From: Eddie Chumney
To    : heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Israel in the News: September 21 - October 24, 1999

                           Israel in the News
                 September 21 to October 24, 1999

TEMPLE MOUNT

EXTREMISTS LAUNCH SEARCH FOR COHENS FOR JERUSALEM'S TEMPLE
September 28, 1999 By Jay Cohen, Associated Press Jerusalem (AP)

An extremist group that hopes to rebuild the Jewish temple in
Jerusalem has launched a search for descendants of the priests
and caretakers of the ancient temples.  Organizers of the Second
Annual Conference of the Lovers of the Temple said Monday they
would use phonebooks and public records to track down Cohens and
Levis, who could be called up for service if a third temple is
built.  Those attending the conference hope to hasten the
Messianic age by building a new temple on the site of the Second
Temple, which was destroyed in 70 A.D.  by Romans quelling a
Jewish revolt.

"Tonight we started a project in which we will be listing all
Cohens and Levis in the Jewish movement,'' said Yehuda Etzyon,
head of the Hai VeKayam   "Alive and Well''    organization.  A
model of a rebuilt temple was displayed at the conference, and
speakers called for the expulsion of Muslims from the site.
About 200 people attended the conference, at Jerusalem's
International Convention Center.  "One of the ideas of interest
is to build a guard of Cohens and Levis, like the guards of the
King and Queen in England, so people know this is the holiest
place in Israel and not the place the Muslims stole,'' Etzyon
said.

RIGHT-WING ACTIVISTS LOOKING TO PURCHASE LAND ON TEMPLE MOUNT
By Nadav Shragai, Ha'aretz October 1, 1999

Jewish right-wingers are stepping up their campaign to snap up
land at the heart of the Temple Mount.  The 3-dunam plot is
registered as a family Waqf (Moslem trust) under the name of the
Abu Saoud family, and is not, officially at least, a part of the
general Waqf, currently controlled by the Palestinian Authority
and previously controlled by Jordan. At the center of the
initiative is Esther Abutbul, formerly head of the Jerusalem
office of the right-wing political party Tehiya, and a long-time
member of the Temple Mount Faithful.  Abutbul is working with
Jewish and Arab realtors.  One of the realtors is currently
looking in Jordan for the heirs of Mrs.  Abu Saoud, who passed
away several years ago.

BARAK OPENS NEW DIG NEAR JERUSALEM'S TEMPLE MOUNT
Reuters October 3, 1999 Jerusalem

Prime Minister Ehud Barak, voicing Israel's claim to all of
Jerusalem, officially opened new archaeological excavations
Sunday near the Temple Mount, a flashpoint of Arab-Israeli
enmity.  The step was seen as the latest signal by Barak that he
would brook no compromise on the core issue of sovereignty over
the holy city in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

''We ...  are dutybound to turn these places surrounding us
sacred to Islam, Christianity, and Judaism   into a bridge and a
symbol of freedom of access and worship, coexistence in
peace...under the sovereignty of Israel,'' Barak said.  As he
spoke, police snipers to his side trained rifles with telescopic
sights east toward the cemetery of the Mount of Olives in Arab
East Jerusalem and south at the Palestinian Silwan neighborhood.
The excavations, Barak said, underscored Israelis' ties to their
past "as a people manifesting its freedom in its own nation, in
its eternal capital.''

The archaeological site includes a staircase used by pilgrims to
the ancient Jewish Temple and the ruins of a portico built by
King Herod.  Israel's Antiquities Authority said Herod's royal
portico was "the largest roofed structure of its time in Israel
and one of the largest in the ancient world.'' The Roman Tenth
Legion razed the portico to its foundations during the
destruction of the Temple in the year 70 AD, it said.

ETZION PREFERS JAIL OVER FINE FOR PRAYING ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT
IsraelWire-10/18

Temple Mount activist Yehuda Etzion has opted to serve ten days
in jail in place of paying a NIS 500 fine for praying on the
Temple Mount of Jerusalem's Old City.  Etzion told ISRAELWIRE
that it was unconscionable that as we approach the new millen-
nium, the State of Israel practices religious discrimination
against Jews wishing to pray on the holiest site to Judaism, the
Temple Mount, the location of the First and Second Temples.

