Digest Home |
2001 |
May, 2001
Judge: Sex offenders to post signs
Israel attacks Gaza police posts
Hezbollah rejects U.S. contact
Floodwaters threaten Siberian city
Church cardinals meet about future
Egypt, Jordan back peace efforts
Electric power returns in Iran
Dalai Lama to attend U.S. conference
Report: EU wants to ban tobacco ads
Polio cases drop to new low
Police: Record prolific mom a fraud
Lesbian prom king causes turmoil
IBM BREAKS DISK DENSITY BARRIER
37% OF PROGRAMS USED IN BUSINESS ARE PIRATED
Experts issue tropical storm alert
Supreme Court mulls online porn law
Court rules on wiretap law
Taiwan leader begins historic trip
Ukraine abolishes death penalty
Iran woman said stoned to death
1. CELEBRATING JERUSALEM DAY
2. JERUSALEM QUOTES
3. BURG AGAINST DIVISION OF JERUSALEM, BUT CAN'T PROMISE
4. NEW OUTPOST OUTSIDE N'VEI TZUF
5. RAJOUB'S HOME HIT PURPOSELY
6. TODAY'S VIOLENCE
7. CELEBRATING ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM IN NEW YORK
Fast-food giant testing cashless systems
Fears over new Foot & Mouth Disease cluster
Sheveluch Volcano erupts in Kamchatka, Russia
New Technology Joins Our Brains & Computers
Massive Red Tide Found in East China Sea
Ravenous Bugs Invade Nevada Desert
More than 30 large dams and drainage of Tigris & Euphrates Rivers leaving wasteland behind
Iran removes main obstacle of resumption of ties with Egypt
Hezbollah said preparing for long-range Katyusha strikes
IAF jets fly deep into Lebanon
Iran, Iraq to establish power link
Egypt, Sudan launch military cooperation
Temple Mount central to Jews
Israel Planned To Stop Arafat Going to Cairo
Rajoub: Israelis 'Bloodthirsty Gangsters'
Hezbollah Says Israeli Threats Don't Scare Syria
Fatah Official Says Israel Might Attack Lebanon
Annan Slams Bush On Global Warming
Two People Faint During Cannibal Sex Film
Over 70% of Iran Prone to Earthquake
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [bprlist] (Fwd) question on regarding Acts 6:9...
From: Pearl
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 03:14:01 EDT
--------
According to Tyndale's Illustrated Bible Dictionary: ". . .Schurer suggests
that the Libertines wer Rom freedmen (Lat. libertini, from which the Grk.
word is borrowed) descended from Jews who had been prisoners of war under
Pompey (63BC) and subsequently released. Possibly ony one synagogue is
referred to here which was attended by Jewish freedmen and their descendants
from the places mentioned (so F.F. Bruce, THe Acts of the Apostles, 1952,
p.156).
Hope this helps. ps
In a message dated 5/20/01 9:46:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
owner-bpr@philologos.org writes:
> Subj:[bprlist] (Fwd) question on regarding Acts 6:9...
> Date:5/20/01 9:46:01 AM Pacific Daylight Time
> From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
> Reply-to: <A HREF="mailto:bprlist@yahoogroups.com">bprlist@yahoogroups.com</A>
> To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
>
>
>
>
>
> Can anyone help w/ this question?
>
> ------- Forwarded message follows -------
> Date sent: Sun, 20 May 2001 08:45:07 -0700 (PDT)
> Subject: question on regarding Acts 6:9...
>
> greetings in the Lord
>
> I have a question regarding the "Libertines" of
> Acts 6:9
>
> Act 6:9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue,
> which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and
> Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia
> and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. KJV
>
> who were these Libertines???...I have researched this
> and have yet to come up with facts...only theories
> pieced together from fragmented historical writings...
> the 1599 Geneva Study Bible denotes:
>
> 6:9 (7) Then there arose certain of the (h) synagogue,
> which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and
> Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia
> and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
>
> (7) Schools and universities in ancient times were
> addicted to false pastors, and were the instruments of
> Satan to spread abroad and defend false doctrines.
> (h) Of the people and the school, as it were.
>
> and then...in most other resources it refers to the
> "libertines" as "freedmen"...infact in other Bible
> translations this is so...and these "freedman" were
> said to be liberated Jews...formerly slaves...
>
> in dictionary definitions this word libertine
> means...free thinking...
>
> I was wondering if anybody had some more information
> on this for me...it would be much appreciated...
>
> in Christ Jesus
> b
>
> ------- End of forwarded message -------
>
========
To: <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: Re: [bprlist] (Fwd) question on regarding Acts 6:9...
From: "John"
Date: Wed, 30 May 2001 23:09:45 +1200
--------
Putting ""Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians" into Google came up with many scripture sites and a few fascinating commentaries such as this. Seems an excellent way to datamine the WWW, using complete phrases, folks. I recommend it.
From http://www.godrules.net/index.html?http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkeact6.htm&2
The text below is from Clarkes Commentary soon to be available on CD-ROM.
Checkout http://www.godrules.net/CDROM.htm for more info on this stunning Bible study tool.
Bless you heaps!
Pastor John.
"Verse 9. The synagogue-of the Libertines, &c.] That Jews and proselytes from various countries had now come up to Jerusalem to bring offerings, and to attend the feast of pentecost, we have already seen, chap. ii. 9-11. The persons mentioned here were foreign Jews, who appear to have had a synagogue peculiar to themselves at Jerusalem, in which they were accustomed to worship when they came to the public festivals.
Various opinions have been entertained concerning the Libertines mentioned here: Bp. Pearce's view of the subject appears to me to be the most correct.
"It is commonly thought that by this name is meant the sons of such Jews as had been slaves, and obtained their freedom by the favour of their masters; but it is to be observed that with these Libertines the Cyrenians and Alexandrians are here joined, as having one and the same synagogue for their public worship. And it being known that the Cyrenians (chap. ii. 10) lived in Libya, and the Alexandrians in the neighbourhood of it, it is most natural to look for the Libertines too in that part of the world. Accordingly we find Suidas, in his Lexicon, saying, upon the word libertinoi, that it is onoma tou eqnouv, the name of a people. And in Gest. Collationis Carthagine habitae inter Catholicos et Donatistas, published with Optatus's works, Paris, 1679, (No. 201, and p. 57,) we have these words: Victor episcopus Ecclesiae Catholicae LIBERTINENSIS dixit, Unitas est illic, publicam non latet conscientiam. Unity is there: all the world knows it.
From these two passages it appears that there was in Libya a town or district called Libertina, whose inhabitants bore the name of libertinoi, Libertines, when Christianity prevailed there. They had an episcopal see among them, and the above- mentioned Victor was their bishop at the council of Carthage, in the reign of the Emperor honourius. And from hence it seems probable that the town or district, and the people, existed in the time of which Luke is here speaking. They were Jews, (no doubt,) and came up, as the Cyrenian and Alexandrian Jews did, to bring their offerings to Jerusalem, and to worship God in the temple there. Cunaeus, in his Rep. Hebr. ii. 23, says that the Jews who lived in Alexandria and Libya, and all other Jews who lived out of the Holy Land, except those of Babylon and its neighbourhood, were held in great contempt by the Jews who inhabited Jerusalem and Judea; partly on account of their quitting their proper country, and partly on account of their using the Greek language, and being quite ignorant of the other. For these reasons it seems probable that the Libertines, Cyrenians, and Alexendrians, had a separate synagogue; (as perhaps the Cilicians and those of Asia had;) the Jews of Jerusalem not suffering them to be present in their synagogues, or they not choosing to perform their public service in synagogues where a language was used which they did not understand."
