War in Mideast by October?
Why Israel must act -- by Joseph Farah
'Red October' submarine brought to life
Update: U.S., Israel near deal on settlements
Macedonia PM seeks war declaration
Update: Russia nuclear waste bill advances
UN warns of Africa water crisis
Lebanon cleric bans smoking
Wolves force campground closing
1. TERRORIST SHOOTING ATTACK: TWO ISRAELIS WOUNDED
2. PALESTINIAN CEASEFIRE ATTACKS CONTINUE
3. BESEECHING THE HEAVENS, THEN THE POLITICIANS
4. ISRAELI-ARAB ESCAPES FROM P.A.
5. COURT RECOGNIZES HA'ARETZ SLANDER OF HEVRON JEWS
6. DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING
7. MATRICULATING IN YESHA
8. DOCUMENTING THE PALESTINIAN INCITEMENT
9. ZO ARTZEINU TO RESUME OPERATIONS
Hurricane Forecaster upped his forecast for a more intense hurricane season
NATO warns against Macedonia state-of-war declaration
IDF uproots trees used as cover in Palestinian shootings
Israelis in Samaria set fire to Palestinian fields
Israel's government divided amid rising protests
Russia's new Middle East alliance targets Israel, Turkey
Air Force tests missile defense
========
To: <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] RE: 13 & 14 names
From: "John"
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 09:49:43 +1200
--------
Hi,
The problem as I see it with Charlies latest suggestion as to the missing
name is that the groupings in Matthew are 14:14:14. The missing name is in
the third group of 14 suggesting that the count is not wrong in the first
two groups, thus Adam is not being counted in the 42 total. Assuming the
Genealogies are correct in Matthew and are divinely inspired then the
missing name cannot be included earlier in the lists. I still propose that
the missing Generation is the seed of Christ, the church of God.
johninnz
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Prophecy Flash Alert items (6/6/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:39:45 -0400
--------
GEOSTRATEGY-DIRECT INTELLIGENCE REPORT
War in Mideast by October?
Israel's military disillusioned, foresees regional conflict
Israel's military brass believes that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has lost
his nerve. Sharon had pledged over and over that he would order an attack
that would destroy the Palestinian Authority and exile Chairman Yasser
Arafat from the region. That opportunity came over the weekend when a
Palestinian suicide bomber sent by the Islamic Hamas group blew himself up
and killed another 20 Israelis.
The following day, June 2, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz presented
to Sharon a plan for a massive bombing sweep that would destroy the PA
infrastructure and lead to the exile of Arafat. But Sharon, under massive
pressure from the United States and the European Union, said no. Arafat
had pledged a cease-fire, and Sharon did not want to be seen as the one
who ruined the opportunity to end the 8-month-old war against the
Palestinians.
The result has been some deep soul-searching within the military. The
assessment is that Sharon has followed the path of the man he replaced,
Ehud Barak. Barak was held back from ending the war against the
Palestinians by the refusal of then-President Bill Clinton to support a
drive to exile Arafat. Barak felt that without U.S. support, Israel would
be alone against the world.
What now? The military brass has drafted the following scenario: Arafat
will steadily escalate the violence but keep it below Sharon's level of
tolerance. Meanwhile, Arafat's Arab allies will rearm for a regional war
against Israel.
As the military brass sees it, Iran, Iraq, the Palestinians and Hezbollah
want a regional war. Syria and Egypt are preparing for such a development.
The brass is divided over whether Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak will
join such a coalition when the time comes. In every meeting with U.S.
officials, Mubarak has pledged he will stop such a war. But in public, the
Egyptian president has been talking very tough.
The time frame for such a war is between October and the end of this year.
*********************************************************************
Why Israel must act -- by Joseph Farah
To get one's news about the Middle East – or just about anything else for
that matter – from the major western media is to get a distorted picture
of important events.
For instance, with regard to the current Arab uprising in Israel, we hear from
CNN, the Associated Press and other news sources that nearly 500 have
been killed, "mostly Palestinians."
This statement, repeated over and over again, suggests that it is the
Israelis who are the aggressors in this conflict.
My friend Joseph Katz, a Middle Eastern political and religious history
analyst from Brooklyn, New York, has assembled some interesting data on
the casualties from this 8-month-old conflict that puts the picture in
better perspective.
Some 20 percent of the Arab casualties have been suicides – either people
blowing themselves up as in the most recent disco bombing in Tel Aviv, or
involving charges of Israeli Defense Forces positions. Hamas, alone,
boasts of 280 more trained suicide bombers ready to be deployed.
The early mayhem, in the first six weeks of the uprising, accounted for
nearly half of the Arab casualties. The Arab casualties have dropped
dramatically since then.
The number of Israeli casualties has been dramatically increasing as
professional militia are trained and deployed and since increased
cooperation between Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority and Hamas and
Hezbollah has occurred.
Keep all this in mind in the context of the latest suicide bombing in Tel
Aviv. Israelis understand these facts because they live with them daily.
Around the world, this is still often viewed as the big bad Israelis vs.
kids with rocks.
This is why the Israelis must say no. They must respond. They must punish
the attackers. Or they literally risk losing their country and all they
have sacrificed to build it in the last 50 years.
There is simply no question that Israelis would graciously accept
meaningful peace terms negotiated in good faith with their adversaries.
This round of violence began when Arafat unilaterally walked away from a
peace table at which he had been handed everything he had ever asked for.
That's because Arafat doesn't want only what he has asked for publicly. He
wants it all. He wants Israel destroyed. He wants all the land – and he
cannot accept less and maintain any credibility with his own people and
the more radical elements of his movement.
That's why Israel cannot successfully make any more territorial
concessions. It doesn't lead anywhere productive – only to more terror,
more violence, more suicide bombs.
The Middle East has always been a conflict little understood by outsiders.
Public policy in the West – and even in Israel – has often been shaped
more by myth than reality, more by perception than truth.
Arafat will continue to say day is night and war is peace. We should
expect it from him. But how many more body bags do we need to see from
terrorist incidents before the whole world recognizes Arafat for what he
is – a bold liar whose ultimate goal remains, as always, the annihilation
of the Jewish state?
Arafat will continue to maintain plausible deniability with regard to
Hamas and Hezbollah and other terrorist operations. He will portray
himself as a reasonable man, a man of peace. He will wax persuasively
about his own victimhood. He'll tell you that the Israelis are the true
obstacle to peace. But that's all this is – plausible deniability that is
rapidly reaching the stage of implausible deniability.
For many Middle East observers, Joan Peters' monumental book, "From Time
Immemorial," has forever changed the terms of the debate about the
conflicting claims of the Arabs and the Jews in that region.
After many years of research, Peters documented the complex history of the
region and in so doing has deftly and authoritatively contradicted common
perceptions about the role and strategy of each side of the struggle.
According to Peters, part of the problem in getting the truth out about
the Mideast is the restrictions the Palestinian Authority has placed on
the media.
"The reporter who had the audacity to photograph [the lynching of Israeli
soldiers] and then publish it in Italy and then worldwide had to get down
on his knees and beg forgiveness from the Palestinian Authority to prevent
from being killed," Peters says. "There is no more freedom to publish
there anymore than there is in places like Egypt, where the news starts at
the top of the pyramid."
However, "Israel has a free press," Peters explains. "Everything bad you
can write about Israel is welcome in Israel. In fact, the Israeli press
has been arguably the source of most of the anti-Israeli material in the
world. They have many more papers that are what we would call anti-Israel
than they have pro-Israel."
Peters believes Arabs have intentionally perpetuated the "refugee problem"
in order to strengthen their hand against Israel.
"There were many recommendations by American and foreign presidents and
prime ministers to solve the Arab refugee problem. As the Arabs said in
the Arab League at that time, 'We want to keep this as an open sore and
use these people as a pawn against Israel.'"
If only Secretary of State Colin Powell would crack open this book. If
only the editors at AP and the producers at CNN could have this
background.
*********************************************************************
'Red October' submarine brought to life
FROM GILES WHITTELL IN MOSCOW
THE threat of a virtually undetectable menace from the deep, which made a
bestseller of Tom Clancy´s book The Hunt for Red October, appears to have
come true. A Russian nuclear submarine that claims to be the world´s
quietest has put to sea ten years after her keel was laid in a Soviet
naval shipyard.
