Subject: Arutz-7 News: February 5-8, 1998
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 1998 00:17:37 +0000
To: "Arutz-7 List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, February 5, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
Thursday, February 5, 1998 / Shevat 9, 5758
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ISRAEL RESERVES RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE
2. PA NOT FIGHTING TERROR
3. RAMALLAH "CAPITALIZING" ON PROXIMITY TO JERUSALEM
4. RECOGNITION FOR YESHA HARDSHIPS
5. PA LEGISLATOR: AMERICANS THREATEN EVERY ARAB AND EVERY MOSLEM
6. PLO LEADERS TO DISCUSS FUTURE OF JERUSALEM AT HEBREW U
1. ISRAEL RESERVES RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE
United States Defense Secretary William Cohen said last night that the U.S.
expects Israel not to react in case it is attacked by Iraq. In an
interview with CNN, Cohen said that the U.S. is capable of defending its
allies in the region, including Israel. He said that he understands
Israel's apprehensions, but that Iraq is liable to attack other nations in
the region as well. The official response today from the Prime Minister's
Office was, "Israel reserves for itself the right of self defense and will
act in accordance with its security interests." Cohen will set out on
Sunday for the Gulf States in an effort to tighten the anti-Saddam coalition.
An airlift of medicines and vaccinations will begin in the coming days
between the United States and Israel. The security apparatus in Israel has
decided to allocate 120 million shekels for the purchase of new gas masks.
2. PA NOT FIGHTING TERROR
Defense Minister Yitzchak Mordechai had some sharp criticism of the
Palestinian Authority last night while speaking from the Knesset podium.
He said that "for some reason" the PA was unable to uncover on its own an
explosives factory on a main street in Shechem that produced 670 kilograms
(1474 lbs.) of explosives. He said that only after Israel applied great
pressure on American mediator Dennis Ross did the PA agree to act against
the factory, at which tens of people worked. The factory was discovered
over three weeks ago.
3. RAMALLAH "CAPITALIZING" ON PROXIMITY TO JERUSALEM
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that several mini-factories
for the production of explosives have recently been uncovered in Ramallah
by the PA. Traces of explosives - but not the explosives themselves - were
found at the sites. Huberman notes that Ramallah is becoming the
unofficial capital of the Palestinian autonomy, both in terms of the PA and
Hamas. Arafat has moved many official PA offices from Gaza and Jericho to
Ramallah, he holds meetings with foreign dignitaries in Ramallah, and
several PA security chiefs are building headquarters in the city. This is
because of Ramallah's proximity and contiguity with Jerusalem. At the same
time, Hamas is also becoming stronger in the city, with the unofficial and
passive approval of Arafat, who acts against it only in extraordinary
circumstances. Huberman noted that Abu Mazen, who has been mentioned as a
possible successor to Arafat, has made some very extreme statements of late
- such as that all Arab refugees from 1948 must be allowed to return to
their homes within Israel, and that all Jewish settlements in the "occupied
territories" are illegal - such that he would not be a substantial
improvement over Arafat from the Israeli point of view.
4. RECOGNITION FOR YESHA HARDSHIPS
The government is planning to declare dozens of Jewish communities in Yesha
as confrontation-line settlements. Some of those mentioned include Beit El
and Psagot near Ramallah; Ganim and Kadim near Jenin; Kiryat Arba and the
Jewish community of Hevron; and Netzarim and Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip.
The towns' common denominator is their proximity to centers of Palestinian
autonomy and/or lack of convenient bypass roads. The new categorization
will mean increased government aid for the towns' development, as well as a
reduction in income tax for the residents.
5. PA LEGISLATOR: AMERICANS THREATEN EVERY ARAB AND EVERY MOSLEM
Various Palestinian Authority leaders have been outspoken of late on the
American-Iraqi threat.
* First Deputy Chairman of the Palestinian
Legislative Council, Ibrahim Abu Alanja, has said, "The purpose of the
American offensive against Iraq is to deliver a strike against the entire
Arab nation."
* Palestinian Legislative Council member Jouad Altibi said, "The American
threat on Iraq is a threat to every free Arab and every Moslem on the face
of the earth. The U.S. is attempting to bring all of the Arab nations
under Zionist control."
* Popular Front leader Yunes Aljaro said, "The U.S. strategy proves that it
is not interested in the advancement of any Arab country in any field."
6. PLO LEADERS TO DISCUSS FUTURE OF JERUSALEM AT HEBREW U
An event entitled "Future of Jerusalem" - at which PLO officials Feisal
Husseini and Hanan Ashrawi will be the featured speakers - will be held in the Beit Hillel
Auditorium of Hebrew University on Sunday, February 8 at 6:30 PM.
