From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Israel in the News: November 7 - 24, 1999
Israel
in the News
November
7 to November 24, 1999
TEMPLE MOUNT
JERUSALEM
POPE HOLY LAND VISIT CONFIRMED FOR MARCH 2000
Reuters November 17, 1999 VATICAN CITY
The Vatican announced officially Wednesday that Pope John Paul
would visit the Holy Land in March next year. "The apostolic
trip to the Holy Land...is expected to take place in the last 10
days of March. The precise dates have not been set,'' Archbishop
Cresenzio Sepe told a news conference. Sepe was speaking at a
Vatican news conference on the calendar for the Pope and the
Vatican during 2000 celebrations to mark the third millennium of
Christianity.
ISRAEL WILL NOT INCREASE SECURITY FOR MILLENNIUM
IsraelWire-11/17
According to Tourism Minsiter Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, who spoke to
reporters in London, Israel will not be providing any special
security measures during the millennium despite fears of doomsday
cults igniting violence in Israel. Millions of pilgrims are
expected to make their way to Christian holy sites during the
year to mark Christianity's third millennium. Israel has already
deported about 60 Christians suspected of plotting violent acts
at the turn of the century. "Cultists believe the Messiah is
going to arrive they say they know exactly where," Lipkin-
Shahak, told Reuters in an interview. "It's not all over the
world. They are coming to one single place - Jerusalem." Israel
Police have set up a task force to deal with messianic sects amid
fears of mass suicides and damage to religious sites in
Jerusalem. But Lipkin-Shahak - formerly chief of staff of the
IDF - saw no real threat from the extremists and said no extra
safety measures were planned.
"FOR JEWS, IT'S TIME TO COME HOME"
IsraelWire-11/21
A new Israeli based organization, known as Operation Homeward, is
calling on Jews throughout the world to make haste and "come home
to the Land of Israel before it is too late." "Homeward" claims
that Jews in the Diaspora might soon find themselves in grave
physical danger.
Their 48-page magazine, which is being widely distributed to both
Jews and Gentiles, contains a number of warnings from biblical
and talmudic sources together with contemporary news items that
seem to corroborate their predictions.
"The Jewish homeland" says their magazine's front page, will be
the place "where the Jewish People ultimately find refuge and
salvation and gain Divine protection." "We are not proclaiming
'the end of the world,' nor are we predicting the arrival of the
Messiah," said Operation Homeward's 42-year-old director, Avraham
Sheinman.
"What we are saying is that classic Jewish sources indicate that
during the Jewish Year of 5760 (which began on Rosh Hashanah -
Sept. 11, 1999), natural disasters, man-made catastrophes and
international conflicts could occur throughout the world in an
unprecedented manner. If the stability of society is undermined,
the innate hostility that many Gentiles hold towards the Jews
will burst forth, and the Jew, in his non-Jewish Diaspora
'homeland' will become an endangered species."
ISRAEL
HARD CORE OF SETTLERS FORCING CONFRONTATION WITH BARAK
November 9, 1999 By Jack Katzenell, Associated Press HAVAT MAON,
West Bank (AP)
Armed with sleeping bags, cement and tires for burning, young
Jewish settlers have fortified this isolated hilltop in the
southern West Bank, targeted for evacuation this week by Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Barak. They have come from all over,
determined to force Barak into a confrontation over Israeli
settlements in Palestinian-controlled lands.
Barak said today his patience was running out, and suggested he
would not shy away from a showdown. "I've been elected on a
clear mandate. There will be no new settlements,'' Barak told a
news conference in Paris, where he is attending a conference f
Socialist and Social Democratic leaders. "This is the time to
make decisions, not to make private initiatives on barren
hilltops.''
SPRINGS DRYING UP, WATER LEVELS DROPPING
By Zafrir Rinat, Ha'aretz 11/10/99
The flow of water in the Banias spring has reached the lowest
level ever measured, 4 cubic meters per second, according to the
hydrology service's most recent monthly report. The spring is a
source of the Jordan River. The dehydration is the result of the
recent drought, which has affected a number of other areas. In
the Golan Heights, the Shamir, Mousreifa and Fit springs have
dried up, and in the Gonen spring, on the Golan Heights slopes,
the flow of water has been reduced by a third. In the Beit
She'an Valley, the Revaya spring has dried up as a result of
constant water pumping in the area.
The sharp drop in water level in the Yarkon-Taninim aquifer,
Israel's principal reservoir of ground water, continues as a
result of the drought and the continued pumping in recent months.
