BPR Mailing List Digest: 09/28/99

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
September 28, 1999

Digest Home | 1999 | September, 1999

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Religion Today (9/28/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 09:44:39 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

C U R R E N T N E W S S U M M A R Y
by the Editors at ReligionToday.com

September 28, 1999

Republican presidential candidates are commending home schoolers
and warning big government not to interfere with their success.
Republicans George W. Bush, Steve Forbes, Gary Bauer, Patrick
Buchanan, and Alan Keyes, as well as independent New Hampshire
Sen. Bob Smith, appeared during a conference Sept. 24 at the
Daughters of the American Revolution Auditorium in Washington,
D.C. They proclaimed their support for parents who teach their
children at home, and said the government should leave the
growing home school movement alone.
...Democratic presidential candidates turned down or ignored an
invitation to speak, said Michael Farris, 48, president of the
Home School Legal Defense Association (see link #1 below), which
sponsored the conference.
...The energy and commitment of loving parents should be
respected, and home schooling should be "protected from the
interference of government," Bush, the governor of Texas, told
the crowd of several hundred people. He pointed out that home
school students perform better than other children on
standardized tests.
...Bush's pro-home schooling comments later drew the ire of
Patricia Ewing, spokeswoman for the Democratic National
Committee. She said it is inconsistent for Bush to insist on
federal accountability for public schools yet not demand the same for
home-schooled children. Bush's spokesman Andrew Sullivan said the
governor wants to give parents a range of options, including home
schooling. ..."You've shamed the regular school systems with what
you've achieved," Forbes said at the conference. Critics have
questioned whether children who are taught at home are adequately
socialized, but "you look at some of our schools -- you call that
socialization?" Bauer said he would be a "reliable friend" of home
schooling in the White House. ..."It was an extraordinarily exciting
day," Farris told Religion Today. "There was a strong recognition that
the Christian home-schooling movement has become a mainstream and
major force in our society." ...An estimated 1.5 million children are
taught at home, compared with only a few hundred when the HSLDA was
founded in 1983. The group has 65,000 member families. Construction
crews broke ground in Purcellville, Va., this month for the first
college designed specifically for home schoolers. Patrick Henry
College, run by the HSLDA, is expected to open in the fall of 2000.

The feminization of mainstream Christianity continues to drive
men from the pews, Leon Podles, author of The Church Impotent,
said. As men leave, women are assuming leadership roles, putting
greater emphasis on feminine themes. "It's no longer politically
correct to think of God as Father. So we come up with metaphors
for God that is feminine or neutered. Men feel uncomfortable with
that," Catholic writer Mitch Finley said. ...Of the nation's 94
million men, only 26 million attend services regularly, and some
researchers say the number may be as low as 13 million, The Washington
Times said. American men "are one of the massive pagan subcultures on
earth today," a Barna Research Group report said. ...A lot of men are
driven away by sentimental sermons about "falling in love with Jesus,"
Podles said. Most men want to hear about the Jesus "with lines on his
face, blisters on his hands, and bruises on his knuckles helping me to
fight temptation," who "commanded the respect of Peter the fisherman,"
Promise Keepers spokesman Steve Chavis said.

Nine church workers on a humanitarian mission have been murdered
in East Timor. The workers, including three nuns, a priest, and
two seminarians, were traveling from Lospalos in the far eastern
part of the country to Bacau Sept. 25 when their car was attacked by
anti-independence troops, Reuters said. Their bodies were dumped into
a river. It is unclear whether militia or the Indonesia military
attacked the car. The nuns have been identified as Erminia Cazzaniga,
69, and Celested de Carvalho Pinto, 48. The priest is reportedly the
head of the Caritas Roman Catholic aid organization in Bacau. The
group was assessing humanitarian needs in the eastern region of the
country.