ROMAN CATHOLICS CALL FOR EASIER ACCESS TO CHRISTIAN HOLY SITES
IsraelWire-10/14

The leadership of Israel's Roman Catholic community has called
upon the government of Israel and leaders of the security
establishment to ease restrictions governing access to Christian
holy sites around the country.  The call for leniency comes
shortly before the millennium during which time millions of
Christian pilgrims are expected to visit Israel, with most
visiting the primary Christian sites located in eastern
Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth.

"We ask for total and free access to all the Holy Places for both
local and universal visitors and pilgrims," the Catholic Latin
Patriarch said in a statement released on Monday.  Michel Sabbah,
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, met Tourism Minister Amnon Lipkin-
Shahak on Monday to discuss the issue, as well as a bitter
Christian-Moslem dispute in Nazareth that could put plans for a papal
visit in March in jeopardy.

Religious leaders told Shahak, a former IDF chief of staff, that
constant road checks, security checkpoints and the like, hindered the
free flow of persons wishing to visit holy sites.  They added that it
was not uncommon for additional restrictions to be placed on
visitations during Jewish holidays, adding additional hardships.

JERUSALEM

MOROCCO: JERUSALEM IS ONE OF OUR PRIORITIES
Weekend News Today By Andra Brack Source: Arabic News Sep 20,1999

Morocco said the cause of Jerusalem is one of its priorities and
that it went in the time of late King Hassan II through political
and diplomatic battles for Jerusalem, adding that Morocco is
ready to resume these efforts in the era of King Mohamed VI.  An
anonymous official source said that his country considers
Jerusalem as an occupied Islamic land and a capital for the
coming Palestinian state and that Morocco, which heads
Jerusalem's Islamic committee under the chairmanship of King
Mohammed VI who urged the convening of an urgent meeting, made
endeavors to prevent the step of establishing an Israeli division
in a fair organized by the US Walt Disney Company at the end of
this month in the USA, in which Israel alleges that Jerusalem is
its perpetual capital.

SOLUTION TO JERUSALEM QUESTION PARAMOUNT
Reuters October 15, 1999 TOKYO

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said Friday that resolving
the question of Jerusalem is the most important factor for
achieving peace in the Middle East.  "As far as we're concerned,
Jerusalem is the solution.  The holy city of Jerusalem belongs to us
and is the key to peace,'' he told a news conference in Tokyo, where
he attended a Palestine aid donor meeting.  "There can't be any peace
without the solution of the Jerusalem question.''

ISRAEL EXPELS 'DOOMSDAY' CHRISTIANS
JERUSALEM, Oct.  10 (UPI)

Israel police said Sunday the country expelled 26 members of the
Concerned Christians organization.  The group's members, most of
whom are Irish, arrived at Haifa port by sea and police said they had
to force some of them back on board their ship.  Israel fears members,
of what it calls a "doomsday group," are planning to commit suicide at
the turn of the millennium.

ISRAEL

CHRISTIAN EMBASSY SHOCKED BY BARAK SNUB
Weekend News Today By Andra Brack Source: Ha'aretz Sep 27,1999

Sources at the Christian Embassy in Jerusalem fear that a refusal
by Barak to speak at their annual gathering "will be interpreted
as a negative message to the millions of Christians throughout
the world that they shouldn't come to Israel in the year 2000."
Members of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem have
expressed great disappointment over Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
failure to answer the organization's invitation to give the
opening speech at their annual gathering at Binyanei Hauma in
Jerusalem on Saturday night.  "This will be the first time in 20
years that the prime minister isn't appearing before us" said
event organizers.

DISNEY UNVEILS ISRAEL EXHIBIT, MUSLIMS PROTEST
Weekend News Today By Andra Brack Source: TampaBay Online (AP)
Oct 2, 1999

Dozens of Muslims protested outside the entrance to Walt Disney
World as a controversial exhibit on Israel opened to the public.
The exhibit, part of Epcot Center's Millenium Village, has
sparked angry denouncements from Jews and Muslims unhappy over
the depiction of Jerusalem.  Protesters on Friday carried banners
reading "Israeli Exhibit of Falsehood" and "Disney and Israel -
Partnership for Propaganda," and passed out a leaflet that read:
"Why my children will not be at Disney today." Muslim groups say
the exhibit wrongly depicts Jerusalem as a unified city.  A
delegation of Arab Americans toured the exhibit Friday and later
called for the addition of a Palestinian display to the exhibit
of 24 countries.

The Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith complained that the
exhibit doesn't celebrate Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
"We were disappointed to see that, according to Disney, Jerusalem
is the capital of the Millennium, rather than the capital of the
state of Israel," said Abraham Foxman, the ADL's national
director.  Bill Warren, Disney spokesman, responded: "I'm not
going to prejudge a decision we haven't had a chance to evaluate.
Any day we're open to hearing from potential sponsors or
exhibitors." Two Arab countries - Morocco and Saudi Arabia - are
among the countries already represented in the Millennium
Village.  All the exhibits are partially paid for by the
countries themselves.  Walt Disney World President Al Weiss said
the theme park resort did everything it could to avoid politics,
but in Israel, politics and culture often can be hard to
separate.

MUSLIM LEADER TELLS VATICAN TO STAY OUT OF NAZARETH DISPUTE
October 2, 1999 By Samar Assad, Associated Press Jerusalem (AP)

A Muslim leader demanded Saturday that the Vatican stay out of a
dispute between Muslims and Christians in the city of Jesus'
boyhood.  The Vatican opposes the construction of a mosque near
the Church of The Annunciation, and unconfirmed Israeli media
reports said Pope John Paul II would not visit Nazareth during
millennium celebrations if the mosque is built.  Roman Catholic
officials in Jerusalem said the pope has not yet decided whether
he will visit Nazareth.  Dates for a papal trip have not yet been
set, but it is expected to take place in March.  Salman Abu
Ahmed, the head of the Islamic Movement in Nazareth, said the
dispute over the construction of the mosque is an internal issue,
"one in which the Vatican should not interfere.'' Israeli media
reported that the Vatican representative in Jerusalem would meet
with Israel's minister of public security, Shlomo Ben-Ami, on
Sunday to discuss the Nazareth dispute.  Ben-Ami has been
mediating between Christians and Muslims.

POPE VISIT MAY HINGE ON NAZARETH MOSQUE
By Joseph Algazy, Ha'aretz 10/3/99

Pope John Paul II may cancel his planned visit to the Holy Land
next Easter if plans to build a mosque next to the Basilica of
the Annunciation in Nazareth are implemented, a source in the
Vatican's Jerusalem delegation said yesterday.  The source said
that the Vatican objects to the idea currently being discussed by
a cabinet committee, which, according to media reports, would
have the mosque occupy an area of about 700 square meters,
covering about a third of the available area next to the grave of
a revered Muslim figure, Shihab a Din.

SAFE PASSAGES FOR PALESTINIANS - SECURITY FOR ISRAEL- BACKGROUND
By: Aaron Lerner 3 October 1999

Of all the Orwellian terms introduced since Oslo, "safe passage"
certainly earns a special place.   Under "safe passages",
Palestinians, including those barred from entering Israel, are
able to pass between Gaza and the West Bank on designated routes
inside Israel.  It should be noted that the routes used are
regular roads and highways which serve the Israeli public and
pass by Israeli cities and villages.

Many see implementation of "safe passages" as one of the most
potentially dangerous elements of the Interim Agreement.  They
consider safe passages to be a device to hemorrhage Israel's
security by allowing Gazans barred entry into Israel to try their
luck sneaking in via the unfenced and unguarded Green Line of the
West Bank.   Another principle concern is the possibility that
terrorists attack Israelis while traveling on the "safe
passages." An additional problem is that the interim agreement
stipulates that at least one "safe passage" remains open under
all circumstances.

ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS FAIL TO CLINCH PASSAGE DEAL
Reuters October 3, 1999 Jerusalem

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have failed in another round
of talks to end a security dispute delaying the opening of the
first Palestinian "safe passage'' across Israel.   After four
hours of negotiations late Sunday, spokesmen for both sides said
the teams would meet again Monday.   "There were some suggestions
made during the meeting and I think we will finish in tomorrow's
session,'' Jamil Tarifi, a Palestinian cabinet minister on the
negotiating team, told Reuters.

TOWER OF BABEL? - 1,000 Step Structure being erected in Israel
RIBAWorld  Issue 95-23 September 1999.  ISRAEL

Italian architect, Massimiliano Fuksas, is finalising work on an
amazing double commission.  He has designed a Peace Centre in
Jerusalem, which is backed by Israel's ex President Simon Peres,
and a monument in Bethlehem sponsored by Palestine President
Yassir Arafat.  Peres and Arafat are working directly with
Fuksas.  He was the only architect approached for the commission.
Speaking to RIBAWorld Fuksas says: "Arafat called me in my Paris
office, we had lunch and I agreed to his proposal.  I like the two
peoples.  I can't understand how they have not managed to find a
peaceful solution to their problems for so long. Negotiations on a
final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began last week.