In the Petah Tikvah area, the water level dropped to 80
centimeters below the planned minimum, and it is feared that this
could expose the aquifer to salinization.
The water level of the Kinneret is at the lowest level ever since
measurement began, although the rate of the drop has been slowed
down because of the reduction in pumping. Water level in the
Kinneret is currently dropping at the rate of two centimeters
each day. The drop in the level of the Dead Sea is continuing at
the rate of about a meter each year. To slow down the rate of
the drop in the level of the Kinneret, the Water Commission has
stopped the flow of water from a number of salty springs near the
lake to a special reservoir, diverting the water directly into
the Kinneret.
AGRICULTURE HIT AS WATER CRISIS WORSENS
By David Rudge Haifa (November 19) Haaretz
The water crisis is worsening, with more farming communities
which exceeded their quotas having supplies cut and the level of
Lake Kinneret in danger of dropping below even the new "red
line." The weather bureau could offer little comfort to the
farmers, with the unseasonably hot and dry conditions forecast to
continue through Tuesday. The level of the Kinneret has now
dropped 19 centimeters below the red line of 213 meters below sea
level - a record low. Water experts believe it is likely to fall
further in the coming weeks and possibly breach the new red line,
30 cm below the 213-m mark.
In the meantime, farmers have warned that tons of fruits and
other crops are in danger of being destroyed unless there is rain
in the coming days. Former agriculture minister Rafael Eitan
told Israel Radio yesterday that the depleted state of the
country's water resources has reached crisis proportions.
ISRAEL OPENS TRADITIONAL SITE OF JESUS' BAPTISM TO LURE MORE
VISITORS November 17, 1999 JERUSALEM (AP)
In preparation for the millennium, Israel has opened the
traditional site of Jesus' baptism to daily visitors, an army
official said Wednesday. Until recently, the site, Qasir
el-Yahud, in a military zone on the west bank of the Jordan
River, was open to pilgrims only a few times a year, on special
occasions. Visitors pass barbed wire and signs warning of mines
to get to the river. Israel may be feeling competition from
Jordan, which is excavating a rival baptism site on the eastern
shore of the river and plans to develop it for tourism.
Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military government in
the West Bank, said he didn't consider the Jordanian site across
the river to be a serious threat. "The Jordan site isn't really
competition because we have the real site,'' he said. Lerner
said visitors still have to coordinate their plans with the
Israeli army or the regional council of the Jordan Valley, but
that it is not difficult to get approval. Israel plans to widen
the steps leading to the river and renovate a small chapel
marking the spot, he said. The work is to be completed by
January.
CHURCH CLOSURE HIGHLIGHTS MILLENNIAL TENSIONS IN HOLY LAND
November 22, 1999 By Karin Laub, Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP)
Churches closed throughout the Holy Land today as part of a
dispute that has poisoned Christian-Muslim relations and left
Israel caught in the middle. At the heart of the dispute is a
controversy over what to build a Muslim mosque or a Christian
visitors' plaza on a plot of land in Nazareth, the town of
Jesus' boyhood. By closing the churches for two days, Christians
hope to draw the world's attention to what they say are growing
threats to their shrines.
In Bethlehem, believed to be the site of Jesus' birth, the small
iron doors of the Church of the Nativity were closed to dozens of
would-be visitors today. A group of tourists stood outside the
locked doors praying quietly. Pilgrims were also unable to enter
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, on the site where
many Christians believe Jesus was crucified. The protest may
help spoil Israel's millennium pitch that Christians, Muslims and
Jews live in harmony here, although it has not deterred Pope John
Paul II from a planned Holy Land visit in March.
NAZARETH MOSQUE CORNERSTONE LAID AMID ROW
Reuters November 23, 1999 NAZARETH, Israel
Muslim leaders unveiled the cornerstone of a controversial mosque
near the main Christian shrine in the town of Jesus' boyhood on
Tuesday to an outcry from the Vatican. An Islamic Movement
leader in Nazareth, Suleiman Abu Ahmed, watched as a green and
yellow carpet embroidered with a verse from the Koran was removed
from the square, white marble stone. A crowd of about 3,000
people surged toward the cornerstone as it was being unveiled,
causing a near stampede. The crowd then spilled into side
streets to let off celebratory firecrackers and canisters of
smoke dyed green to symbolize Islam as a priest and nun looked on
from the rooftop of the nearby Basilica of the Annunciation.