The Gephardt, the newest vessel in Russia´s Northern Fleet, slipped from
her berth in the Sevmash shipyard near Archangel on Monday for trials in
the Barents Sea, during which Nato navies will be anxious to test the
claim that she is “the Mercedes of the oceans”.
Designers of the 350ft boat, an Akula 2-class submarine, claim that she
cannot be detected from more than seven miles away, even with the US
Navy´s most sophisticated listening devices. This would make her quieter
than her US counterpart, the Los Angeles class submarine, which she also
beats for speed, firepower and maximum diving depth.
The Gephardt is considered to be a triumph of espionage rather than
engineering. She uses technology stolen by KGB moles in the US Navy
during the 1980s and propellers made with steel-milling technology sold
illegally to the Soviet Union by Japan´s Toshiba giant.
Her long path to active service reflects the chaos in Russia in the 1990s.
Scheduled to be completed in 1996, she was still in dry dock in 1998 and
has yet to be fully paid for by the Defence Ministry.
In another sign of looming paralysis in Russia´s under-funded military, a
daily newspaper reported yesterday that the governor of the Omsk region of
Siberia has decided to provide the navy with state-of-the-art
communications equipment intended for a nuclear submarine free of charge
because the Defence Ministry was unable to pay for it.
The fictional Red October was captained by Ramius, played by Sean
Connery in the film of the book. She went to sea before the Soviet collapse
claiming, like the Gephardt, to be the world´s stealthiest submarine.
Prophecy Flash Alert - http://www.prophecyupdate.com
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Advertising the Abortion Pill
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:49:23 -0400
--------
Advertising the Abortion Pill
The controversial abortion pill RU-486 is heating things up in the advertising
world. The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is launching a $2 million
educational effort.
The new advertising campaign will be released this July in select magazines.
The ads are designed to target 70 percent of women between the ages of 18-
49.
The NAF declined to comment on the agency that created the ads. But they
did reveal their nature.
A young woman is looking out of a window. The text reads, "You have the
freedom to choose. And now you have another safe abortion choice."
Anti-abortion groups argue that there are risks involved with RU-486, which
aren't identified in these ads. All pharmaceutical ads are required to disclose
a drug's side effects.
However, the federation says they're not specifically advertising a certain
product. They say their goal is to raise an educational awareness so there's
no need to identify warnings and health risks.
But some magazines have already declined the organization's ad dollars for
fear of a backlash from anti-abortion groups. Hearst's Redbook is one of
them, recently exercising its option to deny the new print ad from running.
Hearst's Cosmopolitan will carry the ad, though. Time's People and Conde
Nast's Vanity Fair and Self have also decided to run the print ad.
A spokesman for The Hearst Corporation says the decision to run the ads
was left up to each of its publications. Hearst is the largest publisher of
monthly magazines and owns female-oriented publications like CosmoGIRL!,
Marie Claire and Harper's Bazaar, in addition to Redbook and Cosmopolitan.
A spokeswoman for Conde Nast's Vanity Fair says their readers are smart
enough to make their own decisions. Conde Nast owns such magazines as
Allure, Glamour, Vogue and Mademoiselle.
Media consultants say more publications will probably turn the NAF away as
well. Executives will be too afraid their magazine will be boycotted by anti-
abortion groups or even see a line of picketing outside the publication's
offices. It's also quite possible that anti-abortion groups such as the Family
Research Council could create their own campaign against RU-486.
While the pill is best known as RU-486 or mifepristone, it's actually sold
under the brand name Mifeprex. It blocks the hormone progesterone, which
is required for establishing and maintaining a pregnancy. The abortion pill
has been at the center of controversy for 12 years but gained the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration's approval in September 2000.
http://advertising.about.com/careers/advertising/library/weekly/aa060501a.htm
?PM=n3060701i
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] PA leaders reject Israeli demands for arrest of terrorists
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:54:58 -0400
--------
Thursday, June 7, 2001
PA leaders reject Israeli demands for arrest of terrorists
Ha'aretz Correspondents
By Daniel Sobelman, Aluf Benn and Gideon Alon
The Palestinian Authority does not intend to arrest members of opposition
organizations such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad, two senior Palestinian
officials said yesterday.
Both PA Minister for International Cooperation Nabil Sha'ath and Jibril
Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service in the West
Bank, said there would be no such arrests.
"The arrest of Palestinian activists is unequivocally unacceptable," said
Sha'ath. "We don't take orders from anyone, either the U.S. or Israel. The
Palestinian Authority acts according to the interests of the Palestinian
people."
"I can promise that there will not be arrests," added Rajoub. "There will not
be civil war and there will not be internal Palestinian disagreements regarding
the cease-fire or regarding continuation of the Palestinian struggle."
Israel has said that the arrest of people involved in terrorist attacks against
Israelis is an essential component of a cease-fire, without which the cease-
fire would be meaningless.
The government has given the PA a list of names of 34 Hamas and Jihad
activists whom it wants arrested.
The arrests dispute is likely to become a central focus of CIA chief George
Tenet's visit to the region. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who will meet with
Tenet today, plans to urge him to pressure PA Chairman Yasser Arafat to
carry out the arrests, as well as to end the violence completely and to stop
media incitement against Israel.
"If the Palestinians don't arrest Hamas and Jihad men who are planning to
carry out suicide attacks, this entire cease-fire is a joke," a government
source explained yesterday. "If [Arafat's] sole intent is to stop the shooting
from Area A [Palestinian-controlled territory], it's not serious... For two days
Arafat said he had not received the list, but now it's in his hands."
Government officials said so far, not only have arrests not been made, but
incitement, which dropped briefly following Arafat's declaration of a cease-fire
on Saturday, is on the rise again and shooting has continued steadily all
week. They stressed that Israel will not agree to negotiate a timetable for
implementation of the Mitchell report before a complete cease-fire is
obtained.
Rajoub, in contrast, yesterday urged the U.S. to ignore the arrests issue and
put pressure on Israel to maintain the cease-fire anyway. Otherwise, he
warned, Tenet's journey to the region will be a failure.
"For the last eight months, it is the Palestinian people that has been
subjected to shootings, attacks, assassinations, siege and suffering," he
said. "From this it follows that the success or failure [of Tenet's visit]
depends on the American government's ability to pressure the Israeli
government into stopping its aggression against the Palestinian people."
After meeting with Sharon today, Tenet will try to arrange a joint session with
the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian security services. If the results seem
positive, Under-secretary of State William Burns will return to the region early
next week to continue talks on implementation of the Mitchell report.
But should the cease-fire break down, the government sources said, the
cabinet has already approved a series of IDF countermeasures that could be
carried out immediately. Meanwhile, senior Palestinians expressed
skepticism yesterday about Israel's commitment to the settlement freeze
called for in the Mitchell report.
Israel has said it accepts the report 100 percent, and the deputy defense
minister, Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, told the Knesset yesterday that Israel has
already taken the first steps toward implementing the freeze. Her ministry
has decided not to approve any additional construction in the settlements,
and it has ordered the IDF to dismantle all new outposts set up by settlers in
response to terror attacks.
"The policy is not to permit additional construction," she said, in response to
a questions from MKs Hashem Mahameed (United Arab List) and Colette
Avital (Labor). "The defense minister has not approved additional construction
in a single settlement... "There is [also] a decision in principle by the
defense establishment not to permit the construction of additional outposts,
and the GOC Central Command, who deals with this matter, has been
ordered to dismantle the existing outposts."
But senior PA negotiator Saeb Erekat said the freeze formula Sharon has
worked out with the American government, as reported in yesterday's
Ha'aretz, is a "trick." The formula states that construction will be frozen
"beyond existing built-up areas." But this means houses could still be built
within these areas, Erekat said - and in Gaza, he claimed, such areas
constitute 20 percent of the territory.
"We don't need deceit or games, but real steps - an absolute freeze on all
settlement activity, as detailed by the Mitchell Committee," he said. A real
freeze, he added, means that even construction for the purposes of natural
growth must be forbidden, and construction must also be frozen in east
Jerusalem. "Anything else would simply be a continuation of the game of
deception," he said.
