BPR Mailing List Digest: 08/30/00

Philologos
BPR Mailing List Digest
August 30, 2000

Digest Home | 2000 | August, 2000

To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 08:41:12 -0400

Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit'

Austin Ruse
Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2000

   Any pretense that the "World Peace Summit" is anything other than a
   cover for a left-leaning agenda was stripped away as American media
   mogul Ted Turner addressed nearly 1,000 hooting delegates Tuesday in
   the U.N. General Assembly Hall.

   New Age billionaire Maurice Strong introduced Turner by saying he had
   done more for peace, the environment and the United Nations than any
   other person. Turner bounded toward the podium as the cheering crowd
   seemed to welcome a conquering hero.

   Immediately Turner denounced his own childhood Christian faith. The
   crowd´s laughter turned to approving whoops as Turner explained he
   turned away from Christianity when he discovered "it was intolerant
   because it taught we were the only ones going to heaven. That
   confused the devil out of me since that would have left heaven a very
   empty place."

   Turner´s meandering, off-the-cuff speech praised "indigenous"
   religious faiths and then wandered through a paean to the things all
   humans have in common – "culture, language, love of birds,
   butterflies, wives and flowers." In his spiritual search Turner
   realized that there was one God and multiple ways he manifests
   himself and that it makes little difference which one is chosen. This
   approach is precisely what evangelical Christians fear about the
   World Peace Summit.

   Among a small group of conservative Christians monitoring the event,
   Darren Logan, foreign policy analyst for the Washington-based Family
   Research Council, called Turner´s speech "the most blasphemous thing
   I have ever heard in my life."

   Logan said Turner advanced the notion of "reductionism," which
   suggests that all religions are essentially the same. "Turner
   believes true tolerance means doing away with the uniqueness of all
   faiths and marginalizing all faiths that profess an exclusive
   component, like Christianity and Islam," said Logan.

   Contrasted with the enthusiastic reception for Turner´s left-leaning
   remarks, the delegates gave an icy reception to the Patriarch of
   Ethiopia, who urged protection for unborn children. The same reaction
   greeted the assistant secretary general of the Muslim World Congress
   when he urged delegates to recognize only marriage between "a man and
   a woman" and denounced all "abnormal sexual activities."

   Minutes later a Buddhist "master" received a standing ovation when he
   condemned all attempts at religious conversion, something at the
   heart of Islam and Christianity.

   As it is, the summit is taking place under a cloud for excluding the
   Dalai Lama under pressure from the government of China; and
   evangelical Christians have pointed out that only one representative
   from their ranks, the Rev. Billy Graham´s daughter, has appeared at
   the podium.

   The reaction of the delegates fuels the growing suspicion that the permanent
   advisory to be established here will simply rubberstamp the agenda of
   Ted Turner, Maurice Strong and other powerful leftists working within
   the U.N. system.

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/8/29/192330

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Global Eco-Standards for Motor Vehicles in the Works
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 08:41:13 -0400

Global Eco-Standards for Motor Vehicles in the Works

By Cat Lazaroff

NEW YORK, New York, August 29, 2000 (ENS) - An international
agreement to develop globally uniform environmental regulations for
motor vehicles took effect Monday. The agreement, pending for the past
two years, was developed under the guidance of the United Nations to
help "harmonize" the world´s automobile standards.

Full Story:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug2000/2000L-08-29-07.html

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - U.S. proposes four sections of control for Temple Mount
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 08:49:57 -0400

Wednesday, August 30, 2000

U.S. proposes four sections of control for Temple Mount

By Aluf Benn and Daniel Sobelman
Ha'aretz Correspondents and AP

A proposal to divide the Temple Mount area into four sections, each
containing a different mix of powers for the two sides, has been discussed in
the talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority taking place under
American and Egyptian mediation. The four sections would be: Al-Aqsa
Mosque and the Dome of the Rock shrine; the Temple Mount plaza; the
external wall; and the subterranean spaces.

Next week, U.S. President Bill Clinton will meet separately in New York -
against the backdrop of the United Nations' Millennium Summit - with Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A Barak-Arafat
meeting and a three-way summit are not being ruled out.

Clinton met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday at Cairo
airport to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Arafat will meet with
Mubarak today in Cairo.

Israel is stepping up its campaign to pressure Arafat to show greater
flexibility on the Jerusalem question and to drop his demand for full
Palestinian sovereignty on the Temple Mount and in the Muslim, Christian
and Armenian Quarters of the Old City.

Control of the Temple Mount is at the heart of the dispute between Israel and
the Palestinians in the negotiations to formulate a framework agreement for
the permanent settlement, and it is the main focus of the mediation efforts of
Cairo and Washington. Formally, the two sides continue to insist on full
sovereignty at the site, with Israel willing to grant the Palestinians the status
of "guardians of the holy places" on the mount and to continue the
arrangement which has existed since 1967 whereby the Waqf (Muslim
religious trust) administers the Temple Mount.

An Israeli source hinted yesterday that Israel will be ready to entertain
"creative" ideas about sovereignty on the Temple Mount if they are accepted
by the Palestinians as a basis for discussion. "If we could agree with the
Palestinians to leave intact the existing situation on the Temple Mount, of
Israeli sovereignty, which was declared unilaterally, and Palestinian
administration, that would be a great achievement for Israel," he said.

He noted that the Palestinians were "demanding sovereignty but might in the
end agree to examine ideas of divine sovereignty." He said that although
sovereignty was "a symbolic matter," the subject also had practical aspects
relating to the powers of each side, and particularly "the law in effect at the
site and its enforcement, planning and building arrangements, and
maintaining security. If someone opens fire on the Temple Mount or tries to
attack a mosque, which policeman will arrest him, who will judge him?"

Barak yesterday told U.S. peace envoy Dennis Ross, in Jerusalem to brief
the premier on the Clinton-Mubarak meeting, that Israel has yet to hear
anything that could point to flexibility or openness by Arafat. A statement
issued by the Prime Minister's Bureau repeated Barak's longstanding
evaluation that the chances of reaching an agreement were "50-50."

Barak is refusing to discuss bridging proposals about Jerusalem raised by
Egypt and the U.S. since the Camp David summit until Arafat makes his
stand known. However, Jerusalem does not expect Arafat to disclose any
new positions before he meets with Clinton next week in New York.

If it turns out that the dispute over the Temple Mount and the Old City cannot
be resolved, Israel will be ready for a mutually-agreed postponement of the
Jerusalem question for five years, with the present situation to remain in
effect during the intervening period. In that case, however, the Palestinians
will not accede to Israel's demand to declare "the end of the conflict." Israel
proposes stating in the agreement that the conflict has ended but that both
sides still have conflicting claims about Jerusalem.

Clinton's meeting with Mubarak, which took place as the president headed
home after an African trip, lasted nearly two hours. The two leaders did not
hold a press conference afterward, though Clinton made a point of praising
Egypt's role at the start of the meeting, saying that "without the involvement
and leadership and support of Egypt," the peace process would not be
possible. He added that not much time remained to reach a solution.

Dennis Ross told reporters that "a very active effort" was being made by the
sides, together with Egypt and the United States, "to find ways to overcome
differences," and cautioned that the "window of opportunity" was gradually
closing.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=08/30/00&
id=91065

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - God, not civil rights, features in new textbook for civics students
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 08:55:11 -0400

Wednesday, August 30, 2000

God, not civil rights, features in new textbook for civics students

By Relly Sa'ar
Ha'aretz Education Correspondent

In the coming school year, eleventh and twelfth graders across the nation will
take a new civics course much more limited in scope than the previous
years. As a result, the students will graduate high school without knowing
about human and civil rights or the rights of minorities in Israel. They will also
learn nothing of their democratic rights: how to vote in elections, the right to
appeal to the Supreme Court, or the role of the state comptroller as an
oversight ombudsman for the public.

The chapter that describes the historical foundations of the democratic idea,
tells the juniors and seniors that "democracy views the will of the people as
the utmost ideal," and that "freedom and equality are fundamental values of
democracy." The students are also taught the development of the idea of
social contract.

But there is also a chapter on "the significance of the covenant in Judaism,"
which discusses the link between the nation and its God. As part of this
approach the students will be taught from a book called "Being Israeli
Citizens": "During the period of Ezra and Nehemia, a special alliance was
forged between the nation and God, the 'covenant' ... this is the first time that
the nation accepted unto itself the authority of the oral Torah...the ceremony
of forging the covenant was accepting the Torah as the constitution of the
state and the nation."

A teacher from the Sharon area said that "the new curriculum is the same for
public schools and public religious schools, and this is the reason to include
the religious aspects in civics, but the choice is wrong. The students won't
learn about the institution of the presidency, political parties in Israel, local
government, Arabs in Israel or how government power can be restricted in a
democracy. These are all subjects which are less important for the
Education Ministry than the covenant between God and Moses." Ezra and
Nehemia "belong in Bible class, not civics," she said.

Shlomit Amichai, the ministry director-general, has denied that the chapter
on the presidency won't be included in the curriculum. But on May 21, Hana
Sapir and Sarah Vider, in charge of the new civics curriculum, issued
instructions to teachers nationwide, with the required study chapters from
the textbook "Being Israeli citizens." The chapter on the presidency is not on
the list. Pupils will be required to read the chapters on "What is a
democracy," "What is a democratic state," and "The regime and politics in
Israel."