"Let's liberate al-Aqsa next,'' the head of the Waqf or Islamic
religious trust in Nazareth, Ahmed Abu Nawwaf, told the crowd in
a reference to Islam's third holiest shrine in Jerusalem.
MOSQUE CORNERSTONE SPARKS RECRIMINATIONS BETWEEN ISRAEL, VATICAN
November 23, 1999 By Karin Laub, Associated Press NAZARETH,
Israel (AP)
Thousands of triumphant Muslims on Tuesday unveiled a cornerstone
for a mosque next to a major Christian shrine in the heart of
Jesus' boyhood town a ceremony that set off bitter
recriminations between the Vatican and Israel. The Vatican said
Israel, by allowing the mosque to be built, was "laying the
foundation'' for division. Israel hinted that the Holy See's
protests were motivated in part by anti-Semitism. Yasser
Arafat's Palestinian Authority backed the churches.
The dispute over the mosque forged odd alliances. The
Palestinian leadership, which is predominantly Muslim, sided with
the churches, while Israel was accused of favoring the Islamic
movement in the government's attempt to broker a compromise. The
coalitions were apparently chosen with an eye toward coming
negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on the future of
another holy city, Jerusalem.
HOLY WARS LOOM IN ISRAEL AS BARAK HEADS HOME
Reuters November 22, 1999 JERUSALEM
Prime Minister Ehud Barak heads slowly homeward from a week
abroad on Tuesday to find ancient enmities, pitting Christian
against Muslim and Jew against Jew, rearing their ugly heads
again. In Jesus's home town of Nazareth, defiant Islamic leaders
said they would go ahead with plans to lay a cornerstone for a
mosque near a main Christian shrine on Tuesday, rejecting appeals
by the Vatican and other Muslims.
And to make matters worse, Barak's cabinet is feuding over a war
of words in the ethnically polarized town of Bet Shemesh between
ultra-Orthodox rabbis of North African descent and secular
immigrant Jews from the former Soviet Union.
Christian leaders locked churches across the Holy Land on Monday
in protest at Israeli-approved plans to build the mosque near
Nazareth's Basilica of the Annunciation. They plan to keep them
shut on Tuesday, despite the sight of pilgrims weeping. But
Muslim town official Ahmed Zuabi was unmoved. "Let no one
interfere with us,'' he said on Monday. "We oppose the
interference of any side, be it the Vatican or any other party.''
Rabbis "waging war'' on immigrants
In Bet Shemesh, local heads of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party
enraged Russian-born Israelis by publicly dismissing them as
''hundreds of thousands of Gentiles flooding the land with pork,
prostitution, impurity and filth.'' "Perhaps we must build
special cities just for them within the land of Israel,'' Moshe
Abutbol of Shas, deputy mayor of Bet Shemesh, told Israel Radio.
Cabinet minister Natan Sharansky said Shas rabbis were ''trying
to start a war'' against Russian immigrants. "Next they'll
propose...building ghettos in Israel,'' said Sharansky, whose
wife is an Orthodox Jew. He said he might respond to the Shas
statements by pulling his Yisrael ba-Aliya immigrant party out of
Barak's coalition.
SUMMARY OF PRE-PROPOSED BILL
Freedom Report November 15, 1999
Unfortunately, we need to inform you of a proposed new
legislative initiative. Below is a synopsis of the pre-proposed
bill being circulated for support by various members of Knesset.
Anyone convicted of soliciting or persuading another person, even
indirectly, to change his religion would receive a 5-year prison
sentence. This includes anyone who gives or promises another
person to benefit (in any form) to persuade him to convert, and
also includes a person who agrees to receive such benefit, even
if it is through another person. This 5-year sentence would be
doubled to a 10-year sentence if: a) the one who was persuaded is
a minor or needy person, or b) the one who was persuaded did
change his religion, or c) the one doing the soliciting used
deceptive or misleading means.
It is immaterial for the purpose of the proposed criminal prison
sentence if, to the religion or religious testimony of the person
persuaded, there is no validity to such conversion, or if the
violation occurred outside of the country, provided that the
person whose religion is to be changed resides in Israel.
A 3-year sentence would be conferred upon anyone who solicits
through advertisement. A person would receive a 1-year prison
sentence simply for holding such an advertisement, without lawful
justification.
A 1-year prison sentence would be imposed upon anyone who
receives or brings a minor or a needy person to a location in
which prayer or other religious activities occur (which are
different from the religion of such person) or upon one who holds
such activities.