A spokesman for the American embassy in Israel, however, told Agence
France-Presse yesterday that the Ha'aretz report was "completely incorrect."
The Middle East will also occupy an important place in next week's
American-European summit in Sweden, which will be U.S. President George
Bush's first official visit to the continent. The European Union's foreign policy
czar, Javier Solana, is expected to present a plan for greater European
involvement in the region at this summit, while Israel will ask the participants
to pressure Arafat to stop the violence.
"As long as Arafat sees a difference between the European and American
positions, he rejoices," a senior government source said yesterday. "Only
after the Dolphinarium attack [in Tel Aviv last Friday], when he saw that the
Europeans had fallen into line with the U.S., did he feel the economic pinch
and declare a cease-fire."
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=6/7/01&id
=121012
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Army will still strike at active terrorists
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:56:59 -0400
--------
Thursday, June 7, 2001
Army will still strike at active terrorists
Ha'aretz Military Correspondent
By Amos Harel
Israel's declaration of a cease-fire does not mean an absolute ban on
assassinating Palestinian terrorists, should this be necessary to prevent an
imminent attack, defense sources told Ha'aretz yesterday.
The IDF has been ordered not to operate in Area A (Palestinian-controlled
territory), they said, but if it were necessary to stop a terrorist cell on its way
to commit an attack, the kitchen cabinet has given the IDF and the Shin Bet
security service permission to kill the gang members, despite the cease-fire.
"If there is a need for a purely preventative operation, like a strike at activists
who are organizing a terrorist cell or who are on their way to [commit] an
attack, it will be approved," said one source. "Everything that falls under the
definition of preventing a 'clear and present danger' will be carried out even
now, despite the cease-fire decision."
Senior IDF officials said the fact Israel has refrained from targeted killings
over the last two weeks has given terrorists more freedom of action and
made it easier for them to carry out attacks.
Though the Palestinians have accused Israel of several attempted
assassinations of Islamic Jihad and Fatah activists over the last few days,
Israel has in most cases denied any involvement. The most recent was the
case of Ashraf Badrwill, who was mortally injured when his car exploded on
Tuesday.
Deputy Defense Minister Dalia Rabin-Pelosoff said yesterday that Badrwill
was en route to committing an attack and suffered a "work accident,"
meaning the bomb he had planned to set off detonated prematurely.
Senior defenses sources also said Israel was not involved in the explosion.
They said that Badrwill, described by the Palestinians as a Fatah member,
was in fact an Islamic Jihad activist, and though he had been involved in
smaller-scale attacks in the past, he had never been involved in a bombing.
Meanwhile, despite Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's
declaration of a cease-fire, there are still warnings of plans by Palestinian
organizations to smuggle suicide bombers and booby-trapped cars into
Israel. Major General Amos Malka, the head of Military Intelligence, said
there have never before been so many warnings about possible attacks.
Palestinian sources said that Israel arrested an Islamic Jihad activist
yesterday near Jenin, in an area under Israeli security control (Area B). The
IDF declined to comment, but defense sources confirmed that this was an
Israeli operation.
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=6/7/01&id
=121013
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Security chiefs study plan to close off Green Line
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:58:55 -0400
--------
Thursday, June 7, 2001
Security chiefs study plan to close off Green Line
IDF redeploys troops along seamline; plan to cost NIS 1-2
B
Ha'aretz Correspondents
By Amos Harel and Nicole Krau
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had a preliminary discussion yesterday with top
officials of the police force, IDF and the Shin Bet to outline plans to stiffen
security along the Israeli-Palestinian seamline. Defense Minister Binyamin
Ben Eliezer and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau also took part in the
discussion.
The emergency meeting was a reaction to Friday's deadly explosion in Tel
Aviv, to discuss measures which would tighten security along the seamline
by creating a series of obstacles, making infiltration almost impossible.
IDF and police officials presented their recommendations for operational
measures before the prime minister. Because the plans are not based on a
diplomatic plan for unilateral separation, the measures do not include fences,
but rather the redeployment of troops and police forces along the line. The
security chiefs propose the IDF would be responsible for the area to the east
of the Green Line and would declare it a "closed military zone," while the
police forces would take control of the strip of land to the west of the line.
The need to establish a punitive system and detention centers to deter
infiltrators was also discussed, as well as a pressing need to strictly enforce
laws forbidding Israelis to employ or house illegal Palestinian workers.
The financial implications of the recommended measures were gone over in
detail. Sources told Ha'aretz the budget needed for the plans would be NIS 1-
2 billion.
A continuation of the closed security discussion at the prime minister's office
was set for next week, when the various groups involved will present a more
concrete plan of action according to the guidelines agreed upon in
yesterday's meeting.
The IDF has already begun operating a brigade headquarters along the Israeli-
Palestinian seamline as the first step in the redeployment of troops along it.
The headquarters do not yet include a full brigade. Colonel Lawrence,
commander of the artillery division of the central region, has been appointed
brigade commander and will fill both positions simultaneously. The
headquarters will be situated in the Tsofim camp east of Qalqilya.
The seamline brigade is the seventh in the Judea and Samaria division,
alongside the brigades of Jenin, Samaria, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem,
and Hebron.
As a first step, the headquarters was allotted two companies from the Nahal
army unit summoned from the Golan Heights that have already been
deployed along the seamline. In addition, special units from the Armor Corps
commando, as well as several dozen military police, have been strategically
placed along the line.
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=6/7/01&id
=121016
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Infobeat News items (6/7/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 09:16:44 -0400
--------
*** Update: U.S., Israel near deal on settlements
WASHINGTON (AP) - The United States and Israel are closing in on a
deal that would freeze construction at Jewish settlements on the
West Bank and Gaza. The three key points, according to diplomatic
sources, are: no new settlements, no construction beyond the
confines of existing ones and no taking of Palestinian-owned land
for settlements. Such an agreement by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's
government would go a long way toward meeting a key Palestinian
demand. But the agreement has not been concluded, said an Israeli
official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Also, some Israeli
actions in the territories seen by the Palestinians as rightfully
theirs, are not covered. These include the building of new roads for
settlers, which stirs opposition from the Palestinian Authority. A
construction freeze was a key recommendation of the fact-finding
Mitchell Commission, headed by former Senate Democratic Leader
George Mitchell. Its recommendations, including the freeze, were
endorsed in mid-May by Secretary of State Colin Powell.
*** Israel curbs Palestinian-Americans, see
http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408041172
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408040516
*** Macedonia PM seeks war declaration
SKOPJE, Macedonia (AP) - A day after ethnic Albanian rebels killed
five Macedonian soldiers, the prime minister gave word Wednesday
that he wants parliament to formally declare war, deepening a
four-month crisis. The European Union and the United States hurried
to discourage Prime Minister Ljubco Georgievski from making the
formal request to parliament. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
said declaring war against the rebels "would only be playing into
the hands of extremists." Tuesday's fighting, which left another
seven wounded, was the most serious escalation of violence in weeks.
It underlined the government's tenuous hold on areas near the border
with the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408041634
*** Update: Russia nuclear waste bill advances
MOSCOW (AP) - In a landmark vote that critics say will turn Russia
into the planet's nuclear dump, Russian lawmakers defied broad
public opposition and on Wednesday passed a law allowing nuclear
waste to be imported and stored indefinitely. Proponents say the
measure will create jobs and bring in billions of dollars to needy
government coffers. They vow to use some of the riches to clean up
radioactive swathes of the world's largest country that have been
scarred by decades of Soviet nuclear development. Opponents question
whether the money will be really used as promised, and whether
Russia is equipped to safely handle the expected quantities of spent
foreign nuclear fuel.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408041706
*** UN warns of Africa water crisis
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Millions of poor African families desperately
need clean water, hiking for miles to fetch it or buying
exorbitantly priced bottled water, even as wealthy Africans wash
their cars and water their lawns. Many slum dwellers simply steal
water from pipelines. What Africa needs to solve the problem is
privatized water companies that would make people pay for what they
use, even if it means putting water meters in every household, an
expert panel said at the United Nations on Wednesday. Most African
cities provide running water to only a portion of their residents.
