BPR Mailing List Digest: 01/25/00

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BPR Mailing List Digest
January 25, 2000

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israel's Saving Remnant
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 05:41:35 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: BSaphir@aol.com
Date sent: Mon, 24 Jan 2000 21:37:22 EST
Subject: ISRAEL'S SAVING REMNANT by Eugene Narrett, PhD
To: freemanlist@lists.io.com

An archive of Prof. Narrett's articles may be found on our
Freeman Center Web Site: http://freeman.io.com

ISRAEL'S SAVING REMNANT
by Eugene Narrett, PhD

"And they ceased living in unwalled towns in Israelâ€¦" "How
did we close our eyes and not see our clear destiny in all its
cruelty? Have we forgotten that in Gaza hundreds of thousands of
[Arabs] are praying for us to weaken so that they may tear us to
shreds?" 1

The crises of the era of the Judges of Israel have returned.
There is no king in Israel, the tribes are disunited and much of
the inheritance is alienated. In Jerusalem, the heads of the
state are scoffers who boast of their "covenant with Death and
pact with the Grave" as if falsehood will shelter them when the
coming storm pummels the land like a scourging staff (Isaiah
28:14-15). Mr. Clinton and his successor-mouthpiece for the
Bildberger Group and Council of Foreign Relations will proclaim,
"peace, peace" and there will be no end, seemingly to the self-
congratulation and enrichment of the deceivers. Ehud Barak tells
CNN that "in two or three months" there must be a peace
agreement with Syria. Having committed Israel to this outcome,
he claims, "I'm confident we will have opening of borders,
normalization with Syria, water issues solved, the boys coming
home from Lebanon, upgrading of weapons systems with the support
of the American administration. [Then] there will be an opening
to the Maghreb and to the Arabian Peninsula and an economic
boom"2. As Isaiah saw and foresaw, the delusions of faithless
rulers tend toward "sheer horror."

When the fiery woman, Deborah was a judge in Israel, violence
against Jews became so bad that "road travel ceased. Those who
traveled went on by-pass ways and they ceased living in unwalled
towns in Israel." In those days Israel chose new gods whose
current forms are American technology and pop culture with its
moral relativism, psychobabble and behavioral engineering via
advertising. Thus, "war came to the land" (Judges 5:6-8) and the
same is happening today. From the upper Galilee and Golan to
Hebron Jews are being herded behind concrete walls and razor
wire and onto back roads by their own government. Once Barak
accomplishes the withdrawal from the security zone in southern
Lebanon of which he ignorantly boasts, "town in the north will
be turned into military outposts" and stretches of road there
and along the coast north of Nahariya will become "closed
military zones." Reflecting his chief, a senior IDF officer says
that the Golan "is not a vital interest for the existence of
Israel. If the Syrians capture the northern Galilee, it will not
be so terrible."3

The betrayal of Israel by its 'friends' abroad and Labor-
Socialist leaders at home has roused a large and growing cross-
section of the nation. The massive demonstration in Tel Aviv
January 10 deterred Israel's collapse and caused the State
Department to reverse its official tune. "Certainly we don't
wish to push the Israelis anywhere they don't want to go," they
claimed the next day.4 But even as many Israelis awake, they
face crises on all sides. This is the result of three
generations of leaders that identified more with England or
Bolshevism or the Arabs than with their heritage, and who have
been concerned above all with the power of their caste. All of
these crises are those of identity. Israel's embattled physical
borders reflect a pervasive distortion and forgetting of what
the treasured people is meant to be and to avoid.

Neither Judaism nor Israel can exist or be understood apart
from Torah. Israel is not a "state" in the modern sense that
derives from Machiavelli (1469-1527) and Thomas Hobbes (1588-
1677), but a people whose daily practice on their Land embodies
the truth of Torah centering on the sovereignty of God
Almighty5. John Locke (1632-1704) postulated an autocracy of
sensation that invited social engineering since man by his
theory is merely a blank slate and his character a sum of
environmental impacts. Though Locke asserted the innate goodness
of man and supported private property, his theories as much as
those of Hobbes and Machiavelli effectively deposed God and soul
from issues of social organization and individual spirit. The
social turbulence and moral decay of late Renaissance Italy, and
the centuries long dynastic turmoil and religious strife of
England destroyed the principles of legitimacy and monarchy and
opened the gates to the tyranny of the mob and the State acting
in its name in pursuit of rationalized lusts6. Like the ancient
city of Babel, the modern state is a glorification of human
appetites in which reason becomes "a sort of lawyer for the
will" as Melville wrote, "an implement for effecting the
irrational." The resulting "wantonness of atrocities partake of
the insane" as chronically demonstrated by governments
throughout the world7. Whether its motto is L'Etat, c'est moi or
Vox populi, vox Dei [sic] the modern state is at war with God
and the family that is the essential unit of a nation and
increasingly tends toward the management of "process," the
tyranny of a godless, self-serving bureaucracy.

This perversion of the true nature of mankind and of Israel
(its practice of God's Truth as stated in Torah) has led to the
proliferating crises that now threaten a third exile. The
state's President, Ezer Weizman has shown contempt for his
people, law and truth from the planning for the Camp David
"accords" at which he undermined Israel and its faltering head,
Menachem Begin to his role in bringing down the Shamir
government. Then, with Shimon Peres he resurrected the PLO and
arranged international support and a state within Israel for
these alien Jew killers. Weizman seems to have been a wholly
owned subsidiary of various global groups hostile to Israeli
sovereignty and acting through businessman Edward Sarousi and
David Blass8. The uncovering of this scandal is compounding it.
Weizman is to be "investigated" by State Attorney Edna Arbel who
herself was shown last November to be involved in the
government's cover-up of the case of Avishai Raviv who was used
by the government to vilify and criminalize patriotic Israelis.
So this is like Janet Reno investigating Bill Clinton: the
results will not re-vitalize the people nor restore the nation.
And in Israel, the dominant media already have begun a campaign
to replace the now useless Weizman with Peres. This is
progressing from Jezebel to Salome. "They walk in darkness, all
the foundations of the earth collapse" because the pillars of
the earth are truth, justice and peace9. Aging adolescents can
scream, "peace now! Peace, now!" till Israel dissolves but
without truth and justice based on Torah in the entire Land
there will be no peace within Israel or between it and the
world.

The arrogance of the socialist state was epitomized by Labor MK
and Minister Dalia Itzik who justified her party's numerous
illegal acts during the 1999 campaign by stating, "there was a
drastic feeling that the Netanyahu government simply had to be
replaced. I mean, there was almost a civil uprising!"10 If Jews
feel that a leftwing government is dismantling the state and
even try to demonstrate against it rent a room to discuss a
rally they are hounded by the police, arrested and jailed as was
Moshe Feiglin of Zo Artzeinu. "Israel is becoming like a KGB
state," commented Yigal Abutbul of Haifa. "I am a law-abiding
citizen and have hosted meetings for many parties, Likud, the
Communists, Arabsâ€¦What? I'm not allowed to rent out my hall to
nice Jews who are worried about their rights?"11. This man has
grasped the essential lie of a state that has made a covenant
with death. Those who wish to make Israel a Jewish nation on its
Land are harassed and declared enemies of the state. A former MK
from Meretz is pushing to ban the right of religious Jews to
assemble in public buildings in Haifa12.