Cassie Bernall's killer may not have asked her if she believed in God,
authorities say. But at least three students insist the conversation
took place. ...Bernall, a Christian teen-ager, has been hailed as a
modern-day martyr because her assailant at Columbine High School on
April 20 reportedly asked her if she believed in God, then shot her
when she answered, "Yes." But police investigators said they can't
confirm that the conversation happened. "There just seems to be a real
question whether the dialogue took place," Jefferson County Sheriff's
office spokesman Steve Davis said. ...Witnesses tell different
versions of the incident, say investigators, who believe that students
in the library may have heard an exchange between Valeen Schnurr, who
survived the attack, but misattributed it to Bernall, investigators
told Salon, an Internet magazine. "Many of the kids were actually
hiding under desks and hearing only bits and fragments of the
conversation," one investigator said. "It appears that exactly who
they taunted, what questions were asked, and who replied what may
never be crystal clear." ...Three students have confirmed that the
conversation took place between Bernall and her killer, Chris
Zimmerman of Plough Publishing Book House said. Plough is publisher of
She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall, by Bernall's
mother Misty. The book details Cassie's adolescent troubles and how
she became a Christian through participation in a church youth group.
"We don't feel this discussion (about the exchange in the library)
detracts from the value of the book," Zimmerman said.

About 1,500 pastors and church leaders went to Disneyland last
week to learn how to reach the modern generation. The 1999 Preach the
Word Conference, led by southern California pastor and evangelist Greg
Laurie, attracted pastors from across the nation, the Los Angeles
Times said. Speakers included Laurie, Franklin Graham of Samaritan's
Purse (see link #2 below), Anne Graham Lotz, and Dallas pastor Tony
Evans. ...Pastors should preach the Gospel in a clear and relevant
manner, Laurie told the crowd. "People were put off by the odd
mannerisms of pastors on television," he said. "We want people to look
beyond weird wrapping paper and see what's in the box." Graham
encouraged the group to return to their congregations fired up and
ready to tell them that God loves them. "Today, people don't feel
loved. A lot of people aren't even sure there is a God," she said.
...Pastors can get weary, volunteer John Douthitt said. "Pastors can
get bogged down like anyone else. This event helps them keep their
focus and gives them support."

-----------
RELATED LINKS:
1: http://www.hslda.org/
2: http://www.Samaritan.org

http://www.religiontoday.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (9/27/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 09:44:39 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

Historic Census of Priests and Levites to Begin Tonight

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz 7

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- A census of all Kohanim (Priests) and Levi'im
(Levites) - the first of its kind in 2,000 years - will kick off
tonight in Jerusalem, in the context of the annual gathering of
supporters of the building of the Third Temple. With the census,
organizers are attempting to recreate the schedule of priestly and
Levitical duties that existed during Temple times.

New York: West Nile-like virus outbreak confirmed

Weekend News Today
By Weekend Staff
Source: Yahoo! Reuters

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- New York City and State health officials are
collaborating with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
to investigate a West Nile-like virus outbreak that is presumed
responsible for some of the cases previously believed to be St. Louis
encephalitis. The CDC confirmed on Sunday that 25 individuals have
been classified as laboratory-positive cases of the West Nile-like
virus, with 162 additional cases now under investigation. Of the 25
confirmed cases, 14 had previously been confirmed as cases of St.
Louis encephalitis, including 3 deaths. Both West Nile virus and St.
Louis encephalitis are transmitted through the bite of an infected
mosquito and are closely related, although the West Nile virus
generally causes a milder disease in humans, according to the CDC.
West Nile virus has never before been identified in the US or any
other part of the Western Hemisphere, the CDC noted last week.

Golan committee rebukes Albright's latest statement

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz 7

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- In related news, Chairman of the Golan Residents
Committee Avi Ze'ira yesterday dispatched a letter to U.S. Secretary
of State Madeleine Albright in light of her "deeply damaging
statement" supporting a full Israeli retreat from the Golan. Ze'ira
demanded that Albright "cease supporting the Syrian position," and
instead "become a fair and impartial facilitator" in the diplomatic
negotiations between Israel and her Arab neighbors.