Other citizens, mostly those living in shantytowns on the outskirts
of town, make enormous sacrifices to get their daily drinking water
supply. Or they go without.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408040277
*** Lebanon cleric bans smoking
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - A senior Shiite Muslim cleric - saying he is
motivated by love and concern for the health of his followers - has
issued a religious edict ordering them to stop smoking. The ruling,
or fatwa, of Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah has ventured
into territory that many in the Arab world consider taboo - the
freedom to puff away, anytime, anywhere. "Smoking represents an
affliction which is responsible for the death of millions of
children, women and men," Fadlallah told said Wednesday. "A smoker
is committing two crimes, one against himself and the other against
the one inhaling next to him." Fadlallah, 66, is a senior Shiite
religious authority worldwide. Although he denies it, the militant
cleric is widely believed to be the spiritual guide of Hezbollah,
the Iranian-backed Lebanese guerrilla group that fought Israeli
occupation forces in southern Lebanon until Israel withdrew last
year.
*** Also: Lebanon wants to question journalist, see
http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408041117
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408041086
*** Wolves force campground closing
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Wolves are stealing shoes and pots and pans
from visitors at Denali National Park, prompting the closing of one
campground and a ban on tent camping in another. Although the wolves
have not attacked anyone, they have become bold, sometimes coming
within feet of humans. And National Park Service officials said they
do not want to take any chances.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=408044036
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] More on State Department position on rock throwing
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 09:20:58 -0400
--------
More on State Department position on rock throwing
7 June 2001
IMRA contacted a senior U.S. State Department official in Washington late
night and in a recorded conversation the official explained that the State
Department would not take a position on rock throwing. This was the
second time IMRA had checked with the same official. The previous time
the official could only come back with the response that they were not taking
a position after the elapse of considerable time to check with others.
IMRA distributed a report based on this recorded conversation (repeated
below) last night.
This morning, US Embassy Spokesman Larry Schwartz (Tel Aviv) provided
IMRA with the following excerpt related to the Middle East from the transcript
of State Department spokesman Boucher's June 6 briefing:
(begin excerpts)
Q: What's your current assessment of the state of the cease-fire and level
of violence?
MR. BOUCHER: Overall, as you know, we've seen a lower level of violence
for the last 72 hours or so. We certainly hope the situation will continue to
move in the right direction and that incidents like the terrible rock-throwing
incident that has left a six-month-old Israeli child critically injured will come,
in fact, to a complete end. This is a very sad incident and we certainly wish
the baby a very rapid recovery.
We certainly hope that the Palestinian people will heed the call of Chairman
Arafat to end the violence and to cease acts such as this brutal incident,
which don't serve the interests of the Palestinian people. We think it is
important to see sustained actions, including actions by the Palestinians,
like the arrest of those involved in terrorist activity or those planning terrorist
acts. We also have been encouraging Prime Minister Sharon to continue his
restraint and give the Palestinians time to act to do what they have
committed to do.
And, as you know, we are involved with the parties in the situation to try
to see that they take the steps that are necessary to make this cease-fire
endure.
Q: I think Matt ought to go first.
MR. BOUCHER: He already did.
Q: I had three already, Barry.
Q: Do you have any response to the -- any comment on the response to the
stone-throwing incident? Or the rampage, the buildings burnt down --
MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't have a response to that. I think it is something
that we have made clear all along, that continued efforts are necessary to
prevent the violence from flaring up again. Continued steps are necessary to
make the cease-fire endure, and that is where our focus is.
Q: Your statement was quite straightforward, but I wondered through the
months of -- or the years, in fact -- how the State Department feels about
demonstrations of teenagers who throw rocks. I mean, that's not quite like
blowing up 20 people at a disco. But on the one hand, the State Department
supports the right to demonstrate.
MR. BOUCHER: Barry, nowhere in the world do we support he right to throw
rocks.
Q: I understand that. But do you include -- is there no question that you
put rock-throwing against even Israeli troops in the same category as other
violent acts, that they should cease?
MR. BOUCHER: We have never tried to draw lines between violent acts. In
this situation, as in almost any other situation around the world, the freedom
of expression and freedom of protest is not the same as saying that people
should have free rein to engage in violence. And we all know how volatile
these situations are, and we have all worked for steps to calm the situation,
all worked for a resolution of the underlying problems, so that these kinds of
actions don't occur.
Q: I asked not only because of the poor kid who apparently was reduced to
helplessness, but with Arafat taking the pledge on violent actions, I
wouldn't be surprised if, instead of a total suspension, we will have a
return to rock-throwing form of intifada. I just wanted to get the statement on
the record, when that becomes the cutting edge of Palestinian action, rather
than suicide bombers.
MR. BOUCHER: Well, you can go ahead and make whatever speculation or
predictions that you want to, Barry. Our goal is to end the violence, is to
resolve the underlying causes of the volatility so that people can return to
normal lives. Normal lives don't include rock-throwing or being hit by rocks.
(end excerpts)
++++
Senior State Department Official to IMRA: No position on Rock Throwing
Aaron Lerner Date: 6 June 2001
IMRA contacted a senior U.S. State Department official in Washington this
evening to ask if AP Diplomatic Writer Barry Schweid's report today that
"the State Department disapproved of rock-throwing, calling it a form of
violence that should end as part of a cease-fire." was an accurate report.
The official told IMRA that the State Department had no position on rock
throwing. The official had attended the same briefing and explained that
Schweid had confused between the regret that the State Department
expressing that a baby was critically wounded by a rock and the State
Department actually taking a position on the question of rock throwing.
The official categorized the question as to whether rock throwing should be
considered violence as being in part a "philosophical" question. The official
noted that some maintain that economic measures are a form of violence.
IMRA pointed out that while the Mitchell Report did in fact address economic
measures that it neglected to deal with rock throwing.
IMRA further noted that a key concern today is bring a halt to violence,
hence the need to have common definitions of violence. The official
responded that the State Department does not intend to address if rock
throwing is violence.
Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-5480092
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811
Website: http://www.imra.org.il
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To: messynews@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] CFI weekly prayer points
From: Stafford's Mail
Date: Thu, 07 Jun 2001 16:23:12 +0100
--------
Ps 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
"May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces."
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, "Peace be within you."
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God
I will seek your good. NKJV
Dear praying friends
Tonight's edition is devoted to the CFI weekly prayer points which
Messynews will forward to you each week. CFI introduction follows.
Shalom In Y'shua Stafford
=================================================
Many of you who receive David Dolan's daily Crisis Update are
intercessors. At this crucial time in Israel her need of dedicated,
informed intercessors is more vital than ever. During May CFI resumed
the posting of weekly strategic prayer points on our web site, under
the title On Watch in Jerusalem. Like the Crisis Update, these weekly
prayer points are available direct to you on email. We are sending you
the current issue as an example, and should you wish to receive future
issues, please subscribe as per the instructions.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FURNACE OF AFFLICTION
"Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in
the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do
it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory
to another." (Isaiah 48:10,11)
Last week, just before Israel celebrated the feast of Shavuot
(Pentecost), the nation reeled under the shock of the unexpected
wedding hall catastrophe, happening amidst almost daily funerals for
victims of Arab terror. It seemed as if Israel as a nation is
experiencing sorrow upon sorrow, almost more than she can bear. As CFI
went to prayer about what the Lord was saying through it all, the
above verse was given to our Director.
We feel that Israel is now being drawn into the furnace of affliction,
a time of great suffering designed by the hand of God to refine and
purify her and prepare her for the coming of the Messiah. It is a new
and very sober season. While we continue to desire Israel's blessing
and prosperity and her restoration as a nation with all our hearts, we
must remember that God's hand of loving discipline is at work in all
that is happening. All is designed to reveal His glory and to bring
full salvation to His people, and we must beware of praying soulishly
or superficially. More than ever our hearts need to be filled with the
love of Jesus for His brethren after the flesh, and more than ever we
need to lay down our lives in intercession that they may know Him and
cry out for His coming.
As the people of Israel are increasingly backed into a corner by the
Hand of God, pray they will look upwards to Him who is their only hope.
May He reveal Himself to them in all His power and glory. "I will
bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries.
