To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - We also have a baptism site
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 10:22:12 -0500

Sunday, February 27, 2000

We also have a baptism site

In attempting to use the pope's visit for maximum political gain, Arafat and
his colleagues are sparing no effort to convince John Paul II to visit the PA's
own baptism site near Jericho, lest one in Jordan gain primacy.

By Danny Rubinstein

Pope John Paul II's visit to the Holy Land will last six days, five days of which
will be spent in the State of Israel (three in Jerusalem and two in the Galilee)
and just one day in the Palestinian Authority. The day earmarked for the
Palestinians is Wednesday, March 22. According to the plan, the pope is to
depart in the morning from his Jerusalem accommodations (the Vatican
ambassador's residence at the foot of the Mount of Olives) for a tour of
Bethlehem and return in the evening. He will travel by helicopter from
Jerusalem to Bethlehem and if the weather does not permit that, he will travel
by car.Only one day has been earmarked for visiting the Palestinian
territories, for the simple reason that most holy sites are under Israeli control
in East Jerusalem and in the Galilee. The Palestinian Authority, on the other
hand, controls only one important holy site, and that is Bethlehem. The
Palestinians will also take the pope to visit the Daheishe refugee camp south
of Bethlehem, a camp that for them represents the suffering of refugees
since 1948 and the popular uprising known as the Intifada.

Arafat and his administration have devoted much thought in recent months to
the question of how to gain maximum political benefit from the visit. After all,
the head of the Catholic Church, its institutions and believers, can be of great
help to the Palestinians in their fight for East Jerusalem. This is essentially
the background for Arafat's meeting with the pope less than two weeks ago
and the dramatic agreement that was signed between the Vatican and the
PA.

During his talks in the Vatican, Arafat managed to convince the pope and his
associates to also include a visit to Jericho in his itinerary. For Arafat, briefly
hosting the pope in Jericho for just a few hours is an important addition to the
Bethlehem visit.

Why Jericho? The only way to convince the pope and his entourage to
lengthen their visit with the Palestinians was to mention a holy baptism site
on the banks of the Jordan River near Jericho. From a Christian perspective,
this site is considered the third most important site in the Holy Land, after
the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the Church of the Nativity
in Bethlehem. Where the Jews broke through The site's Arabic name is Qasr
al-Yahud, a distortion of similar-sounding Arab words whose meaning is "the
place where the Jews broke through," i.e., the place where the river was
broken or crossed when the Jews came out of Egypt, as told in the Book of
Joshua. In Christian tradition, this site is identified as the place where John
the Baptist baptized Jesus. Since the Byzantine period, various Christian,
Catholic and Eastern Orthodox orders have maintained churches and
monasteries there. Masses of pilgrims used to visit the site, usually in the
spring, on the Tuesday of Easter Week (which falls this year about three
weeks after the pope's visit), when the Orthodox churches conduct important
religious ceremonies there.

Because of its location on the banks of the Jordan River, the place has been
declared a closed military area since 1967; until recently, the IDF did not
allow anyone to enter it. The eight monasteries and churches in the area
have been abandoned for 30 years. Some were even destroyed; only in
recent weeks has the Israeli administration allowed groups of tourists to visit
the site, after first coordinating such visits with the IDF.

Although the pope did promise to visit Jericho, Arafat has a problem - the
holy baptism site is not in the area of the city under PA control, but rather in
a military area controlled by the Israelis.

When the Palestinians received Jericho, they also asked for control of the
sacred sites adjacent to the city. Thus it was agreed that they would control
the Nebi Moussa site that is sacred to Muslims and lies to the south of the
city. Regarding the baptism site, a special arrangement was worked out:
Twice a year, groups of Christian pilgrims would be allowed to visit the site in
organized processions. The PA would lead one procession and Israel would
lead the other. In other words, the pope's visit to Jericho cannot be one that
is under full Palestinian control, like the Bethlehem visit; instead, it will
require Israeli involvement as well. At the home of a poor woman In the
meantime, another reason has emerged for the Palestinians' interest in
having the pope visiting the site: concern that this important tourist site will
lose some of its value. The entire length of the Jordan River is considered
sacred; because visitors are barred from coming to the baptism site near
Jericho, Christian tourist groups have begun visiting other baptism sites
along the river - including those in Emek Hayarden or near Deganya.
Furthermore, on the opposite bank of the Jordan from Qasr al-Yahud, the
Jordanians have been developing their own sacred baptism site. At a place
known as Wadi Harar, approximately two kilometers east of the river, the
remnants of an ancient church have been found. Jordanian tourism officials
based themselves on a verse from the New Testament: "All this happened at
the home of a poor woman on the other side of the Jordan, at the place
where John the Baptist was." According to this verse, John the Baptist was
east of the Jordan, and the Jordanian tourism minister managed to convince
the pope to visit there.

