To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Sept 9, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 08:36:09 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
7:00 PM Eastern
TBN ZOLA LEVITT - Is this the end? or the beginning? (1 hr)
9:00
A&E - THE ROAD TO RAPTURE - The fear of doomsday consumes
American society as the millennium
approaches.(CC)(TVPG)
[Meet the "True Believers" who await the "End Time", the glorious
day when they will "Rapture" and be lifted up into heaven.
They believe those left behind will face years of war and
social chaos, and some are stockpiling weapons for Armageddon.
Explore the underlying biblical prophecies of this view. A
2-hour special presentation. (cc) [TV PG]]
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Environmental News Service items (9/9/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 08:54:34 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
RUSSIA WANTS TO STORE WORLD'S RADIOACTIVE WASTE
By Ekaterina Chistiakova
MOSCOW, Russia, September 8, 1999 (ENS) - Russia is working towards
changing its laws so that the country can store spent nuclear fuel and
radioactive waste from other nations. Copyright Environment News
Service (ENS) 1999 For full text and graphics visit:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/sep99/1999L-09-08-02.html
----------------
SATELLITES OFFER NEW VIEWS OF EARTH
An satellite linked alarm system can
provide early warning of wildfires and
volcanoes around the world, allowing
emergency officials to respond more
quickly. The system, developed by Hawaii
Institute of Geophysics and Planetology
remote sensing scientist Luke Flynn and
colleagues, uses sensors on Geostationary
Operational Environmental Satellites
operated by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration. The sensors
pick up heat coming the ground, 22
thousand miles below. Within 15 minutes,
the location of a fire shows up in a map
on the Internet, and the extent of the
blaze is continually updated. "We hope
that this will be a great benefit to the
U.S. forest service during the fire
season," said Flynn, who has used the
system to monitor burning in the Amazon
for the past two years. The system now
monitors 16 active fire and volcano hot
spots scattered around the Western
Hemisphere, but soon will extend around
the globe, said Flynn. Continually updated
fire and volcano information is available
at:
http://volcano1.pgd.hawaii.edu/goes/index.
shtml. Meanwhile, in April, the National
Air and Space Administration (NASA)
launched Landsat 7, a new Earth imaging
satellite. The satellite takes pictures of
vast portions of the planet every 16 days,
to monitor everything from the movement of
ice streams in Antarctica to the
temperature of fiery volcanoes in Hawaii,
and the effects of urban growth on
metropolitan areas around the U.S. Images
from Landsat 7 are now available on line
for viewing by scientific researchers and
the general public at:
http://landsat7.usgs.gov.
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Judge Moore Cleared of Ethics Charges
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 08:58:54 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Judge Moore Cleared Of Ethics Charges
GADSDEN, AL (BP) -- Judge Roy Moore has been cleared of
ethics questions involving a legal defense fund for the Ten
Commandments displayed in his courtroom, according to a
Sept. 2 Associated Press report.
Moore, Etowah County Circuit Court judge based in Gadsden,
Ala., told a courtroom full of supporters God's
righteousness had prevailed after St. Clair County District
Attorney Van Davis said he had found no evidence to support
an Alabama Ethics Commission complaint alleging the judge
may have violated state law, the AP reported.
In June, the state ethics commission had voted 5-0 that
probable cause existed for charges that Moore illegally
profited from a defense fund established by a friend who
supported Moore's fight to keep the Ten Commandments display
in his courtroom, the AP recounted. The case was forwarded
to Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor and then assigned to
Davis. The AP reported more than $100,000 in donations was
received by the defense fund for Moore's fight against the
American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged his display
and his practice of starting court sessions with prayer. The
Alabama Supreme Court eventually dismissed the ACLU's case
without ruling on the merits.
Concerning the ethics allegations, Davis said Moore neither
solicited donations himself nor controlled the fund, the AP
reported, quoting Davis as saying, "Our investigation
revealed no evidence that Judge Roy Moore used his office
for personal gain."
Among the fund-raising activities was an Internet site that
offered various sizes of the Ten Commandments carved in
stone, the most expensive, a 20-inch set, available for
$149.95, according to a 1997 report in USA Today. Moore said
the case had not been about ethics, but had been "an effort
to stop the message that the acknowledgment of God ... is
not now nor has ever been nor ever will be a violation of
the First Amendment," the AP reported.
Moore posted the Ten Commandments in 1992 as an
acknowledgement of God's hand in his appointment to the
bench to replace a deceased judge, USA Today reported.
"The president is sworn in on a Bible. Congress opens each
session with a chaplain. The Supreme Court opens with 'In
God we trust,'" Moore told USA Today. "My point is this: If
all three branches of government acknowledge God, how can it
be wrong for the state of Alabama to acknowledge God?"
