Subject: Israel News: Thursday, February 12, 1998
Date: Thu, 12 Feb 1998 23:18:32 +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 12, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
Thursday, February 12, 1998 / Shevat 16, 5758
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. THREE JEWS BAPTIZED IN JERUSALEM
2. PRO-SADDAM RALLIES IN HEVRON, SHECHEM
3. IRAQ SOLUTION NOT IN SIGHT
1. THREE JEWS BAPTIZED IN JERUSALEM
Rabbi Shalom Lifshitz, head of the Yad L'achim organization, said that
three Jews were baptized to Christianity in the Anglican Church on Haneviim
St. in Jerusalem this past Shabbat. He said that the sponsoring
organization of the conversion ceremony was the Gefen Church in Rishon
Letzion, led by missionary Baruch Maoz. "The missionaries organized a
group of thirteen Russian Jews, including three children. We tried to
prevent the bus from taking them to the baptism. We pleaded with them to
remember that they are Jewish, and we cried Shma Yisrael... and in fact
some of the would-be candidates left - but others didn't and went to be
baptized," said Rabbi Lifshitz. He told Arutz-7 that at present there is
no law against missionary activities [unless money is offered], but that
the Knesset Law Committee is now considering a proposal. "The Prime
Minister did not support our previous bill, because he said that it must be
balanced. So now we have a very balanced proposal that forbids anyone of
any religion to convince anyone else to change his religion," said Rabbi
Lifshitz. When asked about the prognosis for the bill's passage, he said,
"It's now under consideration in the Knesset Law Committee. We have to
pray a lot."
2. PRO-SADDAM RALLIES IN HEVRON, SHECHEM
In Hevron, hundreds of Arab students demonstrated their support for the
Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein this afternoon, waving Iraqi flags, chanting
slogans, and calling upon Saddam to bomb Tel Aviv. Several Israeli flags
were burnt during the course of the event. The IDF dispersed the
demonstrators with rubber bullets. Arabs in Shechem held a similar rally
today.
3. IRAQ SOLUTION NOT IN SIGHT
The United States has rejected Baghdad's latest proposals for a peaceful
solution to the current crisis. White House spokesman Mike McCurry told
reporters this morning that Washington insists that Saddam Hussein allow
the UN inspectors full and unrestricted access to all sites. Reuters
reports that the countdown to the military offensive on Iraq has already
begun in Washington. The forces of the Americans and their allies will be
ready to attack in one week, according to the Commander of the American
Forces in the Middle East. Russia threatened today that a U.S. attack
would have very harmful consequences for Russian-American cooperation.
*************************************************************************
From: "Root & Branch Association, Ltd."<rbranch@netvision.net.il>
Subject: R&B INFORMATION SERVICES: "WHY A DEMILITARIZED PALESTINIAN
STATE WOULD NOT REMAIN DEMILITARIZED A VIEW ACCORDING
TO INTERNATIONAL LAW" by Prof. Louis Rene Beres
R&B INFORMATION SERVICES: "WHY A DEMILITARIZED PALESTINIAN STATE
WOULD NOT REMAIN DEMILITARIZED A VIEW ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL LAW"
by Prof. Louis Rene Beres
WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA, February 12, 1998, Root & Branch: Let there
be no mistake. Though Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu may deny it,
or perhaps even oppose it, Palestinian statehood is now a distinct
probability. New attention is being focused on the alleged security
advantages, for Israel, of demilitarization. Would a demilitarized
Palestinian state in Judea/Samaria (West Bank) and Gaza represent a
serious threat to Israel?
Not at all, say most supporters of the "Two State Solution" to this
seemingly endless intercommunal conflict. Surely, argue proponents of
this position, such a Palestinian state would likely be the weakest
military entity on earth. From a purely tactical and political
perspective, the fragility of this argument is clear. The hidden
dangers of demilitarization are clear and compelling. If there were
to be a Palestinian state in the transitional territories, its threat
to the Jewish state would not only lie in the presence or absence of
an Arab national armed force, but also in the many other Arab armies
and insurgents that would inevitably compete for power in the new
country.
