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


                                News of Interest
                        August 8 to August 15, 1998


JERUSALEM

'ARAFAT: COMMITTEE DECISIONS 'INSUFFICIENT', STATE TO BE DECLARED
May 4 Cairo MENA in Arabic 1 Aug 98 - Kahl's I&G News 8/12/98

Palestinian President Yasir 'Arafat has stressed that there is
need for an emergency Arab summit and an Islamic summit to save
Jerusalem and support the steadfastness of the Palestinian
people.  He said the resolutions of the Jerusalem Committee,
although insufficient, sound the alarm and arouse fears that
Jerusalem may be lost.

He warned against a new outbreak of the intifadah to prevent
aggression on the Arabism of Jerusalem, which is the capital of
the independent Palestinian state and the essence of the peace
process.  Without Jerusalem, he said, there will be no peace in
the Middle East.

In a statement to the Algerian independent newspaper Sawt
al-Ahrar published today, Saturday, 'Arafat stressed that the
Palestinian Authority [PA] took all necessary measures to
efficiently confront the Israeli Jewish scheme.  He stressed that
the decision to declare a Palestinian state on 4 May next year is
final and irrevocable.  The establishment of the state on the
land of Palestine is unquestionable "whether people like it or
not," he said.

'Arafat added "If Netanyahu opposes this, let him drink the Dead
Sea water; there will be no retreat from the decision or
abandonment of the legitimate rights.  The Israelis have no
choice but to give in to global legitimacy and implement the
Madrid and Oslo agreements."


NO PEACE WITHOUT JERUSALEM
Johannesburg (AROL, Aug.  13) - Kahl's I&G News

Middle East peace would not be achieved without the return of
Israeli-occupied Jerusalem to Palestine and its people,
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat told members of the South
African parliament Wednesday afternoon.  "Peace will not be
achieved without Jerusalem; peace will not prevail, and security
and stability will not be achieved without the return of
Jerusalem to its homeland and owners," Arafat said in his speech
delivered in Arabic.  His address was televised live on South
African national television, Xinhua news agency reported.

Arafat said Jerusalem was the capital of Palestine and would not
be the subject of bargaining or concessions.  He denounced the
Netanyahu government for stalling the peace process and urged the
international community to take a tougher approach against the
Israeli government.


ISRAEL

VATICAN CRITICISM OF ISRAEL ON JERUSALEM SIGN OF GROWING TENSION
August 8, 1998 VATICAN CITY (AP)

A decision by Israel to broaden Jerusalem's jurisdiction "is
causing great disquiet,'' the Holy See said this week, a sign of
escalating tensions between Benjamin Netanyahu's government and
the Vatican.

The single-page "Non-Paper on Jerusalem'' was published Thursday
by the Holy See's observer mission to the United Nations, and
expressed its support for a decision last month by the Security
Council to criticize Israel for plans to expand its jurisdiction.

The expansion, announced in June, extends municipal services to
several West Bank settlements and incorporates some Israeli towns
within the Jerusalem municipality   partly to maintain the Jewish
majority.

That move "is causing great disquiet,'' the Holy See statement
said.  "It certainly does not favor a dialogue aimed at a
solution of the problem of the Holy City.''

The mission spokesman, Monsignor George Panikulam, refused on
Friday to say why the statement was distributed to the press now,
but it appeared linked to Vatican anger at Israel for interfering
in its bishop selection process.


PEACE PROCESS

NETANYAHU DECLINES INVITATION FOR OSLO ANNIVERSARY PARTY
IsraelWire-8/10

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu declined an invitation to
attend a party marking five years since the Oslo Accords.  The
Prime Minister's Office did state however that a government
representative would be in attendance.  The invitation was
extended by the government of Norway.  Among the guests planning
to attend are PLO Authority (PA) Chief Yassir Arafat and former
Prime Minister Shimon Peres.  The event is scheduled to take
place on August 23rd and 24th


ARAFAT CALLS FOR ECONOMIC SANCTIONS ON ISRAEL
Reuters August 12, 1998 Pretoria, South Africa

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat urged the United States and
Europe Wednesday to impose real and effective economic sanctions
against the Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu.

"We need the same kind of international pressure that was put on
the apartheid regime in its last years.  No one can deny the role
that international economic sanctions played against the
apartheid regime in forcing that regime...  to reach a permanent
settlement,'' Arafat told the South African Institute of
International Affairs.

"Time is running out,'' Arafat said in the final speech of a
three-day visit to South Africa, which has included meetings with
President Nelson Mandela and his heir apparent Thabo Mbeki.
"What is needed is real and effective pressure on the Israeli
government by the American administration, European Union and
international communities,'' Arafat said.

"We look forward to the day when the international community will
impose real and effective pressure on the Israeli government as
long as this government continues its current policies, insisting
on being stubborn and refusing to comply with signed
international agreements.


MIDDLE EAST

ARAFAT RECEIVES CONFIDENCE VOTE
IsraelWire - 8/9/98

PLO Authority (PA) Chief Yassir Arafat has received the necessary
confidence vote approving his new cabinet.  Despite a
considerable amount of opposition, Arafat's new cabinet was
received with 55 votes in favor, 28 opposed and 8 abstentions.


