From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Israel in the News
Israel
in the News
May
10 to May 23, 1999
JERUSALEM
CLINTON DECIDING WHETHER TO BLOCK EMBASSY SHIFT TO JERUSALEM
May 12, 1999 By Barry Schweid, Associated Press Washington (AP)
President Clinton has notified Congress he will decide after
Israel's May 17 elections whether to block the shift of the U.S.
Embassy to Jerusalem, congressional and administration officials
said Wednesday. Several members of Congress are trying to force
the highly symbolic and explosive embassy move. As a result,
Clinton could be caught in an awkward struggle with Congress even as
he tries to prod Israel into relinquishing more of the West Bank to
the Palestinians once the national elections are over.
Congress already has legislated the relocation of the U.S.
Embassy from Tel Aviv. But it also gave the White House an out
by including a waiver provision. That is what Clinton could
invoke after the national Israeli elections, declaring that
shifting the embassy might damage U.S. national security, said
an administration and a congressional official, speaking on
condition of anonymity.
BARAK VOWS MIDEAST PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH
Reuters May 18, 1999 Jerusalem
Israeli soldier-politician Ehud Barak promised Tuesday to secure
Middle East peace through strength after scoring a stunning
election triumph that was hailed around the world. But rejoicing
among Arab nations at the demise of right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was tempered by warnings that Barak's policies remain
largely unknown.
"This victory belongs to all the people of Israel...From all of
you I hear the cry for change,'' Barak, a 57-year-old former army
chief, told a huge crowd in Tel Aviv as he celebrated his crushing
victory. "We will reach peace not from weakness but from strength and
a feeling of security not peace at the expense of security but peace
that will bring security,'' Barak declared.
Political analysts expect Barak to make peace overtures to Syria, work
to extract Israeli troops from Lebanon and probably recognize a
Palestinian state.
PALESTINIANS AND UNITED NATIONS
ARAFAT SCRAPS OSLO
Wall Street Journal -- Tuesday -- May 11, 1999
It was considered big news when Yasser Arafat and the PLO decided
against unilaterally declaring a Palestinian state on May 4, the date
by which the architects of the Oslo Accords had hoped negotiations on
the "final status" of the Palestinian Authority might be concluded.
But almost nobody seemed to notice that, not long before, Mr. Arafat
unilaterally decided to scrap the Oslo agreement itself.
In Moscow on April 6, Mr. Arafat declared that "The right for a
Palestinian state to exist is based on Resolution 181 and not on
the Oslo agreements." United Nations General Assembly Resolution
181, it should be remembered, was the original partition plan for
Palestine agreed upon in 1947 toward the end of the British mandate,
which would have left independent Jewish and Palestinian Arab states
in the area of present-day Israel and the West Bank.
The Arab states rejected Resolution 181 and attacked the newly
declared state of Israel in 1948. The cease-fire lines agreed
upon at the end of the war left Israel with substantially more
land than the original U.N. partition plan, including the
western part of Jerusalem. Resolution 181, which as a General
Assembly resolution never had binding force, was presumed by
everyone involved to be a dead letter. In 1967, defending itself
against attack from Jordan, Israel captured eastern Jerusalem and the
entire West Bank.
The international community never recognized Israel's right to
the West Bank, but even Israel's worst enemies seemed to have no
greater ambition than to roll Israel back to its pre-1967
borders. But it now appears that Mr. Arafat's territorial
ambitions have expanded. In a classic bait-and-switch, he lured
Israel into negotiations on Palestinian self-rule and then upped
the price. His current demand would not only require the
surrender of all Jerusalem, but much of what has been accepted
for 50 years as Israel. Indeed, Palestinian Authority maps show
a "Palestine" that encompasses all of present-day Israel.