There is another reason why a demilitarized Palestine would present
Israel with a substantial security threat: International law would
not necessarily expect Palestinian compliance with agreements
concerning armed force. From the standpoint of international law,
enforcing demilitarization upon Palestine would be problematic. As a
sovereign state Palestine might not be bound by any pre-independence
compacts, even if these agreements included U.S.guarantees. Because
treaties can be binding only upon states, a non-treaty agreement
between the P.L.O. and Israel would be of no real authority and little
real effectiveness.
But what if the government of a new Palestinian state were willing to
consider itself bound by the pre-state, non-treaty agreement, i.e., to
treat this agreement as if it were an authentic treaty? Even in these
relatively favorable circumstances, the new Arab government would have
ample pretext to identify various grounds for lawful treaty
termination. It could, for example, withdraw from the "treaty" because
of what it regarded as a "material breach" (a violation by Israel that
allegedly undermined the object or purpose of the agreement). Or it
could point toward what international law calls a "fundamental change
of circumstances" (rebus sic stantibus).
In this connection, should Palestine declare itself vulnerable to
previously unforseen dangers - perhaps even from the forces of other
Arab armies - it could lawfully end its codified commitment to remain
demilitarized.
There is another factor that explains why a treaty-like arrangement
obligating Palestine to accept demilitarization could quickly and
legally be invalidated after independence. The usual grounds that may
be invoked under domestic law to invalidate contracts also apply under
international law to treaties and treaty-like agreements. This means
that a Palestinian state could point to errors of fact or to duress as
perfectly appropriate grounds for termination.
Moreover, any treaty is void if, at the time it was entered into, it
was in conflict with a "peremptory" rule of general international law
(jus cogens) - a rule accepted and recognized by the international
community of states as one from which "no derogation is permitted."
Because the right of sovereign states to maintain military forces
essential to "self defense" is certainly such a rule, Palestine would
be entirely within its right to abrogate any agreement that had
compelled its demilitarization.
It follows from all this that Israel should take little comfort from
the legal promise of Palestinian demilitarization. Indeed, should the
government of a future Palestinian state choose to invite foreign
armies or terrorists on to its territory (possibly after the original
national government had been displaced or overthrown by more
militantly Islamic anti-Israel forces), it could do so not only
without practical difficulties but also without necessarily violating
international law.
The overriding danger to Israel of Palestinian demilitarization is
more practical than legal, stemming from Jerusalem's self-inflicted
abrogation of Israel's national security. In the final analysis, this
Oslo-driven abrogation derives from a profound misunderstanding of
Palestinian goals and expectations. While Israeli supporters of Oslo
continue to believe in a "Two-State Solution," the Palestinian
Authority has other ideas.
For the PA, which has recently published an official map of
"Palestine" that includes the area of the entire state of Israel, the
only solution for the Jewish State is a Final Solution.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rene Louis Beres
West Lafayette, Indiana
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LOUIS RENE BERES (Ph.D., Princeton, 1971) is Professor of Political
Science and International Law at Purdue University. He is the author
of many books and articles dealing with Israeli security matters
***********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 Op-Ed: INCITEMENT BEGINS AT HOME
-INCITEMENT BEGINS AT HOME-
by Atty. Elyakim Haetzni
Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio
In This Article:
1. A TALK WITH A PLO LEADER
2. THE UNEXPECTED
3. BRAZEN ANTI-ISRAELI PROPAGANDA
4. WHAT TO DO -- FOR STARTERS
1. A TALK WITH A PLO LEADER
It is a well-known fact that among Israel's demands of Arafat as a
condition to a further withdrawal, there is a paragraph specifically
prohibiting the Palestinians from engaging in inciteful and hostile
propaganda. The following is an example of true incitement. It
concerns the agreement reached in Sept. '97 allowing ten yeshiva
students to remain in the Mount of Olives house purchased by the
Jewish philanthropist Irving Moskowitz [the Israeli Left and the Arabs
demanded that no Jew be allowed to purchase land and live there]. Ziad
Abu Ziad, an official of the Palestinian Authority, was interviewed on
the radio about this episode. Allow me to quote the text of the
interview:
Interviewer (Int): [Minister of Police] Kahalani claims that both
sides of this conflict among the Israelis are satisfied -- he does
take note of your side [the Arabs] -- to YOU he's not talking. Ziad: I
agree with you.