Forum against further Israeli withdrawals gaining steam

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz 7

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- Ariel Sharon will seek to bring the National
Religious Party into the joint forum he founded yesterday with Eli
Yeshai. Last night, Sharon revealed that Yisrael B'Aliyah leader and
Interior Minister Natan Sharansky has already expressed a willingness
to join the newly-formed entity. Sharon made the comments last night
at the dedication ceremony of the new Yeshiva building in the Har
Hevron community of Otniel. He told those in attendance that such a
body, combined with diligent opposition activity in the Knesset, would
add much-needed fuel to the struggle against further territorial
withdrawals. "Everything is still in our hands," Sharon observed. Also
attending last night's ceremony were: Housing Minister Rabbi Yitzchak
Levy (NRP) and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Winner Eli Weisel.

Land route linking West Bank and Gaza Strip opens Oct. 3

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: AP

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- Israel will open a land route for Palestinians
between the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Oct. 3, two days later than
stipulated in the most recent peace agreement, officials said Monday.
The so-called safe passage will allow Palestinians for the first time
to move freely between the West Bank and Gaza. It is expected to boost
trade, bring families closer together and ease the sense of isolation
felt by many of the 1 million residents of Gaza, a crowded coastal
strip ringed by barbed wire fences. Under the most recent peace
accord, Israel was to open the safe passage on Oct. 1. However, the
date falls on a Friday, the Muslim day of rest and the start of the
Jewish Sabbath. Officials in Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
office said the safe passage would instead open on the next business
day, Oct. 3, a Sunday. The route, using existing roads in Israel,
starts near the West Bank village of Tarkumiya and leads to the Erez
Crossing between Israel and Gaza.

Christian Embassy shocked by Barak snub

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz

Mon 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.
Members of the International Christian Embassy generally tend toward
the right of the political spectrum, although they hold all of the
country's leaders in great esteem, regardless of their political
alignment. Some 5,000 Christian supporters of Israel from 100
countries, including 15 Muslim countries, have arrived here for this
year's gathering.

France undertakes financing new PLO seaport

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- According to a report in the daily Haaretz, the
government of France has agreed to finance the construction of a new
seaport in the PLO Authority (PA) autonomous area in Gaza. The deal
was reportedly reached during weekend meetings between PA Chairman
Yassir Arafat and French officials. The report indicated that France
agreed to undertake financing about 50 percent of the port's 80
million dollar price tag.

Report: IDF Conducting Trials with Anthrax Vaccine

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Sep 27,1999 -- According to a report by Israel Radio quoted by the
AP News Agency, the Israel Defense Force has been carrying out tests
on soldiers using the anthrax inoculation. The reported tests are to
assess the effectiveness and adverse reactions of the vaccine in the
event of the need to use it on citizens following an attack with
biological agents. AP reported the IDF spokesman declined comment on
the report

via: bible_prophecy-news@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Plants that grow plastic
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:09:34 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

From http://uk.news.yahoo.com/990928/29/8iv7.html

Tuesday September 28, 12:03 PM

For our next trick, plants that grow plastic
By Peter Gruner

Monsanto announced today that it has created genetically modified
plants that can grow plastic.

The material produced in the plant is not only biodegradable it is
also suitable for widespread commercial use.

The news will further increase doubts that the biotechnology company
is concerned about widespread public opposition to GM technology or
plans to concentrate more on traditional farming.

The material is being produced experimentally in special varieties of
GM oilseed rape and cress.

Conventional plastics are made from oil and do not degrade easily. But
the University of Lausanne's Yves Poirer, commenting on the research
published in Nature Biotechnology, said: "There is a growing awareness
that petroleum is a finite resource and that the indestructibility of
plastics can be more of a nuisance than a benefit.