Furthermore, the students will not be tested on all the material in the
matriculation exam on civics. As it does annually, the Education Ministry will
announce in April which parts of courses will not be included in their
respective matriculation exam. The result is that only 60 percent of the
material is included in the exam in any subject in order to alleviate the
burden on students taking as many as seven exames.

The teacher at the Sharon school told Ha'aretz: "Civics teachers will not
teach the chapters on the presidency if they are not included in the program
because there isn't enough time. They have to pack everything in a year and
a half, during three hours per week, in which enormous amounts must be
covered."

The chairman of the Pedagogic Secretariat at the Education Ministry,
Professor Michel Avitbul, in charge of all the education programs at the
ministry, announced yesterday that "the chapter on the institution of the
presidency will be returned to civics curriculum in the future, when the
matriculation exam in the subject will be worth two units as part of the
reforms in the matriculation exams." Refering to the religious segment in the
course, Avitbul said that "secular teachers can choose not to teach this
chapter.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=08/30/00&
id=91063

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US embassy site 'on stolen Arab land'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 09:06:45 -0400

August 29, 2000

US embassy site 'on stolen
Arab land'

                  Washington: In threatening to move the United
                  States embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
                  President Bill Clinton embarked last month on a
                  gambit that risked fuelling anti-American anger
                  throughout the Muslim world.

                  But that's not the only problem. According to a
                  leading Palestinian US scholar, the embassy would
                  sit on land taken by Israel half a century ago from
                  Palestinian owners, including some who now hold
                  US citizenship.

                  Mr Walid Khalidi, a former Harvard academic
                  and longtime general secretary of the Institute for
                  Palestine Studies, says at least 70per cent of the
                  3.1 hectare site chosen for the embassy in West
                  Jerusalem rightfully belongs to Palestinian refugees
                  and their heirs, of whom about 90 are US citizens.

                  But an official at the Israeli embassy in Washington
                  described the embassy site as "public land" that
                  belonged to British authorities before Israel
                  acquired it in 1948.

                  Mr Khalidi's study acknowledges that "the land in
                  question was located in what was known as
                  Allenby Barracks, the site of the British Army's
                  Jerusalem garrison".

                  But he cites evidence that the British leased the
                  property from 19 Palestinian families and an
                  Islamic religious trust. The US agreed to lease the
                  site from Israel in 1989 for $1 a year for 99 years.

                  Mr Khalidi says such a move "endorses the
                  wholesale confiscation of Palestinian refugee
                  property throughout Israel since 1948".

The Washington Post

http://www.smh.com.au/news/0008/29/world/world2.html

Link via:
http://www.newsviewtoday.com

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (8/30/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 09:11:43 -0400

*** Update: Australia will restrict UN access

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australia lashed out at the U.N. on
Tuesday, saying it will scale back contacts with the world body
because of criticism over its treatment of Aborigines. Foreign
Minister Alexander Downer said Australia will no longer allow U.N.
committees to visit, nor will it meet requests for information unless
there is a "compelling reason" to do so. The government said it would
restrict visits by U.N. human rights inspectors and urged an overhaul
of the U.N.'s committee system. Australia has been a member of the
United Nations since it was formed in 1945. Earlier this year, the
U.N. Human Rights Committee found that mandatory sentencing laws in
two Australian jurisdictions discriminated against Aborigines. It
criticized the government for failing to overrule them. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569304921-e20

*** Pope offers moral medical guides

ROME (AP) - Pope John Paul II sought Tuesday to lay down moral
guidelines for medical research in the 21st century, endorsing organ
donation and adult stem cell study but condemning human cloning and
embryo experiments. John Paul's address to an international
conference of 5,000 transplant specialists appeared to be an attempt
to set moral limits on such life-and-death issues as organ
transplants and related research. John Paul won applause from the
transplant experts when he encouraged organ donation, calling it an
"act of love." But if his stance against embryo research were
followed, "all these people with serious diseases would have no
hope," said one supporter of the research, Dr. Robert Goldstein of
the New York-based Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569312943-aca

*** Screenwriter: Don't donate to Dems

LOS ANGELES (AP) - In an open letter to Hollywood, "Basic Instinct"
screenwriter Joe Eszterhas urged colleagues to withhold donations to
the Democratic Party until "veiled threats" of censorship are
clarified. Eszterhas wrote Tuesday in his full-page Daily Variety
letter that he "likes pushing the envelope and Joe Lieberman
frightens me." He was referring to the vice presidential candidate's
efforts against what critics consider excessive sex and violence in
movies and television shows. "Let's make Joe Lieberman accountable
for his rhetoric," Eszterhas wrote. "Not a penny more until he
'clarifies' his positions to the satisfaction of our creative
freedom. Let's not let him dodge the issue." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569305408-bb5

*** Land-use groups challenge monuments

WASHINGTON (AP) - Land-use groups are challenging five new national
monuments in federal court, claiming President Clinton overstepped
his authority by putting new restrictions on 1.5 million acres in
Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state. The Mountain States
Legal Foundation and the BlueRibbon Coalition filed a lawsuit in U.S.
District Court here Tuesday seeking to overturn creation of the
monuments, which are among 10 Clinton designated this year on 4
million acres the government already owned. Mining, logging, oil
drilling and off-road vehicle use are banned or restricted in the
monuments. "The bottom line is, the president doesn't have the
authority to do what he's done," said William Perry Pendley of the
Mountain States Legal Foundation, a conservative group with a pending
lawsuit challenging Clinton's 1996 creation of a national monument in
Utah. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569306337-2c6

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Islamic fundamentalists challenge Moscow
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 08:38:19 -0500

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30 2000

Islamic fundamentalists challenge Moscow

'Fanatics to carry out large-scale operations in all directions'

By I. J. Toby Westerman
(c) 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_westerman_news/20000830_xnwes_isl
amic_fu.shtml

Editor's note: WND's multi-lingual reporter Toby Westerman
specializes in monitoring global shortwave broadcasts and reading
foreign-language news journals for information not readily available
from the domestic press. Each month, Westerman presents a special
in-depth report in WorldNetDaily's monthly magazine, WorldNet.
Readers may subscribe to WorldNet through WND's online store.

Afghan-based Islamic guerrillas are threatening to de-stabilize the
vast, oil-rich region of Central Asia -- once an important element of
the former Soviet Union -- according to official Russian sources.

The responsibility for the guerrilla activity, Moscow claims, belongs
to Afghanistan.

"According to the latest information, nearly 2,000 well-armed
militants have amassed in Afghanistan," said the official report,
which added that the Taliban government of Afghanistan has "turned
[its] country into a hotbed of international terrorism."

The Islamic militants do not recognize any existing borders in the
region, and are reported to be organizing along the nearly
200-mile-long Fergana Valley, which stretches through the Central
Asian republics of Kirgizia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The main Islamic group, the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, appears
likely to continue its current offensive into Kazakhstan, the largest
of the Central Asian republics.

Reports indicate that the Islamic rebels are taking advantage of an
element of popular discontent with the secular governments and are
finding that young recruits are available in the region. The rebels'
ultimate goal is to link up with other Islamic groups in the Caucasus
region, especially in Chechnya, and form an Islamic nation stretching
from China on the east to the Black Sea on the west.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, less than two weeks ago,
reaffirmed Moscow's determination to defeat the rebel forces. Putin
confirmed "Russia's preparedness for concerted action" in cooperation
with the Central Asian states under attack.

In addition to its vast oil and other mineral reserves, Central Asia
is also seen as playing an increasingly important role in linking
Europe with China and the rest of the Far East.

Central Asia had occupied a similar role for many centuries as part
of the "great Silk Road" connecting Europe and China, while the
cities in the region grew wealthy in the role of middlemen.

In April, Russia suggested the establishment of a unified transport
network from Europe to China through Central Asia. Moscow claims
using such a land route would reduce by half the current cost of
transporting goods by sea.

The European Union in March designated $88 million for a link similar
to that advocated by Russia. The EU claims that its route, which
would go through the Caucasus region, would reduce the transportation
distance from Europe to China by some 700 miles.

NATO has also sought involvement in Central Asia. In May, NATO
Secretary-General George Robertson stated that Russia should work
with NATO for peace in Central Asia. He also warned that Moscow alone
is not able to counter Islamic extremism in the region.

In July, Robertson visited Central Asia and urged Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, and Kirgizia to work closely with NATO in its fight
against Islamic militants.

Moscow, on the other hand, claims that the presidents of Uzbekistan
and Kirgizia have complained that over the past year their nations
"did not get any concrete aid from ... NATO."

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: WHAT IS AGENDA 21?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 09:05:33 -0500

Great observations...
See the link/info below on Cultural Agenda 21,
Since nothing is being reported, for whatever reason, we continue down the
road (in the USA) of ignorant bliss...

My best guess is the following order:
1) Environmental Agenda 21 -already in effect
2) Cultural Agenda 21 -in the works
3) Religious Agenda 21 -legitimized and enacted in the vacuum of
the prior two

Shophar

@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

Letter to the ongoing International UNESCO Conference on Cultural Policies
for Development adopoted by the KLYS World Conference on Culture

Towards a Cultural "Agenda 21"
http://www.klys.se/worldconference/to_unesco_agenda_21.htm

In conjunction with the Intergovernmental Conference on Cultural Policies
for Development, KLYS, the Swedish Joint Committee for Literary and Artistic
Professionals, comprising 19 organisations with 30.000 members, has invited
colleagues from all over the world to meet in HSsselby Castle from March
30th to April 1st, 1998. The purpose of the meeting is to exchange views and
ideas of our creative work and to discuss the topics of the
Intergovernmental Conference from the point of view of artists and cultural
workers. As we all are here as independent individuals, not as
representatives of states, we have the liberty to contribute - with genuine
insight in the situation of culture - to the discussions of the Ministers.