ISRAEL IRREVERSIBLE
By Martin Peretz, New Republic May 31, 1999
The Palestinians try to undo their historical mistakes. A
delirium is flaring through the Arab world, and it is a delirium
about U.N. General Assembly Resolution 181. It is very rare
these days that any action of the General Assembly garners
attention; it is even rarer that something that passed almost 52
years ago could cause a fuss. But, after half a century of
trashing the U.N. Partition Plan for Palestine, which is what
Resolution 181 recommended, the Arabs have suddenly discovered
its virtues. Early last month, for example, Amr Moussa, the
foreign minister of Egypt, called on Israel and the "state of
Palestine" to partition the land once held under the British
Mandate. In this, Egypt echoes the Palestinians themselves. The
speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmed Qurei, has
already proclaimed unproclaimed Palestine's borders. They are
"internationally recognized borders set in [the] partition
resolution."
In a letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan, the Palestinian
Authority's observer at the U.N., Nasser alKidwa, calls for
"implementing the resolutions of the General Assembly of 29
November 1947." This would be hilarious, if it wasn't so
outrageous. At the very moment that the Israelis are tearing
themselves apart over the magnitude of the territorial compromise that
they must make for peace, the Palestinians are demonstrating yet again
the bizarre and delusional nature of their politics.
This long backward look at 1947 is now official Palestinian
policy, enunciated by Yasir Arafat himself, and even by his more
moderate consiglieri. The Palestinians have even managed to edge a
few mischievous European states into taking this old map of the land
between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, against which the
Arabs themselves waged no fewer than three (losing) wars, as the
reference point for the cartography of peace. Of course, one reason
that countries like Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal, congenitally
proArab in any case, now have renewed nostalgia for the Partition Plan
is that it did more than recommend a particular division of Palestine.
It also contrived to make Jerusalem a corpus separatum under
international authority. (On the model of the Free City of Danzig?)
In this respect, the Europeans are serving an ecclesiastical design.
For this notion of Jerusalem's future has always appealed most
forcefully to the Holy See, and, even now, when it has no chance of
getting it, the Vatican is eager for a sovereign stake in Jerusalem
not altogether unlike its stake in Rome. Greece has its own parallel
Orthodox Christian reasons for taking a similar position.
Not having pressing internal reasons of their own to disagree,
the northern Europeans go along with the antique formula. It was none
other than the German foreign minister who, representing the chair of
the European Union, wrote the Foreign Ministry of Israel announcing
Europe's fidelity to the idea of the international- ization of the
city, as if the internationalization of anything has worked in our
time. It was the U.N. Human Rights Commission, headed by former
President of Ireland Mary Robinson, that, in its annual ritual (and
highly selective) condemnation of Israel, referred not to the usual
standards of the Oslo agreement or Resolution 242 of 1967 but to the
quite literally antediluvian artifact of Resolution 181. And, in
South Africa, President Nelson Mandela himself has met with Arafat to
discuss ways in which the U.N. General Assembly, through its nearly
defunct Trusteeship Council, could help the Palestinians put
international law on the side of their claim to statehood.
ISRAEL'S MEMBERSHIP AT THE UNITED NATIONS PENDING ISSUES
From PA's UN Mission via Murrah Kahl
On 11 May 1949, the United Nations adopted resolution 273 (III),
admitting Israel to membership in the world body. This month
Israel celebrates the 50th anniversary of its admittance to the
U.N. Yet, after all this time, Israel has still not fulfilled
the requirements entailed in that resolution granting its
membership. Further, this celebration is being held in total
disregard of the strained and antagonistic relationship Israel
has had with the U.N. Not only has Israel ignored and failed to
comply with countless U.N. resolutions; it has also repeatedly
ridiculed this international organization and the positions
adopted by the overwhelming majority of its members. Such
hostile behavior has culminated with recent statements by Israeli
officials unilaterally and illegally declaring null and void the very
resolution that serves as the basis for Israel's own existence.
Over the past fifty years, Israel has blatantly failed to respect its
commitments and obligations as outlined in resolution 273 (II),
particularly those related to the implementation of resolution 181
(II) of 29 November 1947 and 194 (III) of 11 December 1948. Not only
does Israel continue to prevent the establishment of the Arab State as
recommended by resolution 181 (II), which partitioned Mandated
Palestine; it has also continued to deny the right of Palestine
refugees to return to their homes and properties or be compensated as
called for in resolution 194. Further, Israel has neither respected
nor fulfilled the commitments pledged by the representative of the
Government of Israel in the declarations and explanations before the
Ad Hoc Political Committee at the time of its admittance.