"Synthesis of the materials in crops represents not only an attractive
approach to the renewable production of bioplastics, but also an
excellent method of increasing the value of the crop by adding novel
characteristics to plants." Scientists have long been looking for ways
of making plastics that are better for the environment.

They have already tried using special strains of bacteria to produce
plastic naturally under certain conditions.

But this is a costly process. One kilogram of this plastic would at
best cost $3-5, compared with $1 per kilogram for petroleum-derived
plastic.

Furthermore, the end product is too brittle for most applications.

However, the scientists at Monsanto in the United States have managed
to produce biodegradable plastic from plants using genetic
engineering. They have done this by inserting four genes from the
plastic-producing bacteria into varieties of oilseed rape and cress.

This turns the plants into biological "factories" making plastic that
can then be extracted from the plant.

Unlike bacterial plastics, the plant plastic is suitable for
commercial use.

Also, plastic-producing bacteria have to be fed carbon, in the form of
glucose, which has been extracted from a crop.

In contrast, plants take carbon directly from the air and so the
plastic from the GM crops is likely to be relatively cheap.

via: isml@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - You are what you ware
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 12:27:39 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

From Wired News,
http://www.wired.com/news/news/culture/story/21976.html
-
You Are What You Ware
by Michael Stroud

3:00 a.m. 28.Sep.99.PDT

LOS ANGELES -- You're walking around some huge computer show wearing a
cracker-sized sliver of silicon that was part of your conference
registration package. Your stylish "infocharm" comes with a tiny
infrared transceiver that automatically captures which booth you
visited, whom you talked to, and how long you spent there.

Each day when you leave the conference, you stop at a kiosk, where
your badge automatically emails you the names, phone numbers,
addresses, and other personal information for the 100 people you've
talked to during the day.

InfoCharms Inc., a spinoff of the MIT Media Lab, says it has just such
a product and expects to demonstrate it at the upcoming Internet World
show in New York. And by Thanksgiving, it expects to be selling the
devices in bulk for US$10 each.

The invention is one of a number of tiny devices being developed by
InfoCharms and Media Lab researchers, priced up to $100, that they say
will allow people to perform a range of tasks, from remotely
controlling home appliances to connecting with like-minded people at
singles events, to sending out 911 distress signals over the Internet.

Each will be designed to fit snugly into fashionable slipcovers,
available for a small additional cost.

"People haven't thought of computers as being part of the social
scene, but rather as big iron chained to a desk," said Alex Pentland,
academic head of the Media Lab. "They haven't thought about what a
little computer might do to help daily human life. We have done
devices like this at Media Lab social functions, so we know that they
work amazingly well."

To whet public interest, InfoCharms is putting on a fashion show at
Internet World promoting wearable computers developed by MIT Media
Lab, Georgia Tech (poultry inspection systems, among others),
Carnegie-Mellon University (computers in a T-shirt), and the Center
for Future Health (heart monitors and related medical wearables).

Sponsors for the show, complete with leggy high-fashion models,
include Hewlett-Packard and Red Herring magazine. Wearables are "much
more addictive than cell phones," said Alex Lightman, InfoCharms'
president and chairman. "Here's a prediction: Wearables will start
outselling hand-held mobile phones within five years, and never look
back."

continued

Lightman, an MIT graduate, partnered with international model Katrina
Barillova to create a consumer market for wearables technology
developed by the MIT Media Lab. He licensed the technology for an
undisclosed amount estimated to be well into six figures.

Dataquest research fellow Martin Reynolds says that devices such as
InfoCharms' intelligent conference badge would be easy to produce at
very low cost. "You can buy remote controls with similar infrared
capabilities [as with the conference contact-recording infocharm] for
$9.99," he said. "You could program your Palm Pilot to do the same
thing."

The difference, of course, is that Palm Pilots cost hundreds of
dollars and are a lot bulkier than InfoCharms' devices.

The key here is simplicity and low cost. Unlike expensive,
multi-purpose PCs and mobile devices, MIT and InfoCharms are
purposefully designing very simple devices. The conference device, for
example, only has 8KB of memory.