According to the AP report Sept. 2, the Alabama Judicial
Inquiry Commission also has been investigating Moore,
apparently questioning whether his Ten Commandments
activities have violated any rules of judicial ethics. But,
the AP said, the commission operates confidentially and has
not commented about the probe.
(c 1999, Baptist Press)
http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3398.htm
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia Today items (9/9/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:08:48 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
GROZNY THREATENS TO RETALIATE FOR RUSSIAN AIR STRIKES
MOSCOW -- Chechen Deputy Premier and military chief Ruslan Gulayev
threatened Moscow Wednesday with "strong measures" in response to
Russian air strikes on Chechnya, the Interfax news agency reported.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=91009&text
RUSSIAN PM DISMISSES TALK OF YELTSIN QUITTING
MINSK -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Wednesday dismissed
speculation by some commentators that President Boris Yeltsin might
resign before his term is due to finish next year.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=91026&text
RUSSIA SAID SKIPPING Y2K STEP ON KEY SYSTEMS
WASHINGTON -- Russia is skipping a basic step in readying its most
important military computers for the 2000 technology challenge,
including some that track sensitive nuclear stockpiles, the military
arm of the U.S. embassy in Moscow has reported.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=91023&text
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Temple Mount Vessels
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:48:53 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
TEMPLE MOUNT VESSELS AND ITEMS
Below is a letter from Rabbi Chaim Richman of The Temple Institute in
Jerusalem.
Below that is the link to the Temple Institute. The Institute has
duplicated most of the vessels necessary for the Third temple.
Interestingly, in his letter he mentioned, it will take nothing short
of a miracle for the Holy Temple to be rebuilt within our lifetime.
Moreover, some think only the outer court and the altar will be
built in preparation of the Temple Mount sacrifice of the red
heifer. The same location the anti-christ will stop the sacrifices;
and the place of the abomination of desolation. (Daniel 9:27: And he
shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of
the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and
for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even
until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the
desolate. (KJV))
Many believe that the entire Third Temple will actually be
completed when Jesus Christ comes back to reign.
*****
Miracles, Dreams, and Reality:
Drawing Closer Towards the Holy Temple
Shalom and best wishes for the coming New Year of 5760 from the
Temple Institute in Jerusalem.
Almost twelve years have passed since the Temple Institute was
established. In the course of these years, through the Institute's
efforts, the subject of the Holy Temple has begun to penetrate into
the collective consciousness and awareness of society. Many think that
it will take nothing short of a miracle for the Holy Temple to be
rebuilt within our lifetime. But the knowledge that the Holy Temple
lies at the very heart of the Torah of Israel has become more
widespread, and G-d's eternal commandment to "Build for Me a
Sanctuary, that I will dwell among you" has once again begun to beat
within the nation's heart. For this calling, itself the continuation
of Jewish destiny, has not been revoked, but is alive and well and
waiting to be fulfilled once again by the nation of Israel. This in
itself is the beginning of the "miracle" of rebuilding the Temple! G-d
makes miracles for us every day, but only after we have done all that
we can for Him. Thus the sages of Israel relate that when Israel left
Egypt and came face to face with the Red Sea, the waters did not split
until one man, Nachson the son of Aminadav, prince of the tribe of
Judah, walked into the water as far as he could...until the water came
up to his nostrils. Then he could go no further, and it was then, at
that moment, that the sea split. When G-d saw that we had done all
that we, as ordinary human beings, can possibly do. It was then that
he stepped in. For G-d makes miracles happen every day, but it is we
who give those miracles the legs to stand on in this world. The is
exactly what the Temple Institute hopes to accomplish through its holy
work.
Some think that the Holy Temple is nothing but a dream. But the
Institute's activities, which began in a modest little room in the Old
City of Jerusalem, have blossomed over these twelve years into a
world-renown organization that has brought a message of hope, pride,
and spiritual yearning to hundreds of thousands around the globe.
Since the days of that humble beginning, tens of Temple vessels have
been created, educational material has been disseminated around the
world, hundreds of accurate depiction's and illustrations have been
published in a wide variety of books and other printed material;
Temple-related films and tapes have been produced and more are on the
way even now, and hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Institute's
exhibition have had an experience that has drawn them closer to the
prophets' vision of the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Now, as we approach the Jewish New Year of 5760, the Temple
Institute prepares to present three precious gifts to the people of
Israel...gifts that the world has been waiting nearly 2,000 to see,
which will bring the reality of the Holy Temple much closer. The
Institute is about to present the three main vessels of the Holy
Temple, which are being created and fashioned in accordance with
Biblical law, ready to stand within the holy area of Sanctuary of G-d:
The golden Temple menorah (the seven branched candelabra), the golden
incense altar, and the golden table of the Showbread.