Int: In the final analysis, Moskowitz and his people won -- there will
be a Jewish presence on Ras el-Amud [Mount of Olives]. Ziad: You're
right, true, I think that a decision should be made to remove all of
the Jews from there.
Int: What are the Palestinians intending to do?
Ziad: I really don't know. The new situation demands a response, there
is outrage and anger among the [Arab] populace. It could be that
nothing will happen, it could be that tomorrow there will be a big
uproar.
Int: What do you mean there COULD be? If it happens, do you mean it
won't be initiated from the top [from the Palestinian leadership]?
Ziad: Yes, we won't initiate it from the top, but I'm telling you that
people are very, very angry.
Int: I would like you to compare between what happened following the
opening of the Hasmonean tunnels exactly a year ago [when Palestinian
Authority soldiers opened fire on Israeli soldiers, killing fifteen
Jews] and the current situation surrounding Ras el-Amud. Is it
possible that this is what will happen, just like what happened then,
or will this episode go by quietly? Ziad: Whaallaa! I don't know. But
I'm telling you that as of now, no one can say what could possibly
happen.
Int: The Palestinian Council is meeting tonight, what do think is
going to happen there? Ziad: I'm going to the meeting, and I'll find
out tonight.
Int: What about the Supreme Court? We heard that the Palestinians
intend to appeal to the Supreme Court against the decision [to allow
Jews to remain in Moskowitz's building]? Ziad: No, the Palestinians
won't turn to the Supreme Court -- it's not a legal matter -- it's a
political one.
Int: Can it be concluded from the Palestinians' very restrained
response to the inhabiting of the house on Ras el-Amud up until now
that they will continue to respond in this fashion in the future?
Ziad: Listen... a restrained response?! Yesterday a scuffle broke out,
many Arabs were at the site, there was a demonstration -- there ARE
clashes! You call this a restrained response?! This is a clear
response to anyone who has eyes in his head!
Int: Thank you very much, Ziad Abu Ziad.
2. THE UNEXPECTED
As you can see for yourselves, Ziad Abu Ziad came out of this
interview looking quite good. The one who is making every effort to
fan the flames, the one who is trying to incite Ziad from every
possible angle to violent disturbances was the Palestinian
interviewer! Excuse me, did I say Palestinian? My mistake -- I meant
the Kol Yisrael [Voice of Israel] interviewer whose name is Carmit
Guy. Yes, the radio station was Kol Yisrael and this interview was
aired on September 18, 1997 at 12:26 PM on the daily afternoon news
magazine of the Voice of Israel. Not only is this not an example of
Palestinian incitement here, but the Palestinian terrorists can use
this type of broadcast as ammunition against any Israeli demand that
the Palestinian broadcasts be less antagonistic and incitant. Why
should they be any less hostile in their broadcasts than those
emanating from Romema, Jerusalem [the site of Kol Yisrael radio]?
3. BRAZEN ANTI-ISRAELI PROPAGANDA
The example you have just read is not an exception to the rule -- it
IS the rule. Day in and day out, the Jewish people are exposed for
five consecutive hours, every morning from 8AM to 1PM, to propaganda
which is pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli, and anti-religious (to Judaism
only) -- openly and shamelessly. This anti-Israeli indoctrination is
authored by three radio show hosts -- Dalia Yairi, Shelly Yechimovich,
and Carmit Guy -- who truly believe that they have the right to
dictate our national values and agenda.
4. WHAT TO DO -- FOR STARTERS
I have no doubt that ten of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of
listeners, find these broadcasts repulsive, but they remain silent.
This silence is counterproductive. Only through speaking up can we
ensure a truly democratic atmosphere in our country. Anyone who is
willing to do at least something is invited to write to Amnon Nadav,
Director of the Kol Yisrael Radio station, in Romema, Jerusalem, and
complain -- about this and any other of the daily abuses originating
from Kol Yisrael. In addition, I encourage everyone to send copies of
their complaints to Knesset members, to the Board of Directors of the
Radio Authority, and others. If we continue to stand by idly while
this anti-Israeli propaganda emanates from the so-called national
radio and television stations, then we cannot expect
the situation to improve.
* * * * * * *
Former MK Elyakim Haetzni, an attorney living in Kiryat Arba, writes
opinion pieces in Yediot Acharonot.
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