The Bethlehem structure, a "STAIRCASE TO HEAVEN" of steel,
limestone and granite, has 1,000 steps dedicated to 1,000 cities
world-wide and their diverse cultures.  The Jerusalem Centre's
facade is composed of alternating bands of translucent glass and
concrete, intended to represent the laborious, sedimentary
process of negotiations for peace between Israeli and Palestinian
communities.

KINNERET DROPS BELOW RED LINE
By David Rudge -- Tiberias Jerusalem Post (October 10)

The water level in Lake Kinneret dipped below the red line for
the first time in recorded history yesterday even as the first
rains of what is hoped will be an exceptionally wet winter began
to fall in the North.  The unseasonably hot weather that preceded the
rains had contributed to the drop in water in the lake to half a
centimeter below the minimum mark of 213 meters below sea level. Water
experts were hopeful, however, that the cooler weather over the
weekend and the showers, which were heavy in some places in the North,
would help stabilize the situation by minimizing evaporation and
thereby preventing the level from falling any further.

NAZARETH SEETHES OVER MOSQUE: Protests over court ruling heard at
Friday prayers By Sharon Gal, Ha'aretz Correspondent 10/10/99

Some 3,000 Muslim worshipers turned up for prayers Friday at a
makeshift Nazareth mosque, in an atmosphere that is fraught with
tension over the ongoing dispute regarding the Muslim community's
desire to build a mosque across from the Basilica of the Annunciation,
the central Christian site in the city.  During their sermons, the
Imams leading the prayers dwelled on last week's court decision ruling
that the site of the prospective mosque, on which a protest tent has
stood since the end of 1997, was not actually a waqf (religious trust)
area.

Also mentioned were recent threats by the larger churches to
close Christian holy sites over Christmas, in protest of the
government's decision to allow construction of a mosque for 700
people on the site.  "We were always victorious in wars against
the Crusaders.  What do you want, another Crusade?" asked one of
the Imams in his sermon.  "The Christians and Jews were always
against us," he continued.  "They want to destroy our places of
prayer.  But this is our land, and here we shall build a mosque."

VATICAN UNHAPPY WITH COMPROMISE ON MOSQUE, RAISES ISSUE OF VISIT
October 14, 1999 By Victor L. Simpson, Associated Press VATICAN
CITY (AP)

Angered by an Israeli decision to allow a mosque near a Christian
shrine in Nazareth, Jesus' boyhood home, the Vatican warned Thursday
that the plan could threaten a long-awaited papal visit to the Holy
Land.  In its first public comment on a dispute that has been raging
for months, the Vatican took the unusual step of hinting that a papal
pilgrimage may be at stake.  While no date for the trip has been
announced, Israeli officials say they expect John Paul to visit in
March to celebrate the start of Christianity's third millennium.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement that
the Israeli decision "worried'' both the Vatican and the Roman
Catholic Church in Israel.  "It is not superfluous to observe
that such a situation doesn't help in preparing for a possible
pilgrimage by the holy father to that great sanctuary,'' the
statement said.  Referring to tensions over the mosque issue, the
statement said the pope hoped Nazareth would be a symbol of peaceful
coexistence between Christians and Muslims.  "It is hoped that Israeli
government authorities, considering the value that the city of
Nazareth holds for all of Christianity, will know how to ensure the
respect of the Christian sanctuary and its free and peaceful access to
pilgrims,'' the Vatican said.

ISRAEL'S TOURISM MINISTRY TEACHING JEWS ABOUT CHRISTIANITY.
Religion Today 10/21/99

The government agency is educating customs officials, taxi
drivers, airport workers, and police officers in the basics of
Christianity to prepare them for the expected flood of Christian
pilgrims to the Holy Land in 2000, The Associated Press reports.
The program involves a daylong seminar on the life of Jesus, the
Apostle Paul's teachings, and brief explanations of the major
branches and denominations of Christianity.  Tourism officials
said they hope the classes will help workers understand and be
more sensitive to the needs of Christian pilgrims.  Police
commanders will attend a special course on identifying cults or
extremist groups that expect to see apocalyptic prophecies come
to pass as the new millennium nears.  Members of at least two
such groups have been deported in the past year.