After years of research and anticipation, the golden Menorah,
symbol of the Holy Temple's spiritual light, has been created (1
Biblical kikar, or "talent" - about 43 kilo of gold was used) and will
be taking its place in the Temple Institute before Rosh HaShana, with
G-d's help. This Menorah has been created according to all the
requirements of halacha, Jewish law, and the scientific process of
electro-chemical magnetic plating was utilized so that the pure,
gold-plated menorah fulfills the Biblical requirement of "one piece of
pure beaten gold."
Likewise, the golden incense altar, for the performance of the
daily incense offering_the most beloved part of the Temple service in
G-d's eyes_is nearing completion and will be available for public
viewing within the coming days.
Lastly, the golden table of the Showbread, which represents the
abundance of G-d's physical blessings in this world, will make up the
third of the central vessels which occupy the holy area of the Temple
Sanctuary.
The production of these vessels has been aided by the generous
contributions of a number of individuals. The Temple Institute
turns to all those to whom the promise of the Holy Temple is dear, to
take part in these projects, and thus advance the process of
rebuilding the Holy Temple. Our prayer is that we shall all merit to
place these vessels in their proper places, within the rebuilt House
of G-d, and to renew the Temple service.
May this be the year that all our prayers are answered; May this be
the year of repentance; May this be the year that Israel truly becomes
a light to the Nations; May this be the year of the Complete and True
Redemption, May this be the year of the Rebuilding of the Holy Temple.
With all best wishes for every blessing during the coming year
Rabbi Chaim Richman
THE TEMPLE INSTITUTE
****
Temple Mount Institute
http://www.temple.org.il/MIKDFRM.HTM
On the front page of their web site it states the following: The
Temple Institute, located in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old
City, is a non-profit organization committed to researching and
teaching about the services and structure of the Holy Temple. For two
thousand years of exile, this topic had been neglected. Since 1984,
the Temple Intstitute, founded by Rabbi Israel Ariel, has been working
to reawaken public awareness about this holy site at the heart of the
world.
via: "Koenig's International News" <bill@watch.org>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Likud Bulletin (9/9/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 09:48:54 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
=================================
L I K U D B U L L E T I N
Issue 2, September 9, 1999
=================================
1. Will Uncle Sam foot the bill?
By MK Uzi Landau, Op-ed Jerusalem Post
September 8, 1999
2. UTJ Leaving Coalition May Have Domino
Effect on Shas
By Liat Collins, Jerusalem Post
September 6, 1999
3. Right Decries [Wye II] Deal as 'Signing Defeat'
By Liat Collins, Jerusalem Post
September 5, 1999
4. Results: Likud Leadership Election
September 3, 1999
5. Labor Loses Almost Half Its Members in One Year
By Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz
September 1, 1999
6. Jordan Ready to Cede Holy Jerusalem
Sites to Palestinans
By Danny Rubinstein & Yair Sheleg, Ha'aretz
August 31, 1999
7. Arabs in Israel Identify More as Palestinians
By Isabel Kershner, Jerusalem Report
August 30, 1999
8. Government's Policy In Lebanon Lacks Logic
By Moshe Arens, Ha'aretz
August 23, 1999
9. Recommended Site
=====================================
Will Uncle Sam foot the bill?
By UZI LANDAU
=====================================
(September 8) - What's the price of the withdrawals being planned by
the government in Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights? How much will
it cost to evacuate dozens of communities with their tens of thousands
of residents, to redeploy the IDF, and cover the loss of vital water
sources?
During his visit to the US, Prime Minister Ehud Barak hinted at a sum
of $20 billion. Twenty billion dollars that will come, Barak hopes,
from the pocket of the American taxpayer.
That's the message that various members of Congress also got when they
visited Jerusalem over the past few weeks and held meetings with the
prime minister, several ministers, and other senior Israeli figures.
They got the impression that Barak is ready to make exaggerated
concessions in Judea, Samaria and the Golan. Security arrangments
didn't seem to be worrying the Israeli premier and his ministers. Our
leaders didn't even want to discuss America's diplomatic support.
What Barak and his cabinet members were most interested in was the
financial aspect. You have to cover the expenses incurred by the
upcoming withdrawals, they unhestitatingly told the congressmen. One
senior minister even addressed the Americans in the imperative, which
upset them. This money is coming to us, the minister said; don't even
think of making any trouble in approving the aid.
The US legislators left that meeting feeling awful. "We came to
express support for Israel," said one of the men who accompanied the
congressional delegation, "but we left with feeling like we're the
obstacle to peace. As if without a few billion dollars from Uncle Sam,
there will be no withdrawal and no agreement. As if the ball is now in
our court."
Such behavior by Barak and his ministers doesn't only damage Israel's
image, it reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of the American
reality.
The American public has for some time now indicated it would like
foreign aid to stop altogether. Members of Congress, who must approve
such aid, are not going to run to act against the wishes of their
constituents.
Not long ago, former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu initiated a
process of gradually reducing the economic aid being granted to
Israel, a step that seemed in Washington to be eminently in order.