The conference chip is simply a pointing device that creates a cryptic
record of encounters with other people. Hooked to an Internet database
of show attendees through the conference kiosk or a laptop, it points
to the Web address where each contact's information resides.

Because the amount of information needed for this pointing utility is
so small, you can "bookmark" several thousand contacts on one
inexpensive piece of silicon.

InfoCharms' conference device uses a key feature of the Internet: its
ability to store vast amounts of information that a user can access on
demand but doesn't need on his own computer. It's the same basic
principle that allows you to view your bank statements, back up your
hard drive, or surf a newspaper on the Internet.

So why aren't PC companies and hand-held computer producers making
these inexpensive devices? "Why in the world would a computer company
want to sell you something cheap when they can sell something
expensive?" Lightman said

via: isml@onelist.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Seven Nails Ceremony
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 12:34:54 +0000

From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>

TWO MEMORIAL EVENTS AND SEVEN NAILS
At least two events have been or will be held in the memory of two
young Jews recently murdered by Israeli-Arab terrorists. A march was
held yesterday in the area of Megiddo, where Yechiel Finfiter and
Sharon Shteinmetz were murdered a month ago by an Israeli-Arab member
of the Islamic Movement. Tomorrow afternoon, in Kibbutz Beit Rimon in
the Galilee, a new plaza will be dedicated in their memory, and will
be named Shai Square [the initials of the victims' names].

Another ceremony will take place at the same time in the kibbutz.
Ground will be broken for a new neighborhood - Kerem Rimon
[Pomegranate Orchard] - which will include 108 single and duplex
housing units. The ceremony will feature the re-enactment of a
Mishnaic-period ceremony that took place in the same area, and will
end with a similar hammering of seven nails into a stone. A kibbutz
press release explains how, in response to the Roman persecution of
Jewish sages, seven previously little-known rabbis took it upon
themselves to perform the leap-year ceremony:
"One of the most important aspects of the Jewish world is the Jewish
calendar, normally adjusted only by the Sanhedrin [Supreme Jewish
Court] - which was dealt a mortal blow by the Romans. These young
sages took it upon themselves to carry out a ceremony that would
demonstrate the vitality and unity of the Jewish community. As the
Jerusalem Talmud explains, they then took a marble stone, into which
each rabbi hammered a nail. This showed how even when the situation
appears hopeless, the spirit - symbolized by the rabbis' nails - can
overcome even the hardest of material substances - the marble. Faith
will overcome despair."

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, September 28, 1999 / Tishrei 18, 5760

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Religious scroll causes a stir
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:45:24 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Is 'Angel Scroll' archaeological treasure or a hoax?

ASSOCIATED PRESS

JERUSALEM, Sept. 27 A religious text that has mysteriously
surfaced in Israel and is being billed as one of the lost Dead
Sea Scrolls uses some of the same phrases and imagery as the
other 2,000-year-old writings, a scholar said Monday after
studying excerpts. But it´s too soon to say whether the Angel
Scroll is a major find that will shed new light on Jewish
mysticism and the origins of Christianity, or an elaborate hoax,
said Stephen Pfann, president of the University of the Holy Land.

Full story:
http://origin.msnbc.com/news/316304.asp?cp1=1

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - More on the upcoming November experiment with the RHIC
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 07:57:59 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

"If scientists can be counted on for anything, it's for creating
unintended consequences." (Michael Dougan)

-------

David Melville is an eccentric physicist and thinker, and a
friend of mine. He´s also terrified.

Melville is preoccupied with what he regards as the most
dangerous event in human history: an experiment, scheduled for
November, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y.
Brookhaven has a device, called the Relativistic Heavy Ion
Collider, that has the world´s physicists tremendously excited.
Scientists believe they can use the collider to duplicate the
conditions that prevailed milliseconds after the Big Bang, when
the universe consisted of a primordial soup called the quark-
gluon plasma. Brookhaven scientists think that by colliding gold
ions at extremely high speed, they can create a tiny, fleeting
version of quark-gluon plasma to gain a better understanding of
the origins of the universe.

