From: Eddie Chumney
To:     heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: News of Interest


                           News of Interest
                     July 26 - August 1, 1998


TEMPLE MOUNT

TEMPLE MOUNT FAITHFUL TO ATTEMPT TO VISIT MOUNT ON TISHA B'AV
(IsraelWire-7/30)

Members and supporters of the Temple Mount Faithful organization
will on Sunday, the 10th of the Hebrew month of Av, ascend to the
Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City.  The day on which the Fast
of the 9th of Av is observed (it was pushed of from the previous
day, the Sabbath) commemorates the destruction of the First and
Second Temples.  The group will meet on Sunday morning, (August
2nd) at the entrance to the Western Wall.


JERUSALEM

JERUSALEM AGENDA
By Moshe Zak (July 29)

The Conference of Islamic Foreign Ministers, which meets today
[Wednesday] in Casablanca under the presidency of Morocco's King
Hassan II, will not be discussing the 13% withdrawal from Judea
and Samaria or Iran's 1,300 kilometer range long-range missiles.
It has been called to discuss the question of Jerusalem and
should be viewed by us as an integral part of an offensive on all
fronts which the Arabs have launched against Israel.

Nothing untoward has occurred in Jerusalem which necessitates
such urgent Islamic action.  Construction has not begun at Har
Homa, while the plan for expanding Jerusalem's area of
jurisdiction was abandoned almost immediately after its proposal,
and not because of Arab objections, but because of the outcry of
the Jewish satellite towns surrounding the city.

There was no particular reason for the recent UN Security Council
debate on Jerusalem, and there is no reason now to hold an urgent
meeting of the Jerusalem Conference, headed by the king of
Morocco.

Yasser Arafat, however, knows that there is nothing better to
ignite the Arab and Moslem world than the issue of Jerusalem.
Fantasies about Jerusalem and tales of the activities of the
city's "heretics" are the fuel used to incite millions of Moslems
against Israel.


MUSLIM FUND TO HELP ARABS BUY LAND IN JERUSALEM
Intl Christian Embassy Jerusalem 7/31/98

Representatives of Muslim countries meeting in Morocco have heard
that a special fund now exists to help Palestinians buy land in
eastern Jerusalem, in the face of increasing Jewish settlement
there, Reuters reports.

The announcement was made by King Hassan of Morocco, who told a
closed session of the 16-member "Jerusalem Committee" ("Al-Quds
Committee") that the PLO ambassador to Morocco, Abu Marwane, had
been appointed chairman of the Beit al-Mal (House of Money) fund
"to boost investments in Jerusalem and help Palestinians buy land
in the holy city", a Moroccan official said.  The official was
unable to say how much the fund would be worth.  The "Jerusalem
Committee" decided in 1995 to set up the fund to enable Muslims
around the world to offer financial support to Palestinians in
eastern Jerusalem.


PEACE PROCESS

PEACE TALKS WITH ISRAEL STILL FROZEN
Reuters August 1, 1998 Gaza

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said on Saturday peace moves
with Israel remained stalled and one of his negotiators said
Palestinians would end talks on a U.S.  peace plan in a few days
if there was no movement.  "I am sorry to say everything is still
frozen,'' Arafat told reporters on his return to the Gaza Strip
after a five-day visit to Austria, Morocco and Turkey.

Palestinian negotiator Nabil Sha'ath said Israel had to accept a
U.S.  proposal on an Israeli troop pullback from more West Bank
land within days or face the end of the latest round of direct
peace talks.  "Meetings will be over within the coming few days
unless the Israelis ...  present a miracle and say they accepted
the (American) initiative and they are ready for the
withdrawal,'' Sha'ath told Reuters.

"If the Israelis don't provide anything new which will be
committed to the minimum of the American initiative, we will go
back to (U.S.  Secretary of State) Albright and tell her that we
sat and we listened but we did not get anything new from the
Israelis," he said.  "The Israelis up to this moment did not
present anything that was even close to the American
initiative.'' Sha'ath said.


