "capital" of Gush Katif], and everything was written down
in notebooks. We showed this to the battalion commander, and he was
in total shock. The army has no idea of what is happening here in
Gush Katif. Anyone who thinks that the residents here are extremists
- I can just say that I live in the community of Pe'at Sadeh, and
there is another place here called Rafiach Yam; both were established
here in Gush Katif by the Labor party; we are aligned with the party
of Shimon Peres and Ehud Barak. It was not the National Religious
Party, or another right-wing party, that built these towns - it was
Labor. Extremists? We are accomplished farmers, whose produce is
chosen for export, and trying to provide for our families... And we
have been abandoned. The problem is that there is no one to talk to.
There is a government in this country, and it has abandoned us. The
army's hands are tied... Roni [last night's terrorist victim] arrived
here in the framework of his army service, fell in love with the
place, established a family in Kfar Yam, developed a farm here - he
was one of those who are the pride of Gush Katif. He was a family
man, he has one son, and I heard today that his wife is in her second
month of pregnancy... How can it be that shots are fired here every
night and all night upon our homes, bombs go off on the road, and
people are murdered? It does not cease to amaze me how the Israeli
government, for every slap in the face it receives, turns its other
cheek for another slap. "We are settling the Land of Israel, and we
love this area. We live here; we came here to build meaningful lives;
and we have founded successful farms and agricultural enterprises. We
are connected to this place with our hearts, and despite all that is
happening here, we will continue to live here in Gush Katif - even
though Ehud Barak wants to retreat from here, and retreat from the
Temple Mount, and retreat from Judea and Samaria, and the Golan
Heights - the guy wants to give up the whole country..."
2. CANDIDATES' REMARKS
In an interview with a local radio station in Tel Aviv today, Prime
Minister Ehud Barak refrained from promising that he would not
transfer sovereignty over the Temple Mount to an international body.
Regarding the possibility that he would be called upon to quit the
race in favor of Shimon Peres, Barak said that such a move would not
affect the final result of the election. "Both Shimon Peres and I
have learned not to trust pre-election polls," he said. Likud Prime
Ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon, touring the Negev (southern
Israel) today, expressed his objections to Barak's plan to give away
the nearby Halutza sands. "I have said explicitly, and I say so
again: this area will not be handed over under any circumstances,"
Sharon said. "Those of you who are concerned over my commitment in
this area, you have a choice between two options: one candidate says
he plans to give away this area - while the other says he will not
give it away, but you are concerned that he might bend under pressure.
The choice is yours."
Minister Peres has drawn sharp criticism from left and right for
comments he made yesterday asking Arafat to minimize terrorist
activity until the Israel elections. Peres said, "The 1996
[elections] were decided [in favor of the Likud] by the wave of terrorism. We demand that during election time, there be no terrorism
at all. We demand that the Palestinians really make a 100% effort to
halt the terrorism."
3. ARAB MAN, SUSPECTED OF COOPERATING WITH ISRAEL, WAS MURDERED
The bullet-riddled body of 38-year-old Mahmud Musa Abdul Rachman was
found today in the Arab village of Burkin, near Shechem, in
mid-western Shomron. His neighbors say that he worked in the past
with Israeli intelligence authorities, and was shot outside his home.
********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, January 16, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 / Tevet 21, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. TALKS RESUME; AGREEMENT WARNING ISSUED
2. SHARON PROMISES GUSH KATIF
3. MITCHELL TEAM SNEAKS UP TO TEMPLE MOUNT
4. MORE P.A. KILLINGS OF COLLABORATORS EXPECTED
1. TALKS RESUME; AGREEMENT WARNING ISSUED
The murder of Roni Tzalach stopped the talks between Israel and the
Palestinians - for barely 24 hours. Even so, Foreign Minister Shlomo
Ben-Ami met secretly last night with Abu Ala. Today, Muhammad Dahlan
met in an undisclosed location in Jerusalem with Ben-Ami and Gilad
Sher. MK Rabbi Chaim Druckman (National Religious Party) demanded
that Ben-Ami, as Internal Security Minister, not meet with Dahlan -
but rather arrest him. "Dahlan's hands are red with Jewish blood,
including the schoobus attack in Kfar Darom," Rabbi Druckman said.