It is supposed, also, that these synagogues had theological, if not philosophical, schools attached to them; and that it was the disciples or scholars of these schools who came forward to dispute with Stephen, and were enraged because they were confounded. For it is not an uncommon custom with those who have a bad cause, which can neither stand the test of Scripture nor reason, to endeavour to support it by physical when logical force has failed; and thus: - "Prove their doctrine orthodox, By apostolic blows and knocks." In the reign of Queen Mary, when popery prevailed in this country, and the simplest women who had read the Bible were an overmatch for the greatest of the popish doctors; as they had neither Scripture nor reason to allege, they burned them alive, and thus terminated a controversy which they were unable to maintain. The same cause will ever produce the same effect: the Libertines, Cilicians, Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, pursued this course: Stephen confounded them by Scripture and reason, and they beat his brains out with stones! This was the most effectual way to silence a disputant whose wisdom they could not resist. In the same way were the Protestants treated, when by Scripture and reason they had shown the absurdity and wickedness of that anti-christian system which the fire and the sword were brought forth to establish. These persecutors professed great concern at first for the souls of those whom they variously tortured, and at last burned; but their tender mercies were cruel, and when they gave up the body to the flames, they most heartily consigned the soul to Satan.
Scires ä sanguine natos: their conduct proclaimed their genealogy.
________________________________
-----Original Message-----
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, 21 May 2001 04:42
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) question on regarding Acts 6:9...
|
|Can anyone help w/ this question?
|
|------- Forwarded message follows -------
|Date sent: Sun, 20 May 2001 08:45:07 -0700 (PDT)
|Subject: question on regarding Acts 6:9...
|
|greetings in the Lord
|
|I have a question regarding the "Libertines" of
|Acts 6:9
|
|Act 6:9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue,
|which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and
|Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia
|and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. KJV
|
|who were these Libertines???...I have researched this
|and have yet to come up with facts...only theories
|pieced together from fragmented historical writings...
|the 1599 Geneva Study Bible denotes:
|
|6:9 (7) Then there arose certain of the (h) synagogue,
|which is called [the synagogue] of the Libertines, and
|Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia
|and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
|
|(7) Schools and universities in ancient times were
|addicted to false pastors, and were the instruments of
|Satan to spread abroad and defend false doctrines.
|(h) Of the people and the school, as it were.
|
|and then...in most other resources it refers to the
|"libertines" as "freedmen"...infact in other Bible
|translations this is so...and these "freedman" were
|said to be liberated Jews...formerly slaves...
|
|in dictionary definitions this word libertine
|means...free thinking...
|
|I was wondering if anybody had some more information
|on this for me...it would be much appreciated...
|
|in Christ Jesus
|b
|
|------- End of forwarded message -------
|
|
========
To: bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Fwd: HAG SAMEACH!! 73 websites about Jerusalem
From: "Patt A."
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 01:07:15 -0700 (PDT)
--------
Women In Green <wfit2@womeningreen.org> wrote:
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 10:21:16 +0200
To: list8@womeningreen.org
From: Women In Green
Subject: HAG SAMEACH!! 73 websites about Jerusalem
Jerusalem, May 21, 2001
The following was forwarded to us by Shoshanna Walker and we are happy
to forward this to you, on this holiday - Jerusalem Day.
May the Jewish People celebrate next Jerusalem Day on the
Temple Mount, the Jews' holiest site.
Ruth and Nadia Matar
"Jerusalem Day" is celebrated this year on Monday, May 21, 2001.
Below are 73 websites to learn about this ancient / modern city.
For your convenience, the sites are also hyper-linked
online at:
http://www.jr.co.il/hotsites/i-jer.htm
Live Camera From the Kotel - Jerusalem
http://www.thewall.org
Western Wall Tunnel Tour
http://aish.com/seminars/tunneltour/
Jerusalem Mosaic (English & Hebrew)
http://jeru.huji.ac.il/hopen_screen.htm
Jerusalem Archives
http://www.jerusalem-archives.org/
The Jerusalem Municipality Website (Hebrew, English, Arabic)
http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/
Virtual Tour of Jerusalem
http://www.md.huji.ac.il/vjt/
ICJI: The History of Jerusalem
http://www.biu.ac.il/ICJI/Competition/chapter4/chap4.htm
M.F.A. History of Jerusalem
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH00w50
Jewish Virtual Library: Jerusalem
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Peace/jerutoc.html
Aish: Jerusalem Day
http://aish.com/holidays/yom_yerushalayim/last/yom.asp
OHR Somayach: Israel & Jerusalem
http://www.ohr.org.il/special/israel/index.htm
OU: Yom Yerushalayim Celebration
http://www.ou.org/chagim/yomyerushalayim/default.htm
The Temple Mount in Jerusalem
http://www.templemount.org/
Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
http://www.jcpa.org/jcprg10.htm
The Jewish Agency: Jerusalem Day
http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/festivls/jerusalem/index.html
The Pedagogic Center: Celebrate Jerusalem
http://www.celebratejerusalem.org/
Jerusalem Second Temple Synagogue Excavation
http://www.smu.edu/~dbinder/jerusale.html
Gems in Israel: Jerusalem
http://www.imakenews.com/gems/index000000859.cfm
About.com: Gates of Jerusalem
http://israeliculture.about.com/culture/israeliculture/
library/gallery/blzzga00.htm
Images of Jerusalem - 1926 to 1932 (Hebrew and English)
http://www.snunit.k12.il/vmuseum/pal/Jerusalem/Jerusalem.html
CET: The Struggle for Jerusalem (Hebrew)
http://www.cet.ac.il/history/jerusalem/index.asp
Ministry of Education: Yom Yerushalaim (Hebrew)
http://wwwl.education.gov.il/moe/hagut/jerusalem/index.html
Ministry of Education - Toranit Articles (Hebrew)
http://www.education.gov.il/toranit/jerus_index.htm
Yeshivat Har Etzion: Yom Yerushalayim Journel (Articles)
http://www.vbm-torah.org/yyerush.htm
3d Model of Holyland Complex (wait for loading)
http://www.inisrael.com/ipix/java/holyland.htm
Jerusalem City (English and Hebrew Guide)
http://www.jerusalemcity.com/
Jerusalem 2000 Guide
http://www.jerusalem2000.org.il/
Beitar Jerusalem Soccer Team (Hebrew and English)
http://www.beitar-jerusalem.org.il/
Hapoel Jerusalem Basketball Team
http://www.hapoel.co.il/
My Hebrew Dictionary (Jerusalem related words)
http://www.dictionary.co.il
Jerusalem of Gold (the song and background)
http://www.jerusalemofgold.co.il/
The Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (English and Hebrew)
http://www.jso.co.il/
Jerusalem Internet TV: Dale Chihuly at David's Tower
http://www.foreigntv.com/israel/alljerusalem/index.html
The History of Plumbing in Jerusalem
http://www.plumbingworld.com/historyjerusalem.html
Pictures
--------
M.F.A. Jerusalem in Pictures
http://www.israel-mfa.gov.il/facts/state/jeruslem.html
David Shaw's Jerusalem Pictures
http://www.jabberwocky.com/photo/israel/jerusalem.html
Jerusalem 1948 (photo exhibit)
http://info.jpost.com/2000/Supplements/Haatzmaut/photos/
jerusalem/1.html
Snow in Jerusalem (photo exhibit)
http://info.jpost.com/2000/Supplements/Snow/
At the Western Wall (photo exhibit)
http://info.jpost.com/2000/Photos/Kotel/