CROSS BURNING IN HAIFA: Christian youths set fire to exhibit
By David Ratner, Ha'aretz Correspondent 10/24/99

Arab Christian youths in Haifa burned a wooden crucifix on Friday in
protest against an art exhibition.  Members of the "Sons of the
Church" movement removed the large cross from the Haifa Museum of Art,
dragged it onto Allenby street in downtown Haifa, doused it with a
flammable liquid and set it on fire.

The crucifix was meant to be part of a showing by Honi Hama'agel, in
which a 23-year-old naked woman would be tied onto the cross with
three uniformed men shooting paint bullets at her.  Reform rabbis were
to stand at the side reading passages from the Bible, while people in
the background held a torch-light procession. The exhibit was set to
open the International Installation Triennale, being held at the
museum for the first time, with works by 30 artists from Israel and
abroad.

Youths from the "Sons of the Church" movement were angered by the
exhibit and decided to ensure its cancellation.  One group descended
on Haifa City Hall demanding its removal.  A second group went
straight to the museum, from which they removed the cross without any
objection by the police stationed there.  "This is an insult to
Christians," said Hani Abaiya of the group.  "The whole exhibit is an
insult to Christians the world over.  We did Haifa a favor by burning
this cross because if the event had taken place, hundreds of
Christians from the city and the villages would have organized a riot
similar to 'The Last Temptation of Christ'."

PEACE PROCESS

ARAFAT WANTS END TO SETTLEMENTS, STATEHOOD IN 2000
By Anthony Goodman United Nations (Reuters) September 23, 1999

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat called Thursday for an
immediate halt to Israeli settlement activities and said there
could be no peace in the Middle East without a solution of the
Palestine refugee problem.  In a speech to the U.N.  General
Assembly, he also said he looked forward to the participation of
Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital, ``as a member state in
the United Nations in the deliberations'' of a Millennial U.N.
Summit next year.  The fate of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip and Palestinian refugees, as well as
borders and water resources, are among thorny final-status issues
to be resolved with Israel by next September, according to the
latest agreed timetable.  A framework agreement is to be
concluded by next February.

AJC ISSUES REPORT ON UNFAIR TREATMENT OF ISRAEL AT UN:
Tzemach News Service 10/3/99

Israel over the past 12 months remained the object of "obsessive"
and "relentless" criticism in the United Nations, undercutting
the Arab-Israeli peace process and undermining UN credibility,
according to the American Jewish Committee's annual report on
discrimination against Israel at the UN.  The report, ONE-SIDED:
THE CONTINUING CAMPAIGN AGAINST ISRAEL AT THE UNITED NATIONS,
provides a detailed review of the more than 20 resolutions
adopted by the General Assembly this past year regarding Israel,
as well as tables of how each member country voted on each
resolution.  The General Assembly continues to serve as a forum
for one-sided criticism of Israel in its approach to issues in
the Arab-Israeli conflict," said AJC President Bruce M.  Ramer.
"The relentless focus on Israel remains unparalleled in its size,
scope, persistence and intensity." Ramer, who testified in July
before Congress on the treatment of Israel at the UN, added:
"There is barely a body in the UN system that has not been
co-opted or terrorized into adopting a resolution, special
procedure, agenda item or mechanism that singles out Israel and
Israel alone."

THE STIRRINGS OF STRUGGLE IN DAMASCUS
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update September 29, 1999
Summary:

The apparent failure of Syrian President Hafez Assad's health may
be spawning a power struggle between Assad's son and brother.
The president's brother and disgraced former vice president,
Rifat Assad, is perceived as trying to gain power while Assad's
son, Bashar, is being groomed to take over.  It appears that
Syria is headed for a power struggle over the presidency, which
would not only change internal Syrian politics, but also
drastically affect the Syrian-Israeli peace process.

BARAK, ARAFAT, CLINTON TO ATTEND MIDEAST CEREMONY IN NORWAY
Reuters October 20, 1999 WASHINGTON

President Clinton will visit Norway in November to attend a
ceremony commemorating the Middle East peace accords secretly
negotiated there in 1993, the White House said Wednesday.  The
November 1-2 Oslo ceremonies were also expected to mark the 1995
assassination of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  In
early October, the Norwegian foreign ministry said Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat had confirmed that he would attend and a
ministry spokesman said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak had sent
"strong signals'' he also wanted to come.