Representing the Israeli viewpoint will be Ron Pundak, one of the two Oslo
accords architects. The organization "Our Jerusalem", together with Women
in Green, has announced that its members will gather outside, hold Israeli
flags, and chant slogans to protest the event. Danny Danon, Chairman of
"Our Jerusalem", said, "Hebrew University should be ashamed of itself for
allowing this activity to take place on campus. They are helping the Oslo
accords to be violated." Organization spokesman Ronn D. Torossian stated,
"Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem is a clear and blatant
violation of the Oslo accords... Husseini and Ashrawi have absolutely no
place in any forum discussing the future of Jerusalem. Jerusalem is Jewish
[and] it is not for negotiation."
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From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, February 8, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
Sunday, February 8, 1998 / Shevat 12, 5758
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Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NETANYAHU OUTLINES PALESTINIAN ENTITY
2. PA BUYING UP JERUSALEM LAND
3. PALESTINIAN SUPPORT FOR IRAQ
4. KUWAIT ON ALERT
1. NETANYAHU OUTLINES PALESTINIAN ENTITY
Israel agrees to a Palestinian entity that is politically and
economically viable. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu sent a letter
to Jordan's King Hussein this past week, in which he wrote, "This
would be a geographical, economic, demographic, and political entity,
[which we would agree to] on condition that it would not present any
danger whatsoever to its neighbors." Concerning the second
withdrawal, the Prime Minister wrote that the Palestinians must
understand that Israel cannot carry out the withdrawals that the
Palestinians expect, and that it would be beneficial to begin
permanent-status talks.
2. PA BUYING UP JERUSALEM LAND
Nadav Shragai of Haaretz reports that the Palestinian Authority has
made several purchases of land in the eastern Jerusalem. PA senior
Col. Tawfiq Tirawi was instrumental in at least one case in
frustrating a near-sale to Jewish buyers. Arutz-7 correspondents
noted that the government had once ordered the issuance of a warrant
for the Tirawi's arrest, on suspicion of being directly responsible
for the murder of Arab land-dealers who had sold land to Jews.
Shragai reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received a
report stating that since the beginning of 1997, the PA has been
actively pursuing real estate in Jerusalem. Shragai wrote of a
12-acre plot of land near the Jewish cemetery on Mount of Olives which
was purchased from an Arab family, after nearly being sold to a French
Jewish businessman. Another transaction involved a four-acre plot in
Ras al Amud, bought from local Palestinians, who had negotiated
beforehand with representatives of Dr. Irving Moskowitz. In this
instance, Palestinian intelligence also intervened and pressured the
landowners to sell to Palestinians. A smaller plot of land in the
Atarot area, which belonged to a Tel Aviv family, was recently sold to
a Palestinian businessman.
3. PALESTINIAN SUPPORT FOR IRAQ
Palestinian solidarity with Saddam continues. Hundreds of Arabs -
some reports said 1,000 -rallied violently yesterday in support of
Iraq in Bethlehem. They threw rocks and bottles on IDF soldiers at
Rachel's Tomb, waved Iraqi flags, and burned Israeli and American
flags. Eight residents of the Dahaisheh refugee camp were injured.
The official Palestinian Authority paper, Al Hayat al Jadida, has
expressed strong support in its editorials for Saddam Hussein. Arafat
sent a second letter of support last week to Saddam Hussein, and the
emissary - the PLO minister for public works - who brought both
letters to Saddam, said, "We are informing President Saddam Hussein of
the strong support of the Palestinian nation and the Palestinian
Liberation Organization for Iraq, and of our firm objections to the
American threats to use military strength.".
4. KUWAIT ON ALERT
Kuwait has announced the call-up of 24,000 reserves, in fear of an
attack by Iraq. Kuwait's Defense Minister Sheikh Salaam a-Sabah has
placed the Kuwaiti army on alert, and gas masks will be distributed to
the population.
An Iraqi government minister said that Kuwait has nothing to fear,
because Iraq has no non-conventional weapons with which to attack. Despite
this, Kuwait has announced that it would support the US and Great
Britain if they decide to attack Iraq, and German Chancellor Kohl has
also expressed support for a strike against Iraq. Saudi Arabia, on
the other hand, has announced its objections to a military strike
against Saddam, but calls upon him to act in accordance with the
instructions of the UN.
Hebrew News Editor: Yehoshua Mor-Yosef
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel
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