Yoav Bar-Am Tour of Israel: Jerusalem
http://www.fortunecity.com/oasis/vegas/415/jerusalem.html
Israel Art Photography: Jerusalem
http://www.israelartphotography.com/categoriesframepages/
Jerusalem.htm
Excavation Of The Cardo
http://www.vacationisrael.com/gallery_cardo.html
Jerusalem's Old City Gates and Walls
http://www.vacationisrael.com/gallery_gates.html
Gilocam - Live Camera from Gilo - Jerusalem
http://www.gilocam.com/
Places to Visit
---------------
Yad Vashem
http://www.yadvashem.org.il
The Israel Museum
http://www.imj.org.il/
The Jerusalem Archaeological Park
http://www.archpark.org.il
Hi-Resolution Pictures from Temple Mount Project
http://www.ust.ucla.edu/ustweb/projects/israel.html
The Museum of Italian Jewish Art
http://www.jija.org/ENGLISH/JIJA/Museum/Museum.html
City of David (English & Hebrew)
http://www.cityofdavid.org.il/
Bloomfield Science Museum
http://www.mada.org.il/
Jerusalem Botanic Gardens (Hebrew)
http://www.botanic.co.il/
The Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
http://www.vacationisrael.com/jerusalem-zoo/
Jewish National and University Library
http://jnul.huji.ac.il/
Jerusalem International Convention Center
http://www.iccjer.co.il/
The Tower of David Museum
http://jeru.huji.ac.il/info_museum.htm
The Jerusalem Theater (Hebrew)
http://jertheatre.sharat.co.il/
Bible Land Museum
http://www.blmj.org
Museum of Taxes
http://www.mof.gov.il/museum/english/index_e.htm
Maps of Jerusalem
-----------------
Panoramic Map of Jerusalem
http://www.map%2dof%2djerusalem.com/top.htm
Map of Jerusalem (detailed, English)
http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_sys/map2000_eng/first1.asp
Jerusalem 3000 (old maps)
http://www.usm.maine.edu/~maps/exhibit1/
Medical and Social Services
---------------------------
Hadassah Medical Orgainzation
http://www.hadassah.org.il/
Shaare Zedek - Jerusalem
http://www.szmc.org.il/
Yad Sarah
http://www.yadsarah.org.il/
Mercaz Harmony
http://www.mercazharmony.org/
Hatzolah Jerusalem
http://www.hatzolah.org/
Jerusalem Boruch Rofeh Cholim
http://www.savealife.org/
Life-Line for the Old
http://www.lifeline.org.il/
Synagogues and Community Sites
------------------------------
Jerusalem: Old Katamon - Late Late Minyan
http://www.lateminyan.com
Jerusalem: Kehillat Moriah
http://www.geocities.com/kehillatmoriah/
Jerusalem: Kehilat Yedidya
http://yedidya.tripod.com/
Jerusalem: Yakar
http://www.yakar.org/
From: Shoshanna Walker
WOMEN FOR ISRAEL'S TOMORROW (WOMEN IN GREEN)
P.O.B. 7352, JERUSALEM
91072 Israel
Tel. 02-624-9887
Fax: 02-624-5380
http://www.womeningreen.org
---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Auctions $2 Million Sweepstakes - Got something to sell?
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Liberties
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:24:33 -0400
--------
[This was forwarded to me by a list member.]
May 20, 2001
LIBERTIES
Drill, Grill and Chill
By MAUREEN DOWD
WASHINGTON — We want big. We want fast. We want far. We want now.
We want 345 horsepower in a V-8 engine and 15 miles per gallon on the
highway. We drive behemoths. We drive them alone. This country was not
built on H.O.V. lanes.
We don't have limits. We have liberties.
If we don't wear our seat belts, it doesn't matter, because we have air
bags. If the air bags don't deploy, it doesn't matter, because our cars
are so beefy, we'll never get bruised. If we need to widen the streets
for our all- wheel drives, we will. If we need to reinforce all the
bridges in the country, so that they don't buckle and collapse under our
5,800-pound S.U.V.'s, our engineers will do that.
We'll bake the earth. We'll brown & serve it, sauté it, simmer it, sear
it, fondue it, George-Foreman-grill it. (We invented the Foreman grill.)
We might one day bring the earth to a boil and pull it like taffy. (We
invented taffy.)
If rising seas obliterate the coasts, our marine geologists will sculpt
new ones and Hollywood will get bright new ideas for disaster movies. If
we get charred by the sun, our dermatologists will replace our skin.
If the globe gets warmer, we'll turn up the air-conditioning. (We
invented air-conditioning.) We'll drive faster in our gigantic,
air-conditioned cars to the new beaches that our marine geologists
create.
We will let our power plants spew any chemicals we deem necessary to fire
up our Interplaks, our Krups, our Black & Deckers and our Fujitsu
Plasmavisions.
We will drill for oil whenever and wherever we please. If tourists don't
like rigs off the coast of Florida, they can go fly fishing in Wyoming.
We won't be deterred by a few Arctic terns. We don't care about caribou.
We don't care for cardigans. Give us our 69 degrees, winter and summer.
Let there be light — no timers, no freaky- shaped long-life bulbs. (We
invented the light bulb.)
We want our refrigerators cold and our freezers colder. Bring on the
freon. Banish those irritating toilets that restrict flow. When we flush,
we flush all the way.
We will perfect the dream of nuclear power. We will put our toxic waste
wherever we want, whenever we waste it. We have whole states with nothing
better to do than serve as ancestral burial grounds for our effluvium. It
can fester in those wide open spaces for thousands of years.
We will have the biggest, baddest missiles, and we will point them in any
direction we like, across the galaxies, through eternity, forever and
ever.
We will thrust as many satellites as we want into outer space, and we
will surround them with a firewall of weapons for their protection.
We will guarantee broadband and fast connections to the Internet. We will
not permit anybody, anywhere, at any time to threaten the delivery of all
the necessities to computers, Palm Pilots and BlackBerrys: stock quotes,
sports scores, real estate listings, epicurean.com recipes, porn. (O.K.,
so we didn't invent porn.)
By arming space, and protecting satellites, we ensure life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness — our 500 TV channels drawn from the ether.
We will secure the inalienable right of every citizen driving by himself
in his big car to be guided by a global positioning system. Nobody should
have to call in advance for directions to a party when the satellite can
show the way.
We will modify food in any way we want and send it to any country we see
fit at prices that we and we alone determine in the cargo ships we choose
at the time we set.
Our international banking arm — the World Bank and the I.M.F. — will
support whatever dictatorships suit us best.
We will fly up any coast of any nation on earth with any plane filled
with any surveillance equipment and top guns that we possess.
We will build superduperjumbo jets so Brobdingnagian that runways will be
crushed under their weight at the most congested airports in the history
of aviation. (We invented aviation.)
We will buy, carry, conceal and shoot firearms whenever and wherever we
want, as is our constitutionally guaranteed right. (We invented the
Constitution.) We will kill any criminal we want, by lethal injection or
electrocution. (We invented electricity.)
We are America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/20/opinion/20DOWD.html
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] 'Straight pride' allowed in school
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:27:19 -0400
--------
[This was sent by a list member.]
LAW OF THE LAND
'Straight pride' allowed in school
Court prevents banning of teen's printed sweatshirt
By Julie Foster
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
A high-school student's right to wear a shirt printed with the words "Straight
Pride" was upheld by the U.S. District Court of Minnesota, which said there
was
"a strong likelihood" the decision to ban the shirt was unconstitutional.