The self-contradiction and tyranny of the "state of all its
citizens" that cannot be a Jewish state expresses itself in
allowing the Arabs to hollow out the Temple Mount with the
complicity of the police while harassing Israeli Jews who
salvage artifacts from the dumping13. Students who distribute
pro-Golan bumper stickers to willing motorists are threatened
and fined as are Jews who post pro-Golan banners on their own
balconies. The more the state panders to the enemies of a Jewish
Israel, the more fiercely it turns on Jews who affirm it. In all
these suicidal acts the government fulfills the logic of
democracy, the "value-free" immorality that tyrannizes in the
name of "the people" and accepts no authority or tradition
except its own. This is death, just as Isaiah stated. It is
false to the truth about both man and God. It is essentially
hostile to Judaism. Hence the many crises now besetting a state
that cannot set much less seal its borders because it hates and
fears its own identity.

Yet there are reasons as well as faith for hope amid the storm,
and many signs of renewed life breaking through the frozen crust
of those who deny their heritage. Life returns with the 1200
Rabbis led by former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira who issued a
halakhic ruling against uprooting any Jews from their homes or
alienating even an inch of the Land. Thus these rabbis practice
the dictum "he whose works exceed his wisdom, his wisdom will
endure"14. Life returns in the "Declaration" Elyakim Ha'Etzni
issued from Hebron at Chanukah, asserting the duty of all the
Jewish people to defend the integrity of the Land. Life returns
in the great rallies for the Golan held January 10 in Tel Aviv
and in Jerusalem (January 24) demanding that the state protect
the Temple Mount and not give any of the Holy City to the
Palestinians. Life returns with the promise of a Jewish future
in Dor Hemshekh ("Next Generation") who continues to plant trees
and Jews in the Land and to honor memorials to Jewish martyrs
and pioneers like Dov Dribben of Maon Farm.

It has always been this way. A saving minority, a remnant of
the righteous restores the promise. Majority rule, even when
genuine does not guarantee virtue, wisdom or life. It pre-
supposes factionalism and "politics," a secular Greek model. It
is not the Jewish way of unity on the Land in and through Torah.
"The Children of Israel were armed (chamushim) when they went up
from Egyptâ€¦and they were going out with an upraised arm"
(Exodus 13:18, 14:8). "Armed," chamushim refers to a full strong
hand of five fingers but it also connotes that only a fifth of
the people preferred the rigors of striking through the
wilderness for home after centuries of bondage and Egypt's
threats in their ears. It is with this leadership and faith that
they traveled, b'yad ramah, "with a triumphant hand." It was and
is in this way that our hand is one with haYad gedolah, the
mighty Hand that Hashem inflicted upon Egypt and that smites
"Egypt" whenever the Jewish people stand up and follow the Torah
of Moshe. Of invaders and trespassers in the Land Torah teaches,
"you shall tear them apart, and you shall smash their pillars
and remove them from your midst." This refers to them, their
ideologies and their habits for a "people of holiness shall you
be for Me" (Exodus 23:24-5, 22:30). It was also chamushim in the
time of the Judges when only a fraction of the tribes followed
Gideon and Deborah in defeating the enemies of Israel and God.
When even a fifth are steadfast for this heritage Israel will
live in the "sun of righteousness" and book of remembrance
Malachi saw shining and inscribed for those who shun wantonness
and return the hearts of children to their fathers (Malachi 3
and see also Psalm 78:5-7). The written and physical inheritance
and the lives of every Jew must be precious to the leaders of
the nation, or they are not leaders but liars who invite the
death of Jews and Judaism and dismantle moral order from the
world.

The storm is threatening and the faithful are rising. The
nations again are coming against a people restored from the
sword and gathered upon the mountains of Israel to live at peace
in open towns (Ezekiel 38:8-12). To live and inherit the
covenant the next generation must thoroughly re-make the nation
in the image of Torah so that land, ritual and authority embody
what God intended them to be through Moshe, Joshua and David,
holy and one. "On that day, the Lord will be One and His Name,
One." -- Eugene Narrett, PhD

______________________________________________

1. The title is from Judges 5:7, the haftara for parsha
Beshalach (Exodus 13:17-17:16). The epigraph is from a eulogy
delivered by Moshe Dayan for Roy Rotberg, an Israeli settler in
Nachal Oz murdered by Arabs from Gaza on April 29, 1956. Arutz-
7, Jan. 21, 2000.

2. CNN TV, 01/12/00, Ehud Barak interview with Jerrold Kessler.

3. "From rural idyll to military nightmare," Amos Harel,
Ha'Aretz 01/16/00. Arutz-7 in an interview with Gen. (res.) Amos
Gilboa reporting on recent conversations. "It was traumatic for
me to hear a senior IDF officer speak this way," he added. A-7,
Jan. 17, 2000.

4. James Rubin quoted by AP, January 11, 2000.

5. See Judaic Man: Toward a Reconstruction of Western
Civilization, Paul Eidelberg, PhD (Caslon Co., Middletown, NJ,
1996), p. 129, chapters 6-8, particularly.

6. A fascinating treatment of the social and psychological
crises that result from the growing primacy given to will and
appetites is Nathaniel Hawthorne's, My Kinsman, Major Molineux
(1832) that puts the problem in an early American context.

7. Herman Melville, Billy Budd (1890, first published 1924),
chapter 13, describing the ship Bellipotent's Master-of-Arms,
John Claggart.

8. Numerous press reports summarized with supporting quotation
on Arutz-7, Jan. 02, 03, 04 and 21 among others.

9. Psalm 82:5, Pirkei Avot ("Ethics of the Fathers") 1:18 based
on Zechariah 8:16.

10. Arutz-7, January 12, 2000.

11. Arutz-7 on Jan. 18 reported the harassment by police of
Yigal Abutbul of Haifa who rented his auditorium to a group of
pro-Golan activists and found himself summoned for interrogation.

12. Yediot Ahronot, Jan. 14, 2000.

13. Arutz-7, January 17, 2000. Yehuda Etzion of Chai Vekayam
commented, "this hypocrisy cries out to the heavens. The police
don't lift a finger against the crimes of the Waqf on the Temple
Mount, but when a student tries to salvage some of the
destruction they take immediate action," arresting him and
confiscating the artifacts he retrieved.

14. Pirke Avot 3:12. As it states, "the entire people responded
with one voice and they said, 'All the words that Hashem has
spoken, we will do" (Exodus 24:3).