PA SCHOOLBOOKS AND THE PLO CHARTER

The following material comparing Palestinian Authority school books
and the Palestinian National Covenant was prepared by Itamar Marcus,
Director of Research, Center For Monitoring The Impact Of Peace:

Article 7: "It is a national duty to bring up individual Palestinians
in an Arab revolutionary manner...He must be prepared for the armed
struggle and ready to sacrifice his wealth and his life..."

Schoolbook:  "...there will be a Jihad and our country shall be
freed...You must know, my boy, that Palestine is your holy
responsibility and that of your generation." [Our Arabic Language For
Fifth Grade #542, pp.69-70]

Schoolbook:  "Long live the homeland.  O my land, my land, my blood
will be sacrificed for you.  I have given my life as a sacrifice,
accept it." [Our Arabic Language, Part Two, Fourth Grade p. 131-133]

Article 9:  "Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Palestine."

Schoolbook:  "Without blood not even one centimeter will be
liberated." [Reader and Literary Texts for Eighth Grade p.131-133]

Article 15:  "The liberation of Palestine ...aims at the elimination
of Zionism in Palestine..."

Schoolbook:  "Why must we fight the Jews and drive them out of our
land?" [Our Arabic Language for Fifth Grade p.66]

Article 15:  "The Arab nation must mobilize all its military, human,
and moral and spiritual capabilities to participate actively with the
Palestinian people in the liberation of Palestine."

Schoolbook:  "How are we going to liberate our stolen land?  Make use
of the following ideas: Arab unity, genuine faith in Allah, most
modern weapons and ammunition, using oil and other precious natural
resources as weapons in the battle for liberation." [Our Arabic
Language for Seventh Grade Part A, p. 15]

Articles 19-20:  "The partition of Palestine in 1947 and the
establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal...The
Balfour Declaration...null and void."

Schoolbook:  "...the Balfour Declaration is regarded as illegal..."
[Modern Arab History and Contemporary Problems, Part Two, for Tenth
Grade #613 p.51]

Article 20:  "Claims of historical or religious ties of Jews with
Palestine are incompatible with the facts of history"

Schoolbook:  "The Zionists turn their attention towards Palestine as
the national homeland of the Jews, while relying on false historical
and religious claims." [Modern Arab history and Contemporary Problems,
Part 2, for Tenth Grade, p.50]

Article 21:  "The Arab Palestinian people...reject all solutions which
are substitutes for the total liberation of Palestine."

Schoolbook:  "My brothers! The oppressors have overstepped the
boundary, therefore Jihad and sacrifice are a duty...are we to let
them steal its Arab nature?...let us gather for war with red blood and
blazing fire...Oh Palestine, the youth will redeem your land..."
[Reader and Literary Texts for Eighth Grade, p. 120-122]  (Aaron
Lerner, July 28, 1998)


PREPARATIONS FOR WAR

SECURITY ESTABLISHMENT CONCERNED OVER NON-CONVENTIONAL ATTACK
(IsraelWire-7/26)

According to an exclusive Yediot Achronot report, members of the
Israeli security establishment are concerned that terrorists or
"enemies of the country" will attempt an attack using chemical or
biological warfare, in addition to the conventional warfare and
suicide attacks seen in the past.  Security and intelligence
officials are concerned over what they are calling "quiet
attacks," which would entail the use of chemical or biological
warfare used in heavily populated areas to injure and kill as
many persons as possible.

The assessment is based on the knowledge of what substances are
available today as well as the persons with the technical
knowledge to carry them out.  Despite the fears, intelligence
officials add they do not have any data pointing to any specific
attack using non-conventional warfare.

Experts explain their concern is based on the easy availability
of the non-conventional substances as well as the ease with which
such an attack may be carried out.  Security officials were
afraid that last week's attempted car bomb attack on Jerusalem's
Jaffa Road was a non-conventional attack but the primary
inspection of the substances in the terrorist's van proved
otherwise.  On the morning of the attempted attack, a rumor had
circulated quickly in Jerusalem, that the van contained
non-conventional substances.