Judge Donovan W. Frank issued a preliminary injunction Thursday in favor of
Elliott Chambers, the 16-year-old student at Woodbury High School who was
forbidden from wearing the sweatshirt that said "Straight Pride" on the front
and had a picture of a man and woman holding hands on the back.
Chambers wore
the shirt on Jan. 17, and complaints from a few students prompted Principal
Dana
Babbitt´s decision to ban the shirt from campus.
The lawsuit, filed by the American Family Association's Center for Law &
Policy
on behalf of Kendal and Lana Chambers, as well as Elliott, alleges the
policies
of the school and the school district are unconstitutional both on their face
and as applied against Elliott. The lawsuit also alleges the school´s display of
inverted pink triangles promotes homosexuality. The school, following a
growing
trend at public schools across the country, has designated some 50
classrooms
"safe zones," in which students struggling with their sexuality may obtain
counseling. Since the filing of the suit, the school has modified the "safe
zone" signs to include symbols for racial equality, equality for those with
disabilities and religious equality.
"This is a tremendous victory for student free speech and a small step toward
exposing the hypocrisy of the 'tolerance' agenda," commented Stephen M.
Crampton, chief counsel for the law center. "When the politically correct
invoke
'tolerance,' they usually mean tolerance only for those promoting deviant and
socially destructive behaviors. The court recognized that true tolerance
means
tolerance of all, and not only a select few," Crampton said.
While schools must uphold the constitutional rights of students, those rights
are not absolute in the secondary-school context and must be "applied in
light
of the special circumstances of the school environment," wrote Frank,
quoting a
1969 Supreme Court case. "A school may prohibit otherwise constitutionally
protected expression if there is a reasonable belief that such expression
could
'materially and substantially interfere with the work of the school or impinge
on the rights of other students,'" he continued.
If Babbitt could have shown a connection between the teen's wearing of the
shirt
and disruption of educational activities, Frank said the principal's ban "would
have been constitutional." Because no such connection could be
demonstrated,
Frank reversed the principal's decision banning the shirt, though his opinion
expressed sympathy for the homosexual community.
"Maintaining a school community of tolerance includes the tolerance of such
viewpoints as expressed by 'Straight Pride.' While the sentiment behind the
'Straight Pride' message appears to be one of intolerance, the responsibility
remains with the school and its community to maintain an environment open
to
diversity and to educate and support its students as they confront ideas
different from their own," he wrote.
Michael J. DePrimo, litigation counsel for the law center, disagrees with
Frank's assertion that the shirt was intended to convey intolerance.
"The simple, positive message of Elliott´s sweatshirt expresses pride in his
heterosexuality; it does not denigrate other forms of sexuality," he said. "The
proper way for the school to deal with the expression of differing views is not
to squelch the speaker, but to educate the audience in the art of civil
discourse."
Crampton's lawsuit challenges several policies of Woodbury High School and
the
school district and will continue to make its way through the judicial process.
Scott Ballou, attorney for the school, was not available for comment, and a
secretary said, "I don't think he prefers to comment at this time."
http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=22891
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Update: Faster Than Light Communication
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:33:20 -0400
--------
Update: Faster Than Light Communication
by Robert T. Leach
*Defense News, a defense industry trade publication, reports that the
Pentagon is well on the way to developing the ability to "teleport messages
across the battlefield and around the globe" faster than the speed of light.
The Pentagon, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Research Office, the
National Security Agency and the Advanced Research Projects Agency, are
well on the way to implementing such technology within the next decade.
Henry Everitt, a physicist at the Army Research Office in Durham, North
Carolina, explains that the concept is based on a portion of quantum physics
theory involving photons. Photons are units of electromagnetic energy that
carry momentum and energy yet have no mass. Without mass, photons are
not bound to the speed of light, usually thought of as nature's ultimate speed
limit. Teleporting communication has an advantage over conventional
methods in that teleported messages are more secure and don't give away
the location of either the sender or the receiver. Everitt says, "This has gone
from nothing--I mean no money at all in the world--to being one of the hottest
area in physics, one of the hottest areas in science, and one of the largest
programs we have here at the Army Research Office."
What would these faster-than-light communicators look like? Everett says
they would look pretty much like a standard laptop or even a cell phone, but
the inner workings would be very different. Though tight-lipped about the
details, Everitt told *Defense News that a major contract will be awarded
soon and that other business opportunities will arise as the technology
moves out of the laboratory into the real world. "It has been demonstrated
that information can be teleported over 40 kilometers using existing
technology," he explains. But those experiments are just baby steps
compared to their quantum potential. "There is no limit to the distance over
which information can be teleported."
As advanced as faster-than-light communication sounds, it's only one
segment of a much larger project, the Quantum computer. Everitt says, "the
Holy Grail of all this is to build a quantum computer that will do things a
classical computer will never do." The unique characteristics of the photons
to exist in multiple states and not be bound by the speed of light means that
quantum computers will be able to form many different calculations at the
same time, far outpacing today's computers.
The Quantum Information Science Program reportedly involves 34 separate
projects by researchers at 21 universities, two corporate laboratories and
three of the nation's most highly secretive government agencies.
via: isml@yahoogroups.com
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Infobeat News items (5/21/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:44:10 -0400
--------
*** Judge: Sex offenders to post signs
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (AP) - A judge has ordered 21 convicted sex
offenders to place signs in their front yards reading "Danger!
Registered Sex Offender Lives Here." The signs were given to
offenders Friday along with bumper stickers reading "Danger!