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:03:35 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

*** Mideast negotiators plan talks

JERUSALEM (AP) - With three weeks to go and not even a draft
agreement in sight, Palestinian and Israeli negotiators announced
plans Monday for marathon negotiations aimed at meeting a Feb. 13
deadline on the outline of a final status agreement. Prime Minister
Ehud Barak, limping on the Syrian track, is eager to show results
with the Palestinians. His office said Monday negotiations would be
held on several levels "with the intent of speeding up the talks."
The talks will likely start Feb. 1, according to Palestinian
officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. They will address the
sensitive issues of borders, Palestinian refugees, the status of
Jerusalem and the future of Jewish settlements. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563597786-905

*** Rioting breaks out in East Timor

DILI, East Timor (AP) - Gangs of youths wielding machetes and clubs
rioted Tuesday in Dili's main marketplace, eyewitnesses said. At
least four people were seriously injured. Foreign peacekeeping troops
stopped the fighting, which broke out between two gangs of local
youths. A short time later, peacekeepers and civilian police were
guarding about 30 young men sitting in the street, some still holding
knives. The riot was believed to be the result of escalating tension
between rival groups in Dili and a perceived lack of policing of
petty crime. Witnesses said up to 80 people were involved in the
fighting. Authorities confiscated weapons including machetes and
clubs, which were piled in the back of at least one vehicle. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563601765-825

*** German conservatives reach impasse

BERLIN (AP) - Germany's conservatives said Monday they have reached a
dead end in their efforts to resolve a campaign money scandal to
which ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl holds the key. An independent audit
of party finances revealed more than $6.3 million came from
undetermined sources from 1989-98, according to party treasurer
Matthias Wissmann. Party officials suggested $1.14 million of that
corresponds to amounts Kohl says he solicited between 1993 and 1998.
Party general secretary Angela Merkel said the figure could go
higher. Kohl has denied misusing any of the money but has refused to
disclose its source. Investigators in Germany and four other
countries are trying to trace a complex series of payments, covert
handoffs and front companies, leading to references in the German
media to "Don Kohleone," a play on Don Corleone, the central
character in "The Godfather." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563597960-a18

*** Mideast peace may cost U.S. billions

JERUSALEM (AP) - The U.S. will be asked to pay the multibillion
dollar bill for peace between Israel and Syria, a Cabinet minister
involved in the negotiations said Monday. Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, chief
of staff of the Israeli army before entering politics in 1998, said
the bill could reach the $17 billion reported in the Israeli media,
and said it would be a "reasonable price" for the U.S. to pay. Prime
Minister Ehud Barak picked Lipkin-Shahak and Foreign Minister David
Levy to join him in talks with the Syrians. Syria called off the most
recent round, scheduled for last week. No new date has been set.
Despite some signs of shock from Washington at the thought of a
multibillion dollar pricetag, Lipkin-Shahak expected that the U.S.
would pay the bill in the end, calling it an investment. "How much is
it worth (to the U.S.) to have stability in oil prices? How much is
it worth to develop a Middle East market to American products?" he
asked. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563599275-362

*** New examination for Pinochet sought

LONDON (AP) - Human rights groups launched a new legal challenge
Monday aimed at countering a finding by British doctors that Gen.
Augusto Pinochet is unfit to stand trial. Belgium and Spain also
demanded a new medical examination of the 84-year-old former Chilean
dictator. The human rights groups met a deadline set by Home
Secretary Jack Straw for submitting information to support their
opposition to his Jan. 11 announcement that he is inclined to release
Pinochet on medical grounds. Amnesty International and five other
groups said they also plan to file a suit Wednesday in High Court
challenging the Jan. 5 medical examination of Pinochet by four
British specialists. Straw's office had said he would not announce
any decision before Thursday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563596668-46f

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Western experts confused by Putin

WASHINGTON (AP) - Western experts are having difficulty deciding
whether Russia's new leader, Vladimir Putin, will be an effective
democrat or a throwback to authoritarian rule. While assuming the
acting president will be elected March 26 and lead Russia for some
time, a panel of analysts affiliated with both liberal and
conservative think tanks agreed Monday only that much about Putin is
an enigma. Thomas Graham of the Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, said Putin appears to have good knowledge of the West but
already has shown he may not be so adept at knowing how Russia works.
A key will be how aggressively he goes after corruption once he is
elected, he said. But Graham acknowledged that if Putin comes down
too hard, that could be viewed by some as an anti-democratic abuse of
power. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563596979-ae6

*** Chinese general meets U.S. officials

WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior Chinese general met Monday with Pentagon
officials to reopen high-level military contacts halted by China
after U.S. planes mistakenly bombed its embassy in Yugoslavia last
spring. People's Liberation Army Lt. Gen. Xiong Guangkai made
courtesy calls on Walter Slocombe, undersecretary of defense for
policy, and Adm. Dennis Blair, commander in chief of the U.S. Pacific
Command. Pentagon spokesmen declined to provide details. There was no
military honors ceremony for Xiong's arrival. Xiong also met at the
State Department with Thomas Pickering, the undersecretary of state,
and John Holum, the department's top arms-control official. It was
during Pickering's visit to Beijing last October that Chinese
officials first indicated willingness to discuss resuming
military-to-military contacts. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563597975-e35

*** Countries ask WTO for more time

GENEVA (AP) - Eight developing countries asked the World Trade
Organization Monday to give them more time to phase out laws aimed at
protecting domestic producers from foreign competition. Most wanted
more time before they abolish rules requiring automobile
manufacturers to use a certain proportion of domestically produced
parts. The agreement to scrap the regulations came into force in
1995, but poorer countries were allowed to ask for an extension until
Jan. 1, 2000. The Philippines, Mexico, Argentina and Malaysia asked
for between four and seven years' grace from the provisions of the
WTO agreement which forces them to abandon the requirement for "local
content." Their representatives told the WTO's council on trade in
goods that economic problems mean that they still need the rule. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563600293-a26

*** Talbott reassures Baltics on NATO

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) - U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott
reassured the three former Soviet Baltic republics Monday that the
door to NATO remains open to them, despite strong Russian opposition.
Talbott, in a speech to Estonian leaders and diplomats in Tallinn,
said Washington has made a firm commitment to one day admitting
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania into the alliance. "Because of what
you've done, are doing and will continue to do, we're committed not
only to keeping the door open, but to creating the conditions under
which you and your Baltic neighbors can cross the threshold," he
said. At a news conference, Talbott wouldn't say if he thought the
stated Baltic goal of NATO membership within five years was
realistic. But he suggested they couldn't be kept waiting
indefinitely. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563596713-497

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Update: Croatian voters choosing president

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) - In a contest seen as a turning point in
Croatia's modern history, Croats voted overwhelmingly Monday for two
candidates who pledged to make a clean break from the autocratic
policies of the late President Franjo Tudjman. With more than 96% of
the ballots counted, the government election commission said Stipe
Mesic led the nine-candidate field with 40% of the vote. The
65-year-old lawyer was considered a dark horse just weeks ago. Since
an absolute majority is necessary for victory, Mesic will face Drazen
Budisa, who trailed with about 285, in a runoff Feb. 7. Budisa is the
junior leader of the center-left coalition that won the Jan. 3
parliamentary elections. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563600399-eb4