The KLYS-event will be opened by the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr.Federico
Mayor, and is welcoming all interested participants of the International
Conference. Furthermore, we have decided to put all our discussions on
Internet so that our colleagues all over the world, where ever they are, may
have a chance to participate by addressing us via e-mail while our
conference goes on.

Already at the outset, the KLYS-meeting would like to make the following
general observations concerning the Draft Action Plan submitted by the
Director-General and presented to the Ministers of Culture. The plan
contains many constructive proposals, particularly those concerning the
interrelation between culture and development. We agree that culture is the
very essence of development policy, and we support the endeavours to insert
the cultural dimension in all important future conferences.

We also share the conviction that more resources must be made available for
cultural development, and that there should be specific recommendations to
states concerning the activities needed for the implementation of the above
mentioned overall goals. We find it excellent that there should be national
goals to be reached by each nation when it comes to cultural investments. We
also agree that the taxation system in each country should encourage
cultural support, instead of impeding it.

The Draft Action Plan then continues to recommend the Director-General of
UNESCO to explore the feasibility of organising a Global Summit on Culture
and Development. In this context the international KLYS-meeting of artists
and cultural workers is particularly concerned that such a summit must have
an implementary aspect. It will not be sufficient to once again just adopt
recommendations and action plans. A defined review mechanism has to be
established, and a decision to be taken calling on all member states to
submit national reports on their specific efforts to implement the Action
Plan once it has been adopted. Without such review and implementation, the
entire exercise risks to be futile. In other words: we would like the
Stockholm meeting to be the start of a cultural process leading to a broader
cultural awareness, much in the same way as "Agenda 21" has promoted a
widespread consciousness of environmental problems. The special quality of
"Agenda 21", namely, to discuss urgent problems on all levels, world-wide,
nation-wide, and local, should also guide our cultural aspirations. The
proposed Global Summit should be the first checkpoint on this road.

The Human Rights should also be contained in the Action Plan. Perhaps
Cultural Rights could be linked to them? Just before opening this
conference, we learnt that one our of invited colleagues, the famous
Indonesian dramatist Ratna Sarumpaet, has been arrested by the police for
having exercised her right to express her opinions in a human right
demonstration. One of her plays has recently been banned for political
reasons. This is a clear violation of the right to freedom of artistic
expression. Therefore, we urge that UNESCO must counteract when it comes to
oppression of freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech, there is no art,
and without art, no culture.

The KLYS conference is prepared to offer its co-operation and support for
these common goals, and will at a later stage of its deliberations
contribute concrete suggestions and remarks in our own final document.

Best regards

The participants of KLYS World Conference on Culture
Stockholm, Hässelby Slot, March 31st to April 2nd, 19998

-----Original Message-----
From: bpr-list@philologos.org [mailto:bpr-list@philologos.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 11:55 AM
To: bpr-list@philologos.org
Subject: [BPR] - Re: WHAT IS AGENDA 21?

When you copied this article you missed something on the bottom that is
very important.

"For further information contact your local Bahá'í community."

It only took one search to come up with information about Baha'i. It is
a religion. Seems to follow a "prophet" with the name "Bahá'u'lláh"

This "prophet" claims to be greater that all previous prophets including
Jesus!

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Joint Statement issued by Palestinian Muslim andChristianleaders (7/29/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 09:16:35 -0500

Not clear of your points. Is not the Old Testament, the inerrant word of
God, the Jew's title deed to Israel, hence Jerusalem?
BTW I struggle with the assertation that Moses had to "pass" for Egyptian.
Everyone was aware of the "adoption". The royal family, the populace, all
involved...Please develop your point to help me understand...Thanks...
Shophar

-----Original Message-----
From: bpr-list@philologos.org [mailto:bpr-list@philologos.org]
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 12:04 PM
To: bpr-list@philologos.org
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Joint Statement issued by Palestinian Muslim and
Christianleaders (7/29/00)

It is funny that the Jews want to "de-arabize" Jerusalem. Has anyone
ever asked themselves "how did moses pass as a egyptian when the Jews
are white?". The Jews that occupy Israel now are not the same Jews in
the line of David. They are mostly from Europe. They middle eastern
Jews would have been dark skinned..... Or the Egyptians were color
blind! So why are they trying to remove people who are more closely
related to the original Jews than they are. Maybe they should go home.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Weekend News Today items (8/29/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tracy")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 11:02:46 -0400

This is exactly how the "establishment" operates. When they fail in
other ways to regulate something they go for the vanity approach. You
will notice that this article points out in the first paragraph that
"CO-CREATOR" of the world wide web is saying that.

This says that he must know what he is talking about. But with most
lies, they are well hidden. Being a expert on computers systems does
not make one an expert on morality, law, ethics, or regulation. It does
not say why we should except a law requiring a license to surf the net
does it? (no real reason)

I figure this guy has a Idea to administer the test. for a small fee of
course.

The new world laws are a scary thing and are a step in the wrong
direction.

Forcing morality or behavior on other people robs them of the chance for
personal growth.

GOD gave us free will. Without free will there would be no TRUE LOVE!

GOD is certainly bright enough to understand that, if you have to
pressure someone to love you then it is not really love, but
conformity. If people are forced to act a certain way, they did not
change who they are and grow. They did not learn WHY we do what is right
and for the sole purpose of doing it because it is right. They just
"act" differently. Until a opportunity comes along when they can
revolt. which is a continuation of the circle.

BEWARE! There will be a lot of carefully crafted commercials set up
like news events that will try to get people to give away there rights.
Because of fear of crime and the words that others use. What someone
says can't hurt you unless you let it hurt you. We give our enemies
speech the power to hurt us. Not the other way around. Thought before
feelings. But people don't realize this and would rather allow blanket
searches of there house if it meant we might win the war on _________.
(fill in the blank, use what ever is the blame for societies ills
today) In the usa it is was drugs. Then it was (still is) guns. The
new wave is coming and that is the cost of health care to people who
don't take care of themselves. Tobacco law suet's, next will be fast
food or the genetically unhealthy. It is all about using fear to get
you to go along with the new way of "managing" the people (resources).
You see we must produce more than we cost for us to be welcome in the
new society. The question is what will happen to the people who don't?

We have 10 laws God gave them to us. After that it is virtue.

Instead of creating a GLOBAL MONSTER of a government why don't we teach
the basics to all humans. 10 commandments, ethics, philosophy,
virtues.

If everyone new those things and what it led to all things would take
care of themselves, with GODS blessing.

Tracy

Moza wrote:

> GLOBAL laws on cyberspace
>
> Weekend News Today
> Lead: faith
> Source: Nando Times
>
> Tue Aug 29,2000 -- A co-creator of the World Wide Web says it is time for
> cyberspace, to require user's net permits/licenses, and a global legal
> framework. Robert Cailliau's interview is published in Thursday's issue of New
> Scientist. "The Net is a space in which you encounter others, so there has
> to be some regulation of behavior, not content," Cailliau said. He suggests
> that people be educated in how to use the Internet, rather as schools teach

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) Corpocracy: End of Freedom & Private Ownership?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:38:38 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------

Date forwarded: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 23:53:50 -0700 (PDT)
Send reply to: transhumantech@egroups.com
Subject: [>Htech] Corpocracy: End of Freedom & Private Ownership?

From: Paul Hughes <paul@planetp.cc>

I don't know about you guys, but the recent trends among Corporate
America to strengthen Intellectual Property Laws beyond the DMCA has got
me very concerned and agitated. I'm all for seeing creators of
intellectual property be compensated fairly for their work, but recent
moves within our legal system are really starting to disturb me. I
think the story "The Right to Read" by Stallman at:

http://www.gnu.ai.mit.edu/philosophy/right-to-read.html

paints a very compelling reason to limit the protections of current
intellectual property. The intent of copyright in the first place was
to grant the creator, for a *limited* time, a monopoly on that idea for
personal or financial gain as an incentive to spur further creativity in
society. But now corporations have managed to co-opt this principle by
extending such protections indefinitely. Its been the principles of
'Fair Use' that have allowed our knowledge pool to grow and evolve. It
has been compellingly argued that if Shakespeare were alive today, he
would not have been able to publish the majority of his plays under
current IP restrictions. Regardless of any other free-market principles
that's a pretty sobering thought. Limiting and locking up knowledge to
the extent that corporations are now trying to do can only mean a deeper
poverty of knowledge and capital down the road. As a person who
believes in a diverse competitive free-market the current trends in
Corporate America have really gotten me down. Is it time for a
reassessment? Is capitalism the problem, or is what we have so
perturbed by regulation that it can't truly be called capitalism?
Either way, their is definitely a growing unrest as to what many people
see as Corporate Power gone out of control. The recent scuffle in
Seattle is only the beginning of more civil unrest over the issue of
Corporate Profits vs. Individual Liberties.

Jusr in the last year or so Microsoft's has campaigned successfully to
change existing ownership laws and rights in 5 states to favor their
leasing paradigm. Is this a sign of much worse things to come? Already
Microsoft has taken a strong position that when you buy their software
by saying you do not own your copy, you are only licensing the right to
*use* it. And along with that granted right to license this software
you will be subject to all the stipulations of said license.

