Subject: Israel in the News - May 11 - 31, 1998 Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 00:32:24 +0000 To: "Arutz-7 List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: Eddie Chumney To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Israel in the News Israel in the News May 11 to May 31, 1998 TEMPLE MOUNT ARSONISTS SET AL AQSA GATE ABLAZE By Sami Sockol, Ha'aretz Correspondent and News Agencies, Ha'aretz 5/15/98 Arsonists set fire late Wednesday night to a gate at the Ghawanmeh entrance to the Temple Mount compound in the Old City of Jerusalem, causing no injuries but burning a large hole in the wooden gate. Israeli officials expressed fear about an escalation of violence in the city, while Palestinian and Jordanian authorities condemned Israel. JERUSALEM MAYOR ORDERED TO LEAVE TEMPLE MOUNT??? Weekend News Today Source: Ha'aretz Wed May 13, 1998 Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert was asked by Waqf guards to leave the Temple Mount on Wednesday after he gave a television interview on the holy site. Al Aqsa Sheikh Muhammad Hussein said Olmert entered the mosque with a television crew and gave an interview without the permission of the Waqf (the supreme Muslim religious council). "He made declarations on television without authorization, and this is improper behavior inside the Al Aqsa mosque," the sheikh said. He said that as a result, two members of the Waqf asked Olmert to leave and the mayor obliged. "He is allowed to visit the mosque like any other tourist but he did not respect the place and so his visit was canceled and he left." PALESTINIANS STONE JEWS AT WESTERN WALL May 15, 1998 Jerusalem Palestinians threw rocks at Jewish worshipers at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem Friday a day after Israeli troops shot dead nine Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza strip. Israeli police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said Jewish worshipers were evacuated from Judaism's holiest shrine but no one was injured. PA UNDERTAKES CONSTRUCTION OF NEW TEMPLE MOUNT PRAYER AREAS IINS News Service -5/20/98 The PLO Authority (PA), according to Israeli official sources, has undertaken the [illegal] construction of additional prayer sites on the Temple Mount of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to official reports, the construction is tantamount to the building of new mosques on the site. Israeli security officials confirm that construction under the Al Aksa Mosque is already underway, without the necessary permits, in direct violation of the status quo that has existed to date. COMMENTS OF ARABS AGAINST JEWS ON TEMPLE MOUNT -- * "Moslems have no knowledge or awareness that the Temple Mount has any sanctity for Jews... why should we allow the Jews to share in places which our holy to us and to Islam?... for 600 years, the Moslems ruled the land, since the Caliph Omar, and only now have the Jews remembered to demand a right to the Temple Mount. The Moslems will never permit anyone to enter the Temple Mount... If the Jews really want peace, they must absolutely forget about having any rights over the Temple Mount or Al-Aksa Mosque... the Western Wall also belongs to Moslems, and was given to the Jews as a place of prayer only because the British asked and the Moslems agreed out of the goodness of their hearts. The Western Wall is just a fence belonging to a Moslem holy site. Since 1967, the Israelis have dug and searched for proof that the site is holy to them, but they have not found any sign of the existence of a Temple or a Jewish community at the site. For us, the Moslems, the place is holy and was always such. I heard that your Temple was in Nablus or perhaps Bethlehem." --- Sheikh Ikrama Sabri, the official PA Mufti (senior Muslim cleric) who was appointed to his position by Yasser Arafat, in an interview with the Israeli weekly Makor Rishon, May 22, 1998. [Note: PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has made similar claims in the past. Arafat said, "That is not the Western Wall at all, but a Moslem shrine." (Maariv, October 11, 1996)] * "Any extremist who enters the Temple Mount compound will not leave it alive." --- Hatam Abdel Kader, member of the PA's Legislative Council, in an interview with the official PA radio station the Voice of Palestine, when asked about the possibility of Jews praying on the Temple Mount (Voice of Palestine, May 24, 1998) * "The archeology of Jerusalem is diverse - excavations in the Old City and the areas surrounding it revealed Umayyad Islamic palaces, Roman ruins, Armenian ruins and others, but nothing Jewish. Outside of what is mentioned/ written in the Old and New Testaments, there is no tangible evidence of any Jewish traces/ remains in the old city of Jerusalem and its immediate vicinity." --- PA Information Ministry Press Release, December 10, 1997 PEACE PROCESS U.S., ISRAEL HOLD NEW ROUND OF WEST BANK TALKS May 15, 1998 Washington U.S. special envoy Dennis Ross met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for an hour Friday after talks Thursday failed to bridge the gap over Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank, a state department spokesman said. "He (Ross) then followed that up with a couple of hours of meetings with Prime Minister Netanyahu's advisers... We still believe there is sufficient reason for serious work to continue and I would expect that work to continue this afternoon,'' spokesman James Rubin said. NETANYAHU AFFIRMS LEBANON WITHDRAWAL PLAN Friday, May 15, 1998 The Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has reaffirmed Israel's proposal to withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon under UN Resolution 425. Speaking after talks in New York with the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, he said Israel was prepared to carry out the decision as soon as possible, reiterating that Israel's security must not be ignored. Though the Israeli prime minister said the withdrawal must