SYRIAN: WE ARE READY TO FIGHT
By Daniel Sobelman Ha'aretz 7/30/98

The Syrian army is "always ready for confrontation with the
Israeli enemy," according to Chief of Staff Ali Aslan, who was
quoted in the official Syrian newspaper Al Ba'ath in a story
marking the 53rd anniversary of the founding of the Syrian army.
"Our army is one of the world's largest," he said, "and it will
always remain loyal to the nation." "Syria is demanding Arab
rights and will not forgo a single grain of land," said Aslan,
referring to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.  Nonetheless, he
pointed out that Syria "is working for a true peace that will be
based on a justice that doesn't deprive anyone of their rights."

INCREASING CONCERNS OVER IRANIAN MISSILE ADVANCEMENT
(IsraelWire-7/29)

Following the successful launch of the Shabab-3 mid-range
missile, Israel is carefully monitoring the development of the
Shabab-4 long-range missile, which will have a maximum range of
2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles).  Israeli and US experts have
already pointed out that the missiles will have the capability of
carrying non-conventional warheads, a fact that has Israel and
Western leaders worried.  According to experts monitoring the
Iranian progress, the long-range missile will be a reality within
one year, with continued Russian assistance.

According to OC IDF Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka, if the
United States chooses to exert enough pressure on the Russians,
it is still not too late to stop the completion of the long-range
missile program, which threatens the entire western world.  Malka
also pointed out that the completion of a long-range missile by
Iran would mark the first time in the State of Israel's
fifty-year history that the Iranians would be able to launch a
direct assault.

IRAN, N.  KOREA HIDE MISSILES FROM U.S.
Reuters July 29, 1998 WASHINGTON

North Korea, Iran and other countries are concealing their
ballistic missile programs from U.S.  spy satellites by using
enormous underground laboratories and factories to build and test
the weapons, the Washington Post reported Wednesday.  The
newspaper, quoting members of a bipartisan commission that has
been determining the threat posed to the United Sates by
ballistic missiles, said the elaborate underground construction
was contributing to the "erosion" of U.S.  intelligence agencies'
ability to monitor weapons proliferation.  The panel's report
criticized U.S.  "intelligence gaps," concluding that "the
technical means of collection now employed will not meet emerging
requirements," the Post said.

U.S.  MARINES 'SEIZE' DOWNTOWN: URBAN WARFARE IS EXERCISE'S AIM
By John Fritz Jacksonville, FL Times-Union staff writer 7/24/98

By most accounts, yesterday was pretty typical for Jacksonville,
traffic snaking its way through downtown streets, pedestrians
broiling in the summertime heat, commerce buzzing along, boats
leisurely motoring up the St.  Johns River.  But for a group of
about 100 Marines, Jacksonville was a city under siege, ripped
asunder by the fighting of the fictitious ''Jaguer'' and
''Dolphenes'' political factions, the latter headed by the evil
military boss, Gen.  Danne Marinoe.

Participating in a cuttingedge military exercise known as ''Urban
Warrior,'' these Marines' mission was to figure out how to wrest
control of key parts of the city.  They had to take over the
besieged Main Street bridge, City Hall and an abandoned building
posing as a national bank safeguarding $5.7 billion of gold
ingots.

The exercise does not involve any weapons, aircraft or military
vehicles.

MORE MARINE TRAINING IN U.S. CITIES: UNIT SET FOR URBAN COMBAT
EXERCISE IN BIRMINGHAM
Copyright 1998, WorldNetDaily.com

A special unit of U.S.  Marines will arrive in Birmingham, AL,
next Monday to prepare for an exercise in countering urban
guerrilla warfare.  Some 243 soldiers will have assault rifles in
hand to execute secret missions and perform various maneuvers in
the city, according to Marine spokesmen.

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit exercise is part of a program
called TRUE, or Training in the Urban Environment.  The Marines
will stay at Fort McClellan in Anniston for the nearly two-week
exercise, said Staff Sgt.  Chris Cox, head of public affairs for
the unit.