Beyond the fact that I wholehearted disagree with the ludicrous idea
that I can't own software I buy, ultimately Microsoft has every right
to do with their product (I mean service) as they please. This is all
encompassed in their their new .NET strategy by the way. Luckily for
now, LINUX is defying this leasing model. But what really bothers me
about this is the trend of many software companies moving away from
private ownership of software into the 'leasing a service' paradigm.

--> Already Microsoft has put into some of their licensing agreements
stipulations forbidding any user of their service from disparaging the
company in any way. In other words, as long as your using a Microsoft
product (damn, I mean service) you have no freedom of speech, as you
signed that right away when you signed up for their service. If you
violate this part of the license they'll yank your privileges. It is my
understanding that a new feature implemented in Office Suite 2000, has a
mandatory connection to Big Brother (damn, I mean Microsoft). If a
connection is severed for a certain period of time your license will be
revoked.

Hopefully big business around the world will not catch on to this nifty
loophole in our legal system as a way of stripping everyone of their
freedoms as a condition to use their service. Of course you don't have
to use their service, but if they are the only game in town (through
sufficient merging and consolidation), your only alternative would be to
live in the proverbial tent.

I have always tried to maintain freemarket principles, but when I see
corporations gaining this much power over individual lives, I begin to
doubt those beliefs and my appreciation of capitalism as usual. Now,
here is a scary question - is capitalism now at odds with the spirit of
a free market, and more importantly individual liberty? For those with
strong reactions to this question, I am urging you to respond as
intelligently and rationally as you can.

Paul Hughes

------- End of forwarded message -------

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - DISNEYVILLE GETS A CHURCH
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:05:46 -0500

DISNEYVILLE GETS A CHURCH
"The church isn't the building, it's the people who gather,"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/leisure/tempo/printedition/article/0,2669,SAV-
0008300038,FF.html

COMMUNITY PRESBYTERIAN FILLS GAP ON CELEBRATION'S MAIN STREET

By Mark I. Pinsky
Orlando Sentinel
August 30, 2000
CELEBRATION, Fla. -- Like a new theme park attraction, the first church
built in Celebration is getting a "soft" opening.

The first service at Community Presbyterian Church`s sanctuary was Aug. 20,
after weeks of frustrating construction delays but well before the Sept. 17
dedication. It may take until then, church officials say, to work all the
bugs out of the high-tech house of worship. Until mid-August, the
congregation had been meeting at a local movie theater.

When ground was broken on the two-acre downtown site in October, Rev.
Patrick Wrisley, the congregation`s minister, proclaimed: "The kingdom of
God has been planted in the shadow of the Magic Kingdom."

The church is historic in ways that extend beyond Celebration, a planned
community built by the Walt Disney Co.

At Disney theme parks around the world, Main Street, USA, is meant to embody
all the elements of a small, Midwestern town a century ago: dry goods store,
fruit stand, ice cream parlor, theater, fire station, railroad station and
town hall. The only thing missing from this idyllic tableau is a church.

In a sense, Main Street`s missing element has been filled with the Community
Presbyterian Church.

The $3 million structure on Celebration Avenue was built with a $300,000
gift from Dorothy Puder, a niece of Walt and Roy Disney, and her husband,
Glenn, a retired Presbyterian minister, who live in Bakersfield, Calif.

Ironically, Celebration planners envisioned a white, clapboard church that
would have been at home on Disney`s Main Street. But the pastor and the
congregation had other ideas, opting for what they call a "post-modern
church."

"We wanted to take the best of the classical element of church architecture
and blend them with the best technology of tomorrow," said Wrisley, 40.

Disney officials, including Chairman Michael Eisner, approved the design.
The structure includes a traditional steeple with a 126-year-old bell
salvaged from a rural church in Iowa.

Wrisley said planning for the church was not "micromanaged" by Disney
officials, who agreed to share town parking with the congregation on
Sundays.

"They`ve been very helpful and supportive," he said. "I can't slam them.
They`ve been some of our biggest cheerleaders."

Inside the 21,000-square-foot church, there will be razzle-dazzle worthy of
a Disney attraction. The 450-seat sanctuary is as well equipped for
audio-visual effects as a Broadway theater: 32 channels of sound and 73
channels of lighting, plus a high-speed Internet connection with eight
workstations.

"We wanted to build a church that engaged the senses," Wrisley said. But the
road to the new church has not been entirely smooth.

Original plans called for an $11 million facility, but that was scaled back
because church planners realized it was too ambitious.

Delays extended the time the congregation had to make do without a permanent
home, but the minister was undaunted. While waiting for the facility to
open, the congregation published a cookbook.

The congregation has about 300 adult members, a third of whom come from
outside Celebration to worship, Wrisley said.

"The church isn't the building, it's the people who gather," he said.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Pre-marital sex compulsory?
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Shophar_Sho_Good")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:22:30 -0500

29/08/2000 21:42 - (SA)
Pre-marital sex compulsory?
http://news.24.com/News24/South_Africa/0,1113,2-7_904368,00.html

Neels Jackson

Johannesburg - "Sex before marriage should be compulsory," Unisa theologian,
Prof Christina Landman, said on Monday night at a conference on Critical
Issues on being a Christian.

Landman said she had seen too many women find out only after their wedding
that their husbands were impotent or that they had strange sexual
requirements or desires.

Landman was among a panel of theologians answering difficult questions put
forward by members of the Andrew Murray NG Congregation of Johannesburg
North.

Among the questions asked was whether divorced or single Christians could
have sex.

Reverend Dirkie van der Spuy of the Moreleta Park NG Congregation in
Pretoria said the Bible very clearly stated that sex should be kept within
the safe and sanctified boundaries of marriage.

He referred to Jesus who caught a woman committing adultery and said "go
forth and sin no more". He also quoted Jesus as saying that a man who
desired a woman in his thoughts had sinned already.

Landman, however, responded by saying it all depended on which part of the
Bible one read.

Landman did not advocate promiscuity but referred to the therapeutic
qualities of sex in relationships, which were close to marriage. She saw sex
as a form of communication, which needed to be sorted out before the
wedding.

Van der Spuy said a couple first had to sort out all other forms of
communication before having sex.

A social worker in the audience said that in her experience many problems
could be attributed to pre-marital sex.

Management consultant and theologian, Dr Bertie du Plessis, said that while
he did not want to take a stand on the issue, people had to remember that
marriage today was a very different proposition to marriage in Biblical
times. Maria was probably only about 13 years old when Jesus was born.
People were often married at the age of 12. Today people married at the age
of 25 or later when their sexual peak has already passed.

Until a century ago, a man undertaking to stay faithful to his wife until
death, knew there was only a 20% chance that she would be with him until
then because of the high possibility of her dying in childbirth. He could
then marry for a second and maybe even a third time.

A woman making the same promise knew that it was probably only for 15 years.

This should be borne in mind when discussing marriage in modern times.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Huge ancient sun-worshippers' temple found in eastern Germany
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:58:16 -0500

via: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com

Agency France Press - August 29 2000

Huge ancient sun-worshippers' temple found in eastern Germany

BERLIN - Archeologists in Germany say they have discovered the
remains of a huge prehistoric temple comparable to but earlier than
the Stonehenge of the ancient Britons. The early Bronze Age temple
unearthed at Kyhna near Deliztsch in the east German state of Saxony
is believed to have been built around 5000 B.C., making it about
2,000 years older than the British edifice.

"There has never been such a spectacular discovery made in Germany,"
said Hanning Hassmann of the regional archeological office.

Like Stonehenge and other similar but smaller ancient remains in
Europe, the stones of the Kyhna site, north of Leipzig, were laid out
in precise alignment with the rays of the sun at the summer solstice.

The stones can no longer be seen but their position and that of
related earthworks is indicated by a variation in the plant life on
the earth's surface.

Aerial photographs of the agricultural land in question clearly show
two sets of concentric circles, one of four circles and the other of
two, with the largest being 120 metres in diameter.

The larger set of circles was apparently entered by four open gates:
one to the northeast and one to the southeast have been clearly
identified, those to the northwest and the southwest presumed.

Priests are believed to have held pagan rites of sun and moon worship
at the site in connection with the changing of the seasons. Skeletons
at the site suggest that human sacrifice was also practiced.

Archeologists were originally led to an array of early Bronze Age
artefacts at the site, after an accidental discovery made during
pipe-laying work in 1979.

But only 15 years later, after the fall of the Berlin Wall which made
private plane overflights possible in eastern Germany, did a
systematic survey of the area start to indicate the importance of the
site.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Another Unidentified Flying Object lands in D.G. Khan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 12:59:06 -0500

via: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com

From DAWN, Pakistan's most widely circulated English language
newspaper

http://www.dawn.com/2000/08/28/top11.htm

Another Unidentified Flying Object lands in D.G. Khan

By Tariq Birmani

DERA GHAZI KHAN, Aug 27: An unidentified flying object (UFO) which
came from the west side landed in the tribal area of Dera Ghazi Khan
on Sunday night, reports reaching here said.

The UFO which was seen flying over Fort Munro and Rakhi Gaaj towns of
the tribal area hit the ground between Baghalchor and Rounghin, some
80km from here, at 8.30pm.