be carried out under conditions of peace and security, he has not made additional demands, such as a separate peace treaty with Lebanon. Both Lebanon and Syria - the main power-broker in Lebanon - have rejected Israel's security requirements form a withdrawal from areas claimed as a buffer zone for 20 years. NETANYAHU STRESSES SECURITY IS KEY TO PEACE NEGOTIATIONS May 17, 1998 Washington (AP) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed Sunday that his government will not be pressured into signing a peace treaty that jeopardizes Israeli security. He also indicated Israel would retaliate if Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat unilaterally declares a Palestinian state in Israeli-held territory. "If you ask me as the prime minister of Israel to sign a peace treaty in which we somehow erode Israel's defenses, that won't hold,'' said Netanyahu, interviewed in New York by ABC's "This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts.'' PEACE DIED TWO YEARS AGO, SAYS NETANYAHU, ENRAGING OPPONENTS By Yossi Verter, Dalia Shehori and Agencies - Ha'aretz 5/24/98 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that the peace process with the Palestinians collapsed two years ago, before he took office. But Palestinian leaders and members of the opposition parties quickly responded that Netanyahu himself was to blame for the breakdown. "We had no peace. We had a collapse of peace, maybe not in the way this was perceived in various capitals throughout the world, but the way it was here," Netanyahu said in a speech to foreign ambassadors in Jerusalem on Friday, referring to four suicide bombings by Islamic militants in the spring of 1996 in which scores of Israelis were killed. PREPARATIONS FOR WAR PA FORCES SAID TRAINING HARD TO TAKE ON IDF By Amos Harel, Ha'aretz Military Correspondent - Ha'aretz 6/1/98 Palestinian security forces have recently accelerated and intensified their training in case of a confrontation in the territories against Israel. The Palestinian preparations for potential confrontations, most of which are focused on defensive measures, are becoming increasingly professional: the security bodies are training in the use of formations (such as teams or squads) for defined missions, while civilian bodies are increasing the pace of civil defense training. Warnings from Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and opposition leader Ehud Barak last week on the danger of confrontations with the Palestinians were based on this information, as well as on the assessments of Military Intelligence concerning the growing chance that the Palestinians will turn to violence if Israel does not implement a second withdrawal. Mordechai said at the cabinet meeting that "anyone who thinks that if they bring the process to a crisis, there will not be violence is mistaken. I am speaking based on situation assessments and intelligence reports," the minister emphasized. Barak claimed that "we are on the verge of a disaster, and the sheep in the government are remaining silent." Security establishment officials believe that the Palestinians view clashes of various magnitudes during the coming year as an almost inevitable development. "We know that the Palestinians are training for combat and aspiring to being able to use anti-tank missiles," one high-ranking officer told Ha'aretz. "They are training to fight in formation, and to carry out assignments by means of formations: gaining control of an area of land, holding down a post, taking over one of our positions, attacking a settlement. "We must take these Palestinian preparations very seriously. In the next clash, if it happens, the Palestinian side will be on a more professional level. Just as we analyze the lessons from the Western Wall tunnel clashes, the other side is doing the same. We will have to be prepared for this," the officer said. Other sources report "training in military formations, of teams and squads, which is far from the usual training of a police force." FATAH THREATENS ISRAELIS Ma'ariv 5/11/98 The Fatah arm of the PLO said that if Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu does not change his policies, Fatah activists will renew shooting attacks on Israelis. Yesterday, about 300 Fatah terrorists, some masked and armed with M-16 and Kalashnikov rifles, marched through the Shchem area. They were marking the day of the "Palestinian catastrophe," the events following the establishment of the state of Israel. ARABS STOCKPILING GAZA ARMS, SAYS TOP ISRAELI SOURCE >From Christopher Walker in Jerusalem - London Times 5/26/98 The Palestinian Authority is illegally stockpiling weapons that are either smuggled from the Egyptian-controlled Sinai through a network of tunnels or manufactured in secret Gaza workshops, a leading Israeli military source said yesterday. "They have been smuggling all sorts of weapons through the tunnels," he told The Jerusalem Post. "They would be smuggling tanks, too, if they could fit them through the tunnels." The intelligence report came amid predictions from Israeli, Arab and Western experts that widescale Israeli-Palestinian violence will erupt soon if the 15-month deadlock in the 1993 Oslo peace accords is not resolved swiftly. 