Minister Matan Vilna'i said today that if it turns out that the PA was
behind the recent murder of Roni Tzalach, the talks would immediately
be halted. The fact that Tanzim terrorists committed the killing does
not "qualify," he implied.
Stubborn reports continue to be received that some form of agreement
between Israeli and Palestinian representatives many be signed this
Thursday, two days before U.S. President Clinton leaves office. Peres
said that yesterday that, "with hard and spirited work, [it] could
happen," while the Prime Minister's Office said that chances for such
were very slim. Minister Vilna'i left the question open, suggesting
that we "wait until Thursday to see what happens." MK Rehavam Ze'evi
(National Union) was among the first to warn that such an agreement
was likely. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet, for the
second time today, at Erez Checkpoint tonight.
Meanwhile, the Likud continues to say it will not be bound by any such
agreement. Binyamin Netanyahu participated with Ariel Sharon in a
dedication ceremony this afternoon for a new building in the name of
Col. Yoni Netanyahu - the former Prime Minister's brother, who was
killed while commanding the Entebbe rescue in 1976. Netanyahu said
today, "The understandings being reached between Barak and the
Palestinians are not worth the ink with which they are written." When
running for office in 1996, Netanyahu said that he would not nullify
the Oslo Accords (although he did promise - in vain - not to carry out
the Hevron Agreement).
2. SHARON PROMISES GUSH KATIF
Ariel Sharon, Likud candidate for Prime Minister, visited the
Jerusalem hunger strikers - who are into day #17 - today. They are
protesting the government's conducting of talks with the Palestinians
before the latter have ceased their violence, as well as the intention
to give up Jerusalem. Sharon reiterated his promises not to give away
Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and the Yesha communities. In response
to a question, he emphasized that the Jewish parts of Gaza would also
not be given away. "Look, not everything the Labor party did was
bad," he said. "When it decided to establish Jewish towns there, and
when Golda Meir decided to build Netzarim, there were good reasons -
and those reasons still stand."
Sharon also said that he would not give away the Halutza Sands in the
Negev, which the Barak government has offered the PA in exchange for
the remaining percentages of Judea and Samaria on which are located
"immoveable" towns such as Ma'aleh Adumim. He accused Barak for
"endangering the country" by trying to reach an agreement so that he
can present it to the electorate before the elections.
"We will run a positive, clean campaign, without attacking Barak
personally." So said today Likud MK Meir Shetreet, one of Sharon's
campaign managers. He acknowledged that the campaign has now changed
its slogan from "Only Sharon will Bring Peace" to, "I have
'bitachon' [which means both confidence and security] in the peace of
Sharon." He sounded a bit defensive as he explained, "This is not
considered a change. We knew all along that there was a chance that
we would change it. We wanted to start off the campaign by
emphasizing Sharon's connection to peace - because, after all, as soon
as you say the name Sharon, you already know that this means security.
Now that we have made it clear that Sharon also equals peace, and
since security is now more on the mind of the public than is peace, we
would like to emphasize again that Sharon's peace will be accompanied
by security... By the way, if we come up with another motto in two
weeks, don't say again that we have 'changed our motto' - because I'm
telling you now that we may well do this."
Shetreet did not deny that one of the campaign TV ads for Sharon will
feature the candidate and Arafat: "We are not embarrassed that Sharon
met with Arafat for many hours in Wye..." He summed up by saying, "Our
goal is to win this election, and we have to get every vote."