MIDDLE EAST

SYRIA REJECTS US BID FOR 'PEACE EQUATION'
By David Makovsky and Danna Harman Jerusalem (October 8)

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara turned down a direct appeal
by US President Bill Clinton last week that Syria accept a
"hypothetical" equation whereby in return for a full Golan
withdrawal it satisfactorily address five key issues raised by
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, The Jerusalem Post has learned from
two sources close to the negotiations.  According to the sources, the
five points presented to Assad were: security arrangements,
normalization of relations, water arrangements, terms for Israeli
withdrawal from Lebanon, and a timetable for implementation of all
issues.

ISRAELI BRASS GIVES ASSAD BAD BILL OF HEALTH
ICEJ News 10/15/99

Syrian President Hafez el-Assad is in a rapidly weakening state
of health, according to a report delivered to the Israeli cabinet by
Major General Amos Malka, chief of IDF intelligence.  Malka did not
specify a medical diagnosis of Assad's particular illness, but did
verify that the long-entrenched dictator still has effective rule over
the country.

According to Malka's appraisement, some believe Assad has been
reluctant to resume negotiations with Israel because of his
deteriorating condition.  This line of thinking holds that Assad
may fear Syria would find itself at a disadvantage in those talks if a
sudden transition of power is needed in Damascus.  He thus is
insisting on preconditions that are considered "non-starters" even by
US officials.  Malka also mentioned the current health problems of
another key Syrian figure, Foreign Minister Farouk a-Shara, who is
recovering in a Beirut hospital from open heart surgery conducted last
week.

CLOCK TICKS LOUDER FOR ISRAELI-SYRIAN PEACE TALKS
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update October 19, 1999 Summary:

There are growing signs that if there is to be a peace deal
between Syria and Israel, it will have to happen sooner rather
than later.  The factors leading to this imperative are a
succession crisis in Syria - which may produce more intransigent
parties in power - and Israeli security and domestic political
concerns.  These factors, which have been forcing the two
countries apart, may also act to bring them together.

IRAN RISKING SYRIAN RELATIONS TO RETAIN INFLUENCE?
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update October 8, 1999 Summary:

Iran has begun to airlift arms for the Lebanese guerrilla
movement Hezbollah directly to Beirut's airport rather than via
Damascus.  This change in strategy suggests a divergence in
Iranian and Syrian agendas for Hezbollah, which would threaten
the traditionally solid relationship between Iran and Syria.  Why Iran
would run such a risk is unclear.  The only explanation we see is an
attempt by Iran to maintain influence in the Levant.

PA ARMED STRUGGLE AND THE CURRENT PEACE PROCESS

Following are excerpts from an interview with Head of the PA's
Political Bureaut, Faruq Al-Qaddoumi (Al-Quds, Oct. 20, 1999):

The Future of the Armed Struggle

"We are still in the stage of political settlement, or in other
words, political activity, but I don't think the PLO has given up its
rifle, even though it currently proceeds with the settlement process.
We will fight as long as our lands are occupied and we will use the
rifle because we want to liberate our land in reality.  If the Israeli
side withdraws from the land within the framework of an accord, then
there will be no need for the rifle?"

"[My message to the Palestinian people] is that it should
continue the struggle on a daily basis.  It must continue to struggle
against normalization, settlement, and the demolition of houses.  We
must be firm in words and deeds, not necessarily through the armed
struggle, for this is the stage of political negotiations..."

The Independent Palestinian State

 "...[The Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital]
requires a long struggle, because Israel may accept the idea of a
state with no sovereignty and force many limitations on it, but the
state must have complete sovereignty on its land, border-terminals,
air, and shores. It must be a full member of the UN and Israel must
not have the right to interfere in its matters, because it will be a
state of full sovereignty. If Israel wants to impose its terms on the
state, then the state would not be independent, and this is totally
unacceptable to us..."

Israeli Society and the Peace Process

"The truth of the matter is that we were happy for Netanyahu's
fall... but our position right from the start was that the Likud and
Labor parties are two sides of the same coin.  They only differ on
tactics, but it was the Labor party that started to build
settlements."

"Barak represents the Zionist movement and Israeli society in its
entirety.  Israeli public opinion has not been changed and has not
opted for peace... The elections to the Knesset and the policies of
both Likud and Labor clearly indicate the continuation of the
aggressive settlement policy against the Arabs.  This has been their
policy for hundreds of years. Following the [UN General Assembly]
Partition [Resolution of 1947] they took 27% of the Palestinian lands,
and now they want to divide the West Bank.  It is not that one Israeli
leader or another is an extremist; Israeli society itself is
intransigent.  [Therefore] there is a certain need for pressures that
would affect the Israeli public."

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