The pope is scheduled to visit Wadi Harar on March 12 in the morning (the
same afternoon he is fly to Israel from Amman). For the Jordanians, this is a
very important visit because it will provide an official seal of approval for their
baptism site. Millions of Christian believers and pilgrims are likely to
conclude, as a result of the pope's visit to Wadi Harar, that it is a holy site,
and they might abandon the site west of the Jordan River at Qasr al-Yahud
as a result.

In other words, PA officials (and to a large extent Israelis as well) have
realized that the Jordanians are about to "steal" a holy site from them and
transfer it to the east bank of the Jordan River. Consequently, feverish
discussions are underway in an attempt to arrange the pope's visit to Jericho
and the adjacent baptism site.

The Palestinians are also interested in the pope's visits to Jerusalem and
Nazareth. Arafat tried at one point, unsuccessfully, to convince the Muslims
in Nazareth not to stir up conflicts over the disputed area adjacent to the
Church of the Annunciation. He will now renew those efforts. All of this is
being done with one goal in mind: maintaining good relations with the
Vatican to enlist the Vatican's assistance in the Palestinians' fight for
Jerusalem.

The Palestinians are also involved in the pope's visit to the Temple Mount
and the Western Wall. The identity of the people who will receive and escort
the pope in Jerusalem is a very sensitive matter. The rabbi of the Western
Wall will greet the pope there and Waqf officials will greet him on the Temple
Mount. The Israeli government is concerned that there will also be senior PA
officials such as Abu Mazen or Abu Ala among those receiving the pope on
the Temple Mount. Israel will deem such a reception a provocation because
according to the Oslo Accords, PA activity in the city of Jerusalem is
prohibited. A senior Palestinian source said over the weekend that the plans
call for Waqf officials to receive the pope at the Al-Aksa Mosque. He added
that members of the Supreme Muslim Council will also be present, i.e.,
figures such as Faisal Husseini and Ziad Abu Ziad, the Palestinian officials
who are responsible for Jerusalem affairs.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=5&datee=02/27/00&i
d=70396

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Assad's health and the peace process
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 10:26:36 -0500

Sunday, February 27, 2000
Op-Ed

Assad's health and the peace process

By Ze'ev Schiff

When Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak returned home from a recent visit
to his Syrian counterpart, Hafez Assad, he told his staff and foreign
diplomats that anyone interested in signing a peace treaty with Assad's
Syria should move quickly. Mubarak's meaning was that the Syrian
president's health is not good and that no one knows what tomorrow will
bring. Similar information about Assad's state of health is also coming in
from other sources, foreign and local alike.Assad has good days, but he also
has plenty of bad days. He no longer holds marathon meetings with his
guests, as he once did. Sometimes he has difficulty escorting important
guests.

His reactions are slow and he has to break off discussions in order to rest. It
is clear that he is declining, but it is less clear what stage his decline has
now reached.

None of this should be construed to mean that the decision-making process
in Damascus has been adversely affected. No change is discernible in that
regard. Assad's close circle is trying to keep him isolated in order to prevent
any leakage of information about the state of his health.

The situation recalls the behavior of the confidants of Prime Minister
Menachem Begin when Begin was ill and had sunk into depression, and
there are plenty of other examples of attempts to keep the illness of leaders
a secret.

The view in Washington is that the real reason for Assad's decision to
suddenly renew the negotiations with Israel is, above all, his failing health.
His awareness of his medical condition - although it is not clear how much
he knows about the actual state of his health - led him to conclude that it
would be worth his while to expedite certain processes as long as Ehud
Barak and Bill Clinton are in power.

This, the Americans believe, was the catalyst - more than Barak's
announcement that Israel would withdraw from Lebanon, even without an
agreement - for the Syrian president's decision to resume the talks without
insisting on some prior condition for the move.

In light of Assad's health, the question arises again whether it would not be
worth delaying the negotiations until his successor, whoever he turns out to
be, comes into power. The prevailing view in Israel is that it is best not to put
off the peace process. Assad's successor will have to begin by stabilizing
his rule, and he will not have time to embark upon a process of making
peace with Israel - a move that the Syrians consider to be sensitive and
painful - and after that it is not clear whether he will show greater flexibility
than Assad.

So the view in the Israeli leadership is that it is best to sign a treaty with
Assad that will be largely implemented by his successor; indeed, this will
make life easier for the new Syrian leader.

This assessment ignores the fact that even though there is opposition to
peace in Syria, there are also increasingly strong forces that are interested
in peace and change. Those forces were ahead of Assad in understanding
that Syria needs to open itself to the advent of a new era. An example is the
Syrian business community, from which a delegation recently visited the
United States and left a good impression there.

With the Palestinians, too, the succession question could arise at any
moment, though with Yasser Arafat the degree of urgency differs. There are,
in fact, pronounced differences between the Palestinians and the Syrians in
this regard. First, despite his illness, Arafat's condition is far better than
Assad's. He is in full control of the internal situation and continues to
maneuver smoothly between domestic pressures from his people and Israel.
Another difference, one which is to the Palestinians' detriment, is that they
have no mechanism for appointing a successor, and one attempt that was
made toward setting up such a system was scuttled by Arafat.