3. MITCHELL TEAM SNEAKS UP TO TEMPLE MOUNT
Voice of Israel Radio reported yesterday that Foreign Ministry
officials were "shocked" to learn that members of the Mitchell
Committee - assigned by the U.S. to investigate the violence of the
past months - had visited the Temple Mount without Israeli permission
or accompaniment. Israeli officials said that this was a "gross
violation" of previous understandings, according to which the
committee was to visit the Temple Mount only with an Israeli escort.
However, PA representatives from the Waqf refused to meet with them
under such conditions, and so the committee members decided to ascend
the Mount without informing Israel.
Chief Sephardic Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron will meet this afternoon
with Moslem religious leaders. They will discuss the possibility of
establishing a joint committee that will attempt to find ways to deal
with the matter of the Temple Mount.
4. MORE P.A. KILLINGS OF COLLABORATORS EXPECTED
Another apparent Arab "collaborator" with Israel has been killed. The
body of Murshad Kassim, 40, was found this morning near Jenin; he had
moved out of his home in the Arab areas of Samaria in the early 90's
for fear that he would be killed for his work with the Israelis, but
returned to live there within the last few years. He is the second
Palestinian in recent days to be killed by his fellows for cooperating
with Israel; two others were executed by the PA on Saturday for the
same.
In contrast with public condemnation of the PA for the rushed
trials-and-executions that has been sounded across the Israeli
political spectrum this week, Shimon Peres said that the executions by Arafat's PA are no different than those in George W. Bush's home state
of Texas. Ruth Matar of Women in Green noted, however, that, prior to
the Texas executions, "there had been a full and fair trial, and the
defendants were able to, and did, appeal their respective verdicts."
PA officers and Hamas leaders both announced plans for continued
operations against suspected collaborators in the coming days. Hamas
said it would cooperate with the PA in apprehending and punishing
those who cooperated with Israel. A general amnesty has been offered
to collaborators who come forward of their own volition in the coming
weeks and divulge all information regarding their Israeli contacts and
their methods.
*********************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Sent: Wednesday, January 17, 2001 8:36 AM
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2000 / Tevet 22, 5761
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. RESTRICTIONS DROPPED, ISRAELI NEGOTIATOR QUITS
2. THE RACE TO SIGN
1. RESTRICTIONS DROPPED, ISRAELI NEGOTIATOR QUITS
Despite the continued Palestinian terrorism in Gaza - including the
murder of Roni Tzalach on Sunday night - talks between Israeli and
Palestinian representatives continue at a steady pace. Though army
sources note a drop in Arab shootings, to only 3-5 for each of the
last few days, Palestinians did shoot at several Israeli targets in
Gaza last night. At the same time, at the Erez Checkpoint not far
away, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were agreeing on the further
easing of security restrictions: The PA's Dahaniyeh airport will be
re-opened after a one-day closing, as will the Rafiach and Karni
crossings, Palestinian workers will be allowed to cross into pre-1967
Israel, and the main north-south Gaza highway, which passes by Kfar
Darom, will be re-opened to Palestinian traffic.
In response to the opening of the airport, MK Tzvi Hendel said this
morning, "Apparently, the murder of a Jew is worth a one-day closure
of the airport."
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami is in Cairo, briefing Egypt's
President Mubarak on the latest developments in the talks. Ben-Ami
will meet with Arafat tonight. Israeli and Palestinian delegations
will meet in Jerusalem today, for the third such meeting in two days;
the Israelis will apparently show them maps of the areas from which
the Barak government intends to withdraw. The Palestinian delegation
includes such figures as Muhammad Dahlan, who has been responsible for
a number of murderous attacks against Israelis over the past few
weeks.
A senior member of the Israeli delegation to the Palestinian talks,
Yisrael Hason, has resigned his position. He explained that he cannot
accept Barak's policies in the negotiations. Hason served in the past
as Deputy Director of the General Security Service.