And I will bring you into the wilderness of the peoples, and there I
will plead My case with you face to face." (Ezekiel 20:34,35)
Thank God that the Scriptures are being widely distributed in Israel
through many means. Pray for the Word of God to come alive for many
Israelis at this time, and that the God of Israel will speak directly
and personally to each individual. "No more shall every man teach his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they
all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the LORD." (Jeremiah 31:34)
Pray for the removal of the veil over Jewish eyes which keeps them
from recognizing the Messiah in the pages of the Tenach. "For until
this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old
Testament, because the veil is taken away in Messiah. But even to this
day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart." (2 Corinthians
3:14,15)
Pray for all believers in the Land to be filled with His grace and
love as they stand together with the nation in the furnace of
affliction. May their faith, joy and peace provoke many to jealousy
and be a powerful witness for the Lord. "Moses says: "I will provoke
you to jealousy by those who are not a nation, I will move you to
anger by a foolish nation." (Romans 10:19)
BREAKING THE RULES
"For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes
upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not
escape." (1 Thessalonians 5:3)
Israel is still reeling from the shock of last week's wedding hall
disaster. The graphic video footage of revelling wedding guests
falling a split second later into the abyss, while those that escaped
ran hither and thither in panic like ants with their nest disturbed,
sent shock waves around the world. It was a clear picture of the
coming judgment on Israel, and indeed on the nations.
One of the most shocking aspects of the disaster for Israelis was that
it could not be blamed on others. As the investigation continues, it
is already abundantly clear that it was a result of plain old sin. Sin
brings its own consequences, and there comes a time when the weight of
sin is such that the judgment is inevitable and immediate and
inescapable. It is time for Israel to face up to her sinful state.
Pray that the greed, corruption and selfishness which was behind the
tragedy may be exposed and bring deep shame to the hearts of ordinary
Israelis. Pray for national and local government departments to be
purged of corrupt officials and practices that are weakening the
nation. "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any
people." (Proverbs 21:34)
Prime Minister Sharon declared this week that the disaster reflected a
social disease rife throughout Israeli society - an attitude that
rules are made to be broken. Thank God for the truth spoken by
Israel's leader.
Pray that Israel may return to the Biblical standards for her society
that God gave her, so that He can bless her. "You shall not at all do
as we are doing here today; every man doing whatever is right in his
own eyes;" (Deuteronomy 12:8)
Pray that the Holy Spirit will do His work of convicting of sin,
righteousness and judgment among all the people of Israel. "And when
He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness,
and of judgment:"(John 16:8)
What happens in Israel, is always mirrored in the church. Judgment on
sin is coming for Christians too. Pray for deep conviction of sin at
every level in the church, and Israel, who are both called into
special relationship with God. "For it is time for judgment to begin
with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the
outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?" (I Peter 4:17)
WE CEASE THEY FIRE
Have you heard the latest joke doing the rounds in Israel? The new
definition for ceasefire in the Middle East is - We cease, they fire.
Since Prime Minister Sharon declared his unilateral ceasefire last
week, the Palestinian response has been to step up the level of
violence. They are declaring that settlements are a form of violence
and thus their violence is justified. This is an obvious ploy to twist
the evidence of the Mitchell Report and also to goad Israel into a
major response that will gain sympathy for Palestinians and isolate
Israel in the eyes of the world. In the meantime, divisions between
Left and Right factions in Israel grow deeper, and Israelis continue
to die.
Pray for Prime Minister Sharon and the security cabinet who will have
to decide very soon how to respond to intensifying Palestinian
violence. May their decisions be according to the purposes of God, and
not simply the result of human pressures, from within and without the
country. "A man's heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps."
(Proverbs 16:9) Pray the same for the American administration as they
become more involved in the situation here.
In the last few days it has become obvious that Jews living in Judea,
Samaria and Gaza are being especially targeted, with 4 murders in 48
hours. Continue to pray earnestly for members of these communities,
who are on the front lines of the battle. Ask God in His mercy to
protect them. May they seek help from Him in their insecurity and
desperation, rather than trusting in themselves or the government.
"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my
strength, in whom I will trust;" (Psalm 18:2)
Pray for those who are resorting to violence against Palestinians in
their anger and frustration. May they see the futility of such actions
and be delivered from falling prey to the same destructive spirit of
revenge and hatred which possesses their enemies. "Beloved, do not
avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written,
"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord." (Romans 12:19)
Thank you for carrying Israel on your heart in these days of her
refining. Please forward this to other intercessors.
Shalom from Jerusalem.
Penny Valentine
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Arutz-7 News (6/7/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 18:54:46 -0400
--------
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, June 7, 2001 / Sivan 16, 5761
http://NewsFromIsrael.com - Arutz Sheva's All-English Newsradio
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. TERRORIST SHOOTING ATTACK: TWO ISRAELIS WOUNDED
2. PALESTINIAN CEASEFIRE ATTACKS CONTINUE
3. BESEECHING THE HEAVENS, THEN THE POLITICIANS
4. ISRAELI-ARAB ESCAPES FROM P.A.
5. COURT RECOGNIZES HA'ARETZ SLANDER OF HEVRON JEWS
6. DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING
7. MATRICULATING IN YESHA
8. DOCUMENTING THE PALESTINIAN INCITEMENT
9. ZO ARTZEINU TO RESUME OPERATIONS
1. TERRORIST SHOOTING ATTACK: TWO ISRAELIS WOUNDED
Two Israelis who were wounded in last night's shooting attack outside N'vei
Tzuf, northwest of Ramallah, are now recovering from their operations. Moshe
B'HaGaon and his son Chaim are listed in moderate condition in Tel
HaShomer
hospital; a third victim of the attack was only lightly hurt. Moshe worked as a
press advisor to Ariel Sharon when the latter was Housing Minister and
National
Infrastructures Minister. Gil Shefer, brother-in-law of Moshe, told Arutz-7
today,
"They were on the way home to N'vei Tzuf, on the by-pass road around the
village of Aboud, when they were shot. It happened around the same place
in which Lt. Ya'ir Nebentzal was murdered about two weeks ago. Moshe
was
hit by a bullet only 1.5 centimeters from his spine, and Chaim was hit in
the arm; the bullet came out of his arm and was blocked by the bullet-proof
vest
he was wearing. The terrorists fired from very close, and Chaim said he could
see them. There were several miracles here, including the fact that Moshe
wisely hurried on instead of stopping..."
Shefer continued, "I would just like to note that the Nebentzal and
B'HaGaon families are very close - they were among the founding families of
N'vei Tzuf 22 years ago - and when Adina [Ya'ir's mother], who was also
wounded
in that attack, was lying in the hospital, Moshe and his wife were here all the
time, visiting and helping her and the family... Yesterday Adina was
released,
and now Moshe goes in, to the very same ward in the same hospital, from
the same
type of attack in the same place... It's too absurd and ironic to understand."
Five-month-old Yehuda Chaim (ben Bat-Sheva) Shoham of Shilo, who was hit
by a
large rock on Tuesday night, continues to be in very critical condition. More
rocks were thrown by Arabs near Shilo at Israeli cars this morning; no one
was
hurt. Ariel (ben Lia) Yered, who suffered a blow to the head and the spine in
an Arab mortar attack upon the Gush Katif community of Atzmona two
months ago,
is undergoing intense rehabilitation in the Alyn Children's Hospital in
Jerusalem; his father Yossi told Arutz-7 today that he is suffering from severe
disabilities, and "we have a long way ahead of us, and there is no guarantee
that he will come out of it OK. Thank G-d he is alive, we have passed the
critical stages, but there remain problems that are liable to remain for a long
while - that part is up to G-d, and we hope that it will work out... My wife is
mostly in Jerusalem with Ariel, while I'm home with the children, and of
course
we receive help from the community here..."
2. PALESTINIAN CEASEFIRE ATTACKS CONTINUE
Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer said last night that there had been a total of 90
Palestinian attacks in the four days that have passed since Arafat
announced a
ceasefire. Since then, the list has gotten longer: A roadside bomb exploded
today along the fence of Pe'at Sadeh in Gush Katif this afternoon… A Jewish
woman in Ir David - the area below and to the east of the Western Wall in
Jerusalem - was lightly hurt this afternoon when Arabs hurled rocks at her...
There was gunfire at the IDF Kalanit outpost near Gadid in Gaza and near the
Rafiach Crossing to Egypt this morning, as well as similar incidents nearby
last
night...