Within a few years, Congress thought, the US would no longer need to
provide Israel with this $1.2 billion annually.
Now, here comes the new government and says the opposite: Not only
will we need this aid to continue, it will have to be substantially
increased.
Whoever thinks Congress will approve such aid has no concept of
American political realities.
Another thing shocked the Americans when they met with the new
administration: the issue of moving the US Embassy to Jerusalem.
After years of efforts, lobbying and an intensive Israeli information
campaign, most US congressmen and senators support moving the embassy
to the capital, a step which, if taken, will bring the embassies of
other countries in its wake.
But there was Barak, telling the Americans: There's no hurry; the time
isn't ripe now. Instead of praising the Americans' decision, and
taking the opportunity to do all he could to strengthen Jerusalem and
reduce Palestinian expectations, the Israeli prime minister has
decided not to confront Arafat on this issue.
The visiting congressmen understood that the Israeli consensus that
had existed all these years around Jerusalem no long exists. They came
away with the impression that Barak has no red lines; that all is open
to negotiation, even Jerusalem.
At another meeting with several ministers, congressmen asked questions
about the agreements with the Palestinians. Our ministers acted
impatient. When the visitors asked what means Israel has to compel the
other side to implement its part of the agreement, and how we will
assure their commitments won't be violated, our ministers simply
answered: Rely on us. Israel is strong, it'll be fine. Everything with
the Palestinians and the Syrians will work out. You don't have to
worry.
But the Americans, who could never be accused of supporting the
right-wing camp in Israel, were quite worried. Because if Barak
clearly isn't going to be firm about Jerusalem, what degree of
firmness could be expected from his government during the final-status
talks? How would he act on issues that are less critical, like water
sources and the Golan Heights?
Israel under Barak is a different Israel. It is an Israel that does
not stand up for itself. On the one hand, it is abandoning its
strategic assets, while on the other hand it is asking for increased
US financial support.
If we don't wake up in time, we will find one day that instead of
being America's asset and strategic partner, we've become a burden.
A burden that our greatest friend ever will want to dump, and quickly.
The writer, a Likud MK, is chairman of the Knesset State Control
Committee.
=====================================
UTJ Leaving Coalition May Have
Domino Effect on Shas
By Liat Collins, Jerusalem Post
September 6, 1999
=====================================
United Torah Judaism's departure from the coalition over the transport
of the turbine superheater on Shabbat may have a domino effect on the
two other religious parties in the coalition - Shas with 17 seats and
the National Religious Party with five.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Michael Melchior has announced he will
continue to convene the ministerial committee trying to solve the
issue.
In the meantime, the first indication of how UTJ is likely to behave
in the opposition is expected Wednesday, when the Sharm e-Sheikh
agreement is presented to the Knesset for approval.
United Torah Judaism leader Meir Porush told The Jerusalem Post
yesterday he could not yet say how his party would vote Wednesday. He
noted the signing of the agreement on Saturday night had involved a
great deal of Shabbat desecration and said it could have been signed
yesterday instead.
However, he added that "how we vote on the Sharm agreement will not be
related to the Shabbat issue. We don't need to mix issues. We shall
decide on the agreement closer to the time."
Concerning the superheater he said, "What pains me is that the
government could have made preparations for the turbine to be
transported midweek and didn't. This government on the one hand is
doing everything to bring the Palestinians closer, while on the other
hand pushing the religious further away, and that's a great pity."
Porush said he does not expect Shas or the NRP to last long in the
government if it continues to act this way. Raphael Pinhasi, secretary
of the Shas Council of Torah Sages, said his party "is making every
effort to find a halachicly acceptable solution under which the
superheater will be transported on weekdays or on Shabbat by non-Jews
which [Shas spiritual leader] Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has ruled is
permissible. As long as such a solution is found, we will be able to
remain in the government; otherwise there is a distinct possibility
that we will quit too."
NRP spokesman Gil Sheffer said, "The NRP is against Shabbat
desecration and therefore proposed that a ministerial committee be
established to try to find a solution, which was done. I don't see the
party quitting over the superheater. There is no need to climb too
high on a tree over this issue when there are so many more serious
problems today which need to be dealt with."
He said his party is against the Sharm agreement but wants to study
the maps, letters and appendices which go with it and will hold a
faction meeting before the vote to decide how to act.
NRP leader and Housing and Construction Minister Yitzhak Levy, who
voted against the agreement in the cabinet, is not an MK and does not
have a vote in the Knesset, but the party could be placed in an
awkward situation if the vote becomes either a motion of confidence or
no-confidence.
Levy said it is "important" for the party to continue to sit in the
government "to ensure that no more agreements are signed which hurt
us, such as settlements being removed. If decisions are taken which we
can't live with, then we will leave."
The Likud is standing firm on its refusal to consider joining the
coalition even after UTJ's exit from the government and following the
Likud's election of Ariel Sharon as party leader.