Sounds like fun. The only problem, according to David
Melville´s panicky e-mail, is that, "It has been theorized by
Steven Hawking that from this quark-gluon plasma other forms of
matter are also produced. The most dangerous being a black
hole."

Full story:
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/tech/FredMoody/moody.current.html

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Hurricane Floyd brings snakebites
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 08:04:01 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 27 (UPI) Reports of snakebite are on the
rise in eastern North Carolina as the creatures have been forced
to seek higher ground because of flooding from Hurricane Floyd.

State medical experts predict a rising number bites and
injuries from displaced reptiles over the next few weeks.

"We've been seeing about a two- or threefold increase in the
number of reports of snakebite from our poison center system-
wide," a spokesman for the Carolina Poison Control Center in
Charlotte, N.C., said Monday.

http://news.excite.com/news/u/990927/16/news-tropical-carolinas

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Palestinian Negotiator on the Jerusalem Issue
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 10:13:57 -0500

From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>

Palestinian Negotiator on the Jerusalem Issue

MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 47
September 28, 1999

Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI)
1815 H Street, NW Suite 404 Washington, DC 20006
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077
E-mail: MEMRI@erols.com
Website: www.memri.org

[MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be
cited with proper attribution.]

Palestinian Negotiator on the Jerusalem Issue

Following is an interview (1) with the PA Minister for
Jerusalem Affairs and Permanent Status negotiation team member,
Faisal Al-Husseini:

Demands in West Jerusalem

Question: What is the Palestinian negotiation strategy on
Jerusalem?

Al-Husseini: First, we discuss Jerusalem - East and West. We
are not ready to give up [any] of our rights in West Jerusalem,
let alone East Jerusalem. We have property there, as well as
holy places and history. The second issue is that it was agreed
that the negotiations would be based on UN Resolution 242, and
therefore, the borders between the two sovereignties are the
borders of 242. This, however, does not negate our demand for
our rights [in West Jerusalem.] Maybe, just maybe, in some of
the areas, there can be changes in the borders. Nevertheless,
our rights there [in West Jerusalem] are not to be compromised
because we own 70 percent of West Jerusalem on both the popular
and the institutional levels.

Part of the remaining 30 percent is governmental land Israel
inherited from the British mandate, which does not mean it has
become part of their right, because West Jerusalem is not
rightfully Israel's but rather a part of the Corpus Separatum
determined in the UN resolutions, primarily the Partition
Resolution. No country recognizes Jerusalem [as capital of
Israel] and therefore, there are no foreign embassies in it...
This unique status of Jerusalem enables us to demand our rights
in West Jerusalem.

Our overall view of the future is that East Jerusalem will be
the capital of the Palestinian State, and West Jerusalem a
capital for them. The borders, however, must be open and the
relationship between the two sides must continue. Then, there
should be additional administrative or security measures in
order to run these two parts without contradicting the interests
of either of the parties, and without damaging our sovereignty
over East Jerusalem.

Question: Are you using West Jerusalem as a bargaining chip?

Al-Husseini: It is not a bargaining chip, but rather part of
our rights. It is non- negotiable. We Palestinians own 70
percent of West Jerusalem, including property and holy places.
How can we overlook these rights?! This is not a tactical
process...

A recent Israeli public opinion poll showed that 36 percent of
the Israelis would agree, for the purpose of a lasting peace
with the Palestinians, to make concessions on Jerusalem. The
talk of [Jerusalem as] a taboo are over. The Israeli officials
cannot claim there is an Israeli consensus on this issue...

Question: How can you talk about open borders, when Barak
stresses that the purpose of the negotiations with the
Palestinians is to achieve a full and comprehensive separation
from the Palestinians?