In celebrating this anniversary, Israel ignores its history at
the U.N. since its admittance into the ranks of membership. For five
decades, Israel has violated and undermined resolution upon resolution
of both the Security Council and the General Assembly. There is no
other Member State of the U.N. that has violated as many resolutions
with impunity. Further, for more than thirty years, Israel has been
an occupying Power, illegally occupying Palestinian and Arab
territories. Its policies and practices, including the building of
colonial settlements, confiscation of land and property, home
demolitions, deportations, administrative detention, torture, and
closure, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Jerusalem,
constitute grave violations of U.N. resolutions, the principles of
the U.N. Charter, international law and international humanitarian
law.
Among the numerous Security Council and General Assembly
resolutions adopted with regard to the question of Palestine, the
Security Council alone has adopted 16 resolutions on Jerusalem since
1948, and since 1967 has adopted 25 resolutions reaffirming the
applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, including 5
resolutions on illegal Israeli settlements. However, in defiance of
the will of the international community, Israel has not respected or
acceded to any of the demands made in any of these resolutions. It
has even repeatedly refused to cooperate with fact-finding missions
and representatives of the Secretary-General in connection with
various resolutions.
PA APPEALS TO UNITED NATIONS TO STOP ISRAELI CONSTRUCTION IN
JERUSALEM
IsraelWire - 5/23
Nasser al-Kidwa, the PLO Authority (PA) representative to the
United Nations, has called upon the international body to order
Israel to halt construction in portions of Jerusalem being
claimed by the PA. The PA referred to construction in eastern
Jerusalem, the project known as Ras el-Amud (Givat HaZeitim).
This, despite the fact the building is within the municipal
boundaries of Jerusalem and the fact the building is a private
project.
The area, know by the PA as Jebel Abu Ghneim, consists of lands
purchased by American Jew Dr. Irving Moskowitz, who has over the past
years obtained all the necessary permits to allow him to move ahead
with his planned residential neighborhood, shopping facility and
health clinic, intended to serve the areas Jewish and Arab
populations.
Al-Kidwa urged the council in his letter "to take immediate
action in order to reverse the Israeli decisions." He said the
council's "lack of decisive action" in the past may have
encouraged Israel "to proceed with such illegal measures."
PEACE PROCESS
CLINTON USING ISRAEL SHAKEUP TO PUSH FOR PEACE PROCESS REVIVAL
May 18, 1999 By Terence Hunt, Associated Press Washington (AP)
President Clinton seized on Israel's leadership shakeup Tuesday
to push for reviving the troubled Middle East peace process. In
a first step, he reached out to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
with assurances the administration wants to move swiftly. A day
after the landslide victory by retired general Ehud Barak as
Israel's new prime minister, Clinton put Middle East diplomacy
back on the front burner. He met in the Oval Office with
Jordan's King Abdullah, visiting the White House for the first
time since the death of his father, King Hussein, in February.
Clinton said they discussed "the obligation we have to continue
the peace process in the Middle East,'' starting with
implementation of the land-for-security agreement reached at Wye
River, Md., last October between Israel and the Palestinians.
Clinton said that with Wye River, "I think the road map is out
there. And we'll do what we've always done. I've been working
at this for six years and I'm looking forward to continuing.''
The president said Barak's distinguished military career
demonstrates that his "devotion to the security of Israel is not
in question.'' Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, had
campaigned on a promise to resume peace talks.
A day after calling Barak with congratulations, Clinton contacted
Arafat; they talked briefly, five minutes or so. Clinton wanted to
reassure Arafat of the administration's determination to move forward
with the peace process and with implementation of the Wye River
agreement, a senior administration official told reporters. Still, the
official said, difficult issues remain and Clinton does not want to
create unrealistic expectations.
White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said Clinton "stands
ready to do whatever the U.S. can do to be constructive in
moving this process along, in moving to final status talks.''
Those talks would deal with the toughest issues, such as the
status of Jerusalem, security relations between Israel and the
Palestinians, regional water rights and the future of refugees.