Sources in the Border Military Police (BMP) quoted tribesmen living
in Rounghin area as saying the unidentified flying object had come
from the West, Balochistan.

"It was nose-diving and after a few moments the sky was lit up," the
tribesmen said. Sources ruled out the possibility of casualties
because the area where the UFO probably landed was deserted.

Uranium-rich Baghalchor is out of bound area whereas Rounghin has a
scattered and thin population.

Sources in the office of the tribal area political assistant
confirmed receiving the report and said a team had been sent to the
area to ascertain the facts.

It was the second UFO which landed in the tribal area of southern
Punjab in the last two weeks.

Earlier, an object which was also seen flying over several towns of
Balochistan had landed near a PAF air base in the tribal area of
Rajanpur district on Aug 15.

Its wreckage was removed by members of sensitive agencies a few days
ago. The divisional administration is tight-lipped over the issue.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Re: Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit'
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Tracy")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 14:14:53 -0400

From turners speech

  " Turner´s meandering, off-the-cuff speech praised "indigenous"
   religious faiths and then wandered through a paean to the things all
   humans have in common – "culture, language, love of birds,
   butterflies, wives and flowers." In his spiritual search Turner
   realized that there was one God and multiple ways he manifests
   himself and that it makes little difference which one is chosen."

This sounds "nice" but it has a serious flaw in its philosiphy. To say
it doesn't mater wich way you choose breaks a natural unchangeable law.
Credit must go were credit is due! Otherwise a lie and a murder is
created. I also noticed that the U.N. and Turner are both
hypocrites. As the article points out the Dalai Lama was not invited,
Plus Turner points out that we all have wives in common. But many
people don't have wives like homosexuals. He probable doesn't even
realize he excluded the gays. Like he cares anyway. He is in love with
the notoriety of doing more for peace, the environment and the United
Nations than any other person. Does this include GOD, or Jesus?

Moza wrote:
>
> Turner Attacks Christianity at U.N. 'Peace Summit'
>
> Austin Ruse
> Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2000
>
> Any pretense that the "World Peace Summit" is anything other than a
> cover for a left-leaning agenda was stripped away as American media
> mogul Ted Turner addressed nearly 1,000 hooting delegates Tuesday in
> the U.N. General Assembly Hall.

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (8/30/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 19:41:56 -0400

Peace declaration presented by religious leaders at UN

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Reuters

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- Religious leaders have presented U.N. Secretary-
General Kofi Annan with a commitment to global peace, declaring all
religions equal while recognising the equality of men and women. The
Dalai Lama, leader of Tibetan Buddhists, delivered, in absentia, an
official message to the "Millennium World Peace Summit" on Tuesday after
being excluded from events at the United Nations by the non-U.N.
organisers due to Chinese government pressure. Participants in the
four-day meeting of 1,000 religious leaders are being asked to sign the
declaration and demonstrate a commitment to take an active role in
helping to reduce war and poverty and make environmental protection a
priority. The document, titled, "Commitment to Global Peace," condemns
all violence committed in the name of religion.

Palestinian, Israeli speakers to address European Parliament

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- The speakers of the Israeli and Palestinian
legislative assemblies will share a platform to address the European
Parliament next week, European Union officials said Wednesday. In a move
described by a senior EU deputy as unprecedented, Knesset Speaker
Avraham Burg and the Speaker of the Palestinian Assembly Ahmed Korei
(Abu Ala'a) will address the parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday. "This
step attests to both parties' wish for peace and dialogue," European
Parliament President Nicole
Fontaine said in a statement.

U.S.-Israeli laser shoot down two Russian test rockets at once

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- A high-energy laser weapon designed to defend
Israel's northern border with Lebanon has successfully shot down two
Russian-built test rockets at once, the U.S. Army said Wednesday. The
test Monday, at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, marked the
first trial of the Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) against multiple
rockets in the air at the same time.

The THEL "technology demonstrator," the world's first high-energy laser
designed for operational use, shot down a lone Katyusha rocket at White
Sands for the first time on June 6. "We've just turned science fiction
into reality," Lt. Gen. John Costello, head of the Huntsville,
Ala.-based Army Space and Missile Defence Command (SMDC), said of the
first shooting down of a 10-foot-long
(three-metre) 122 mm unguided rocket.

The Personal Satellite ASSISTANT!

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Space.com

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- When the prototype for NASA's Personal Satellite
Assistant (PSA) was first unveiled a year ago, headlines across the
country compared it to HAL 9000, the omnipotent mastermind robot. That
comparison was only partially accurate. Though the softball-sized PSA
will be able to offer crew members advice on intricate systems upgrades,
monitor oxygen levels on the craft and even do maintenance, it won't be
exactly on scale to HAL 9000, Gawdiak said. "HAL 9000 had control of the
entire system," he said. "The PSA is more like a droid from Star Wars.
They're designed to help the crew with the menial tasks, like
monitoring”. The PSA's main advantage is that it can float to cramped
trouble spots immediately, hone in on dangerous areas and remedy
problems on demand. Astronauts could use PSA as an advance scout,
sending it ahead to check the quarters for toxic gas or temperature
instability. The little robot will have a camera for videoconferencing,
as well as wireless network connections and navigation sensors, allowing
it to work on its own. In theory, the 5-inch (12.7- centimeter) sphere
could even recite the crew's horoscopes. It will be taught to speak and
understand English, at first.

The PSA will have numerous sensors, cameras, microphones, a display
panel and six fans for propulsion. In essence, the PSA will give the
crew another set of eyes and ears. Gawdiak said. A key role for the PSA
will be its ability to act as a liaison between the crew and ground
controllers. Ground controllers can move the floating ball into a
desired location, where on-board sensors can check the status of
experiments or communicate with the crew. The all-in-one space pal has
undergone a battery of tests at NASA's Ames Research Center in
California. "We're also testing its obstacle avoidance and its voice
recognition systems.” PSA team members are projecting as far as a decade
into the future to make educated guesses about the kinds of advances to
be seen in computer, imaging and sensor technologies. "In the two years
since we started [developing PSAs], we've seen a lot of change," he
said. "We'll probably see a lot of change in the next two years, too.
We'll just have to see what happens."

Islamic fundamentalists to carry out large-scale operations in all
directions

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: WorldNetDaily

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- Afghan-based Islamic guerrillas are threatening to
de- stabilize the vast, oil-rich region of Central Asia -- once an
important element of the former Soviet Union -- according to official
Russian sources. The rebels' ultimate goal is to link up with other
Islamic groups in the Caucasus region, especially in Chechnya, and form
an Islamic nation stretching from China on the east to the Black Sea on
the west. Russian President Vladimir Putin, however, less than two weeks
ago, reaffirmed Moscow's determination to defeat the rebel forces. Putin
confirmed "Russia's preparedness for concerted action" in cooperation
with the Central Asian states under attack.

The guerrillas are seeking to "break deep into the Central Asian
republics," and appear to be awaiting additional forces "to carry out
large-scale operations," according to the Voice of Russia World Service,
the official broadcasting service of the Russian government. The
responsibility for the guerrilla activity, Moscow claims, belongs to
Afghanistan. "According to the latest information, nearly 2,000
well-armed militants have amassed in Afghanistan," said the official
report, which added that the Taliban government of Afghanistan has
"turned [its] country into a hotbed of international terrorism."

The Russian government is expecting the situation in the region to
deteriorate further. Citing a statement from the National Security
Ministry of the Central Asian state of Uzbekistan, Moscow believes that
"Islamic fanatics are apparently expecting reinforcements from
Afghanistan in order to carry out large-scale operations in all
directions." The Islamic militants do not recognize any existing borders
in the region. NATO has also sought involvement in Central Asia. In May,
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson stated that Russia should work
with NATO for peace in Central Asia. He also warned that Moscow alone is
not able to counter Islamic extremism in the region.

In addition to its vast oil and other mineral reserves, Central Asia is
also seen as playing an increasingly important role in linking Europe
with China and the rest of the Far East. In April, Russia suggested the
establishment of a unified transport network from Europe to China
through Central Asia. Moscow claims using such a land route would reduce
by half the current cost of transporting goods by sea. The European
Union in March designated $88 million for a link similar to that
advocated by Russia. The EU claims that its route, which would go
through the Caucasus region, would reduce the transportation distance
from Europe to China by some 700 miles.

Quake hits Southeastern Australia

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: faith
                         Source: Yahoo/ AP

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- MELBOURNE, Australia An earthquake shook
southeastern Australia late Tuesday night, causing no significant damage
but prompting hundreds of calls to authorities, police said. The quake
struck at 11:06 p.m. and was centered in the Gippsland region, about 100
miles southeast of the state capital of Melbourne, said Tony Corke of
the Seismology Research Center. ``This part of Victoria is the most
active part of the state,'' Corke said. ``It's just that this was bigger
than most of them.''
Rattling windows were reported as far away as
Melbourne.

Jerusalem mayor endorses 'divine sovereignty' over city's holy sites

                         Weekend News Today
                         Lead: Kelly
                         Source: Ha'aretz

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- The mayor of Jerusalem on Wednesday gave
unexpected backing to an idea - floated in Israeli-Palestinian peace
talks - to declare God the sovereign over the city's main Muslim and
Jewish holy sites. The mayor, Ehud Olmert, said he supported the
proposal, provided there was no change in the current arrangement, under
which Israel is in charge of overall security, while Muslim clerics have
autonomy in administering their shrines. Olmert's announcement marked
the first time that a leading figure in the Likud came out in support of
a plan that ostensibly would fall just short of full Israeli control
over all of the city.