Al-Husseini: ...The complete and over all separation between
the two peoples requires that there be a specific position for
the two peoples: the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is all
Palestinian land that cannot [include] Israeli sovereign areas
in it. This is what separation means. But if [Barak] insists
on leaving the settlements in our territories in any way shape
or form, it means he creates a situation similar to that of
Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Question: Barak said recently that if the Palestinians continue
to demand everything, the situation would end up like in
Kosovo...

Al-Husseini: Our position is like that of the Albanians [in
Kosvo], and the Israelis are closer to the Serbs, which means
that if he insists on that, his destiny will be like the Serbs.

The Beilin-Abu Mazen Document

Question: Some Palestinians expressed concerns that the alleged
"Beilin-Abu Mazen" document would become the goal of the
negotiations, especially regarding Jerusalem, although
Palestinian officials, including yourself, refute the existence
of this document?

Al-Husseini: It is not me who refutes that. Beilin himself
said that we did not sign or agree to this document. He also
said that the most important thing regarding this document is
that neither of the sides agreed to it. It was an Israeli
suggestion Beilin presented to Mahmoud Abbas [Abu Mazen] and
other Palestinians. It does not reflect the Palestinian
position or Abu Mazen's position.

Question: Can you elaborate on what was included in the
document?

Al-Husseini: The document included the enlargement of
Jerusalem's current borders so they would include the Abu Dis,
Al-'Eizairya, and the rest of the villages that surround the
city, as well as the settlements Ma'ale Adumim and Pisgat Zeev.
The Palestinians would declare part of "the new enlarged
Jerusalem" as their capital and Israel would announce the other
part was its capital. The Jewish areas would remain under
Israeli sovereignty. The Palestinian places would come under a
joint sovereignty or civil government, and Palestinian
sovereignty would be [applied] gradually. This process would
continue for 25 years, after which, the future of the Old City
would be determined. When this was presented to me, I asked:
"Why not 25 weeks?" This does not mean that I agreed to the
proposal. Rather, I wanted to tell them that they want 25 years
to completely erase our existence.

Beilin told Abu Mazen that these were ideas to be negotiated,
and asked him if he agreed to this idea, Abu Mazen said he did
not. Beilin asked Abu Mazen if he was satisfied with these
ideas as a basis for the negotiations, Abu Mazen's reply was
negative. Beilin asked Abu Mazen if he could tell Rabin that
Abu Mazen reviewed these ideas, Abu Mazen agreed. Beilin took
the ideas to Rabin, but Rabin was assassinated before he had a
chance to see the document...

Al-Husseini's Status as PA Negotiator

Question: The Israeli media campaigned against your membership
in the Palestinian Final Status negotiation team, because you
are a citizen of Jerusalem. What is your comment?

Al-Husseini: This is unacceptable. It would mean that no
Israeli living in Jerusalem can participate in the negotiations,
including Barak, whose chamber is in West Jerusalem, because the
negotiations will deal with all of Jerusalem and not East
Jerusalem only.

Endnotes:

(1) Al-Hayat (London), September 26, 1999

The Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) is an
independent, non-profit organization providing translations of
the Arab media and original analysis and research on
developments in the Middle East. Copies of articles and
documents cited, as well as background information, are
available upon request.

via: freemanlist@lists.io.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Archaeological Items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 1999 13:52:19 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Evidence of the Great Flood supports Noah's Ark saga

COMPELLING evidence that there was a Great Flood, as told in
the Old Testament story of Noah's Ark, has been found far below
the waters of the Black Sea by an American expedition.

Underwater surveyors, led by Robert Ballard, the renowned
oceanographer who found the Titanic and other sunken ships of
the 20th century, have discovered an ancient coastline at a
depth of 450ft.

"I am not sure whether it is Noah's flood or not Noah's flood,
but I do buy that there was a flood," said David Mindell, one of
the surveyors.

Full story:
http://www.the-times.co.uk/news/pages/Times/timfgnusa02001.html?999