Clinton is interested in inviting Barak to Washington but
officials said that was unlikely until Barak forms his new
government a process that can take up to 45 days. "I think
it's down the road a little bit on when that (visit) will happen
and under what circumstances,'' Lockhart said.
ALBRIGHT URGES ISRAELI PULLBACK
By Barry Schweid AP Diplomatic Writer Washington (AP) Monday May
17
As Israel elected a new prime minister Monday, the Clinton
administration renewed its call for an Israeli pullback on the
West Bank and immediate and rapid talks with the Palestinians on
Jerusalem and statehood. After a long and frustrating stalemate,
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also set as a U.S. goal peace
talks on ``an invigorated track'' between Israel and Syria and
Lebanon. Albright, in a joint news conference with visiting King
Abdullah of Jordan, said, ``We want to see a comprehensive peace
process go forward.''
PONTIFF URGES LEADERS TO REDOUBLE EFFORTS FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE
May 20, 1999 Vatican City (AP)
Pope John Paul II expressed concern Thursday at the slow progress of
Middle East peacemaking and urged all sides to do more. In the Middle
East, "unfortunately, the progress made thus far has been uneven and
has not brought hope and security to the peoples of the region,'' the
pope said in a speech welcoming Yemen's new ambassador to the Holy
See. "Moreover, when populations are kept indefinitely in a state
between war and peace, the risk of tension and violence greatly
increases,'' he said. "The parties involved need to face these
problems with keen awareness of their responsibilities.''
PALESTINIANS CALL ON BARAK TO IMPLEMENT AGREEMENTS, HALT
SETTLEMENTS
May 21, 1999 By Mohammed Daraghmeh, Associated Press Nablus, West Bank
(AP)
The Palestinian leadership urged Israeli Prime Minister-elect
Ehud Barak on Friday to implement Israel's agreements with the
Palestinians and halt the spread of Jewish settlements. The
Palestinians' top negotiator, Saeb Erekat, said the Palestinians
view Barak's victory in Monday's election as a vote in favor of
peace and against the hard-line policies of his predecessor,
Benjamin Netanyahu. But Barak's government "will be judged by
how it implements the agreements on the ground,'' Erekat said.
"When we see the settlement activity stopped, then we will see a
real chance for peace.''
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's self-rule Cabinet called on
Barak to halt the expansion of settlements, confiscation of land
and demolition of Palestinians' homes, Erekat told The Associated
Press after the Cabinet's weekly meeting. Barak must also complete
the implementation of the Oslo and Wye River agreements by withdrawing
from more territory in the West Bank, by allowing the opening of a
Palestinian seaport in Gaza and with the promised "safe passage'' for
Palestinians across Israeli territory between the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, Erekat said.
SYRIA URGES ISRAEL TO RESUME TALKS WITH IT AND LEBANON
May 21, 1999 Damascus, Syria (AP)
Syria told Israel's new prime minister Friday it was ready to
resume peace talks and urged him to negotiate simultaneously with
Lebanon. Official Syrian radio urged Israel's Prime Minister-elect
Ehud Barak to deal with the Syrian and Lebanese peace talks as one
since "the two are unified.'' "A commitment from Barak's government
would, no doubt, give Syrian-Israeli talks a fruitful start and would
help to find a solution,'' the radio said. Syria has nearly 35,000
soldiers in Lebanon and is the major power broker in the country. The
radio added that Syria was ready to restart peace negotiations with
Israel where they left off in early 1996. At that time, the
negotiating team of Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres had reportedly
agreed to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights, a strategic
plateau that Israel captured in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War and
subsequently annexed.
BARAK TO SWAP GOLAN HEIGHTS FOR PEACE
by Uzi Mahnaimi Tel Aviv - London Sunday Times 5/23/99
Israel's prime minister-elect, Ehud Barak, is to offer Syria the
Golan Heights in return for peace in an important step towards
ending 50 years of hostility between the Jewish state and the
Arab world. Under a plan drawn up by his security advisers,
Israel would withdraw almost completely from the mountainous
region in the north, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It has
occupied the Golan Heights since capturing them from Syria during the
Six Day War in 1967. Israel would insist on establishing
demilitarised strips 15 miles wide on either side of the new border.