In recent days, the concept of "divine sovereignty" has been floated, a
term vague enough to win surprising endorsements from both Olmert and a
moderate Palestinian Cabinet minister, Ziad Abu Zayyad. "The idea of
divine sovereignty is something that can be pursued," Olmert told a news
conference Wednesday. "Fundamentally, it offers a continuation of the
present status quo, which means there is complete security control over
the Temple Mount by Israel, and at the same time complete access for
Muslims at the holy places of Islam.

Abu Zayyad, a top Palestinian Authority representative in Jerusalem,
said he also backed the idea of not assigning sovereignty over the holy
sites to either side, but that Palestinians should be in charge of
security. "If in practical terms, we will be the landlord there, why
argue about the issue of sovereignty?" Abu Zayyad told Israel TV on
Tuesday evening.

Editor's note: Please see the article below, "Palestinian Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) urges end to Oslo, confrontation with
'Israeli enemy'", for more on the Palestinians 'real' plans.

Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) urges end to
Oslo, confrontation with 'Israeli enemy'

Weekend News Today
Source: Ha'aretz

Wed Aug 30,2000 -- The Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP) called Wednesday for the suspension of talks with Israel and for
Middle East peace efforts to be turned over to the United Nations,
saying that Washington had failed as a mediator. "The PFLP calls for
suspending the talks based on American reference and on the hopeless
Oslo agreements," it said. "It calls for moving the Palestinian cause to
the United Nations to secure the implementations of its own relevant
resolutions. Facts have proven that the United States is no longer a
neutral mediator, broker or sponsor. It stood heavily on the side of the
policies of [Israeli] occupation and aggression."

The Damascus-based PFLP urged the Palestine Liberation Organisation's
parliament, due to meet on September 9, to stick to a September 13
deadline for a final accord. It urged Palestinians to prepare to
"confront the [Israeli] enemy. The enemy has left the Palestinian people
no choice but the options of confrontation and resistance as legal means
to confront the occupation."

http://www.upway.com/cgi/readnews.cgi?day=00_08_30&item=#967674143

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (8/30/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 19:55:13 -0400

"CREATIVE IDEAS" IN JERUSALEM
Prime Minister Ehud Barak "does not know" of any American proposal to
divide the Temple Mount into four jurisdictions. So declares a Prime
Ministerial press release this afternoon. Barak also said today that no
substantive negotiations are taking place between Israel and the PA, and
that newspaper reports to this effect are therefore "premature." Barak
will meet with U.S. envoy Dennis Ross again tonight.

The purported American proposal involves the division of Judaism's holiest
site - the Temple Mount - into four different zones and jurisdictions: 1) the
mosques, 2) the plaza, 3) the external wall, and 4) the cavities beneath the
Mount. A government official said yesterday that Israel would agree to
entertain "creative ideas" regarding the Mount. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud
Olmert said that such a plan is completely unfeasible, noting that "major
conflicts would erupt within a week." Olmert added that the Israeli team
negotiating with Arafat is doing the PLO leader's work "even better than
him... They are presenting negotiating positions vastly different than the
promises issued by Barak during last year's election campaign."

Atty. Dr. Shmuel Berkovitz, author of a thorough study on holy sites in
Jerusalem, is skeptical about the feasibility of the above proposal: "I doubt
whether either side would be willing to agree to divide the holiness of the
Temple Mount. Neither does the proposed division itself make sense. For
instance, how can you divide the mosques from the plaza? And what about
the rooms underneath? The area is too small to divide up in this way. It is
also hard to envision that the Israeli public will be willing to give up the holiest
site to the Jewish people, the source of the nation's holiness, to a foreign
element... On the other hand, all previous governments have neglected the
Temple Mount and eastern Jerusalem... and neither have I seen the religious
parties protest in any way against the Waqf's control of the Mount during this
period. Neither have they, or the religious public, cried out in a major way
against the Waqf's desecration of and illegal construction on the Temple
Mount..."

AMERICAN-JEWISH GROUPS CALL FOR EXTRADITION OF ABU HUNUD
TO U.S.
Six American Jewish organizations have urged U.S. President Clinton to
demand that Yasser Arafat surrender the terrorist Abu Hunud to the U.S.
Abu Hunud is responsible for the deaths of three American citizens - in
addition to 19 Israelis - and the wounding of many others. The terrorist
himself was wounded this week during the unsuccessful attempt to
apprehend him, and is now being sheltered by Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
Reports have been received that Abu Hunud will be "tried" by the PA tonight.

Abu Hunud's American victims include David Boim, a 17-year-old U.S.
citizen murdered in a drive-by shooting outside Beit El in May 1996; Mrs.
Leah Stern, a grandmother from Passaic, N.J., who was murdered in the July
1997 Machaneh Yehuda marketplace bombing in Jerusalem; and 14-year-old
Yael Botwin of Los Angeles, who was murdered in the September 1997 Ben-
Yehuda St. bombing in Jerusalem. Many American citizens were also
wounded in those bombings.

The Jewish leaders expressed concern that Abu Hunud "will not receive an
appropriate punishment at the hands of the PA," whose justice system "was
referred to by Secretary of State Albright as a 'revolving door,' because
terrorists detained by the PA are routinely set free or given extremely lenient
sentences." The statement continued, "Just last week, President Clinton
wrote to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations, of which we are member-organizations, pledging to do
everything he can to bring Palestinian Arab killers of Americans to justice.
The detention of Mahmoud Abu Hunud provides the United States with an
opportunity to ensure that a suspected killer of Americans receives American
justice..." The statement was signed by the leaders of the Zionist
Organization of America, National Council of Young Israel, Jewish War
Veterans of USA, Emunah of America, Poalei Agudath Israel, and the
American Sephardi Federation.

Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul Mofaz paid a visit to the elite Duvdevan unit
today, where he listened to soldiers and commanders speak "with tearing
eyes and trembling lips about what happened this past Saturday night." The
soldiers expressed "pain and anger" at the criticism that has been leveled at
the unit since the failed attempt to capture terrorist Abu Hunud and the
"friendly-fire" killings of three soldiers. Contrary to public rumor, the
Duvdevan unit will resume operations within days. Mofaz refused to discuss
the future of the unit's commander, who will testify today before the IDF
special commission set up to investigate the incident.

REPORTERS CITED FOR LIBEL
Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community, has filed
charges with the police against journalists Amos Harel of Ha'aretz and Yoav
Limor of Ma'ariv for "libeling and inciting against Hevron's Jews." An article
by Arnon in Makor Rishon two weeks ago provides the background:
"Ha'aretz, advertised as a newspaper for 'thinking people,' decided to begin a
private crusade against Hebron's Jewish community [over the past few days,
with articles blaming] Hebron's Jews for intentionally initiating attacks
against Arabs. These charges were backed up by anonymous sources,
usually quoted as "high-ranking officers." ... For example, one of the deeds
attributed to Hebron settlers is, 'five Israeli soldiers were injured by marbles
shot at them by Jewish children.' This is simply not true! The article's
author, Amos Harel, intentionally lied. The commander of the Hebron region,
Col. Noam Tivon, told me personally that this is false... The same goes for
the attitude towards Hebron's young women. The newspaper decided to
break with its traditional policy supporting women's rights and honor...
Complaints of sexual attacks and harassment issued by Jewish women are
spoken of as events that 'allegedly' happened..."

Today, Arnon explained to Arutz-7 that "the settlers must stop being
sacrifices of the media's falsehoods about them. Limor and Harel have
written outright lies and libels against the Jewish residents of Judea and
Samaria, and it's time for us to stop taking these things lying down, and
begin fighting back. The story about five marbles injuring soldiers is an
absolute lie - I checked with the IDF spokesman, as did correspondent
Haggai Huberman, and we were both told that it never happened. This is
close to a blood libel." Arnon said that he does not think the reporters "make
up these stories on their own - we are in fact trying to ascertain who are the
military sources that provide them with their 'information' - but it's the
reporters' job to investigate what they are told. My daughter was nearly
sexually attacked - how dare they write about 'fabricated' or 'alleged reports
of sexual harassment'?! It is time for us to respond to these libels."

TAKING AN "INSIDE" LOOK
A potentially major medical breakthrough in Israel has attracted significant
attention in the United States. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has
approved clinical testing on humans of a pill that uses video photography to
help diagnose the condition of the digestive track. The new technology was
developed by "Givun Imaging" corporation of the northern Israeli city of
Yokne'am. It features a $300-a-swallow pill, which measures 2.5
centimeters in length, passes through the digestive track, and leaves the
body naturally. It contains a tiny video camera powered by two miniature
batteries. A computer program also developed by Givun permits the
information amassed during the test to be transformed into a videotape for
later analysis and
diagnosis.

RALLY IN NEW YORK
Several American-Jewish groups have announced an "urgent rally" a week
from today, Wednesday, September 6, outside the United Nations, during
the "Millennium Conference" of world leaders. "It is vital that we be there in
strength to let the ABC team - Arafat-Barak-Clinton - know how we feel about
their efforts to destroy Israel... We invite all organizations and individuals to
participate." So declares a statement sponsored by Americans for a Safe
Israel, Chabad, Jerusalem Reclamation Project, Jewish Action Alliance, The
Center for Jewish Leadership, and Women In Green.