*** Russia refugee aid threatened

SLEPTSOVSKAYA, Russia (AP) - Russia will no longer distribute food or
humanitarian aid to refugees who fled several regions in breakaway
Chechnya that are now under federal control, officials said Monday.
The decree was aimed at inducing some of the 180,000 refugees in
Ingushetia, the neighboring Russian region, to head back to Chechnya
and freeing up space for refugees still fleeing the fighting in the
capital Grozny and Chechnya's south, they said. Russia has taken
control of more than two-thirds of Chechnya since launching its
military campaign in September to reassert control in the republic.
But many refugees are unwilling to return to Russian-controlled
areas, saying they don't believe the Russian claims that they will be
safe. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563599405-e0f

*** Signs of normality appear in Kosovo

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - In signs that some normality is returning
to Kosovo, a licensed bank started operating Monday - the first to
open since last year's conflict - and more than 100 judges were sworn
in to tackle a backlog of criminal cases. Those taking office
included Supreme Court of Kosovo judges and lay judges, who sit on
the jury, for municipal courts in Pristina, Podujevo, Lipljan and
Urosevac. Another 137 legal officials were selected by a committee of
local ethnic Albanians and approved by international law officials
serving with the United Nations and the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe, based on their academic backgrounds and
assessment of problems. A backlog of thousands of unresolved criminal
cases, left over from when a three-month mandate for the previous
group of U.N.-appointed judges ran out, awaits the new justices. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563598541-419

----------------------------------------------------------------------
India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Israeli president's fall from grace

JERUSALEM (AP) - The usher said "All rise" and Ezer Weizman entered
the parliament he once intimately knew to an abrupt, awkward silence
Monday, a sign of how far the Israeli president has fallen from grace
since the start of a criminal investigation. Long considered the
quintessential Israeli - blunt, daring, contemptuous of protocol -
Weizman's political zigzags and carelessly hurled insults of women,
gays and settlers were quickly forgotten by an affectionate public
until now. But a criminal probe of the president's money ties to a
French millionaire have stripped away his swashbuckling luster. A
televised proclamation of innocence failed to rally support and a
hostile parliament was clearly reluctant to play host to the
president Monday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563595991-401

*** Freed militant back in Kashmir

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Freed last month in exchange for hostages
held on an Indian airliner in Afghanistan, the leader of a militant
Islamic group has rejoined his comrades fighting in Indian-held
Kashmir, militants said Monday. Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, leader of the
Jammu Kashmir Ul-Umar Mujahedeen, vowed his "mujahedeen" or holy
warriors would continue their struggle until the Kashmiri people win
self-determination, the group said. Zargar returned to Kapora
district in Indian-held Kashmir, the group said. He was one of three
militants released from prison to end the hijacking of an Indian
Airlines plane Dec. 31. The most prominent of the prisoners, Maulana
Massood Azhar, returned to his homeland, Pakistan. The whereabouts of
the third prisoner, British-born Pakistani Ahmed Omar Sayed Sheikh,
is unknown. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563598847-c9b

*** Nuns: U.S. has taken up our cause

JERUSALEM (AP) - The case of two American nuns who refuse to leave a
Russian Orthodox monastery in the West Bank city of Jericho is being
negotiated at the highest levels by U.S. officials, one of the nuns
said Monday. Palestinian police evicted four nuns and monks of the
exiled Russian Orthodox, or "White," church from the Jericho Garden
Monastery Jan. 15, apparently at the request of its more powerful
rival based in Moscow. Palestinian officials had said they had papers
showing the Moscow-based, or "Red" church owned the property and were
acting on a request made by Moscow Patriarch Alexy II, who met
earlier this month with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. A political
attache from the U.S. consulate, Victoria Coffineau, had been to
visit the nuns Monday, said Sister Maria, sister of former aide to
President Clinton, George Stephanopoulos. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563598226-51f

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** Thai forces storm besieged hospital

RATCHABURI, Thailand (AP) - Ending a 22-hour standoff, Thai security
forces stormed a hospital Tuesday and killed nine heavily armed
Myanmar rebels who had held hundreds of patients, visitors and staff
hostage. The approximately 900 people who were in the walled,
six-acre compound when the ordeal began Monday morning were either
freed, had escaped or were rescued during the siege Tuesday morning,
said Lt. Gen. Thaweep Suwannasingha, regional Thai army commander. No
hostages were injured, but two police officers were. Once Thai troops
secured the front of the hospital, a fleet of ambulances drove in and
began ferrying exhausted survivors to another hospital for medical
checks. The rebels belong to God's Army, a fringe group who took the
hostages to pressure the government to help their beleaguered
movement. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563602107-f51

*** Chinese separatists get death

BEIJING (AP) - A court in China's restive Muslim northwest sentenced
five people to be executed for belonging to a violent separatist
group, a state-run newspaper reported. The Intermediate People's
Court in Urumqi, capital of the western Xinjiang region, convicted 13
defendants Jan. 18 of separatism, murder, robbery, and illegally
dealing in weapons and ammunition, the Xinjiang Daily reported
Thursday. The court sentenced five to death, two to life imprisonment
and sentenced the six others to prison terms ranging from 16 months
to 13 years, the newspaper said. Those sentenced to be executed or to
life terms were apparently Uighurs, members of Xinjiang's largest
Muslim ethnic group. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563595725-8d0

*** Japanese doomsday official arrested

TOKYO (AP) - A high-ranking official of the doomsday cult that gassed
a Tokyo subway was arrested Monday on suspicion of threatening bank
employees who refused to open an account for the group, police said.
Naruhito Noda, 33, a cult financial officer, grew agitated Wednesday
after bank officials refused to open an account in the name of Aleph,
the new name of Aum Shinri Kyo, a police spokesman said on customary
condition of anonymity. He shouted at the officials, threatening to
bring political radicals to harass the bank, police said. Many
Japanese right-wing organizations advertise their political views
from buses and trucks painted with Rising Sun flags and equipped with
booming speakers. Several right-wing organizations have close ties
with organized crime groups, the spokesman said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563596786-140

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Entertainment
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** 'Next Friday' real No. 1 movie

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The movie sequel "Next Friday" came up the real
winner at the box office Monday when a tally of final weekend
receipts showed the debut of "Down to You" fell short of the studio
estimate that initially gave it the No. 1 spot. "Next Friday,"
starring and produced by Ice Cube, earned $8 million in North
American theaters to hold onto first place in its second week. "Down
to You" starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Julia Stiles as New York
college students in love, earned $7.6 million, according to box
office figures tracked by Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc., and ACNielsen
EDI. "The Hurricane" was in third place with $6.5 million. "Stuart
Little" was in fourth place with $6.4 million and "The Green Mile"
was fifth with $5.4 million. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563599527-823

*** Directors' awards finalists set

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The directors of "American Beauty," "Being John
Malkovich," "The Green Mile," "The Insider" and "The Sixth Sense"
were nominated for the Directors Guild of America award, considered a
barometer of the Oscars. The first-time nominees announced Monday
were "American Beauty" director Sam Mendes, who won directing honors
at Sunday's Golden Globes, Spike Jonze for "Malkovich" and M. Night
Shyamalan for "The Sixth Sense." Frank Darabont of "The Green Mile"
was nominated in 1994 for "The Shawshank Redemption," another prison
film also based on a Stephen King story. Michael Mann of "The
Insider' got his first DGA nomination for a feature film. In 1979, he
won small-screen DGA honors for the TV movie "The Jericho Mile." The
winners will be announced March 11. The Academy Awards are March 26.
###