'ISRAEL WILL CEASE TO EXIST EARLY NEXT CENTURY' Int'l Christian Embassy Jerusalem 5/27/98 Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said yesterday he expected Israel to be eliminated and a Palestinian state to be established early in the first quarter of the 21st century. "The first quarter of the next century will witness the elimination of the Zionist entity (Jewish state) and the establishment of the Palestinian state over the whole of Palestine," REUTERS quotes Yassin as telling a news conference in Damascus, the latest stop of a regional tour. "The strong will not remain strong for ever and the weak will not remain weak forever. Things change ... there is now a growing resistance against Israel," he said. Yassin praised Syrian President Hafez al-Assad, who he said had "extended all support for our struggle" and vowed that Hamas would continue its fight against Israel "until the liberation of all Palestine". PA OFFICIAL SAYS STATE DECLARATION 'DECLARATION OF WAR' Kahl's I&G News 5/29/98 Jeddah al-Bilad in Arabic 23 May 98 p 1 Report by Ra'idah Darwish in Gaza Ahmad 'Abd-al-Rahman, secretary general of the Palestinian Council of Ministers, said that the declaration of the state of Palestine, expected to be announced in May next year, will be a declaration of war against Israel, despite all Israeli threats to respond to this announcement. He noted that the removal of settlements is the main objective of the declaration. In an exclusive statement to al-Bilad, 'Abd-al-Rahman said: The announcement is based on the agreement signed with the Israeli Government in Washington. The agreement, he added, calls for extending the interim period until 4 May 1999 provided that the interim period and final-stage talks will be accomplished during this interim period. 'Abd-al-Rahman said: "We are heading toward a decisive battle in the history of our national struggle. We will prove to the world that we deserve the land mixed with the blood of our ancestors." He added that the declaration will cover all territories occupied in 1967; namely, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. SYRIA MOVES SCUDS INTO STRIKING RANGE OF DIMONA Summary of Israeli Newspaper 5/13/98 According to Britain's Foreign Report, Syria has transferred missiles from bases in the north to forward positions near Damascus. ********************************************************************** From: Pam Staley To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: ARAFAT'S SPEECH ON ANNIVERSARY OF ABU-JIHAD'S MARTYRDOM For your information: ================== ARAFAT'S SPEECH ON ANNIVERSARY OF ABU-JIHAD'S MARTYRDOM " Let us turn the land into a flaming fire under the feet of the invaders." ARABIC 16 APR 98 In the name of God the merciful, the compassionate. Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with God. Of them some have completed their vow and some still wait. But they have never changed. [Koranic verse] My kinfolk and beloved ones in our occupied land; my kinfolk and beloved ones everywhere in the Diaspora; O comrades in arms; O comrades in struggle and jihad; O revolutionaries and free men in our Arab nation; O strugglers and defenders of freedom in the world; today, we bid farewell to the symbol of Palestinian struggle; we bid farewell to Abu-Jihad, the comrade, the brother, and the commander. Today, we bid farewell to one of the heroes of our Arab nation and one of the great revolutionaries for the sake of freedom in the whole world. Today, we bid farewell to my brother and comrade in struggle, Abu-Jihad, along with the multitude of martyrs of our blessed revolutionary intifadah. These martyrs wrote with their pure blood the legend of freedom and replenished the fountain of pure blood, which will drench the soil and forge for our nation, people, and masses the road of glory, dignity, and bravery. Abu-Jihad, the brother, the friend, and the beloved, was martyred on 16 April 1988 while in charge of his work in his revolutionary den. Despite the bestiality of the crime, Abu-Jihad, as we knew him, was true to himself. He held firmly to his weapon and continued resisting until the Zionist gang of the Israeli intelligence-Mosad overwhelmed him. Ten bullets of treachery and crime penetrated his beloved body. With the departure of Abu-Jihad, we lost a heroic brother, a hardened comrade struggler, and a revolutionary friend, who sought martyrdom and attained it. He thus fulfilled the pledge of the mujahidin, who were devoted to their creed and homeland and who fell for its sake. The decision was an Israeli one from the highest levels of the Israeli leadership and the green light was from the US Administration, the strategic ally of Israel. They thought and imagined that their act would affect our people's revolution, intifadah, and gigantic march. They did not know that their act would only be the fire to keep the flame ablaze, and the pillar that would further entrench the revolution and the intifadah. They did know that they would pay a heavy price for their act and that the martyr's blood would not go to waste. The knight and commander had dismounted. Yet, he never dismounted or rested in peace throughout his long, hard struggle. O Abu-Jihad, we stand by our pledge and oath. O brethren, O comrades in arms in the long revolutionary march, we stand by our pledge and oath. The pledge is that the revolution and its intifadah will continue with the same vigor and firmness; and the oath is that the revolution will continue with the same relentless determination. As for you, O kinfolk and beloved ones in the occupied homeland, O kinfolk and beloved ones everywhere in the Diaspora, O comrades in arms in the march and the revolution, O lovers of Abu-Jihad in all fields of struggle and revolution, we say it with all the faith, the determination, and the resolve; we say it with a loud resounding voice that the convoys of martyrs are our torches on the road to Palestine and that their pure blood is a trust and a debt that surrounds our neck, and the debt is a right that cannot be delayed. Let us see more revolution, therefore, more escalation of our blessed intifadah; more steadfastness, firmness, and faith; and more great epics with the souls of our righteous martyrs and the pure blood of our wounded. Let us turn the land into a flaming fire under the feet of the invaders. It is the will of the free and the honorable, and it is the will of our children, women, men, and aged to press the wound and embrace heaven in martyrdom or victory. Your brother Abu-'Ammar ===================================== Voices United For Israel: http://www.mindspring.com/~voicesunited (credit to Conference for Middle East Peace - http://www.cmep.com) ***********************************************************************