Barak is also determined that Israel should retain a narrow stretch of
land along the east of the Sea of Galilee, which would ensure Syria
had no rights to its waters.
In return, Barak, Israel's most decorated soldier, wants a
comprehensive peace settlement with Syria, including the
establishment of an Israeli embassy in Damascus, full trade
relations and free movement of tourists. The arrangements would
be monitored by Israeli and Syrian officers. Under the plan,
American and perhaps European troops could hold key points in the
Golan Heights, in order to satisfy Israeli security demands.
The Israelis would also insist that the Syrians, who have a
strong influence on the fundamentalist Hezbollah guerrillas, join them
in the regional fight against terrorism. In return for Israeli
withdrawal from Lebanon, Barak will demand that the military wing of
Hezbollah be dismantled. The Lebanese army would be required to take
responsibility for securing Israel's border against terrorist
activity.
Aides say Barak intends, in an unprecedented move, to put any
final peace agreement with the Syrians to the Israeli people in a
referendum. He would hope to capitalise on their growing
unwillingness to continue sacrificing conscripts to Hezbollah.
MIDDLE EAST
ARAFAT TO VISIT SYRIA
Weekend News Today By Andra Brack Source: Arabic News Mon May 10, 1999
Chairman of the Palestinian National Council Salim al-Za'noun has
stressed that a Syrian- Palestinian summit will be held shortly,
saying that contacts and efforts exerted by Jordan's King Abdullah and
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak have yielded fruit. The results
attained by the Palestinian delegation led by the chairman of the PLO
political department in Damascus are also promising in this regard.
He added that the Palestinian leadership is careful to restore
relations with Syria, "due to its strategic importance and position."
He noted that statements made by the Syrian leadership towards the
Palestinian interests are encouraging.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources told the Syrian officials that
Arafat desires to visit Damascus in light of the mediation held
by King Abdullah of Jordan. A high-ranking Palestinian official
told the paper in Gaza that he can assert that King Abdullah
discussed the issue of Arafat's visit to Damascus with President
Hafez al-Assad and that the "window for discussions was kept open and
that the Egyptian officials are working in the same direction."
DRUMBEATS OF WAR
SADDAM ISSUES THREAT
NewsMax.com Saturday May 15
Earlier this week, Intelligence International LTD, the well
regarded Britain-based intelligence advisory, sent an urgent
"Private Alert" to its world wide subscribers. Inside Cover has
received a copy. "Saddam Warns of Imminent Showdown with the
U.S.," headlines the action gram.
Intelligence International reports that Iraqi diplomatic sources in
Amman, Jordan, have claimed that Hussein recently sent a memorandum to
"senior staff in the party, state, and the army." The memo from
Hussein asserts that "the showdown with the United States is not far
away." Hussein is said to be promising a "crucial confrontation that
will end in Iraq's favour." The memo continues, implying Hussein may
use weapons of mass destruction, "Iraq will confront -- with
determination, vigour, and a devastating response that will be
remembered throughout history -- the latest U.S. attempt to inflict
harm on it."
Intelligence International notes that Hussein has made vain
threats before. This time, however, the intelligence advisory
suggests Hussein should be taken seriously because President
Clinton has entangled America's military in Kosovo. Such an
entanglement may have provided Iraq with an "unmissable
opportunity," the advisory concludes.
EHUD BARAK'S NAME FROM THE THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF OLD
TESTAMENT
Ehud = "I will give thanks: I will be praised" or "undivided,
union" in (1Ch. 8:6) only 1) Benjamite judge of Israel,
deliverer of Israel from Moab 2) another Benjamite, son of Bilhan
(1Ch. 8:6)
Barak = "lightning" or "lightning flash" 1) son of Abinoam of
Kedesh who, incited by Deborah, a prophetess of Ephraim,
delivered the Israelites from the yoke of Jabin by routing the
Canaanites in the plain of Jezreel
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