*** Golden Globes telecast ratings down

NEW YORK (AP) - Faced with some stiff competition, the Golden Globe
awards on NBC Sunday night saw a 9% drop in viewership from last
year. The awards ceremony was a triumph for HBO, which won eight of
the 11 television trophies, with four of the awards going to "The
Sopranos," honored as the best television drama. As it turned out,
"The Sopranos" may have been one of the reasons Golden Globe ratings
sank. The second episode of its second season aired Sunday night in
direct competition with the Golden Globes. More likely, the awards
show suffered because of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC's
continuing sensation. The game show drew 29 million viewers on Sunday
night, according to Nielsen Media Research. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563598391-995

*** NBC chief pledges more diversity

WASHINGTON (AP) - NBC president Bob Wright pledged Monday to keep
his network focused on bolstering racial diversity at all levels, but he
said a limited pool has spread minority talent too thin. Wright
acknowledged that broadcast TV needs more diversity. "There's not a
doubt in my mind that our concern about this (at NBC) is very
substantial," Wright said speaking at the National Press Club. But he
said real a limited supply of minority talent coming through the
pipeline threatens quick change. He said NBC is working on projects
to address that problem. NBC and the NAACP struck a deal this month
in which the network agreed to systematically seek out more
minorities to write, produce and direct its television shows and
decide what goes on the air. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563599420-55d

*** 'Star Wars' bombs in Britain

LONDON (AP) - A failed bet on a "Star Wars" craze in Britain has left
a publisher with 10 million unsold books and a vacancy for the post
of chief executive. British children's books publisher Dorling
Kindersley announced Monday that its chief executive has resigned
because of "a seriously misjudged" overinvestment in books tied to
the launch of the latest movie in the saga, "Star Wars: Episode I,
The Phantom Menace." Expecting a Christmas rush, James Middlehurst
arranged for the group to print 13 million of the books in the 18
months to Dec. 31 last year. Sales totaled 3 million. Company
chairman Peter Kindersley blamed the "Star Wars" debacle for more
than half of a pretax loss of $41 million which it expects to
announce in the spring. ###

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------

*** FDA issues heartburn drug warning

WASHINGTON (AP) - The popular heartburn drug Propulsid can cause
dangerous irregular heartbeats and even sudden death, the government
said Monday. The medicine should be used only as a last resort and
only by patients first given heart tests to ensure they are at low
risk for the side effect, it warned. Patients now taking Propulsid
should ask their doctors about switching medication, and doctors
should not prescribe the drug without first performing an EKG, or
electrocardiogram, the Food and Drug Administration said. Nor should
anyone with heart disease or a list of other illnesses use the drug,
the FDA said. The FDA's unusually strong warning comes in the wake of
70 deaths and 200 other reports of irregular heartbeat and other
heart rhythm disturbances since Propulsid hit the market in 1993. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563598869-40a

*** Philly to provide for hepatitis C

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The city will provide millions of dollars to help
firefighters and paramedics who have contracted the deadly hepatitis
C virus, the mayor said Monday. Mayor John F. Street said the city is
committing enough money to treat up to 200 firefighters and
paramedics a year, at a cost of about $3 million this fiscal year.
Street said the city is prepared to assume long-term treatment costs.
The union representing the firefighters and paramedics said 130 of
them have hepatitis C, and that the number suggests it is a
job-related condition. The disease can remain dormant up to 20 years,
so many emergency workers could have contracted the disease before
masks and gloves became standard gear, the union said. Hepatitis C is
a blood-borne virus of the liver that can be fatal if untreated. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563602060-996

*** Christian retailers eye Internet

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - People buying Bibles seven days a week, 24
hours a day. Readers around the world reviewing Christian books and
discussing bestsellers with one another. All of this is possible
online and that is why Family Christian Stores envisions the Internet
as the future of Christian retailing. Executives of the nation's
largest Christian retail chain have created iBelieve.com, a Web site
offering everything from marital and financial advice to religious
books, videos and testimonials. iBelieve.com is not the first
e-commerce site to cater to Christians. But it's one of just a
handful whose investors are not evangelists - they're venture
capitalists looking to get a piece of an industry worth an estimated
$3 billion. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563596126-5a3

*** Galveston jail battles spiders

HOUSTON (AP) - A "swat team" combed nooks and crannies of the
Galveston County Jail Monday, hoping to wipe out a gang of
eight-legged perpetrators who have terrorized inmates. Capt. Mike
Henson, the assistant jail administrator, said 33 of the jail's
inmates have been bitten by brown recluse spiders since Oct. 1. Eight
inmates have been bitten this month alone. An entomologist and two
jail employees destroyed three small brown recluse spiders and one
web with egg sacs found during their sweep Monday. Jail officials
also will change pesticide treatments to find one more effective.
Brown recluse bites are rarely fatal and frequently go undetected for
days, but they can be serious if left untreated, said John Jackman, a
professor and extension entomologist for Texas A&M University. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2563602443-248

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Second Ozone Hole May Develop Over Northern Europe
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:08:45 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Second Ozone Hole May Develop Over Northern Europe

BRUSSELS, Belgium, January 24, 2000 (ENS) - The ozone layer over
northern Europe and the Arctic has been getting thinner, allowing ultraviolet
radiation to reach the Earth in the same way as the better known ozone hole
over the South Pole.

In fact, the ozone level over Europe is now about six percent lower than it
was 20 years ago. Losses of up to 50 percent per year have been observed
during the winters of the 1990s.

To find out more about the extent of the problem, Philippe Busquin,
European Union (EU) research commissioner has launched a scientific
campaign in Kiruna, located in Sweden's north polar circle.

Scientists all over the world are trying to find the reasons for these extremely
low ozone concentrations. "The European Union has pooled resources with
the United States, Japan, Russia, Norway, Poland and Switzerland in the
biggest field campaign ever, the Theseo 2000/Solve experiment," Busquin
said Friday.

To gather data about exact state of the ozone depletion, four airplanes - two
European, two American - and more than 20 balloons will be flown in the
coming weeks to measure the ozone content in the critical stratospheric
zone 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) above the Earth. The results of the campaign
will be known in March.

At the end of November 1999, the European Space Organisation's satellite
ERS-2 detected abnormally low ozone values over the United Kingdom,
Belgium, the Netherlands, Northern Germany, Denmark and the Baltic as
well as over the entire Arctic.

Over the last 10 years cold winters have coincided with maximum ozone
depletion, and scientists now understand the chemical processes in the
stratosphere that cause the phenomenon. Measuring campaigns like the one
in Kiruna are necessary to predict fututre developments and give a sound
basis to political decisions, Busquin said.