2. THE RACE TO SIGN
Will the above talks lead to an agreement of some sort? No one is
ruling it out completely, but even Shimon Peres - who said earlier
this week that with "hard work" it could be done - said today that the
chances of signing an agreement before the Feb. 6 Prime Ministerial
election are slim. Culture and Sport Minister Matan Vilnai, another
Israeli player in the talks, told Arutz-7's Moshe Priel today that in
his opinion, no "agreement" will be signed, "although there is still a
chance that a joint declaration of principles could be formulated."
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, leader of the Israeli delegation,
refuses to give up, and feels that Clinton's departure from the scene
this Saturday need not be seen as a deadline. The talks are currently
running without American intervention, Ben-Ami observes, and they can
therefore continue until the Israeli election. Prime Minister Ehud
Barak, for his part, also apparently believes that there is little or
no chance of reaching an agreement before the upcoming election.
MK Rehavam Ze'evi (National Union) explained to Arutz-7 today how he
came to announce earlier this week that an agreement is likely to be
signed tomorrow: "A high-ranking source told me that a document - I
don't even know if Barak knew about it - had been prepared for signing
on Thursday, the last working day before Clinton leaves office. I
haven't spoken to this source since then, but he agreed to divulge
three clauses in this document: 250,000 Palestinian refuges are to
enter Israel within five years; Israel is to withdraw from eastern
Jerusalem, and a bridge that will be under Palestinian sovereignty
will connect Gaza and Ramallah." In answer to a question, Ze'evi said
that he is "not at all sure that there will be such a signing - Peres
is pushing hard for it, while Barak is a bit more restrained - and I
wasn't even sure if I should go public with this, but I finally
decided that even if I come out looking like a false-alarmist, it's
important to go public with it if only to cause the agreement *not* to
be signed."
Journalist Roni Shaked, who covers Judea and Samaria for Yediot
Acharonot, told Arutz-7 today that he does not thing anything will
come of the current talks, "but one thing is clear: Arafat has not
budged even one millimeter in any of his positions. He continues to
demand a total withdrawal from 100% of Yesha, including Jerusalem -
and regarding the 'right of return,' they continue to demand
neighborhoods in pre-1967 Israel such as Katamon [in Jerusalem] and
Lod, exactly as before." Shaked said that Arafat would like to have
his achievements to date - i.e., the latest Israeli concessions - set
down in writing so that the new Bush Administration could use them as
a basis for continuing the process, but "on the other hand, he
[Arafat] doesn't want just 'principles,' but rather more concrete and
implementable clauses."
Remarks last week by Farouk al-Kadoumi, director of the PLO Political
Department, appear to bolster this point. He told Voice of Palestine
Radio, "We refuse any restraints or limitations that would give Israel
the opportunity to maneuver [around the issue of refugees]... There's
no getting away from it: Public and world opinion in this matter
[realizes] that the question of Palestine is fundamentally, and before
anything else, about the return of the refugees to their homes.
Secondly, the carrying out of resolution 181 that calls for the
establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the
Partition Plan [of 1947, which leaves Israel divided into three
sections, without Be'er Sheva, Beit Shemesh, and half of the Galilee].
Also, there [must be] an independent Palestinian state possessing a
sovereignty that has no other conditions placed upon it by Israel or
by American proposals... The American proposals now want to be called
a declaration of principles. Well, that is refused. It would deal
with things in a general way. That is why we refuse such a declaration
of principles. We need specific details, clearly..." [With thanks to
Michael Widlanski and Israel Resource News Agency]
An editorial in Ma'ariv newspaper today feels, as well, that the talks
are leading nowhere: "The continuing contacts between Israel and the
Palestinians are like the last gasp before death... Both sides have
already given up hope for an agreement. The chances for a dramatic,
last-minute breakthrough are diminishing... As of now, Prime Minister
Barak - in consultation with his image doctors - believes that
last-minute diplomatic progress will only damage him in the polls and
on election day. Given this situation, the negotiations are being
conducted out of sheer inertia."
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