GENERAL SEES U.S. VULNERABLE TO ATTACK
By Laura Myers Associated Press Writer July 29, 1998 Washington
(AP)

The United States is vulnerable to an intercontinental missile
attack ``sooner rather than later'' and must develop space-based
defense and weapons systems to counter the threat, the head of
the U.S.  space command said today.  The risk has increased as
North Korea, Iran and other nations build missiles with greater
ranges and in underground weapons facilities in order to hide
activity, said Air Force Gen. Howell M. Estes III.

"The fact of the matter is, it's going to come quicker, in my
opinion, than I think many of us would realize,'' said Estes,
head of the U.S.  Space Command based at Peterson Air Force Base,
Colo.  Estes also is commander of the North American Aerospace
Defense Command, or NORAD, the Cold War-era agency responsible
for detecting launches and giving the signal for a U.S.
counterattack if necessary.

Intelligence-gathering satellites can't provide all the
information needed to detect weapons development, he said, a
lapse that allowed India to conduct nuclear tests in May without
prior U.S.  knowledge.

"Well clearly, people around the world who would choose to do so
have learned deception and denial is a tactic that can have some
impact,'' Estes told a group of reporters.  Estes said countries
such as North Korea and Iran, which have both successfully tested
medium-range missiles and are thought to be developing
intercontinental weapons that could hit U.S.  cities, are moving
forward quickly because they aren't as concerned about quality.

"We're finding that countries who are developing these systems
today are not doing it the way we did,'' Estes said.  ``They're
not going for accuracy.  They're going for having the capability,
which in fact, is an indication of military might and national
power.'' The missiles being developed could carry weapons of mass
destruction, including biological, chemical and nuclear warheads.


ISRAEL


DIRE WATER SHORTAGE IN WEST BANK
By Amira Hass, Ha'aretz West Bank Correspondent 7/27/98

More than half a million Palestinians in the West Bank - about a
third of the total population - have been without regular running
water for two months.

A severe shortage of water in existing wells, most of which are
used by both Israel and the Palestinians, has forced the
Palestinian water authority as well as local councils and
municipalities to introduce harsh austerity measures, based on
rotating the supply of water to localities.

Israel's Mekorot Water Company regulates the overall volume of
water that reaches the Palestinian localities via pipelines that
are shared with the Jewish settlements in the West Bank.


PERSECUTION AND ANTI-SEMITISM

THREE NUNS SHOT TO DEATH IN YEMEN
July 27, 1998 San`a, Yemen (AP)

Three nuns from the order founded by Mother Teresa were killed
today in a spray of automatic weapons fire as they left a clinic
in the Red Sea city of Hodeida, a Yemeni security official said.
Gunmen in a passing car fired on the religious workers outside a
center for the disabled, said the official, who spoke on
customary condition of anonymity.  One of the nuns was from the
Philippines and two were Indian.  The nuns wore white nurses
uniforms and caps, not the traditional blue-bordered saris of
Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, the security official
said.  Authorities arrested one person believed to have been
involved in the attack, the official said, without elaborating.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

AFTER 275 DAYS IN CAPTIVITY, HUNGARIAN CHURCH AID WORKERS ARE
RELEASED BUDAPEST
Ecumenical News International.

Two Hungarian aid workers carrying out relief work for an
international church agency, Action by Churches Together (ACT),
who were abducted in the southern Russian republic of Chechenya,
have been released after 275 days in captivity.

VANDALS DESECRATE JEWISH GRAVES IN WARSAW
July 29, 1998 Warsaw, Poland (AP)

Vandals damaged about 50 tombstones of Polish Jews executed by
the Nazis near Warsaw, the head of the cemetery said.  Karol Lot,
head of the cemetery and museum at Palmiry, 18 miles northwest of
Warsaw, said Tuesday that plaques from graves of Polish Jews
"were torn away, some were found   all of them twisted and
damaged.'' Most of the graves were destroyed Friday and the rest
over the weekend, Warsaw police spokesman Ryszard Pietrzykowski
said.