Registered Sex Offender in Vehicle." State District Judge J. Manuel
Banales ordered them posted immediately. Authorities will conduct
spot checks on offenders' homes and vehicles, said Iris D. Davila,
supervisor of the probation department's specialized services for
Nueces County. Banales called about 55 registered sex offenders to
court to be given new conditions of their probation. Forty showed
up, and 21 were given the bumper stickers and 18-by-24 inch signs.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407324730
*** Israel attacks Gaza police posts
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel used helicopters and missiles early Monday to
pound Gaza police posts and a factory where it said mortar shells
were made. Amid the violence, calls for peacemaking continued within
Israel and elsewhere. Witnesses said the Israeli forces struck
police posts, a metal goods factory and a post of the elite Force 17
security unit. A hospital doctor said seven people were treated for
shock. The Israeli military said helicopters attacked the factory in
the Jabaliya refugee camp because mortar shells were made there. A
military statement said more than 160 mortars have been fired at
Israeli settlements and villages during the current conflict. But
Gaza security chief Maj. Gen. Abdel Razek el-Majaidah charged that
Israel hit civilian areas. In the West Bank, Preventive Security
Chief Jibril Rajoub escaped with minor injuries Sunday when three
Israeli tank shells struck in and around his home in the town of
Ramallah.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407325915
*** Hezbollah rejects U.S. contact
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - The leader of Hezbollah said on Sunday the
Iranian-backed guerrillas have turned down repeated attempts by the
U.S. administration to establish contact. Sheik Hassan Nasrallah
said the United States has tried to initiate contact with Hezbollah
- despite calling the group a terrorist organization. "The U.S. says
that we are terrorists and works day and night to open a contact
line or contact channel with us," he told a rally in Bednayel in the
Bekaa Valley, 28 miles east of Beirut. "We are the ones who reject
it, and we are the ones who decide what we should do. We reject the
honor of sitting with an American official," he said. A U.S. State
Department official in Washington declined immediate comment on
Sunday.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407326225
*** Floodwaters threaten Siberian city
MOSCOW (AP) - Floodwaters carrying 3-foot-thick chunks of ice
threatened Siberia's regional capital on Monday as fighter jets
dropped more bombs to dislodge ice jams on the overflowing Lena
River. The powerful flood crest reached Yakutsk, a city of about
200,000 people, early Monday morning, Russia's RTR television
reported. The water was rising by about 2 inches per hour. Crews
piled dirt on levees and helicopters buzzed over the region dropping
off medicine and food. Emergency officials said the levees would
hold unless water rose by about another 5 feet, the television
report said. About 8,000 people were already evacuated Sunday from a
suburb of wooden houses, said Yuri Vorobyov, deputy minister of
emergency situations. Officials were preparing to evacuate more in
case the dikes broke.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407325752
*** Church cardinals meet about future
VATICAN CITY (AP) - Cardinals from around the world are gathering at
the Vatican for a meeting opening Monday that will examine
challenges facing the church in the coming years and offer the
prelates a hint of who might be a future pope. Pope John Paul II
asked all 183 cardinals to attend the three-day meeting shortly
after appointing 44 new cardinals in February, making it the largest
College of Cardinals in history. Speaking Sunday to some 20,000
faithful in St. Peter's Square, the pope said the meeting would
allow for reflection on the role of the Roman Catholic church in the
third millennium. "During these next days, we will together consider
the prospects for the life of the church and her mission in the
world," John Paul said.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407325217
*** Egypt, Jordan back peace efforts
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A day after a threat by Arab ministers to halt
all political contacts with Israel, President Hosni Mubarak said
Sunday that Egypt and Jordan will not give up their efforts to
relaunch the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks. "The
Egyptian-Jordanian initiative is still on the table, and we should
continue (efforts) to reactivate it," Mubarak told reporters. On
Saturday, the Arab League recommended "stopping all Arab political
contacts with the Israeli government as long as the aggression and
blockades against the Palestinian people and the Palestinian
Authority continue." But in a statement, Egypt's Foreign Minister
Ahmed Maher said the recommendation will not affect Egypt's ties
with Israel.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407326314
*** Electric power returns in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Power began returning to parts of the capital and
other major cities Sunday, after a sweeping power outage left nearly
all of Iran without electricity for several hours. The blackout was
unprecedented in scale. Outages were frequent during the 1980-88 war
with Iraq, but they were never nationwide. The state-owned power
company, Tavanir, said a failure in a power grid in northern Iran
caused the loss of electricity, according to the official Islamic
Republic News Agency. In Tehran, electric buses came to a halt and
passengers were stranded when the single underground subway line
also lost power. Outages were also reported in at least six
provincial capitals: Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Kermanshah, Qazvin and
Hamedan.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407324083
*** Dalai Lama to attend U.S. conference
MADISON, Wis. (AP) - The Dalai Lama, whose teachings emphasize the
training of the mind and the interaction between mind and body, will
meet this week with scientists who are studying the physical state
of happiness and the effects of meditation on the brain. The Tibetan
leader on Monday and Tuesday will visit the University of Wisconsin
to attend the ninth international Mind and Life Conference, a
collaboration among the Dalai Lama and Western philosophers and
scientists who conduct research on emotions and the brain. He will
tour the university's new $10 million W.M. Keck Laboratory for
Functional Brain Imaging and Behavior, which uses advanced,
noninvasive equipment to track biochemicals in the brain and observe
how different parts of the brain respond to various emotions.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407323814
*** Report: EU wants to ban tobacco ads
BERLIN (AP) - The European Union wants to step up its anti-smoking
campaign by banning tobacco advertisements from newspapers,
magazines and the Internet, a German newspaper reported Sunday, just
months after Europe's supreme court threw out earlier planned
restrictions. The latest proposal should be finalized by early next
month, despite the opposition of Germany and Austria, EU Health
Commissioner David Byrne told Die Welt. The previous ban, which was
to have taken effect this year, would have prohibited advertising of
tobacco products on billboards, in movie theaters and such items as
parasols, ashtrays and other articles used in hotels and
restaurants.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407318272
*** Polio cases drop to new low
GENEVA (AP) - The worldwide prevalence of polio has hit an
unprecedented low, with the number of cases cut in half between 1999
and 2000, World Health Organization scientists said Friday. As a
result of an intense push to eradicate the last remnants of the
crippling disease, the number of countries where polio is endemic
plummeted to 20 from 50. The eradication initiative is a joint
project of WHO, the U.N. Children's Fund, Rotary International and
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It aims to
certify the world polio-free by 2005.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407317367
*** Police: Record prolific mom a fraud
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - A Chilean woman who once made the Guinness
Book of Records as the world's most prolific mother with 58 children
was in fact a fraud, according to police investigation. Leontina
Espinoza, who died in 1988 at age 66, gave birth to only 16 of the
people she claimed as her children, Chilean newspapers quoted police
inspector Cristina Rojo as saying in Saturday editions. Others were
given to her by poor women or her cousins, Rojo said. "Her idea was
to collect the food assistance" that the government grants to large,
poor families, said Rojo, who led the investigation. According to
police, one of the children registered by Espinoza as her own was in
fact the daughter of her husband, Gerardo Albina, with a
granddaughter of the couple.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407322038
*** Lesbian prom king causes turmoil
FERNDALE, Wash. (AP) - The election of a lesbian as Ferndale High's
prom king has prompted consternation among adults in this small
community and a change in school policy - future prom kings must be
boys and queens girls. Prom attendees were given a ballot and told
to write in their choices for king and queen. Senior Krystal Bennett
says she voted for herself as king partly as a lark and partly
because she wanted the title. Friends voted for her, too - and she
won. The election "imposes something on society that, if truth be
known, our society is not yet ready to accept," said parent Tina
Mauler. 'These types of things ultimately will lead to chaos." The
prom queen, whose boyfriend was runner-up for king, has a more
laid-back take on the April 28 election. "It's high school," Kara
Johnson said. "Let it go."
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407323962
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] The Intifada has not really penetrated Jerusalem. But the roots put down by
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:49:31 -0400
--------
Institute that promoted division of Jerusalem - reality prevents Israeli
public from accepting plans [statistics on Jerusalem]
'We've missed the boat'
The Intifada has not really penetrated Jerusalem. But the roots put down by
the Palestinian Authority go deep.
By Nadav Shragai Ha'aretz 21 May 2001
[IMRA: This is not a parody. The Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies,
following the "yihyeh b'seder" (it will be OK) line that has guided Oslo
from its inception, advocated - even when the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo
was already under fire - the creation of a situation in Jerusalem that would
only function if the Palestinians gave 100% cooperation. And while Dr.
Israel Kimchi, a senior researcher at the institute, recognizes what the
Palestinians are doing - he does not learn from this that the Institute's
program is unacceptable - only that "a long period of quiet is needed, many
years" before their proposals would be accepted by the Israeli public.
It is also interesting to note from the statistic accompanying the report
that the Palestinians have been engaged in considerable construction in
Jerusalem in an attempt to change the situation on the ground. "Thousands
of apartments that have been built in the Arab sector stand empty" .]