Ozone in the upper atmosphere absorbs ultraviolet radiation, especially
ultraviolet B, which damages the genetic heritage of a number of life forms,
including humans. A relatively small increase of ultraviolet radiation can
cause skin cancer and other forms of skin disease.

Busquin said, "The main thrust of research in Europe was to focus on what
is causing the ozone loss over the northern mid-latitudes since this is where
a majority of European citizens live."

The political response to the detection of the ozone hole in the Antarctic in
the 1970s was the United Nations Vienna treaty on the protection of the
ozone layer in 1985 and the Montreal Protocol in 1987 which have limited the
industrial production of a range of ozone depleting substances such as
chlorines and bromines. These chemicals have been found to destroy the
ozone layer.

As a consequence, the atmospheric concentrations of some of these
chemicals have either stopped rising or started to decline while the
concentration of others is still rising.

http://ens.lycos.com/ens/jan2000/2000L-01-24-01.html

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Edupage items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:14:05 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

SORTING OUT MAIL'S PLACE IN INTERNET AGE
The U.S. Postal Service, like many traditional, brick-and-mortar
businesses, is trying to develop an Internet strategy to avoid
losing billions of dollars to e-commerce rivals. Over the next
several years the Postal Service says it could lose up to $17
billion in first-class mail because of e-commerce. In addition,
online bill presentment could take away Postal Service revenue
brought in by paper bills. Postmaster General William Henderson
has several ideas about bringing the Postal Service to the
Internet. For example, the Postal Service could offer electronic
mailboxes that would assign an Internet address to each physical
address. The Postal Service could then print messages and
deliver them in envelopes to customers without Internet access.
Another option is for the Postal Service to move into electronic
bill payment, serving as an intermediary between buyers and
sellers to protect consumers from data mining. This spring, the
Postal Service plans to test a service that would allow small
companies to send electronic documents to printers located around
the nation and save money on mailing by printing close to the
document's destination. (Washington Post, 24 Jan 2000)

TO FIGHT HATE SPEECH ONLINE, U.S. TURNS TO HOUSING LAW
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is
attempting to use tenets of the Fair Housing Act to prosecute
white supremacist Ryan Wilson for allegedly posting death threats
on the Internet. Wilson, the Web site operator of ALPHA HQ, is
alleged to have threatened Bonnie Jouhari, an employee at the
Reading, Pa.-based Reading-Berks Human Relations Council.
Jouhari's job is to enable people to file discrimination
complaints as called for in the Housing Act. HUD charges that
Wilson violated the act by attempting to keep Wilson from
fulfilling her job duties. The ACLU's Chris Hansen questions
whether Wilson's threats violate the Fair Housing Act and notes
that Wilson's postings may be covered by the free speech
guarantees of the Constitution. Threats posted over the Internet
do not carry the same weight as those expressed to someone's
face, Hansen says. (New York Times Online, 21 Jan 2000)

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (1/24/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:24:26 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

Arabs ponder security associated with water resources

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arabic News

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Arab officials and experts will be meeting in Cairo next
February 21 to ponder security issues associated with water resources.
According to sources at the Euro-Arab study center which is co-organizing
the conference with the Arab League, the three-day meeting will debate
problems entailed by water scarcity, the importance of water in the Arab
world economic strategies, environment questions and the Arab-Israeli
conflict over water. Participants will also review legal issues related to water
problems.

President Weizman´s address to Israel

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Following is President Weizman´s address on January
23 concerning his taking a leave of absence over criminal investigations
against him. "Dear Citizens of Israel, I stand before you today together with
my wife Reuma and my family, after having considered the full weight of the
matter, to look at you and say: Only two paths are open before me, and from
my perspective there is no choice between them. One path is to fight for the
truth until the end, and the second is to resign. I do not intend to resign. A
man whose conscience is clear is not afraid and does not run away. In my
opinion, taking leave is no solution. A president on leave is still a president,
and there is no difference between a president on leave and a serving
president. All my life, I have tried to act sincerely and openly. Only one man
knows my truth, and that is myself. I have committed no criminal acts, I have
not sinned, I have never taken anything illegally. The opposite is true. All my
life I have tried to contribute. I have acted honestly, sincerely and innocently,
as I have always acted in public service. I am not a lawyer. But I have sought
the advice of a lawyer, a man I trusted, who told me innumerable times that
all my acts were legal and correct and without defect. If I have erred, it was a
human error done in innocence. I trust the legal system of the State of Israel,
the Israel Police, the State Prosecutor and the Attorney-General. I accept
with understanding the decision to open an investigation. I do not ask for
myself any privilege and I will be investigated like any citizen, because no
man is above the law. I have not responded in the media and this is very hard
for me. My opinion was, and remains, that as long as the investigation
continues, I should not intervene in its proceedings or listen to anything
except what I am told by the proper authorities. I promise you that I will have
my say at the end of the proceedings. I am going through difficult times, but I
have never abandoned the field, and I will not abandon this one. In these
times, I am able to absorb all the attacks and criticism, and draw strength
from the many in the public who encourage and support me. I thank them for
this.

Olmert warns that giving areas to the PA may divide Jerusalem

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert stated on Monday
morning that giving Abu Dis and predominately Arab areas of the capital to
the PA constituted dividing Jerusalem. The mayor commented that Abu Dis,
the chosen site for the PA capital, lies hundreds of meters from Jerusalem´s
Temple Mount, Judaism´s holiest site and giving it to the PA would ensure
continued seditious activities on the Mount and the general area. In an Israel
Radio interview on Monday afternoon, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Haim
Ramon said that at present, there was no indication that any area under
Israeli sovereignty would change to PA control. “Our position at the
negotiations with the PA is simple. Jerusalem will remain under Israeli
sovereignty and undivided.”

U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff warns against troop deployment to Golan

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Middle East Newsline

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff has warned
against long-term deployment of U.S. troops abroad as White House officials
continue to review plans to send peacekeeping forces to the Golan Heights
as part of any Israeli-Syrian treaty. It was his clearest warning against the
prospect of renewed U.S. military commitments that could endanger
American troops abroad or reduce the Pentagon's concept to be able to fight
a two-front war.

Bin Ladin has worldwide network

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: UPI

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Osama bin Laden used international companies and a
relief agency to cover his tracks, authorities claim. Recent filings in court by
federal prosecutors also accuse bin Laden of recruiting a network of people
living in the United States, obtaining blank passports from the Sudanese
government, and running his alleged organization via fax, satellite phone, and
coded letters, the New York Times reported Sunday. The government also
asserts that bin Laden used Mercy International Relief agency, a Kenyan
charity, as a cover for his terrorist activities.

Saudi urges U.S. to pressure Israel on peace

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Saudi Arabia on Monday urged the United States to
pressure its key Middle East ally, Israel, to agree to full withdrawal from the
Golan Heights to allow Syrian-Israeli peace talks to resume. A report on
obstacles blocking the resumption of peace talks between Israel and Syria
was discussed at a weekly meeting chaired by King Fahd. "The King
renewed Saudi Arabia's support to the brothers in Arab Republic of Syria to
attain all their rights and to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the
region in accordance with United Nations Security Council resolutions," the
official Saudi Press Agency said.