Sharon himself has repeated he will not take the party into the
coalition. "From now on we will act as a fighting opposition, and
Barak cannot count on us as someone who will save his government,"
Sharon said.
MK Dan Naveh (Likud) who during the coalition negotiations had favored
joining the government under certain conditions on the assumption it
could play a greater role in determining the direction of the peace
process from within the government said he now thinks it would be a
mistake for the Likud to join.
"My opinion is there is no room for the Likud joining the coalition.
This is not just the official line. The coalition partners today must
realize that there is no such thing as them leaving and the Likud
taking their place. What appeared to be theoretical differences of
opinion between us and the government on the eve of its creation have
become very real differences today, like the Sharm e-Sheikh
agreement," Naveh said.
"Also, I considered at the time that we might have some influence from
within the government, but given the way [Prime Minister] Ehud Barak
is running things - without even consulting his own ministers - even
if we could find a way of agreeing on the government basic guidelines,
which is unlikely, I can see no logic in the Likud joining. I can see
no way it would become a real partner to the decisionmaking regarding
the negotiations with the Arabs."
=====================================
Right Decries [Wye II] Deal as
'Signing Defeat'
By Liat Collins, Jerusalem Post
September 5, 1999
=====================================
Likud leader Ariel Sharon last night called on Prime Minister Ehud
Barak to have no part in the release of Palestinian prisoners who had
committed murder.
"No agreement on paper is worth the heavy security and moral price
Israel will pay as a result of such a step," Sharon said.
Sharon said it is possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians
without harming Israeli interests. He called the release of prisoners
involved in terror attacks or the murder of Palestinians who had
helped the Israeli security forces "moral bankruptcy."
He criticized a statement by the Prime Minister's Office that the
release of prisoners "with blood on their hands" was part of the Wye
agreement signed by the Netanyahu government.
"This is an utter lie and an attempt to mislead the public. At the
time Wye was formulated, we made it completely clear that under no
circumstances would we release prisoners with blood on their hands or
members of the Hamas or Islamic Jihad terror organizations which
continue to try to attack Israel," Sharon said.
The Likud faction issued a statement saying Barak "had been a stunning
failure in his first diplomatic test" and had crossed the red lines
set by the Peres and Rabin governments.
"From today, Yasser Arafat knows he faces a weak Israeli prime
minister who cannot stand up to pressure and gives up on the principle
of reciprocity, and this does not bode well for the final-status
agreements."
Moledet leader Rehavam Ze'evi described the new agreement as "signing
on defeat." "Although this defeat was preceded by public relations
exercises and a pretense of muscle-flexing, in the end Barak gave in
on everything. He will give up more territory and hand over more
prisoners and will open the safe passage and port in Gaza which will
endanger Israel," Ze'evi said.
"The Barak government is a government of defeat with a pretense of
firmness and will bring irrevocable disasters on Israel."
=====================================
Results: Likud Leadership Election
September 3, 1999
=====================================
The following are the official results of the Likud leadership
primary, which took place on Thursday, September 2nd:
Ehud Olmert: 24%
Ariel Sharon: 53%
Meir Sheetrit: 22%
=====================================
Labor Loses Almost Half Its
Members in One Year
By Yossi Verter, Ha'aretz
September 1, 1999
=====================================
The Labor Party has lost some 60,000 members this year - almost 40
percent of its total membership.
According to party data, some 62,000 of the 162,000 people who were
Labor Party members last year have not renewed their membership or
paid dues - thereby further contributing to Labor's financial crisis.
The party is currently some NIS 110 million in debt.
MK Ra'anan Cohen, the party's secretary general, said that Labor would
conduct a membership drive in the coming months in an effort to
reverse this trend. By conducting the drive now, he hopes to hitch a
ride on Ehud Barak's sweeping win in the prime ministerial elections
in May.
Cohen noted that in pre-election surveys, some 95,000 non-members
expressed "support" for the Labor Party. He said he hopes that most of
these can be persuaded to join, and that those who have left the party
can be persuaded to return.
Other measures in Labor's recovery plan include firing most of the
party's workers and selling off half of its assets, whose total value
is estimated at some $40 million. Even if all of these plans are
successful, however, Cohen estimated that a full recovery will take a
few years.
===========================================
Jordan Ready to Cede Holy Jerusalem Sites
to Palestinans
By Danny Rubinstein & Yair Sheleg, Ha'aretz
August 31, 1999
===========================================
Jordan is ready to relinquish its religious authority over Muslim holy
sites in Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority, Jordanian Prime
Minister Abdul-Raouf al-Rawabdeh has said.
"If our Palestinian brothers want to take over this responsibility,
Jordan is willing to cede this responsibility to them," Rawabdeh said
in an interview broadcast Sunday night by the Saudi-owned radio
station Middle East Broadcasting Center.