In the sea of flame, violence and terror that has been sweeping the state of
Israel for eight months now, only a few people have considered the fact that
this Intifada has not really crossed into the municipal jurisdiction of
Jerusalem. Apart from the Temple Mount, which was in effect the source of
the conflagration and continues to be a focal point for friction and violent
outbursts, masses from East Jerusalem have not taken to the streets.It could
be that this will change in the future, but for the meantime at least,
outbreaks of fighting have occurred only on the margins of the city. In the
south, Gilo has been fired on, and also recently Har Homa, from the
direction of Beit Jalla and Beit Sahour (both of them outside the Jerusalem
municipal boundaries). To the north, attackers have infiltrated from the
Ramallah area into the area of Atarot and have opened fire. But in the
center of East Jerusalem - Saladin Street, Sultan Suleiman, the area of the
Orient House, Sheikh Jarrah, Jabal Mukabber, Tsur Baher and almost every
other neighborhood of East Jerusalem, the north has been for the most part
quiet.
The fighting has not reached East Jerusalem proper, not has popular protest
been seen in the streets.
The riddle of the relative quiet in East Jerusalem is but one of the
questions with which the members of the permanent status committee at the
Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies have been grappling. In June 2000 the
publication of the alternative partition and annexation maps sent by the
team for study by the diplomatic echelons produced a big political storm.
Today, far from the spotlights, the people of the institute have returned to
somewhat less spectacular work. In the context of the totally changed
circumstances, the permanent status agreement team is examining the
current
reality in East Jerusalem, a reality in which de facto there are two
mechanisms of government in operation, Israel and Palestinian.
The team is trying, among other things, to clarify whether this is a reality
that is still reversible. Another issue with which it is dealing concerns
the possibility of a unilateral separation not only in the West Bank but
also in the territories of Jerusalem. Is this at all possible in a reality
in which the two populations are interwoven?
For the first time doubt has also been cast on the basic assumption, which
once seemed obvious, that in any future agreement Jerusalem will continue to
be an open city, in which there will be freedom of movement and trade in
both directions.
About a year ago, as noted, everything still looked different. When former
prime minister Ehud Barak was standing on Ammunition Hill, next to the
northern neighborhoods of French Hill and Ramat Eshkol, scattering vows
about the unity of Jerusalem and Israeli sovereignty there (on Jerusalem
Day, 2000), the permanent status agreement team of the Jerusalem Institute
for Israel Studies published its own ideas about the permanent solution in
the city.
The people at the institute offered several alternatives. The most generous
(with respect to Israel) suggested the annexation to Jerusalem of extensive
territories in the area of Ma'aleh Adumim, Givat Ze'ev and Gush Etzion, and
the minimal subtraction of Palestinian population and territories from the
city's jurisdiction, which would be annexed to the Palestinian Authority.
The most radical proposal in the other direction, ostensibly the worst with
respect for Israel, suggested subtracting from the jurisdiction of Jerusalem
tens of thousands of Palestinians, along with their lands, their
neighborhoods and their villages, and making do with only a limited addition
to the city, along with the arrangement of narrow corridors to the large
Jewish settlements beyond the 1967 borders to the east, south and north of
the city (Ma'aleh Adumim, Beitar and Givat Ze'ev).
In effect the "worst" plan was a plan for the partition of the city. In
effect, Barak went much further at Camp David (July 2000) and even more so
at Taba (January 2001), far beyond the most conciliatory proposals
suggested
by the institute team. Today, many people believe that the result of the
last election stemmed not only from the undermined sense of security, but
also from the web of territorial concessions Barak was prepared to make to
the Palestinians, especially in Jerusalem, within the city proper, including
the Old City and the Temple Mount.
Necessary decisions
In the current assessment of Dr. Israel Kimchi, a senior researcher at the
institute, what might have been possible a year ago will not be possible for
many years hence.
"There has been a total loss of confidence on the part of the Israel public.
To buy back this public a long period of quiet is needed, many years. This
fact alters the picture with respect to border considerations within
Jerusalem and beyond. Matters like topographical control and other
elementary issues of this sort, which we had thought were not significant,
are becoming critical again. From Mount Gilo and Nebi Samuel, it is easy to
close off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road with light arms fire. Factors that
were significant in 1948 - and during the years the city was divided - are
suddenly entering the picture again in a big way. This is of significance
with respect to the possibility of achieving an agreement in Jerusalem, for
the drafting of the borders one way or another in this area."
Kimchi, unlike ther members of the team, is in no hurry to define as
"irreversible" the reality of government that the Palestinians have created
in East Jerusalem, both through a series of institutions like the Orient
House and through a series of security organizations. "These institutions,"
Kimchi believes, "are trivial compared to the potential of the weighty
Israeli government mechanisms, which have budgetary backing. There is a lot
to be done in East Jerusalem, and it is all a matter of decision and
implementation. We have been terrific at decisions. At implementation we
have not been so great."
Dr. Shmuel Berkovits, who has recently published the book "The Battle for
the Holy Places: The Struggle over Jerusalem and the Holy Cites in Israel,
Judea, Samaria and the Gaza District," has not formed the impression that
the government of Israel headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is at all
interested in changing the situation in East Jerusalem. "It is possible and
necessary to get rid of all the Palestinian security organizations that are
active in East Jerusalem. It is possible to do the same to the Orient House,
the institutions associated with the Palestinian Authority and the office of
the governor of the Jerusalem province, who sits in Abu Dis with all his
governing apparatus," says Berkovits.
"But even before that a decision has to be made," says Berkovits. "What do
you want to achieve? What territory do you want to control? Where do you
invest? Where do you give in? At the moment I don't see any systematic
discussion aimed at clarifying this in a real way. Meanwhile, there is no
difference between the policy followed by Barak's government with respect to
East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount and that followed by the Sharon
government."
For more than three years Aryeh Amit served as the commander of the
Jerusalem district police force. Amit, another member of the institute's
permanent status agreement team, believes that at this time there is no
point in trying to turn back the clock.
"Ostensibly, as long as there is no agreement dividing the sovereignty over
Jerusalem between two entities, the state of Israel has to show sovereignty
in all parts of the city, but the roots that the PA has put down in East
Jerusalem are too deep. The clearest proof that we have missed the boat is
inherent in the fact that today the Palestinian population in Jerusalem
relates mainly to the governing mechanisms that are connected directly or
indirectly to the PA. Most of this population ignores the Israeli government
institutions."
Amit remembers well that when he was serving as regional police
commander,
"people who engaged in policing or intelligence work on behalf of the
Palestinians were arrested but today this is impossible and also incorrect
to root out the organizational infrastructure of this sort. Consciously or
unconsciously, we know that ultimately, at the end of the road, it [East
Jerusalem] will in any case go over to them."
Amit does not conceal his opinion that on the bottom line, the desirable
direction is a division of sovereignty, the territory and authority. It is
his assessment that if the Sharon government or elements in Sharon's
government try to eliminate the Palestinian security organizations from East
Jerusalem, or the institutions associated with the PA in the spirit of the
action proposed by Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, Arafat will have no
alternative and Jerusalem, too, will be brought into the intensive circle of
rioting, terror attacks and shooting incidents.
Why, in fact, has the Intifada not spilled over as yet into Jerusalem?
Israel Kimchi notes that large parts of the Arab population of Jerusalem
breathed a sigh of relief when the talks at Taba did not go well, and many
expressed this explicitly. "The Arab population has a great deal to lose as
a result of being transferred to the Palestinian Authority. This is the main
reason for the absence of the Intifada in Jerusalem. There have been
attempts to drag in it that did not succeed. Even in the demonstrations that
Faisal Husseini tried to initiate a few months ago, there were very few
people."
Dr. Menachem Klein, who until recently also served as an advisor to former
public security minister Shlomo Ben-Ami (MK, Labor), mentions in this
context that the political and educational profile of the residents of East
Jerusalem differs from that of most of the inhabitants of the West Bank.