WHITE HOUSE COUNTING ON U.N.  CHIEF TO END STANDOFF WITH IRAQ
August 14, 1998 Washington (AP)

While the White House is relying on the U.N.  secretary general
to end the latest weapons inspections standoff with Iraq, the
Clinton administration reportedly has tried to discourage
inspectors from carrying out surprise checks.

A U.N. envoy, Prakash Shah, carried a letter Thursday from Kofi
Annan, the U.N. chief, to the Iraq leadership.  Shah would not
disclose the contents, but U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said Annan
would ask Iraq's president, Saddam Hussein, to reverse his
decision not to cooperate with inspectors.

But as recently as last Friday, members of the Clinton
administration tried to discourage U.N.  weapons inspectors from
carrying out surprise inspections in Iraq, fearing further
showdowns with Saddam, The Washington Post reported today.

The Post, citing American and diplomatic sources, said the United
States has tried over the course of months to persuade the
inspection team to back down from mounting surprise raids.


PREPARATION FOR WAR

ISRAEL SAYS IT AGREES TO U.N.  NUCLEAR TALKS
Reuters August 11, 1998 Jerusalem

Israel, the only country holding out against United Nations
efforts to launch talks on halting production of nuclear
bomb-making fissile material, said on Tuesday it would agree to
the negotiations at the urging of U.S.  President Bill Clinton.
But a government statement quoting Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu stopped far short of any commitment to open Israel's
top secret Dimona nuclear reactor, widely believed to be an
atomic bomb factory, to international inspection.  It also said
Israel, which has not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, still had "problems of principle'' with any accord on
ending production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium,
materials used in making nuclear weapons.

Israel has adhered for decades to a policy of nuclear ambiguity,
neither confirming nor denying reports published abroad that it
has up to 300 nuclear bombs.  It says it will not be the first to
introduce atomic weapons to the Middle East.

International inspectors have never visited the Dimona reactor,
which Israel built in its southern Negev desert with French help
in the 1950s.  Any treaty which emerges from the Geneva
negotiations would be expected have a verification regime, thus
creating concerns about intrusiveness and potential spying,
diplomats said.  States would have to pledge to grant access to
international inspectors to enrichment plants for uranium as well
as facilities which reprocess spent plutonium.

CONGRESSMAN SPENCE WARNS OF MILITARY UNREADINESS
By Joey Holleman, The State, Columbia, S.C.  8/13/98

U.S. Rep. Floyd Spence quieted the usually boisterous crowd at
the Greater Irmo Chamber of Commerce luncheon Wednesday with his
standard -- but still stunning to many folks -- warning about the
country's lack of military readiness.

"Everything seems to be going pretty well for all of us," Spence
said in his low-key speaking style.  "But what if all of a sudden
the lights went out? What if the phones wouldn't work? What if
the computers wouldn't work? What if all of your automobiles
wouldn't work?  "Think a minute about what that could do to you
life.  ...  And that could happen" if someone exploded a nuclear
device hundreds of miles above the Midlands.

Spence went through similarly scary scenarios involving a
terrorist releasing anthrax into the air over the area and
somebody in Russia accidentally hitting a button launching a
nuclear missile toward us.  "We don't have a defense against
these things, and the greater problem than that is most people
don't realize it," the Republican from Lexington said.


PERSECUTION AND ANTI-SEMITISM

YAD VASHEM DEMANDS REMOVAL OF AUSCHWITZ CROSSES
IsraelWire - 8/9/98

The Directors of Yad Vashem [the Holocaust Museum] in Jerusalem
today have officially demanded that the Polish authorities
immediately see to the removal of the crosses that have been
erected at Auschwitz by extremist groups.

The letter explains that the Yad Vashem Directorate held a
special discussion about the crosses and have decided to express
their strong objection to the erection of the crosses at
Auschwitz.  "This provocative act is a violation of the agreement
of understanding reached between the international bodies,
according to which, no religious, ideological or political
symbols would be erected on site.  Over a million people were
murdered in Auschwitz and did not receive a proper burial.  It
was agreed that the site would continue to serve as a memorial
and that only a museum for educational purposes would be allowed
to remain there," the letter said.  Additionally, it was noted
that there are many places of worship in the vicinity of
Auschwitz, where every man can pray and express his pain
religiously."

In conclusion, the Directors of Yad Vashem stress that, "the
placing of new crosses, after special efforts have been made to
reduce tensions may aggravate the situation and prevent further
dialogue between all sides about the future of the site."

CATHOLICS PLACE MORE CROSSES AT AUSCHWITZ
August 9, 1998 By Beata Pasek, Associated Press Warsaw, Poland
(AP)

Defying Jewish calls for the removal of dozens of crosses from
outside the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz, Roman Catholic faithful
erected five new ones at the disputed site over the weekend.