Also last night, at least two mortar rockets mortar rockets were fired at
the southern Gaza community of N'vei Dekalim last night. The shells
apparently fell short of their target and landed in an area under PA
control... A Border Guard police base in the Jenin area of the Shomron was
attacked by gunfire... Rocks were thrown at security guards at Yeshivat
Ateret
Cohanim in the Moslem Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City... Border Guard
police in
Jerusalem were attacked with two firebombs from the Arab village of
Issawiya.
At least one of the incendiary devices exploded but there were no reports of
injuries...
Jews in the Shilo area continued to react strongly to the attack against
the five-month-old baby of two nights ago. Hundreds of them blocked the
road to Arab traffic, and others burnt Arab fields and greenhouses and
uprooted trees. The police used force to re-open the road. A bit further
north, at the Tapuach Junction, other Yesha residents burnt fields this
morning,
and blocked the road last night. IDF Judea and Samaria Commander Brig.-
Gen.
Benny Ganz met with N'vei Tzuf residents today and promised them to work
to
improve security on their route to the Tel Aviv area. The army in fact uprooted
rows of Arab farmers' trees alongside the Aboud bypass road where last
night's
attack occurred. The terrorists often hide behind the trees while perpetrating
their attacks. At the same time, police of the Shai district have ordered an
increase in patrols in areas of Yesha to protect Arab residents from Jews who
may decide to retaliate for the past eight months of attacks and warfare.
3. BESEECHING THE HEAVENS, THEN THE POLITICIANS
An estimated 15,000-30,000 people took part in a special prayer service at
the
Western Wall yesterday, employing a time-honored Jewish tradition of
asking for
Heavenly mercies during difficult times for the nation of Israel. Afterwards,
several tens of thousands showed up at a giant political rally in downtown
Jerusalem, expressing their objections to the government's passive policies in
the face of constant PA terrorism.
Sample quotes from the rally:
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Effie Eitam told the audience, "Mr. Sharon, we
paraphrase for you the ancient Book of Esther: 'If you are silent in this hour
- if you continue to allow the evil Palestinian Authority to run amok in our
areas - salvation will come to us from other quarters, and you and your
government will fall and be replaced.'"
Shilo resident Yael Avraham said, "No one likes war. But who says we can
always do only what we want? When there must be war, we must fight...
The
terrorism must be defeated quickly, because all over the country, the
question
is asked and hangs in the air: Who will be the next victim?"
Likud MK Moshe Arens said: "Unilateral ceasefire is not the way to wage
war. It leads to losses, and not victory. The continued ban on the army's
entry into Palestinian-controlled areas also does not allow us to win; these
restrictions must be abandoned. Restraint is not strength [contrary to what
Prime Minister Sharon said a few days ago]. And no one can convince us
that
that defeat is victory."
4. ISRAELI-ARAB ESCAPES FROM P.A.
"There's nothing like the State of Israel, may it be blessed." This was
the tearful reaction of Israeli-Arab Yusuf Samir last night, after he
escaped from the clutches of the Palestinian Authority. He had been held
by a branch of the Palestinian secret security services, and showed signs
of being beaten. "We must be very concerned about this little country," he
said. "These [Palestinians] are poison, poison, all of them are poison."
Samir, whose whereabouts Israel did not know for the past two months, said
that
he had been told, "We informed Israel that we are not holding you and that we
don't know where you are, thus that no one is looking for you here." They
accused him of being a spy, and interrogated him mercilessly. He was
recently
moved to an apartment in Bethlehem, where he noticed that one of the doors
was
unlocked. When his guard fell asleep, he decided to try his luck, and was
soon
on his way to the Israeli checkpoint at Rachel's Tomb. Samir was granted
asylum
in Israel from Egypt in 1968, and lives on the edge of the Gilo neighborhood in
Jerusalem, not far from Beit Jala.
5. COURT RECOGNIZES HA'ARETZ SLANDER OF HEVRON JEWS
The Hevron Jewish Community sued Ha'aretz newspaper - and won! Ha'aretz
staffer Amira Hass, a Jewish resident of Ramallah, wrote several months ago
that
the residents of Beit Hadassah in Hevron abused the corpse of a terrorist.
She
wrote that the residents kicked, spat on, and danced atop the body of a dead
Arab terrorist, who had just been shot and killed by soldiers shortly after he
threw a grenade at them. The plaintiffs cited an announcement by the IDF
spokesman at the time asserting that the Jewish residents did not abuse the
body
in any manner. The Hevron residents demanded an apology, which Ha'aretz
did not
provide. They then sued the paper for 250,000 shekels, and Ha'aretz did not
even submit a defense. Yesterday, Hon. Shalev Gertel awarded the full sum
to
the Hevron community, in addition to 20,000 shekels for legal expenses.
Hevron spokesman David Wilder told Arutz-7 today, "This ruling should have
some
kind of effect on the way the public looks at Ha'aretz. People who perhaps
are
unaware of its prejudices, should be aware of the fact that an Israeli court has
ruled against a major Israeli daily publication." The full interview with Mr.
Wilder can be heard at:
"http://www.israelnationalnews.com/metafiles/asx/engnews/features/haaretz-
libel-
suit.asx". Another spokesman, Moshe Ben-Zimra, said if the money ever
comes -
"Ha'aretz will certainly appeal" - it will be used for the continued building of
the Jewish Community of Hevron.
6. DIPLOMATICALLY SPEAKING
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said last night, "Arafat has ended
his historic role... He is not able to reach an agreement with us [and]
will have to wait for a more pragmatic generation of Palestinian
leaders... We decided on the ceasefire only so that the whole world would
know
that we have no one to talk to." These remarks, taken together with Prime
Minister Sharon's recent terming of Sharon a "pathological liar and murderer,"
apparently herald a new government strategy to de-legitimize Arafat. Public
Security Minister Uzi Landau said last night that Arafat should be tried as a
war criminal.
Aides close to Prime Minister Sharon denied today any basis to the belief
that their boss has agreed to a settlement freeze in Yesha. They said, as
Arutz-7 has learned, that contrary to some reports after a Tuesday night
meeting
between Sharon and four Yesha Council leaders, there has been no change
in
Sharon's approach to Yesha.
PA leaders did not express peaceful intentions towards Israel today. PA
Cabinet member Hassan Asfour said today that the ceasefire is "only
temporary, and Sharon must understand that his policies towards the
Palestinians will lead to an escalation and regional war." Nabil Sha'ath
said that the Palestinian Authority, in which he serves as "Minister of
Planning," will not be Israel's policeman, and will not respond to its
demand to arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with the U.S. CIA Director George Tenet
today. Also participating were Mossad Chief Ephraim HaLevy, GSS Director
Avi Dichter, and US Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk. Sharon will brief
the security cabinet - Ministers Peres and Ben-Eliezer - on the meeting
later tonight. A meeting is planned between security leaders of Israel and the
Palestinian Authority for tomorrow, with the participation of American
representatives.
7. MATRICULATING IN YESHA
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has decided on further "gestures" for
the
Palestinian population. Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that
for
the next two weeks, beginning this Saturday, IDF soldiers have been
instructed
to allow free travel throughout Yesha for PA students and teachers for the
purpose of taking the matriculation exams. "We must not make children -
Jewish
or Palestinian - pay the price of the violence," Ben-Eliezer said.
On the other hand, Israel's Education Ministry appears to have decided to
withdraw its decision to grant an additional ten points in the
matriculation exams for students of Judea and Samaria. A Ministry official
said
that the original decision was based on an "error," but that alternative ways of
helping them would be worked out. MK Zevulun Orlev, Chairman of the
Knesset
Education Committee, strongly criticized the new decision. "If a mistake was
made, then immediately after the tests, an investigation must be started. But
the students cannot be made to suffer. They have gone through so much this
year, and I have turned to Education Minister Limor Livnat to ask her to leave
the ten-point bonus in place. I hope I am not too late..."
Two high-school students explained to Arutz-7 today that they were not able
to
learn for days at a time because of the constant shooting attacks on the
roads
near them. "We know so many of the victims, and there is an almost
constant
feeling of unrest here," said one. A school principal told Arutz-7 that
although the students had gone through difficult times this year, the main
issue
at hand is the Ministry's credibility and the educational message it is
transmitting: "First it makes a decision, the students count on it, and then it
changes its mind. This is unfair and uneducational."