"They are more educated, and earn more money, because they have
sources of
income in West Jerusalem. They are also very leery of giving up the relative
benefits they enjoy here: National Insurance Institute payments, health
insurance, health services, freedom of movement, economic security - a list
of goodies that 200 meters beyond the municipal border do not exist. The
population here," notes Klein, "is more critical of [Palestinain Authority
Chairman Yasser] Arafat's political mechanism and would like to preserve its
special status within Palestinian society and politics.
"It does not want to be part of Israel, but it also does nto want to be an
organic part of the PA. They would like an organizational status of their
own, that would have a special status, though as part of a Palestinain
system, but with openness toward and affiliations with Israel: ties of
income, jobs and the continuation of the privileges they enjoy today."
Barak's restraint
Klein sees a connection between the relative quiet in Jerusalem and the fact
that Ehud Barak's government refrained from taking a number of steps that
had been planned by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu: "The eastern
ring
road, which entails confiscations and the demolishing of buildings, was not
paved, the entry of more Jews into Muslim neighborhoods was blocked, the
confiscation of Israeli identity cards from inhabitants of East Jerusalem
was stopped, and the Barak government put obstacles in the way of
demolishing buildings that had gone up without a permit. It could be that if
the Sharon government gives the right more rope, institutions that are
associated with the PA will be closed down, it will be possible for people
to move into the Jewish neighborhood at Ras Al Amud, or the eastern ring
road project, which involves the confiscation of land, will move forward -
and the special brakes on East Jerusalem will no longer hold and we will see
an outbreak there,too."
Klein's colleague, Dr. Ifrah Zilberman, says: "Paradoxically, the
establishment of the PA and the modes of governing that were brought in with
it have caused the partial alienation of large parts of the Palestinian
public in East Jerusalem."
This alienation, explains Zilberman, "does not stem from the fact of the
establishment of the PA, which was perceived as a realization of the
national identity, but rather from the aggressive control of various aspects
of life by violent elements on behalf of the PA. Arafat's governance and
security mechanisms," says Zilberman, "are fed in part by direct and
bullying collection of moneys. These networks have penetrated East
Jerusalem
with the partial agreement of Israel, and operate directly there. As a
result of this alienation, many social groups have developed an internal
autonomy based mainly on elements connected to local identity - charitable
and communal organizations, local committees and family groups, clans, that
have grown much stronger."
Zilberman says that there is a short circuit between Arafat's coterie and
Jerusalem. "These organizations, municipal committees, formal or informal,
associations and non-profit groups, do not see their role as setting the
grass roots on fire and getting nothing in return. They have neither the
desire nor the motivation to get involved. They have also learned from what
happened in the Bethlehem area, or Beit Jallah. At least part of the public
in East Jerusalem is not prepared for the fighting to come at the expense of
their own homes getting hit by retaliatory Israel Defense Forces
bombardments. In the West Bank, Arafat distributes PA money among many
wage-earners. A large part of the PA budget goes on salaries. Hardly any of
this money comes into East Jerusalem, which makes the population here
less
dependent on him."
Menachem Klein says that the Israelis have to forget the idyll of Teddy
Kollek's days as mayor of Jerusalem and the romance of the 1970s in the
city. "This way is closed. It is no longer possible to see the East
Jerusalem Arab as a son of the enchanted east. The era of sitting on the Old
City walls, with the bagel, the sesame seeds and the za'atar [(hyssop] in
hand is over.
"Today in the city there is a geography of reciprocal fear, and each group
stays out of the other's neighborhoods. Israelis are afraid that in the Arab
areas they will be shot at or have stones thrown at them. The Palestinians
are afraid of the Border Police patrols. There has been a steep decline in
visits by Israelis inside the Old City. The new flourishing that the region
experienced in 1999 was an illusion."
Klein suggests to the Sharon government that it not try to imitate the way
the Barak government dealt with Jerusalem. "It cannot be conducted again in
a way that says 'See and bless the way it is.' It is necessary to start from
the assumption that Jerusalem is a joint space for two peoples, to find the
essential interests of each side, and then to see to what extent each side
can move toward the interests of the other, and what it cannot give up. At
Camp David they worked from the top down - and wasted the time on barren
clarifications of the question of sovereignty and its formulations. Today it
is necessary to work from the bottom up, to try to draw up the patterns of
cooperation or division in every-day life. It is necessary to clarify, for
example, how to preserve the Old City basin together, how to continue to
provide day-to-day services to all the inhabitants of the city, how to
preserve this city culturally and historically, how not to pollute the
environment. This work, which is made up of the small things of everyday
life and not the bombastic headlines, has not been done at any stage by the
Americans, not at Camp David and not at Taba, and this was a mistake.
The facts on Jerusalem in 2001
- A decline in the number of children in the kindergartens of the
ultra-Orthodox educational system. In 1997-98, their number came to 16,672
and in 1999-2000, their number declined to 15,672. The number of pupils in
the lasso ultra-Orthodox elementary schools fell by about 1,000. The
significance: The trend toward an increase in the ultra-Orthodox population
has stopped. The reason: The extent of the departure of the ultra-Orthodox
population from the city. About 20 percent of those leaving Jerusalem are
ultra-Orthodox, particularly young couples, who cannot afford to bu the
expensive apartments in the city. They move to ultra-Orthodox settlements in
the Jerusalem area such as Beitar, Kiryat Sefer or Kochav Ya'akov.
- The balance of immigration to and emigration from the city continues to be
negative. More people are moving out than moving in. Between 1967 and 1978
the immigration/emigration balances were positive (an addition of 880 souls
per year). Between 1987 and 1979, the balance became negative (minus
about
600 per year). From 1998 on, the balance has become even more negative
and
in recent years it has stood at minus 7,000 to 8,000 souls a year. During
the course of the 1990s, 133,700 moved out of the city, and only 82,000
moved in. About 60 percent of those who left moved to locales in the
Jerusalem area.
- Few immigrants come to Jerusalem and many of them leave the city.
Jerusalem used to be a magnet for immigrants. During the 1990s the number
of
immigrants who chose to live in Jerusalem declined steeply - only about 7
percent of all immigrants. Many of them, it turns out, leave the city after
a brief period because of employment problems and the high cost of housing.
- There is still a Jewish majority. The population of Jerusalem is 657,900;
444,900 Jews (68 percent) and 201,300 Arabs (31.1 percent).
It is crowded in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City. The building density in
the Muslim Quarter is the highest in the city - 86 dwelling units per dunam.
This building density, like the building density in the Shuafat Refugee
Camp - 32 dwelling units per dunam -
deviates considerably from the average building density in the Arab sector
in Jerusalem, which stands at only 1.9 dwelling units per dunam. In the
Jewish sector, the average building density is higher and stands at 5.9
units per dunam.
- Thousands of apartments that have been built in the Arab sector stand
empty. In Jerusalem there are about 150,000 inhabited apartments, 80
percent
of them in Jewish population areas and 20 percent in Arab population areas.
Between 1967 and 1995, there was an increase of 141 percent in the number
of
residential apartments in Jerusalem. With respect to the rate of growth, it
emerges that that the rate of growth of housing construction in Arab
population areas is higher than in Jewish population areas. In the Arab
population areas, there has been an increase of 163 percent in the number of
apartments, as compared to an increase of 136 percent in the Jewish
population areas. Dr. Israel Kimchi says that hundreds of apartments that
have been constructed in the Arab sector have been standing empty for
years.