IN BRIEF
Fifteen European countries will commemorate "Jewish Culture Day" this
coming Sunday. The Jewish communities in these countries will open the
doors of their synagogues, mikvaot (ritual baths), and cemeteries. The
idea for such an idea was conceived by the Jewish Agency in 1996 in
Strasbourg, France, and has now spread to 15 countries...
The police have recommended that the editors of Ma'ariv and Yediot
Acharonot be indicted for their illegal publication of licentious ads. The two
continued to publish the ads even after the passage of legislation outlawing
such material as part of the newspaper...
Today, the eve of Rosh Chodesh Elul, special prayers are taking place at
the Western Wall in Jerusalem and at the Machpelah Cave in Hevron...

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, August 30, 2000 / Av 29, 5760

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Harpazo News items (8/30/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 19:57:45 -0400

Israel: Water Situation Critical

Water Commissioner Shimon Tal on Tuesday stated the water levels of
Israel´s aquifers have reached unprecedented low levels and there is
real reason for concern. The Kinneret on Tuesday measured at –213.29,
the lowest level ever recorded for the aquifer supplying about one-third
of the nation´s water. Tal added that while most suggestions and
decisions concerning solutions are correct and headed in the correct
direction, none of the proposals brings an instant solution to the most
serious problem. The present level of the Kinneret is dangerously close
to the water becoming salinated, rendering the Kinneret unfit for
providing our drinking water in the future. Experts explain that if the
water level is permitted to drop too low, the water beneath with flip to
the top, contaminating the body of water, a process that experts believe
would be irreversible. Israel Wire

Indonesian Islands Jolted by Severe Earthquake

A magnitude 6.8 earthquake hit Indonesia's Maluku Islands at 10:00 p.m.
on Tuesday. Although there were no immediately available reports of
injuries or damage, seismologists predicted a tsunami would occur. The
quake was followed 33 minutes later by a magnitude 5.9 aftershock.
Seismologists reported that the quake was centered about 50 miles
west-southwest of the capital city of Ambon, and occurred 21 miles
beneath the surface of the earth. During the past 20 months, the
strife-torn islands have been the scene of ongoing Muslim-Christian
battles in which at least 4,000 people have been killed. Earth Alert

Quake Hits Southeastern Australia

An earthquake shook southeastern Australia late Tuesday night, causing
no significant damage but prompting hundreds of calls to authorities,
police said. The quake struck at 11:06 p.m. and was centered in the
Gippsland region, about 100 miles southeast of the state capital of
Melbourne, said Tony Corke of the Seismology Research Center. "This part
of Victoria is the most active part of the state," Corke said. "It's
just that this was bigger than most of them." Rattling windows were
reported as far away as Melbourne. AP

Colombia Jolted by Quake

A magnitude 4.3 earthquake rattled the coffee growing region of Colombia
on Monday afternoon, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or
damage. The country's National Seismology Institute reported that the
quake was centered near the city of Piedras in Tolima Province, and
occurred about 19 miles beneath the earth's surface. A magnitude 6.2
temblor that hit the same region last year killed at least 1,230 people
and left 250,000 others homeless. Earth Alert

Mount Oyama Erupts Twice

A volcano on an island south of Tokyo erupted twice Tuesday, prompting
officials to order the evacuation of all remaining school children.
Mount Oyama, which had been silent for 17 years until it erupted in
June, first exploded Tuesday at 4:35 a.m., covering the island in a
cloud of smoke that rose over five miles. The 2,686-foot volcano on
Miyake island, about 120 miles south of Tokyo, erupted again at 2:53
p.m., the Meteorological Agency said. According to Satoshi Enomoto, a
municipal official on Miyake, there were no immediate reports of damage
or injuries. Earth Alert

Mount Etna Volcano Explodes

Italy's Mount Etna Volcano erupted on Monday afternoon, raining ash on
the Sicilian city of Catania to the south. Although lava and ash spewed
a plume high into the Mediterranean sky, officials reported that no
inhabited areas were threatened. Lava flowed from the volcano's youngest
crater, located on its southeastern flank. Etna is Europe's largest and
most active volcano. In 1987, it claimed the lives of nine tourists when
they hiked too close to the edge of an active crater. Earth Alert

Tropical Storm John Expected To Intensify

Tropical storm John formed over the Pacific Ocean on Monday and began
moving at 5 mph on a west-northwesterly path approximately 1,150 miles
east-southeast of Hilo, Hawaii. By early Tuesday, the storm was packing
winds of 63 mph, which were predicted to steadily intensify during the
next several days. At present, the storm does not pose a threat to any
land masses. Earth Alert

Tropical Storm Prapiroon To Rain On Taiwan

Tropical storm Prapiroon took a sharp turn to the north on Tuesday as it
moved toward mainland China. Although the path will take the storm away
from the northern tip of Taiwan, warnings were issued on Monday for the
northern half of the island as well as the eastern coast. Chen Yi-liang,
of the Central Weather Bureau, predicted that heavy winds and torrential
rain would hit the capital Taipei and the port city of Keelung as the
outer bands of the storm approached. He said the storm could intensify
to typhoon strength as it moved nearer Taiwan. Prapiroon will pass near
the island less than one week after devastating typhoon Bilis hit,
causing widespread damage. By early Tuesday, Prapiroon was located
approximately 280 miles east- southeast of Taipei, Taiwan, and moving
on a northwesterly path at 8 mph. Earth Alert

Cancer Vaccine 'Close' Scientists believe they are close to developing a
vaccine for cancer, and plan to begin trials later this year. The
vaccine has proved effective on mice - stopping the growth of all cancer
tumours. The vaccine is based on gene therapy and appears to wake up the
body's immune system encouraging it to attack and kill cancer tumours.
Through gene therapy, the body's genes are taught to recognise cancer
cells through a protein that only exists on the surface of tumours.
Yahoo

Gore Backs Greater U.N. Role

Vice President Al Gore would back expansion of the United Nations' power
and peacekeeping operations as president, but Republican candidate
George W. Bush said he would "never place U.S. troops under U.N.
command." The two presidential candidates, responding to questions from
a pro-U.N. lobbying group, both endorsed the world body's traditional
role in weapons inspections, peacekeeping and humanitarian efforts. But
Mr. Bush drew the line at putting American troops under U.N. command.
The two candidates disagreed earlier this month - in written responses
to questions - on the extent of U.N. authority and U.S. responsibility
to pay assessments for U.N. operations not sanctioned by both the
administration and Congress. "The U.N. not only can serve broad global
interests in peace and prosperity, it also can contribute in varied and
cost-effective ways to our security, prosperity, and safety," Mr. Gore
told the Washington-based Campaign for United Nations Reform (CUNR).
Washington Times

www.harpazo.net/news.html

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (8/30/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 20:02:35 -0400

*** Clinton: Disbarment is too harsh

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The testimony at the center of President
Clinton's disbarment lawsuit was so minor that stripping him of his
law license would be too severe a penalty, his lawyers said. Their
comments came Tuesday in a five-page response to a state disciplinary
panel's complaint that the president gave misleading testimony during
the Paula Jones sexual harassment case and is no longer fit to be a
lawyer. Jones filed suit in May 1994, alleging Clinton made a crude
sexual advance toward her three years earlier in a Little Rock hotel
room. Jones' lawyers had hoped to use evidence of Clinton's
relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky as part
of an attempt to show a pattern of predatory behavior. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569321453-483

*** U.S. leaders not sent to UN meeting

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - More than 140 countries are sending top
lawmakers to the first global gathering of parliamentary leaders. But
the United States isn't sending anyone - and it's barred the speaker
of Cuba's National Assembly from coming. While the
Inter-Parliamentary Union, which organized the conference, says all
its member parliaments are democratically elected, human rights
experts have questioned the democratic credentials of some
participating countries - including Iraq, Congo, and Yugoslavia. And
the participation of some parliamentarians at the three-day
conference, which starts Wednesday, has been challenged. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569327497-a24

*** Cuban legislator lashes out on visa

WASHINGTON (AP) - The president of Cuba's National Assembly says the
Clinton administration, by denying him a visa to attend an
international conference in New York, has shown contempt for him and
the gathering of parliamentarians he was to join. The United States
also is violating its obligations to the United Nations and to the
Inter-Parliamentary Union by keeping him from attending a four-day
meeting beginning today of the presiding officers of the group, the
Cuban legislator, Ricardo Alarcon, said. Meanwhile, U.S. officials
disclosed today that an Iranian suspected of terrorism and two
Yugoslavs also were denied visas to attend the conference. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569327888-3cb

*** Researchers identify caffeine gene

(AP) - Genetic engineering may hold the key to making decaffeinated
coffee that doesn't taste like dishwater. Scientists have identified
a gene in the coffee plant that is key to the synthesis of caffeine.
They hope eventually to produce a genetically engineered coffee plant
in which the gene has been shut down. The research was conducted by
Alan Crozier, a professor of plant products and human nutrition at
the University of Glasgow, and colleagues in Japan. It was published
Thursday in the journal Nature. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2569329285-e18

*** High tide floods Bangladesh village

CHITTAGONG, Bangladesh (AP) - Nearly 10,000 people rushed to cyclone
shelters Wednesday when an unusually high tide submerged their island
village off the Bangladesh coast for nearly three hours, officials
said. At least 2,000 mud and bamboo huts were flooded as a depression
over the Bay of Bengal caused the sea to rise, submerging Sandwip
Island under six feet of water, the meteorological office said. The
residents, mostly fishermen, moved to concrete cyclone shelters on
higher ground, said Golam Rabbani, the area's disaster management
official. The tide ebbed after almost three hours, but a flood
protection embankment around the low-lying island blocked the water
from flowing out, Rabbani said. Sandwip Island, just off the
Chittagong coast in southeast Bangladesh, is buffeted by cyclones and
tidal waves almost every year. ###

From: moza@butterfly.mv.com

See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - (Fwd) New Positions in the Concluding Statement of the Organiz
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 20:11:36 -0400

------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 17:03:48 -0700
To: memri@erols.com
From: MEMRI <memri@erols.com>
Subject: New Positions in the Concluding Statement of the Organization
of Islamic States "Jerusalem Committee"

Inquiry & Analysis

August 31, 2000

No. 39

Middle East Media 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.]