A minor or needy person will not be allowed into an educational
institution, youth hostel or club in Israel that is under the
auspices of "another religion". "Another religion" is defined as
a religion that is not the religion of the religious community to
which the individual belongs according to Israeli Law.
PEACE PROCESS
ISRAEL, PALESTINIANS BEGIN NEGOTIATIONS ON FINAL PEACE TREATY
November 8, 1999 By Samar Assad, Associated Press RAMALLAH, West
Bank (AP)
Facing tight deadlines and the threat of renewed violence, Israel
and the Palestinians today began historic negotiations on a final
peace treaty their fourth attempt since 1996. After a
75-minute meeting at a West Bank hotel, both sides said they were
confident they would meet their ambitious timetable a framework
agreement by February and a final accord ironing out their
remaining land and policy disputes by September. President
Clinton has offered to host a Mideast summit in the final stretch
of the framework negotiations.
BARAK, ARAFAT MEET ON PULLBACK DISPUTE
By Danna Harman Jerusalem Post (November 15)
The government said that a planned handover of 5 percent of the
West Bank to the Palestinian Authority today would go ahead as
planned, although Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
refused to sign the redeployment maps yesterday, arguing the land
being handed over is barren and unpopulated. Prime Minister Ehud
Barak and Arafat held a surprise meeting in the Tel Aviv area
late last night in an apparent attempt to resolve the
differences.
ARAFAT INSISTS THAT AGREEMENT MUST GIVE PALESTINIANS A CAPITAL IN
JERUSALEM
November 19, 1999 By Dana Budeiri, Associated Press RAMALLAH,
West Bank (AP)
Yasser Arafat's cabinet insisted Friday that no final agreement
would be reached with Israel if the Palestinians were not allowed
to establish their capital in east Jerusalem. "There won't be an
agreement if Jerusalem is not accepted as the capital of an
independent state,'' read a cabinet statement issued after a
meeting late Friday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Palestinian cabinet said that since east Jerusalem was
captured land, it should be returned with other occupied
territories according to U.N. resolutions. During the cabinet
meeting, Arafat expressed his "surprise and bewilderment'' at the
Israel's stance during the final status talks. In a new twist,
Palestinian negotiators demanded Thursday that Israel compensate
the Palestinian people for having occupied the West Bank and Gaza
Strip.
FINAL STATUS NEGOTIATIONS TO GO INTO DETAILED PHASE NEXT WEEK
November 22, 1999 By Samar Assad, Associated Press RAMALLAH, West
Bank (AP)
Palestinian and Israeli negotiators will start detailed
negotiations next week in hopes of reaching a February deadline
on a final peace treaty framework, they said today. So far the
talks have touched in general on the sensitive issues of
Jerusalem, refugees, final borders, Jewish settlements and water.
The sides will go into painstaking details next Monday.
"We are going into a very crucial stage in our relationship, a
very important stage,'' said Israeli negotiator Oded Eran. "Each
side has its positions, we will try to bridge the gaps and reach
a common ground.''
Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said the Israelis
presented their position on some issues, but he would not give
any details. "I cannot say there is progress in the positions,''
Abed Rabbo said, adding that consultations would continue this
week. He suggested that a meeting between Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak could take
place if the sides made progress on a dispute over a delayed 5
percent Israeli troop redeployment from the West Bank.
MIDDLE EAST
ISLAMIC JIHAD ON THE RISE IN SOUTH LEBANON
Int'l Christian Embassy Jerusalem 11/15/99
The Palestinian terrorist group Islamic Jihad, which rejects
peace with Israel, appears to be increasing its activities in
south Lebanon, possibly in reaction to Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Barak's pledge to unilaterally withdraw by July 2000. The
leader of the Islamic Jihad-Palestine, Ramadan Shalah, believes
Israel is venerable on its northern border, saying "We are ready
for jihad from any open front with the enemy."
Three weeks ago, the faction launched long-range mortar attacks
on IDF and SLA forces in the security zone - on the anniversary
of the Israeli assassination of its leader, Fathi Shkaki, on
Malta in October 1996. Israeli security sources had been
predicting Islamic Jihad would launch a terrorist attack on the
anniversary of Shakaki's death. But they were guessing at the
time that it would be perpetrated within Israel by a member of
the group who remains at large after escaping with two others
from a Palestinian prison several months ago.