8. DOCUMENTING THE PALESTINIAN INCITEMENT
"How the official media of the Palestinian Authority convey a consistent
call for war." This is the title of a briefing to be given by Jerusalem
journalist Michael Widlanski at the National Press Club in Washington,
D.C. Widlanski, a researcher on the topic of Palestinian media, will speak
there this Monday, and all members of the media and congressional staffers,
as
well as the general public, are invited. A sample article in the PA's official
newspaper, Al Hayat al-Jadida, of May 16, 2001, entitled, "Hatred of Israel as
a
Yardstick of Patriotism," reads as follows:
"...It is proper that the call to hate Israel continue to be a medal worn on
the chest of every Arab, and I repeat my position that it should be regarded
as
a measurement of patriotism and as a certificate of greatness and nobility.
We
are not oblivious to the grand reputation the singer Shaaban Abdul Rahim
earned
himself, and the [record] sales of his single hit declaring his hatred of
Israel. These words of his brought about, from the depths of Egypt, the
eruption of a volcano of hatred, abhorrence and bitterness that had been
continuously accumulating for half a century... The position of hate is
natural, and it is an expression that must be understood..." (With thanks to
Palestinian Media Watch)
9. ZO ARTZEINU TO RESUME OPERATIONS
Moshe Feiglin of the Zo Artzeinu [This is Our Land] movement says that
restraint at the slaughter of Jews is not strength, but rather a crime and a
desecration of G-d's Name. "We have decided to take action all across the
country," he said this week. "Instructions will be given to all those who are
interested at the Dolphinarium plaza in Tel Aviv at 8 PM tonight."
Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Segal
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Weekend News Today items (6/7/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:01:37 -0400
--------
Hurricane Forecaster upped his forecast for a more intense hurricane season
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Weather.com
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- Dr. William Gray believes this hurricane season could be
more potent than he thought in April. Colorado State University professor
William Gray has upped his forecast tally for the 2001 Atlantic hurricane
season, saying it will be more storm-heavy than he previously predicted.
Gray, a leading hurricane researcher, cited cool temperatures in the Pacific
and heavy rains in West Africa for the boost. He said those conditions will
stimulate hurricane activity.
In April, Gray's forecast called for 10 named storms, including 6 hurricanes
and 2 particularly intense hurricanes. Now, Gray's updated predictions are:
12 named storms, including 7 hurricanes and 3 intense hurricanes. He also
believes the season will be more active for residents on the East Coast, and
says there is a greater chance that hurricanes will make landfall there this
year. "Regardless of how many storms are out there, the impact is what is
important," said John Hope, hurricane expert at The Weather Channel.
"These figures are not etched in stone, but I think it's significant that he
raised the numbers."
Hope reminded coastal residents to be ready with a disaster supply kit and
an evacuation plan in the event a storm strikes. "Any place along the Gulf or
along the coast is especially vulnerable," he said. "It's important to prepare in
case a storm comes."
NATO warns against Macedonia state-of-war declaration
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: AFP
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- NATO on Thursday joined the European Union in urging
the Macedonian government not to declare a state of war in its conflict with
ethnic Albanian rebels. "We do not see this as a proper course of action," a
NATO official told journalists on the sidelines of a meeting of defense
ministers of the 19-nation transatlantic alliance in Brussels. Government
officials in Skopje revived the possibility of a state-of-war declaration
Wednesday after five Macedonian soldiers were killed in an ambush by
ethnic Albanian rebels -- one of the deadliest guerrilla attacks in some four
months of fighting.
IDF uproots trees used as cover in Palestinian shootings
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- IDF teams are now in the process of uprooting trees
belonging to Palestinian villagers along the Abud bypass road northwest of
Ramallah. Palestinian forces ambushed and moderately wounded three
Israeli residents of nearby Neveh Tzuf in a shooting attack at this location
last night. The shooters used the trees as cover when carrying out this and
previous attacks on passing Israeli vehicles, Israel Radio reported.
Israelis in Samaria set fire to Palestinian fields
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- Israeli residents of Neveh Tzuf, northwest of Ramallah,
reportedly uprooted trees and burned fields belonging to area Palestinian
residents this morning. The Israelis fled the scene as police reinforcements
arrived. Reacting to last night's shooting ambush of three Israelis, residents
also blocked a road to Palestinian traffic last night and this morning, Army
Radio reported.
Israel's government divided amid rising protests
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Middle East Newsline
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- Israel's government appears divided over its attitude toward
Palestinian Authority amid increasing Jewish protests against the policies of
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The division appears to pit Sharon and several
of his Likud ministers against Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and his Labor
Party colleagues. The division concerns Israel's policy of restraint as well as
a freeze on Israeli construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Sharon has expressed increasing frustration with the PA and is threatening
nearly daily to end his policy of restraint. In contrast, Peres has warned that
any massive attack on the PA will result in international pressure and
intervention in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Peres and several of his Labor
colleagues said Israel must be prepared for months of guerrilla warfare and
terrorist attacks by the Palestinians. They have proposed a security barrier
that would limit Palestinian attacks without losing international support.
Russia's new Middle East alliance targets Israel, Turkey
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Middle East Newsline
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- Amid flagging U.S. will, Russia has expanded its sphere of
influence in the Middle East in a drive that threatens Israel and Turkey, a new
report says. The report says Moscow is achieving control of major sources of
oil and natural gas and is reversing the gains made by the United States
since the 1991 Gulf war. The report by the Institute for Advanced Strategic
and Political Studies said Russia is also attempting to control the world price
of oil.
The Russian policy focuses on relations with Iran and is meant to contain
militant Islam in the nearby Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia has
developed Iranian energy reserves and offered advanced weapons and
technology in exchange for Teheran's agreement to serve as a route for any
proposed energy pipeline from the Caspian.
"Perhaps more than any other issue," said the report, authored by strategist
Ilan Berman, "Moscow's concerted quest for domination of the Caspian
Basin, and its machinations to this end in the Persian Gulf, illustrate the
degree of importance it attaches to the Middle East. Russia's Caspian policy
is clear: to project its power over the oil-rich nations of the Caucusus to
exclude any strategic presence there, and to impose its own security
environment over the area."
Air Force tests missile defense
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: AP/Washington Post
Thu Jun 7,2001 -- An experimental cruise missile defense system performed
perfectly during a four-day exercise against a simulated terrorist attack, an
Air Force general said Wednesday. Two separate systems – one from the
Army and the other from the Marine Corps – were used for the first time to
correlate ground, ship and airborne radars during the exercise that ended
Monday.
Cruise missiles were simulated by 11 unmanned drones and a piloted Bede
BD-5 jet plane. They took off from land and flew over a recovery vessel about
100 miles offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. No live ordnance was fired, but
radar lock-ons, indicating kills, were obtained on all 12 targets, said Maj.
Steve Boes, chief of live exercises for the Southeast Air Defense Sector.
http://216.219.160.226/cgi-
bin/readnews.cgi?day=01_06_7&item=#991940996
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Worshiping at the Digital Temple
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:07:17 -0400
--------
NET PERSUASION
Worshiping at the Digital Temple
By Aaron Lazenby
May 30 2001 03:39 PM PDT
The Net might well do for spirituality what Gutenberg did for the Bible,
according to a new report.