New Positions in the Concluding Statement of the Organization of Islamic
States "Jerusalem Committee"
By Yotam Feldner*

The "Jerusalem Committee" of the Organization of Islamic States convened in
Morocco on August 28-9, 2000 to discuss the status of Jerusalem against the
backdrop of the PLO-Israel negotiations of the Final Status Agreement. The
concluding statement published by the committee is a significant
modification of the traditional position of Arab and Islamic states and
forums on the issue of Jerusalem. Article C of the statements reads:

"The Committee emphasizes its support for the position of the State of
Palestine based on Palestinian sovereignty over Al-Quds Al-Sharif ["Holy
Jerusalem"], including Al-Haram Al-Sharif [Temple Mount or its mosques] and
all the Christian and Islamic holy places that are a part of the Palestinian
lands that have been occupied since June 1967. [The Committee] emphasizes
that Al-Quds Al-Sharif is the capital of the independent Palestinian state.
In this regard, the committee emphasizes its rejection of any attempt to
reduce Palestinian sovereignty over Al-Quds Al-Sharif." (1)

This statement is a deviation from the rhetoric typical of such Arab and
Islamic forums because it does not include an explicit demand for: "a
withdrawal to the June 4, 1967 borderline." Its absence is even more
apparent in view of the fact that with regard to the Golan the statement read:

"The Committee supports the efforts that are made for establishing a just
and comprehensive peace and for the return of the occupied Syrian Golan in
its entirety, up to the June 4 borderline, and it welcomes the victory of
Lebanon and the liberation of [its] South in its entirety." (2)

So far, forums like the "Jerusalem Committee," the Arab League, or the
Islamic Congress have always referred to "the Arab and Islamic occupied
lands" en bloc and demanded an Israeli withdrawal to the June 4, 1967
borderline on all fronts. For example, the concluding statement of the July
1998 convention of the "Jerusalem Committee" itself called for "an Israeli
withdrawal from all occupied Palestinian and Arab lands, including Jerusalem
and the Syrian Golan, to the June 4, 1967 borderline and [a withdrawal from]
the occupied Lebanese lands, immediately and unconditionally."

In the concluding statement of the current "Jerusalem Committee" meeting,
there is a striking difference between the demand for a withdrawal from the
Golan "in its entirety" and the demand for Palestinian sovereignty in
Jerusalem. The Golan issue is defined in terms of territory, the "June 4,
1967 borderline." This is further emphasized by mentioning "the liberation
of South [Lebanon] in its entirety." On the other hand, the demand for
Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem is defined in religious, rather than
territorial terms: "Al-Quds Al-Sharif, including Al-Haram Al-Sharif and all
the Christian and Islamic holy places." Indeed, the Committee's conclusion
stated that these holy place are "a part of the Palestinian lands that have
been occupied since June 1967," but it is not specified, as has been the
case previously, that Israel should withdraw from all those lands, including
Jerusalem in its entirety. While on the issue of the Golan, the Committee
completely ignores Israeli demands, the terminology regarding Jerusalem
indirectly recognizes the existence of Israeli counter claims in Jerusalem.

The last sentence in Article C states that "the Committee rejects any
attempt to reduce Palestinian sovereignty over Al-Quds Al-Sharif." This
sentence reflects a compromise between the representatives who drafted the
statement. According to Al-Hayat, this sentence was in dispute between the
Syrian Foreign Minister, Faruq Al-Shar', on the one hand, and the Egyptian
representative, Minister of Higher Education, attorney Mufid Shihab, and
possibly Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, (3) on the other. (4)
This compromise allowed the Syrians and Iranians to claim that it is well
known that Al-Quds Al-Sharif is defined by the June 4, 1967 line, while more
moderate elements could claim that the terminology was general and did not
necessarily reflect the June 4, 1967 border.

Dispute over Jerusalem's Holy Sites

Another issue in dispute, according to Al-Hayat's source, was the status of
Jews in East Jerusalem. Arafat wanted to include a phrase that expresses
"religious tolerance" and refers to "free access to the worship places of
all religions since British Mandate." According to Al-Hayat, Arafat
referred to the right of prayer given by the British to the Jews in the
"Al-Buraq Wall" which the Jews named the Wailing Wall. Al-Shar', it was
reported, objected to the inclusion of "religious tolerance" in the
statement. He claimed that: "Tolerance has been characteristic of Arabs and
Muslims -- in contrast to Jews -- since the beginning of time and everybody
knows that the Arabs who launched several wars against Israel, have never
demolished a single synagogue on any Arab land, while Israel has been
vindictive and hateful in all its wars, since the Deir Yassin [massacre] and
until Qana..." Al-Shar' continued, "There should be a difference between
religious tolerance, on the one hand, and sovereignty over Al-Quds
Al-Sharif, on the other. Jerusalem is Arab and will remain Arab and in Arab
ownership and we should only accept full unreduced sovereignty." (5)

It is possible that Al-Shar' was worried that any reference to the holy
Jewish sites in East Jerusalem could be interpreted as a recognition of
Jewish rights in the sovereign sense. Therefore, he preferred to completely
ignore the Jews in the statement and only mention the "Christian and Muslim"
holy places. However, in this case as well, the absence of the Jews can be
interpreted both ways. Those who oppose a compromise in Jerusalem may claim
that the fact that the Jewish holy sites -- the Western Wall and the Temple
Mount -- are also sacred to Islam, explains why they were not mentioned in
the statement. These sites fall under "Islamic holy places" which should be
under Palestinian sovereignty. Those Arabs who support a compromise may
claim that the fact that only "Christian and Islamic" holy places were
mentioned, means that the Jewish holy places can be conceded to Israel.

The difference between the concluding statement and the public position of
Arafat in his speech at the convention the previous night is also apparent.
Arafat stated that "Al-Quds Al-Sharif, which was occupied in 1967, is the
eternal capital of the independent Palestinian state and a red line that
cannot be disparaged." (6) Arafat's maximal territorial terms were adopted
in the concluding statement in regard to the Golan, but were replaced by
basically religious terms with regard to Jerusalem. Historically, this
modification is important, since it is the first recognition by a supreme
Islamic forum, such as the "Jerusalem Committee" of the possibility of an
alternative to the demand for an Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem in
its entirety.

Conclusions

Practically, the "Jerusalem Committee" statement does not bridge the gap
with the Israeli position which is that the Jewish affiliation with the
Temple Mount mandates that it remain under Israeli sovereignty. But the
statement does allow Arafat some maneuvering space if he needs to make
concessions. The statement sets three degrees of adherence to East Jerusalem
sites.

The lowest degree relates to the post-1967 Jewish neighborhoods in East
Jerusalem and the Jewish quarter in the Old City. Supporters of a compromise
in Jerusalem may claim that a concession by Arafat on these areas would not
contradict the Jerusalem Committee's statement.

The second degree of adherence relates to the Western Wall, which was not
mentioned by name in the statement. The position of the statement in this
matter is ambiguous. On the one hand, it can be claimed that the fact that
the Western Wall is not mentioned by name allows Arafat to concede it
without contradicting the statement. On the other hand, it is also possible
to claim that the Western Wall is included under "Islamic Holy places" that
must be under to Palestinian sovereignty.

The third and maximal degree of adherence applies to Al-Haram Al-Sharif,
which is mentioned by name as an obligatory part of Palestinian sovereignty.
The Jerusalem Committee rejects any Israeli claim for a status in the
Temple Mount.

In fact, the Jerusalem Committee has mapped previously uncharted waters for
possible Palestinian concessions in East Jerusalem. Under the new platform,
it is possible that in return for the Israeli concessions and under American
and international pressure, Arafat may concede Jewish neighborhoods in East
Jerusalem. While the "Jerusalem Committee" gave Arafat no Arab or Islamic
legitimation for any concessions on Temple Mount, it left the possibility
for Palestinian compromises over the Western Wall ambiguous.

*Yotam Feldner is MEMRI's Director of Media Analysis.

Endnotes:

(1) Al-Hayat (London-Beirut), August 30, 2000.
(2) Ibid.
(3) Ibid.
(4) Al-Hayat's source is probably Syrian Foreign Minister, Faruq Al-Shar'
himself. The claim that Arafat opposed the inclusion of a sentence that
determines the Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem should not be reduced
does not reconcile with the positions he presented in the conference and is
not plausible. It seems this claim reflects the Syrian mud-slinging on
Arafat's negotiating policies, that was led recently by Al-Shar'.
(5) Al-Hayat, August 30, 2000.
(6) Al-Ayyam (PA), August 29, 2000. Emphasis by MEMRI.

The Middle East Media 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.

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