"We are part of our Arab and Muslim nation. Our interest in Jerusalem
is because we are part of this nation, and we are not an alternative
to our Palestinian brothers," he said.
Rawabdeh said Jordanian religious authorities were currently running
the sites in cooperation with the Palestinians.
The Palestinian Authority said the announcement was an important
diplomatic achievement.
Jordan has said in the past that it would hand over the authority over
the sites to Palestinians once final status talks between the
Palestinians and Israel were completed. Rawabdeh made no reference to
the final status talks.
The Hashemites were once considered custodians of the holiest Islamic
sites in Mecca, but they were expelled from Mecca by the Saudis in
1925 and have since lost their historic custodial role. During the
1948 War of Independence, Jordan's King Abdullah conquered Jerusalem
and annexed it, along with the West Bank.
Abdullah was assassinated in 1951 at the entrance to the Al Aqsa
Mosque by members of a Palestinian nationalist underground connected
to the Mufti Haj Amin el Husseini, the national leader of the
Palestinians living in Israel. Abdullah's grandson Hussein, then 15
years old, was standing next to his grandfather when he was shot. In
his grandfather's footsteps, the late King Hussein maintained a firm
and consistent policy regarding Hashemite control over the Islamic
holy sites in Jerusalem.
Jordan controlled East Jerusalem and the West Bank until Israel
captured the territories in the 1967 Six-Day War. Jordan renounced its
legal and administrative roles to the PLO in 1988, but Hussein
maintained his role as custodian of Islamic sites in Jerusalem. He
spent around $240 million between 1952 and 1991 on the upkeep of
mosques and Islamic sharia courts and civil servants working for those
institutions.
A spokesman for the Jerusalem municipality said in response that "the
administration of the holy sites in Jerusalem is in the authority of
religious institutions, not the Palestinian Authority. In the
framework of the negotiations, Israel must make sure to protect its
full sovereignty over the areas of Jerusalem, including the Temple
Mount.
============================================
Arabs in Israel Identify More as Palestinian
By Isabel Kershner, Jerusalem Report
August 30, 1999
============================================
Israel's Arabs are increasingly expressing themselves in the
Palestinian media and other forums in terms that reject their
"Israeliness" and accentuate their Palestinian identity, says media
monitor Itamar Marcus. The trend is confirmed by Radwan Abu Ayyash,
chair of the official Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, who
attribute it, at least in part, to Arab anticipation of a Palestinian
state.
Marcus, who heads Palestinian Media Watch, a privately funded Israeli
body, points to many examples of the trend, from athletes to political
leaders. In late June, for example, the head of the Jaffa Arabs
Association told the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam that the Arabs of
Jaffa "have begun to take pride in their Palestinian-ness and
Arab-ness, after Israel almost succeeded in its efforts to
"Israelicize" them." The Sports Association coach in Sakhnin, in the
Galilee, told Al-Ayyam that his team's "dream is to play for
Palestine."
And the winner of last year's Israeli Arab beauty contest, Amal Mazen
Hamad of Nazareth, told the PA daily Al-Hayat al-Jedidah that she
would never go for the Miss Israel title but would participate only in
pageants for Miss Palestine. The winner of this summer's competition
in Ramallah for the Queen of Beauty, Love and Peace in Palestine was a
contestant from the Galilee town of Majd al-Krum. Seven of the 12
contestants were Israeli citizens.
(When an Arab from Haifa, Ranan Raslan, became Miss Israel, says
Marcus, the Palestinian media noted her victory without quoting any of
her statements about cooperation and pride at representing Israel on
the international circuit.)
In comparing the election broadcasts of the Israeli Arab parties
during the 1992, 1996 and 1999 campaigns, Marcus also found a marked
trend in the last election toward the rejection of Israeli identity,
as well as widespread use of Palestinian symbols such as the flag and
anthem. Azmi Bishara, a Knesset member for the Balad party, told
potential voters, in Arabic, that "The blue card you keep in your
pocket is not an ID card, but a document of sojourn." (The last phrase
was omitted from the broadcast's Hebrew subtitles.)
Marcus calls this orientation a "failure" of the Israeli enterprise.
Rather than the Arab minority being comfortable with and proud of the
Israeli aspect of its identity, he argues, "the momentum is clearly in
the other direction, and it's difficult to know how far it can go."
Ayyash believes that the Arabs of Israel "are trying to express
themselves in the 'proper' way, to reconcile themselves with their
origins" before the establishment of a Palestinian state. Having been
treated for decades as second-class Arabs - almost as traitors - by
the Arab world, and even by other Palestinians, Israel's Arabs now
seem to be trying to restore their status. "They want the PA to know
they are supportive," says Ayyash, who also suggests that they are
offering "mental and spiritual support to satisfy their conscience, if
you will."