If the numbers from a recent Barna Research report are to be believed, the
Internet is about to be born again. The report optimistically predicts that by
2012, in excess of 100 million people will be using the Net for some form of
spiritual practice – participating in religious chats, interacting with Church
community and even worshiping online. While some people might regard
technology-enabled spirituality far from traditional practices of faith, the
Barna report indicates that people are using the Internet to develop one of the
most personal aspects of their lives. While growth in online spirituality
appears to be impacting all forms of religion – Judaism, Buddhism and Islam
all have a sizable online presence – Christianity seems to be coming on the
strongest. Even at this early stage of Internet enlightenment, more than
110,000 Protestant churches have an Internet presence, which underscores
the success that faith leaders, working with Web developers, have had
bringing their organizations online. At this point, many of the services
marketed to churches have focused on the creation of Web sites to develop
relationships within existing congregations. Features such as archived
sermons and lists of prayer topics provide what marketers might call "loyalty
building" services to congregants. While the report from California-based
Barna seems optimistic about the future of online faith-based activities, the
reality is that Christianity on the Internet is at a crossroads. The report gives
the impression that Christians are lining up to pray, spend, market and
worship at the digital temple. The reality, according to David Davenport CEO
of StarWire, formerly Christianity.com, is that faith-based organizations are
just beginning to realize the potential of using the Net to reach out to new
"customers." "Marketing is really associating a business-oriented name to it,
but evangelism is about reaching people and so is marketing," says
Davenport. Currently, Davenport does not see many Christian organizations
using the Internet to look outside their own pews to bring in new believers.
While Davenport doesn't see this as any easy sell, he does believe that the
Internet, if handled correctly, can be used to market faith. He cited a statistic
indicating that 80 percent of Christians come to the Church by the time they
are 20 years old. Combine that spiritual openness with the Internet skills of
13- to 24-year-olds and churches might have an opportunity to open up a
new "market" through smart online marketing tactics. This opportunity hasn't
gone unnoticed by Christian organizations looking for new blood. Colorado-
based Christian organization Focus on the Family has created a number of
Web zines that target different aspects of youth culture – teen girls, pop
culture, college students and others. Bob Waliszewski, manager of youth
culture at Focus on the Family, agrees that Internet evangelism is in its
earliest stages, but he feels that to be successful, Church leaders need to
devote more money to reaching the youth audience. Waliszewski also says
many organizations are already using e-mail databases to send out
devotional reminders and can imagine a day when direct e-mail might be
used to bring new members into the Church. He believes that if faith
organizations take a less ham-fisted, more subtle approach to
communicating their message, they can expect amazing results. "I think
that what the Internet offers for evangelism is similar to that of Gutenberg's
printing press," he says. Such words of revolution are not unheard of in the
hyperbolic world of the Internet. However, as religion gradually moves online,
where marketing tactics are rawer, more immediate and measurable,
evangelism is going to take on an increasingly business-oriented vernacular.
Consultants preaching the business advantages of Internet technology are
already called "evangelists." Is it so unlikely that pastors will start referring to
conversion rates, cost per acquisition and ROI?
http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,26783,00.html?partner=yahoo_fina
nce
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Israeli, Palestinian ministers to attend EU meeting
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:09:03 -0400
--------
Thursday, June 7 10:39 PM SGT
Israeli, Palestinian ministers to attend EU meeting: sources
BRUSSELS, June 7 (AFP) -
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian minister for
international cooperation Nabil Shaath will attend an EU foreign ministers'
meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, diplomatic sources said here Thursday.
Shaath and Peres will hold talks separately with European ministers but a
face-to-face meeting "has not been ruled out," a source said.
The EU talks with the Israeli and Palestinian ministers will follow a mission
to the region on the weekend by EU high representative for foreign policy
Javier Solana and Swedish Prime Minister Goeran Persson, whose country
currently holds the EU presidency.
Solana and Persson are to hold talks with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon,
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the
sources said.
http://asia.dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/world/article.html?s=asia/headline
s/010607/world/afp/Israeli__Palestinian_ministers_to_attend_EU_meeting__s
ources.html
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Chinese missile moves near Taiwan worry US
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 19:16:46 -0400
--------
June 7, 2001
Chinese missile moves near
Taiwan worry U.S.
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
China is mobilizing some of its short-range missiles near
Taiwan as other military forces are engaged in the largest war
games in five years, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
The missile activity at two
bases across the Taiwan Strait is
raising concerns inside the
Pentagon that China´s military may
be set for test missile firings at
Taiwan -- similar to 1996 missile
flight tests that led to a U.S.-China
confrontation.
According to officials with
access to U.S. intelligence reports,
a U.S. spy satellite photographed
several CSS-6 missiles at a base in
Fujian province that was used for
training exercises in the past but is normally left unoccupied.
Two transporter-erector launchers loaded with CSS-6s
were spotted in the open at the training base. Six others were
in sheds and an unspecified number of other missiles were
hidden under camouflage nearby, the officials said.
"The missile unit occupied a base that is only used for
training," said one official. The exact location of the missile
training base could not be confirmed. One official said it was
located at Fuzhou, directly across the strait from Taipei.
China has built several missile bases in Fujian province
over the past several years, including the two newest ones at
Xianyou and Yongan. The regional command headquarters
for the short-range missile forces is located at Leping.
U.S. intelligence agencies reported in March that a new
base for CSS-7 short-range missiles was completed at
Xianyou -- about 135 miles across the Taiwan Strait from the
island. Additionally, part of a CSS-7 brigade recently left
another base opposite Taiwan for a mobile deployment
exercise, the officials said.
The missiles are among the more than 300 CSS-6s and
CSS-7s, also known as M-9s and M-11s, that China has
deployed opposite Taiwan in the past several years.
Administration national security officials have said China plans
to deploy up to 600 missiles at bases opposite Taiwan.
The Pentagon views the continuing, large-scale missile
deployment as destabilizing. The weapons can attack all of
Taiwan´s military bases with little or no warning, according to
a recent Defense Intelligence Agency assessment.
A Chinese government-owned newspaper in Hong Kong,
Wen Wei Po, reported earlier this week that the "large-scale"
beach landing exercises centered on Dongshan island will
involve 100,000 troops, along with naval and air forces.
The last time Chinese forces conducted a similar
amphibious landing exercise was November 1995, the
newspaper said.
As part of that exercise, Chinese missile forces fired
several short-range missiles in provocative flight tests that hit
waters near the northern and southern tips of Taiwan.
A respected nongovernment Hong Kong newspaper,
Ming Pao, reported Tuesday that the exercise had begun with
"tens of thousands" troops from several regions near Fujian
province moving toward Dongshan island. It said the war
games would continue for two weeks.
"It is pointed out that the main aim of the exercise will be
to attack and occupy Taiwan´s offshore islands and
counterattack U.S. military intervention," the newspaper
stated.
Commercial aircraft were routed around Dongshan, and
Chinese marines had taken control of the ferry between the
island and mainland.
One source told the newspaper that the exercise involved
electronic warfare operations, and that the Chinese military
for the first time was using reconnaissance satellites and
satellite navigation systems.
The exercise reportedly kicked off Monday night with an
airborne assault on Dongshan.
In reaction to the 1996 missile tests, the Pentagon
dispatched two aircraft carrier battle groups to waters near
Taiwan in a show of force.
China reacted by building up its military capability to
attack U.S. ships, including the purchase of two Russian
Sovremenny-class guided-missile destroyers equipped with
SSN-22 supersonic anti-ship missiles.
Until the recent missile activity, Pentagon spokesmen
have
downplayed a series of Chinese military exercises taking
place along China´s coasts.
The first exercises took place on Woody island in the
South China Sea, where China has built an airstrip for
projecting its power into strategic sea lanes. Several thousand
Chinese marines, accompanied by several warships, stormed
ashore on the island as part of maneuvers last week.
While the Woody island war games were under way,
China´s northern navy conducted a sudden dispersal exercise
that is normally conducted before a military attack or for
protecting ships in port from bad weather.
Then in what officials called "phase two" of regional war
games, the Chinese began massing more than 200
amphibious warfare vehicles on Dongshan island.
The official Chinese military newspaper also reported this
week that a Chinese bomber division practiced low-level
bombing runs May 28 as part of another exercise.
Also, Wen Wei Po quoted an unidentified Chinese military
source as saying the Dongshan exercise will employ
"advanced fighter planes, warships, missiles and
electronic-warfare equipment."
The source also told the government-owned newspaper
that the war games are practice for testing new tactics and for
"quickly launching and winding up a war."
It also will help troops study "ways of applying new-type
equipment and translating new type equipment into fighting
capacity through real operations."
Some Pentagon officials believe the war games could be
preparation for military action by Chinese forces against an
outlying Taiwanese island, or as part of sabre-rattling
designed to intimidate the Taipei government.
Sun Yuxi, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said
Tuesday in Beijing that the war games are routine and normal.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20010607-2643640.htm
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