Inspired by a Catholic radio station and a former Solidarity
activist and author of anti-Semitic pamphlets, a loose group of
conservative Catholic faithful have vowed to erect 152 crosses at
the site to commemorate each of the Poles executed there by the
Nazis.  For them, the larger cross, which formed the backdrop to
a 1979 papal mass, has become a symbol of the Nazis' Polish
victims.

SWISS BANKS, JEWS REACH HOLOCAUST ASSETS AGREEMENT
Reuters August 12, 1998 New York

Swiss banks and Jewish groups Wednesday reached a historic $1.25
billion compensation agreement for unreturned Holocaust-era
assets, ending a fight that stirred international controversy
over neutral Switzerland's role in World War II.  The agreement,
announced at the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse by New York
Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, covers not only the big two
Swiss banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, but also the Swiss Central
Bank, which bought billions of dollars in looted Nazi gold during
the war, and the Swiss government.  Swiss insurance companies
were not covered in the agreement hammered out in two days of
negotiations in the chambers of federal judge Edward Korman.

THREE EGYPTIAN CHRISTIANS SHOT DEAD
ICEJ from Reuters 8/14/98

Three Coptic Christians were shot dead by suspected Islamists 200
kilometers south of Cairo on Wednesday, Egyptian police and
witnesses reported yesterday.  The three, from the same family,
were killed on their farm.  Two other relatives managed to escape
from the gunmen.  Security officials blamed the killings on
Islamic militants who have waged a violent campaign since 1992 to
overthrow the Egyptian government.  About 1,200 people have been
killed.  REUTERS reports that the province where the shootings
occurred had been "a hotbed for activities by violent Islamist
groups, some of which have targeted tourists, policemen and
members of Egypt's Coptic minority".

MALDIVES TRY TO PREVENT THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY ON THE ISLAND
Weekend News Today Source: DAWN: Fridayfax Thu Aug 13, 1998

"The Martyrs' Voice" and other Christian organizations reported
about the Maldives' governments frenetic attempts to prevent the
spread of Christianity on the islands, through which the
government also admitted that Christianity has gained a foothold
in the republic.  Since 21 July 1998, they have expelled up to 25
foreign Christians from the islands, often without questioning
and following confiscation of personal belongings.  They have
also arrested around 50 Maldivians suspected of being Christians.
Missions researcher Patrick Johnstone ('Operation World')
considers the Maldives to be one of the least evangelized nations
in the world, with no official indigenous Christians.  The
Maldive Islands have a population of some 260,000, and have been
an officially 100% Sunnite Moslem nation for over 800 years.  In
the government's opinion, it should stay that way: the nation's
president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is addressing the matter
personally.


COMING ECONOMIC COLLAPSE

POSSIBLE RUBLE DEVALUATION SPOOKS RUSSIA
August 15, 1998 By Maura Reynolds, Associated Press Moscow (AP)

A new specter is haunting Russia, spooking financial markets and
making political leaders tremble: devaluation of the ruble.
President Boris Yeltsin's government is fighting to defend the
currency, spending down precious bank reserves.   The West,
fearful that a Russian financial collapse could rattle markets
still shaky a year after the Asian crisis, has tried to shore up
Russia's reserves with a $22.6 billion bailout.

A devaluation would certainly hurt anyone holding ruble-
denominated assets.   Most foreign investors have sold off such
securities in recent weeks, but some German banks are said to
still be heavily invested.  Few ordinary Russians hold stocks or
bonds, and most of the world of high finance takes place on a
level far removed from day-to-day reality.   So far, few Russians
have seen any fallout from the summer's financial crisis.  That
could change if the ruble falls, and it could have serious
political consequences.


MARK OF THE BEAST

WASHINGTON D.C.  TO INSTALL SMART CARD PARKING METERS
Weekend News Today Source: Washington Times Sun Aug 9, 1998

Washington D.C. plans to install 15,500 electronic meters by
mid-October.   The meters already are equipped to take parking
account cards, or "smart cards," instead of coins.   The smart
cards work similarly to ATM and debit cards.   Customers put
money on their cards and insert them at meters instead of using
change.   Smart card meters have several features that officials
say will soon dominate the meter world:

-- Meter cards soon may work as debit cards in convenience
stores, movie theaters and restaurants.   A pilot program later
this year in Boston will implement more than 200 of these
multipurpose meters near Boston University.   The pre paid card
will work at the campus convenience store.

-- The University of Maryland at College Park has a debit meter
card system that allows customers to get unused money back.

Many meters of the future will have a photo sensor light that
will enable ticketers to spot expired flags from across a parking
lot.   Many enforcers now have a device that reads how long the
meter has been expired.

FLORIDA: SMART CARD LAUNCHES IN CELEBRATION
Weekend News Today Source: Bob & Lynn Wunderlich Aug 10, 1998

SunTrust Bank and Visa launched a smart card Monday that will be
accepted by almost all the merchants in Celebration, Fla., the
town built by Walt Disney.  Celebration, located adjacent to Walt
Disney World outside of Orlando, is a planned community whose
homes, offices, and other facilities are linked by the Internet.
The embedded chip card is for purchases of $10 or less.

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