Mubarak seeking emergency Arab summit on peace processes

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Arutz-7

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Following a weekend of shuttle diplomacy between Syria
and Jordan, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt says he too could serve as a
vital mediator to assist in getting stalled talks back on track. Following a
Saturday meeting in Damascus with President Hafez el-Assad, Mubarak
stated that he supported Syria´s position – demanding an unconditional total
Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Mubarak then went to Amman to
meet with King Abdullah. The two leaders shared views concerning the
ongoing processes between Israel and Syria as well as the PLO Authority
(PA). Mubarak has indicated he is trying to convene an emergency Arab
nation summit to deal with the issues surrounding the peace efforts in the
region.

NATO chief wants discussion with Putin about Russia's new military doctrine

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- NATO Secretary General Lord George Robertson said on
Monday he would like to discuss the war in Chechnya and Russia's new
security plan during a possible trip to Moscow. "I am interested in broader,
more strategic issues of NATO's relationship with Russia. We are discussing
the possibility of a visit by me to Moscow," Robertson said. Robertson was
awaiting an official invitation to Moscow soon to meet acting President
Vladimir Putin and put relations back on track. Robertson said he would like
to discuss Russia's military action against Chechen rebels and Moscow's
recently unveiled national security concept, which broadened its policy for
using nuclear weapons.

China and EU open crucial talks on WTO

Weekend News Today
By Kelly Pagatpatan
Source: Reuters

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- The European Union and China began talks on Monday
in search of an agreement that would pave the way for China to join the
World Trade Organisation. "We are hoping they will come with reaction to
what we have proposed," an EU Commission spokesman said, referring to a
list of EU requests for better market access delivered to the Chinese late last
year. After the United States, Japan and Canada reached their own separate
agreements with Beijing last year, the 15-nation EU is the biggest trade
power which has yet to reach an agreement with China to allow it to join the
135-member world trade body.

Peace in exchange for conscription

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- If the talks with the Syrians advance according to
Barak's plan, Israel will vote on the referendum of land for peace between the
beginning of April and the beginning of May. The schedule of the High Court
of Justice reveals this is exactly when the government will have to inform the
High Court of Justice how it intends to implement the principle of "One nation
- one conscription". This conjunction of dates plays into Barak's hands. The
ultra-Orthodox parties will find it very uncomfortable to run propaganda
against the peace agreement with Syria and Lebanon and with the same
breath demand that the government let their sons evade in perpetuity paying
the price of a continued state of war. If they support the prime minister, the
defense minister will be able to inform the court that with the Syrian, he will
cut back military service to two and a half years. The deal will be that the
ultra-Orthodox won't interfere with the secular putting an end to getting
themselves killed in the tents of the army, and the secular will not interfere
with the ultra-Orthodox getting themselves killed in the tents of the Torah.
Editor's note: Isn't it also interesting timing that Passover is in this time
frame, April 20?

East Jerusalem as Area B

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Life in large sections of East Jerusalem is unofficially
conducted as if the area were part of Area B of the West Bank, where civil
control is in the hands of the PA while security control is Israeli. 200,000
East Jerusalem Israeli Arabs, are not Israeli citizens that have the right to
vote or be elected to the Knesset, and do not have Israeli passports. But
they do enjoy all other privileges, as if citizens. All East Jerusalem Arabs
can vote (and run) for the Palestinian parliament. They also study under the
PA's school program, and on many issues behave more as citizens of the
PA than as residents of the State of Israel. There are some remote
neighborhoods in southeast Jerusalem or in the north of the city where it is
hard to find any trace of Israeli rule, for example, no services supplied by the
Jerusalem municipality. The streets, or dirt roads and alleys, are filled with
garbage and filth. They are, however, regularly visited by representatives of
the PA, such as Jibril Rajoub's secret agents. The Shuafat refugee camp,
home to thousands of Palestinians, is run by the United Nations Relief and
Works Agency, whose Palestinian workers abide by instructions from Arafat
and his men. No Israeli official dares enter the camp without a heavy police
escort, as though it were behind enemy lines. It is important to note all this
against the backdrop of recent reports from the permanent status
negotiations, according to which Israel is willing to consider transferring civil
control of several Arab neighborhoods in East Jerusalem to the PA. The last
decade has seen extensive and crowded Arab construction in North
Jerusalem, turning the Israeli rule of these areas into more of a headache
than a benefit. Handing these neighborhoods over to civil Palestinian control
would contribute to maintaining the Jewish character of Jerusalem, as well
as to generating a substantial financial savings on National Insurance
allowances and other social benefits. Handing over East Jerusalem Arab
neighborhoods to civil Palestinian authority is not especially revolutionary,
since it would merely reflect the reality already in place. But the importance
of the idea is in outlining a possible direction in the search for a compromise
solution for Jerusalem.

PLO still conseider a terrorist organization

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Another topic on Arafat's agenda in Washington was the
PA's request to upgrade the status of the Palestine Liberation Organization's
representation in the United States. The PLO is still on the Americans' list of
terrorist organizations - the organization's presence in the United States
requires a half-yearly special presidential order. According to Sha'ath, no
change in the organization's status was possible, due to sharp objections
from Congress.

$900 million in aid for PA approved by U.S.

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: Ha'aretz

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- The Palestinian Authority's minister of planning and
international cooperation, Nabil Sha'ath, said that U.S. aid totaling some
$900 million was approved for the PA. Contrary to the past, when the
Americans dictated the purpose of the donations, the aid this time will be
granted on the basis of projects chosen by joint agreement. Two of the
projects are the building of a road between Jenin and Nablus, and a program
for rural development.

Flu/pneumonia claims over 200 lives in Israel

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- Health officials have announced that the death toll from
the flu/pneumonia epidemic has reached 206 for a two-week period in
January. The total number of persons who died of the flu and related
respiratory complications in 2000 has reached 366. European health officials
have already indicated this year´s unprecedented flu season may claim as
many as 100,000 lives.

Armenian President Kocharian completes visit to Israel

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- President of Armenia Robert Kocahrian on Friday
completed his 3-day working visit to Israel. During the visit president he met
with President Ezer Weizman, Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Knesset Speaker
Avraham Burg, Interior Minister Natan Sharansky and Jerusalem Mayor Ehud
Olmert. He also attended celebrations marking the Armenian Christmas held
by the Armenia Patriarch in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Ways of
strengthening Israeli-Armenian relations were agreed upon and agreements
on health and the protection of investments were signed.

Islamic Jihad leader: Syria will not prevent our war against Israel

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- The leader of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization
announced that talks between Israel and Syria would not prevent their
continued attacks against Israel. Abdallah Ramda´an Salah told Reuters,
Syria does not plan to take actions against us as a result of a peace deal
with Israel. We realize that war is a strategic option for the Palestinian
people and we will continue to wage war against Israel in any way possible
until we achieve all our rights and the our lands which are being occupied.”
Khaled Meshal, who heads the political bureau of Hamas in Jordan stated
that the only solution to the “Palestinian problem was a bloody and
continued war against Israel in which Israel must be annihilated.”