In addition, Arafat as a leader constitutes a unifying factor and a national
symbol for the Palestinians. There is no one else like him who is capable of
convincing them to sign a compromise agreement with Israel and bring the
conflict to an end. All the experts believe that Arafat's departure from the
scene before a peace treaty is signed will cause severe jolts, generate
instability and bring about a major delay in the peace process. The
Americans say that perhaps a decade would go by before another serious
opportunity to make peace would present itself.

http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=4&datee=02/27/00&i
d=70373

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russia Today items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 10:30:12 -0500

RUSSIA MIGHT WITHDRAW ITS TROOPS FROM KOSOVO, SAYS
IVANOV
MOSCOW -- Russia might withdraw its troops from NATO's KFOR
peacekeeping force in Kosovo in protest at the way it is operated, Russian Security
Council chief Sergei Ivanov said via the Interfax news agency.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=138263&text

Russia Will Leave START-I And II If Washington Violates ABM (26Feb.00)
 http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=138264

U.S. Senate Targets Russia Over Weapons Sales To Iran (25Feb.00)
 http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=137862

Court Turns Down Zhirinovsky Presidential Appeal (26Feb.00)
 http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=138265

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Refugees describe environmental wasteland in Chechnya
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 13:57:01 -0500

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

2/27/2000 13:18:00 ET

Refugees describe environmental wasteland in Chechnya

URUS-MARTAN, Russia (AP) - Huge pillars of greasy black smoke rise
into the Chechen sky, towering over people who trudge past
long-uncollected trash and fear drinking the water. After six months
of war, Chechnya suffers environmental damage that makes it barely
recognizable to its residents.

Chechnya's environment was devastated in a 1994-96 war with Russia,
and its soil, air and waterways still hadn't recovered when fighting
resumed last fall. In some places, it is bare of all foliage - cut
down by residents desperate for wood to heat their homes.

In the southwestern city of Urus-Martan, residents say the sewage
system stopped working long ago, and people who fled here to escape
fighting between Russian forces and rebels elsewhere in the republic
tell of land tainted by oil from destroyed wells and littered with
animal cadavers.

Snow sometimes falls in black flakes and a slick oil grime that covers
streets and homes can be tasted in food and water, they say.

"You wake up in the morning and if you breathe too deeply, you start
coughing, said Asya Azimova, who recently fled the village of
Oktyabrskoye. "You drink the water and it feels like you're swallowing
a rock."

"You live in a place all your life and you leave for a few months.
When you return, you can't recognize it because all the trees have
been cut down," said Shakhid Arsamerzayev, a 32-year-old refugee from
the town of Alkhan-Kala.

Most damage has come from Chechnya's oil wells, many of which have
been blasted by Russian warplanes. Refugees say scores of wells have
been burning out of control for months, often turning the daytime sky
black.

One of the most damaged areas in the mountainous republic is the
capital, Grozny, which is surrounded by oil refineries and was the
target of massive Russian airstrikes for months. More than 2 million
tons of crude oil has leaked from the refineries, Gen. Boris Alexeyev,
director of environmental safety for the Russian military, said
recently.

"The oil pollution is a colossal problem," said Alexei Yablokov, a
prominent Russian environmentalist. "The spills are huge and just
sitting there, not being cleaned up,contaminating important
waterways."

Oil pollution was also a major problem after the first Chechen war,
when bombs and sabotage from both sides burst open wells.

After that conflict, hundreds of makeshift refineries sprouted up
around the republic as enterprising Chechens siphoned off oil from a
major pipeline for fuel. Those refineries were not built with
ecological safety in mind and contributed to pollution even before the
war damage.

Yablokov also said that bombs had damaged storage facilities holding
radioactive waste around Grozny. The dumps store used medical and
research equipment that contain radioactive cesium and other elements,
which could cause health risks to people living nearby, he said.

Alevtin Yunak, the deputy chief for ecological safety in Russia's
armed forces, told the ITAR-Tass news agency that a third of
Chechnya's territory has become ecologically unsafe.

Officials in Dagestan, which borders Chechnya to the east, say that
the Terek River, Chechnya's largest waterway, is completely covered by
a film of oil, in some places up to 2 inches thick.

Refugees also said infection was spreading quickly in several areas of
Chechnya because dead animals had been left to rot in the fields. They
said some had been poisoned after grazing on ground spoiled by oil and
bombs, while others were shot.

"We go into a village and there are the bodies of dogs, chickens,
cows, sheep, horses just rotting there. The snipers pick them off for
pleasure," Azimova said.

Many of the walnut trees and oaks that once lined the main highway
leading west from Grozny have been whittled down to stumps by Chechens
seeking firewood. The few farms that survived or revived after the
last war again stand empty or ruined.

Refugees described ruined forests and barren and burning fields where
homes once stood.

"The ecological situation in Chechnya is catastrophic," said Zalina
Abiyev, a 57-year-old refugee who fled Grozny. "We're all afraid to go
back because we'll die like flies there, guaranteed."

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

via: hblondel@tampabay.rr.com

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