For more information about 'Palestinian Media Watch', please contact:
pmw@netvision.net.il <mailto:pmw@netvision.net.il> .
=====================================
Government's Policy in Lebanon Lacks Logic
By Moshe Arens, Ha'aretz
August 23, 1999
=====================================
In defending our northern border, the Israeli government has to make a
clear-cut choice: using the IDF's power of deterrence or engaging the
Hezbollah in guerrilla warfare on its home ground. The IDF, a powerful
army by any measure, has no particular advantage over the Hezbollah in
guerrilla operations in southern Lebanon, an assessment that becomes
especially true when the unfortunate "Grapes of Wrath" understandings,
which put the IDF at a severe disadvantage in the confrontation with
the Hezbollah, are applied. While engaging the Hezbollah in guerrilla
warfare under these circumstances, Israel faces a mounting toll of
casualties in a no-win situation.It is not likely that the Hezbollah
are going to be deterred from continuing their harassment operations
against Israel by any act or threat to act by the IDF. This fanatic
Shia militia, inspired, funded, trained and supplied by the Ayatollahs
in Tehran, follows the old revolutionary slogan, "The worse, the
better." They believe that the Shia are destined to suffer and
therefore must enjoy suffering. Blows against their leadership, while
making no permanent impact on their capabilities, turn their desire
for revenge toward unprotected Israeli and Jewish targets around the
world.
But the Hezbollah do not control Lebanon. They can operate in that
country only by the good graces of the Syrians. Whenever the Syrians
decide to impose their control on events in Lebanon, that control is
absolute. Nothing happens in Lebanon if the Syrians do not want it to
happen. Thirty thousand Syrian troops are stationed in Lebanon, and
Syrian President Hafez Assad does not hesitate to enforce his will
there through the use of terror, torture and assassination. Lebanon's
president, prime minister and all other functionaries make no pretense
of being independent agents.
And Assad has a lot to lose in Lebanon. A million Syrians work in
Lebanon. It is a source of graft for Syrian officials on a massive
scale. Also, since Lebanon is a protectorate of Syria, the Syrians are
expected to protect it. If it is shown that Assad is incapable of
doing so, his rule over Lebanon will be endangered. He has been
getting away with murder until now. Using the Hezbollah, he has been
fighting a war against Israel by proxy, while pretending that he has
no control over these "freedom fighters." But on the night of June 14,
when the Israel Air Force attacked targets in Lebanon all the way to
Beirut, he quickly realized that the cost of continuing this charade
was prohibitive for him. That is when the Hezbollah was ordered to
stop shelling northern Israel.
What is the Barak government's policy? Are the Syrians to understand
that the Israel Air Force will return to attack targets in Lebanon
only if Katyushas are launched against Israel, but that the Hezbollah
can feel free to attack Israeli soldiers in the South Lebanon security
zone? Judging from the recent upsurge in Hezbollah activity, that is
how Israeli policy has been interpreted in Damascus. Unless a
different message is sent to Damascus, we are in for a continuation of
guerrilla warfare in southern Lebanon with all that that implies. In
due time, it is even likely to weaken the deterrent message delivered
by the Israel Air Force in June, and then the fear of Katyushas will
return to the Galilee.
It looks like our prime minister is seeking a third option - an
agreement with Assad on the Golan that will include a Syrian
commitment to immobilize the Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. According
to his announced schedule, he now has 13 months to go until he
concludes a peace agreement with Syria and 10 months to make good on
his promise to move the IDF out of Lebanon. His problem is not the
three-month discrepancy in the two schedules, but rather what happens
during the coming months, in which, according to his policy, the IDF
will be engaged in guerrilla warfare with the Hezbollah while being
limited by the "Grapes of Wrath" understandings.
The policy lacks logic and is likely to bring about further IDF
losses. If Barak counts on Assad's ability to restrain the Hezbollah,
why not demand that he do so now, thereby avoiding further IDF losses
in Lebanon? Why leave Assad with the Hezbollah's harassment of the IDF
as a tool during the negotiation? Why not make it clear to him that
there can be no negotiations as long as he permits further guerrilla
activity by the Hezbollah?
Barak's approach is reminiscent of Israeli policy during the many
years when there was no effective central government in Lebanon and
Israel had to deal with a collection of Shia, Druze, Christian and
Palestinian militias. In those days, there was really nobody Israel
could deter in that strife-torn country. Fighting a guerrilla war
against the hostile militias was the IDF's only option. All this
changed on the eve of the Gulf War, when the Syrians began their
takeover of Lebanon, and in the ensuing years established complete
control over the country. Now there is a clear-cut address to whom our
deterrent message can be sent.