Israel remains firm in demand for Tomahawk Missile

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Mon Jan 24,2000 -- The Director-General of the Defense Ministry Maj-Gen
(Res) Amos Yaron has made another appeal to the United States
government to approve an Israeli request for the Tomahawk missile. The
missiles are included in the ‘wish list´ submitted by Israel to the Clinton
administration as part of a comprehensive defense package to accompany
the signing of a peace treaty with Syria. Last week, Pentagon officials
politely told Israel that the chances of receiving the Tomahawk were very slim
and Israel was instructed to refrain from making additional requests for the
missile. Israel has decided to send Yaron to Washington this week once
again to continuing lobbying efforts for the Tomahawk which Israel insists is
necessary considering the strategic changes in the area that would exist
following the signing of an accord with Syria.

300 Rabbis call for Jerusalem to be shared

Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire

Sun Jan 23,2000 -- Rabbi Professor Burton L. Visotzky holds a chair in
Midrash and Interreligious Studies at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He is
one of the over 300 rabbis from the 'Jewish Peace Lobby' that signed a
statement yesterday about sharing/dividing Jerusalem. The statement goes
into considerable detail, calling for, among other things, Arab neighborhoods
in Jerusalem to be part of a Palestinian state and for the Old City to
somehow be shared. In an interview, he stated that he believes: it is not
wrong for Jews to pray at the Cave of the Patriachs because it is now a
mosque; the rabbis and the waqf should agree to be will to not stand in the
way of peace and guarantee free access to each other's holy sites; and that
the Jews, Christians, and Muslims all pray to the same God.

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

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 18:30:46 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

RALLIES FOR JERUSALEM
The scenes of last year's half-million-strong rally of religious Jews - who
gathered to protest Supreme Court interference in religious matters - may
soon repeat itself. This time, however, the focus will be on the unity of
Jerusalem, and the participants will likely transcend particular religious and
political factions. So says the organizer of the previous rally, Agudat Yisrael
Honorary President Rabbi Menachem Porush. Porush told Arutz-7 today
that the protest could still be called off - if Prime Minister Barak chooses to
respond to a letter Porush wrote him less than a month ago. "I asked Mr.
Barak to assure us that the plans to hand over Abu Dis and other Jerusalem
suburbs to the Palestinian Authority would not be carried out," Porush said.
"He has not yet done so. I am surprised that he has not understood the
severity of this matter. The coming protest will be attended by a cross-
section of the Jewish people - religious and secular - and whoever holds dear
the verse, 'If I Forget Thee, Jerusalem, may my right hand lose its cunning.'"

Rabbi Porush noted today that a gathering of Jerusalem border-community
representatives has been called for next Wednesday evening in the
Jerusalem City Hall building. He said that this forum would serve as the
nucleus for the rally's steering committee. Asked why prominent hareidi
rabbis have chosen to lead the fight on a type of nationalist political issue
with which the yeshiva world is generally not identified, Porush responded:
"Until now, we have become used to hearing government representatives
issue festive declarations such as 'A United Jerusalem - the Eternal Capital
of Israel' and the like. When our rabbis learned of the secret plans to divide
Jerusalem, they were gripped with fear. If the proposed maps become a
reality, Jerusalem and more than 100,000 Jews [in certain neighborhoods]
will be in existential danger."

A different type of demonstration, but for much the same purpose, is already
underway in Jerusalem late this afternoon. Nadia Matar of Women in Green
reports from the capital that at least 50 cars gathered at one spot and are
heading for the Kidron Valley, where they will meet similar groups from many
other locations in the country. Large traffic jams are expected. Zo Artzeinu
[This is Our Land], which organized the drive-in, has also scheduled a march
to a spot near the Temple Mount, at which the participants will protest the
continued Waqf desecration of the Temple Mount. They will also declare
their allegiance, in a special ceremony, to the holy city and the site of the
Beit HaMikdash.

TOR RESPONDS
A group of well-known Israeli writers has publicized a declaration calling on
the government to return 300 displaced Bedouins to their former homes, near
Maon. The Bedouin were removed from the area some weeks ago, following
the destruction of the Maon farm and the expulsion of its Jews. These
occurred in the framework of the "outposts compromise" of three months
ago, which recognized the area as an IDF firing range. Prime Minister Barak
has in fact asked Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh to look into the
issue.

Prof. Sami Micha'el, one of the signatories to the above call, explained to
Arutz-7 yesterday that he is not interested in the politics of the matter, and
that "only the humanitarian aspects are what concern me. I cannot take the
idea that people have been thrown out of their homes in the cold and rain. I
can't even bear seeing a dog treated this way." Responding to a question
about the Jews who were expelled from the same area, Micha'el said that the
two situations are not comparable: "The Jews were not thrown out into the
rain. Their fellow Jews are taking care of them." Arutz-7's Haggai Segal
noted that the army stated that only 3 Bedouin families were evacuated, and
not 300 people as the announcement claimed; Micha'el said, "It could be
that someone made a mistake in writing the declaration. That's not the main
point - justice is not measured in quantity." Regarding the threatened transfer
of Jews from the Golan, Micha'el said, "That's not considered a transfer. The
[evacuees] will be among their own nation, and they will not be thrown to the
dogs… When a nation decides to move and go on a certain path, sometimes
pain is involved. All those who will have to move will have to be compensated
accordingly. This is a political issue."

Former residents of the Maon farm and sympathizers reacted strongly to
Micha'el's words. Shlomo Filber, General Secretary of the Yesha Council,
said that he was amazed at the "racism" inherent in Micha'el's words. Others
recalled that farm-founder Dov Dribben was murdered by his Arab neighbors.
Former Maon farm resident Yehoshafat Tor, speaking with Arutz-7 today,
negated Micha'el's claims: "First of all, it's not true that we all have where to
go. My wife and I, for instance, are living with my parents right now, and the
other members are still rolling around [from place to place]. But that's not
even the point. The Arabs there never really lived there - they have homes in
the villages, but during the winter months they come to these fields to watch
their flocks. But they all have homes nearby... How is it that these great
humanitarians didn't come to visit us at all - where our beautiful farm, with
buildings, a synagogue, even a mikveh, were totally razed to the ground -
and say only that 'someone is worrying about us'? This is ridiculous." Tor
added that, "At the rate this government is going, it probably will allow [the
Bedouin] to return - in which case so will we, and in great force. What, the
firing range area is dangerous only for Jews and not for Arabs?"

P.A. PROTESTS MEMORIAL MINUTE
Arutz-7 correspondent Kobi Finkler reports that the Palestinian Authority is
calling upon Arab states to consider not showing up for the Olympics in
Sydney, Australia this summer. An editorial in today's PA's official organ Al
Hayat al-Jadida protests the plan to begin the Games with a minute of
silence in memory of the 11 Israeli athletes who were killed by Palestinian
terrorists at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.ArutzSheva.org>
Tuesday, January 25, 2000 / Sh'vat 18, 5760

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