In addition to those symbolic attacks, Islamic Jihad has since
taken credit for numerous operations in the security zone,
including ground assaults on IDF outposts and long-range mortar
attacks. Military sources confirmed the organization is
heightening its activities in the south Lebanon arena, with the
blessing of Iran, Syria and in collaboration with Hizb'Allah, the
terrorist kingpin in the theatre.
GULF MILITARIES MAKE A BIG MOVE
STRATFOR.COM Global Intelligence Update November 17, 1999
Summary:
The Arab states in the Persian Gulf are taking a significant step
toward a mutual defense agreement. Although the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) has made similar commitments over the years, it
appears that the six countries are striving for an unprecedented
level of integration between their militaries. If properly
combined with improvements in their forces, the GCC may be on the
threshold of creating a more credible military force of its own:
one that complements U.S. forces in the short term, but is
increasingly independent in the long term.
DRUMBEATS OF WAR
HIGHEST RANKING OFFICIAL CLERIC IN EGYPT CALLS FOR ARABS AND
MUSLIMS TO ACQUIRE NUCLEAR WEAPONS TO COUNTER ISRAEL
MEMRI: Special Dispatch No. 59 Egypt November 19, 1999
On November 16, 1999 a conference on the future of nuclear
strategy was convened at the University of Asyut. Participants
included a number of high-ranking Egyptian officials and dozens
of experts on weapons of mass destruction. The Sheikh of
Al-Azhar is appointed by the President of Egypt and is the
highest-ranking religious official in Egypt and one of the most
prominent leaders in the Muslim world. The following excerpts on
the conference were taken from the PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida,
Nov. 18, 1999.
Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Tantawi called upon the Arabs and the
Muslims "to acquire nuclear weapons as an answer to the Israeli
threat and [to possess] nuclear readiness in order to counter the
Israeli intransigence which rejects the signing of the Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty."
Tantawi continued, "The instruction that our master Khalifa
[Caliph] Abu Bakr [the first successor to the Prophet] to Khaled
Ibn Al-Waleed [one of the first Muslim commanders] when he called
upon him to fight the enemy was: 'if they fight you with a sword
fight them with a sword; if they fight you with a spear fight
them with a spear.' If Abu Bakr had lived today he would have
said, 'if they fight you with an atomic bomb you must fight them
with an atomic bomb.'"
Tantawi said, "Our demand that Israel join the Nuclear Test Ban
Treaty does not prevent us from learning and advancing in
knowledge until we are superior and until we act according to the
words of our Master Abu Bakr 'fight them with the same weapons
with which they fight you.' Islam welcomes any force that was
[designed] to serve the right and to defend the people's honor,
Islam condemns any offensive, unjust force and mandates to fight
it no matter what its power is. If Israel has nuclear weapons it
will be the first to be defeated because it lives in a world in
which there is no fear of death. We are not afraid of the
Israeli nuclear weapons. What we are afraid of is the
[possibility] that we will not rise up and that we will not
advance."
Mubarak's political advisor, Usama Al-Baz, warned Israel, "There
will be no real peace nor stability as long as Israel keeps to be
the only one to hold nuclear weapons in this region." He drew
attention to the fact that "There are other options to balance
this flaw in the military balance of power with the Israelis" and
hinted at the possibility that the Arab states will acquire
chemical or nuclear weapons. A representative of the Foreign
Minister warned Israel "about their [military] superiority
complex against the Arabs" and recommended equal security for all
parties. He recalled last week's statement by Foreign Minister
Amru Musa that "There will be no peace, stability or regional
order as long as Israel continues to possess a nuclear arsenal."
PREPARATION FOR WAR
ISRAEL MUST PREPARE FOR BIOLOGICAL WAR - U.S.
By Aluf Benn, Ha'aretz 11/9/99
The United States is calling on Israel to step up cooperation in
the development of medication and vaccinations to protect
populations against biological attacks. This recommendation was
made last week in a meeting between National Security Advisor
David Ivri and White House representative Richard Clark, who is
the American national coordinator on terrorism. The two were
meeting in Washington for talks on strategic cooperation. U.S.
President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed when
they met in July that the two states would codify a far-reaching
agreement to combat "all types of non-conventional weapons."
Clark told Ivri that Iran and the Hezbollah will use terrorist
attacks to derail the peace process and praised Jordan for its
operations against Hamas. Ivri told Clark that terrorism is a
global problem, and there was thus the need for international
cooperation in fighting it. Barak yesterday wrote to his
political counterparts worldwide calling on them to fight
terrorism and warning of attacks against Israeli and Jewish sites
abroad.
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