Of course, doing that and showering compliments on the Syrian dictator
may not seem entirely consistent. But first things first. Let's
protect our soldiers and only thereafter worry about Assad's
sensibilities
=====================================
Recommended Site
=====================================
Jabotinsky Institute
http://www.jabotinsky.org
via: Likud Party <likud@likud.org.il>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Liberation of temple slaves
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 12:55:03 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
A Christian minister helps liberate temple slaves in the Volta
region of West Africa. Ghanaian church leader Walter Pimpong and
a team of ministers travel through the region starting churches
and freeing women from bondages to fetish priests, Pulse
newsletter said.
...More than 4,000 women and girls are in bondage to temple
priests, the newsletter said. A traditional religious practice
called trokosi allows families to atone for their sins by giving
the priest a young girl who serves him for the rest of her life.
Although the practice was outlawed last year, it remains a
problem.
...Pimpong and others visit the priests and encourage them to
release the women. The visits also give him a chance to explain
to families Christ's perfect sacrifice that atones for all sins.
Many girls who are freed, and some fetish priests, become
Christians, Pimpong said. More than 14 churches have been started
through the ministry, and training classes have begun so girls can
learn a trade.
http://www.religiontoday.com
News Summary for Thur, Sep 9, 1999
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - 144,000
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 10:21:01 EDT
From: Godis4ever@aol.com
Although I have always been taught that the 144,000 Jews that are sealed
during the tribulation are witnesses that spread the gospel throughout the
whole earth, I can find no solid Biblical evidence of this fact.
I would like to start a discussion on this topic. If anyone knows of
Biblical references that support the above theory or any other theory
concerning the 144,000 I'd love to review it. Articles, web pages, or other
research oriented materials would be greatly appreciated as well.
Love in Christ,
Gail
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - The world's oceans seem to be draining away
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Thu, 9 Sep 1999 17:55:47 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Subject: The world's oceans seem to be draining away (Forwarded)
To: SEDSNEWS@listserv.tamu.edu
New Scientist
UK Contact:
Claire Bowles, claire.bowles@rbi.co.uk, 44-171-331-2751
US Contact:
New Scientist Washington office, newscidc@idt.net, 202-452-1178
EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE: September 8, 1999, 2 p.m. EDT
The world's oceans seem to be draining away
Within a billion years, our planet could be as dry and barren as Mars,
claim geologists in Tokyo. They have calculated that the oceans are
leaking water into the Earth's mantle five times as fast as it is
being replenished.
Geoscientists believe that a huge reservoir of water is bound up in
minerals in the transition zone between the upper and lower mantles,
about 400 kilometres below the Earth's surface (New Scientist, 30
August 1997, p 22). Water enters the mantle at subduction zones, where
oceanic crustal plates dive under continental plates. It returns to
the surface at volcanic hot spots and mid-ocean ridges, where molten
rock from the upper mantle is pushed up through the Earth's crust.
Most researchers have assumed that these flows are roughly in balance.
But when Shigenori Maruyama and his colleagues at the Tokyo Institute
of Technology tried to provide some hard numbers, they came to a very
different conclusion. Each year, they say, about 1.12 billion tonnes
of ocean water seeps into the mantle's transition zone. Yet they can
only account for 0.23 billion tonnes moving in the opposite direction.
"The world's oceans will dry up within a billion years," says
Maruyama. "Earth's surface will look very much like the surface of
Mars, where a similar process seems to have taken place."
Maruyama bases his calculations on estimates of the volume of rock
being subducted and the volume leaving the mantle, and experiments
showing how much water is absorbed by the minerals, primarily
lawsonite, formed in subduction zones at about 100 kilometres below
the surface.
As they travel deeper, these minerals become unstable and release the
water into hydrous dense silicates, which enter the transition zone.
But this happens only if the temperature increases relatively slowly
with depth -- otherwise the water would be released at a shallower
depth and return to the surface. "In the early part of Earth's history
the temperature gradient in the subduction zones was far too high,"
says Maruyama. "But around 750 million years ago the subduction zones
cooled to the point where the process could begin."
Since then, Maruyama estimates, the leakage will have caused sea level
to drop by around 600 metres. This trend would largely be obscured in
the geological record by shorter-term variations in sea level.
Maruyama will present his findings at a meeting of the American
Geophysical Union in San Francisco in December. But his team's work is
already making waves. "The general idea appears quite plausible," says
Raymond Jeanloz of the University of California at Berkeley. The
difficulty, he says, is being sure you've accounted for all the
mantle's inputs and outputs.
Maruyama believes that his figures for water loss from the oceans are
conservative. But he admits that there are uncertainties about the
exact amount of water emerging from mid-ocean ridges.
Even if Maruyama's calculations are spot on, however, the process will
not counter the short-term problem of sea level rises caused by global
warming. And a billion years from now, the Earth will probably have
bigger problems than leaky oceans. By that time the Sun will be
expanding, making life uncomfortably hot for whoever -- or whatever --
is still living on the planet.
###
Author: Peter Hadfield, Tokyo
New Scientist issue 11th September 99
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