APOSTASY AND ECUMENISM

POPE CALLS FOR A RELIGIOUS MILLENNIUM SUMMIT
Source: Everything 2000

Pope John Paul II plans to to invite leaders of the world's major
religions to Rome next year to prepare for the year 2000.

Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Vatican spokesman, announced
that the gathering would be a chance for world religions to
evaluate how they behaved in the 20th century and how they ought
to behave in the 21st century.  "As we get set to step into the
third millennium," he told the world's media, "the followers of
the various religions have no choice but to come closer to one
another, to listen to one another, to try to understand one
another better and to collaborate more for a better world."

Arinze, 65, is president of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue, and is considered to be a potential
successor to John Paul.  Some observers see the year 2000 as a
time of heightened spiritual interest and understanding.  Leaving
behind a thousand years of religious wars, division and conflict,
the Catholic church wants to enter the new era by building
bridges with other faiths.  "These are exciting times in world
history," Arinze said.  "The religions cannot afford to be absent
from this world on the move.  "

The October 1999 meeting would be a natural follow-up to a
meeting convened by the pope in 1986, in which world religious
leaders prayed for peace, said Archbishop John Foley, president
of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications.  Foley urged
the conference not to forget the real significance behind the
year 2000.  "We believe God became man in the womb of the Virgin
Mary and was born in Bethlehem approximately 2000 years ago.  Our
calendar is measured around the most important event in human
history - the Incarnation," Foley said.  "So before people start
popping champagne corks, they should know what they are
celebrating."


ANGLICAN BISHOPS TOLD OF URGENT NEED TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH
ISLAM
Canterbury - Ecumenical News Int'l

According to United Nations' estimates, by the year 2025 the
world will have two billion Muslims, and by 2050 the figure will
be four billion, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem told the
Lambeth Conference yesterday, as Anglican bishops from around the
world discussed relations between Muslims and Christians.

LUTHERANS AND ANGLICANS SHOULD AIM FOR 'GLOBAL' FULL COMMUNION
Canterbury - Ecumenical News Int'l

A top official of the Lutheran World Federation has suggested
that there should be a "global" agreement for full communion
between Anglican and Lutheran churches.  Dr Ishmael Noko, LWF
general secretary, made his proposal in a statement distributed
this week to participants at the Lambeth Conference of Anglican
bishops from around the world who are meeting in the cathedral
city of Canterbury, England.

ROMANIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH 'RECEPTIVE' TO PAPAL VISIT
Geneva - Ecumenical News Int'l

Romania could become the first predominantly Orthodox country to
receive a visit from Pope John Paul II.  According to a statement
released by the Orthodox Church in the Romanian capital,
Bucharest, the church's synod, meeting last week, "proved
receptive" to a possible papal visit.

COMING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

U.S. SAYS JAPAN RUNNING OUT OF TIME ON ECONOMY
Reuters July 30, 1998 Washington

The United States put Japan's new government straight in the
firing line Thursday, warning that Tokyo was running out of time
to solve its pressing economic problems.  Speaking hours after
parliament confirmed Keizo Obuchi as Japan's new prime minister,
the U.S.  Treasury said Tokyo needed to act promptly and
effectively to deal with its debt-ridden banking sector.

"The key now is for Japan to do what it needs to do and to do it
quickly, because there is no time to be lost,'' U.S.  Treasury
Secretary Robert Rubin told a National Public Radio phone-in
program.  "Japan is facing a very serious situation right now,''
he added bluntly.  "They're in recession.  They've had roughly
speaking seven years now of no growth.''

U.S.  officials, dismayed at what they see as Japan's persistent
inability to deal with its economy in an effective manner, have
long been urging the government there to boost domestic demand
and solve the banking sector problems.  Rubin said the issue of
financial sector reform had prompted a good deal of discussion
during Japan's recent election campaign.  "I would say that's the
single most important thing that has to happen," he said.  "It
(reform) has to happen quickly and it has to be done
effectively."

*********************************************************************