- The Arab population is growing more rapidly. The rate of growth in the
Jewish population in recent years stands at 1 percent annually, as compared
to 4.6 percent in the Arab population. The average birthrate in the Arab
population in Jerusalem is higher than the birthrate in the Jewish
population, though it has declined steadily over the years and has in recent
years stood at 32-35 births per thousand people annually. The birthrate in
the Jewish population of Jerusalem has also declined over the years and in
recent years has stood at 26 per thousand annually.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Egypt to boycott meeting with Israel
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:50:07 -0400
--------
Egypt to boycott meeting with Israel
By Reuters Ha'aretz 21 May 2001
CAIRO The Egyptian Federation of Chambers of Commerce said yesterday it
would boycott a European Chambers of Commerce conference in protest
against the participation of Israel. The conference was originally scheduled to
convene in Cairo in January, was postponed to May 28 and relocated to
Barcelona when Egypt refused to invite Israel.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Ha'aretz: EU to tax goods from outside Green Line
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:50:57 -0400
--------
Ha'aretz: EU to tax goods from outside Green Line
By Aluf Benn
Ha'aretz Diplomatic Correspondent 21 May 2001
The European Union is planning to impose customs tariffs on goods
originating from areas outside the Green Line, including the settlements,
East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. The Israel-EU free trade agreement
covers only the State of Israel inside the Green Line.
In August 2000, customs authorities from several EU countries presented
Israel with a list of detailed questions about the origins of Israeli
exports to Europe ranging from Soda Stream, the carbonated drink maker, to
Golan wines and Ahava cosmetic products. Israel is supposed to provide
detailed responses to the questions at a conference next month with tax
officials from Israel and all the EU countries.
At a meeting today of the Associations Commission responsible for
administering the free trade agreement, EU officials are expected to raise
the issue of the rules of origin in the trade pact.
Foreign Ministry deputy director-general Ehud Gol, heading Israel's
delegation to the conference, is expected to tell the Europeans the issue is
"technical, not political" and belongs at the professional level of tax
officials from both sides, while the settlements issue should come up only
in final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
EU External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten saidlast week in the
European parliament "We have to respect the rule of law. The West Bank,
Gaza
and the Golan Heights depart from the territorial coverage of the agreement
with Israel. This is not a new point. Already in 1998 a commission report
said granting special access to European markets for products originating in
the Israeli settlements ... contradicts the rules of origin, since those
areas are not part of Israel according to international law."
EU sources say "this is not about sanctions against Israel but about proper
implementation of an international agreement made to guarantee that the
products under discussion do not benefit illegally from preferential tax
treatment. Of course we are aware of the political symbolism of the matter,
in Israeli and Palestinian eyes, but Europe cannot be party to fraud." Next
week, EU tax officials meet to form a unified policy for dealing with
Israel.
An Israeli source said: "There's no argument the agreement does not cover
the territories. But for 30 years the Europeans paid no heed. So why now?"
The source said that "at worst, customs tariffs will be imposed on
settlement products and that will spell death for some of the factories,
since they can't compete in the European market. But the national economy
can withstand it."
The source said when the issue came up last year, before the Intifada, "we
had the feeling that we were on the verge of a solution for the settlements
in the negotiations with the Palestinians, and the problem would go away on
its own."
Meanwhile, Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy czar, is due Wednesday in
the region as part of his preparations of a report next month to the EU
leadership on how the EU can become more involved in the Middle East and
the
political process here.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Full text of Arafat speech
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:52:23 -0400
--------
Full text of Arafat speech: No compromise on land, right of return,
Jerusalem, sovereignty on land, sea, air
President Arafat returning home: No one can shake or defeat the Palestinians
will
"we are still demanding our rights, and that we didn't give up any inch of
our land or our refugees right to return, in addition to establishing our
independent state with Jerusalem as it capital, our right of our Holy
places, and our sovereignty on our land, sea and air."
http://www.wafa.pna.net/EngText/20-05-2001/page001.htm
Gaza May 20th Wafa (Official Palestine News Agency) - President Arafat
returned, yesterday, home after the "Arab League Follow Up Committee"
meeting in Cairo, in which He participated, addressing the press He said
that the Israeli aggression and vicious attacks will not break us, not even
their tanks, fighters, snipers, gunboats, or gunship, because we are
equipped with strong faith and belief, in our cause and rights, which we
will never give up.
His speech in the closing session of the meeting emphasized that the
Egyptian - Jordanian initiative and the Mitchell report are a positive base
for resuming the peace talks.
He also rejected the Israeli allegations that the Palestinian people missed
the opportunity for eternal peace in Camp David and Taba talks, saying that
there was no chance for any Palestinian to accept the dictated conditions
that excluded number of our legitimate rights.
He added that the Palestinian leadership refused any resolution that is out
of the Palestinian people's consensus, we rejected imposed solutions but we
did not refuse resuming negotiating.
We admit that there was some progress in the previous peace talks, but the
issues remained unsolved formed a solid obstacle in front of our people to
accept them as a part of the permanent solution, H.E. said.
Hereby is the full text of the presidents speech:
Ladies and gentlemen,
The Israeli military aggression continues in a desperate attempt to kneel
our people down and destroy the brave uprising, "Intifada", which broke out
after Sharon's unwelcome visit to the Haram Alsharif, and opening Israeli
fire towards Muslim worshipers, causing many martyrs and injuries as a
result of that, aiming to destroy the achievements of the peace process in
order to miscarry it completely, exploiting the "International position and
confronting with the international legality, in practicing dangerous kind of
escalations including:
Permanent partial occupation and casual invasions to the Palestinian lands:
1- Israel has imposed a military occupation of (B) areas in addition to
occupying some (A) areas, which they agreed to withdraw from them, and
return them to the Palestinian sovereignty. The Israeli undeclared
occupation to the main roads inside Gaza Strip and to the border areas, was
not received with the same US reaction, when Israel declared that it intends
to keep (A) areas in Beit Hanon north to Gaza, this reaction which forced
Israel to declare that it will withdraw from that area, but kept occupying
other areas, Israel declares daily that they penetrate (A) areas in
different places in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in order to tighten the
closure imposed on the Palestinian villages, cities, and refugee camps
contradicting the signed agreements, in addition to demolishing houses,
buildings, educational and scientific institutes, uprooting trees and other
crops in green houses, arresting, detaining and migrating, destroying
demolishing all kinds of Palestinian sovereignty transferred to us by the
signed agreements including borders , passages, water sources and free
mobility to people and merchandise
2- Escalating the means of bombardment, murder and destruction.
This daily escalation continues and includes now artillery shells gunboats,
airplanes, and missiles in addition to assassinating our security and
political leaders and even preventing fishing in our waters and destroying
refuge camps, houses, property, institutes and governmental and security
buildings.
3- Attacking the PLO and the PNA.
Israel escalated its dirty war against the PLO and the PNA declaring its
intentions to destroy them by shelling their headquarters and assassinating
their leaders and by detaining their financial sources including our shares
of taxes paid by our people for our merchandise imported through the Israeli
ports, in order to destroy our national economy and infrastructure, in order
to prevent us from establishing our independent state with Jerusalem as our
Capitol, but those measures only strengthen our people's unity in order to
free their holy places.
4- Starving of the Palestinian people and destroying the Palestinian
economy, is the declared aim of the Israeli aggression in its different
means, including siege upon Palestinian cities, halting import and export,
closing the Gaza international Airport, destroying the Pal. agriculture,
factories, hotels and trucks, preventing gas search in the sea and
prohibiting the port constructions, is to destroy the Palestinian economy
and starve the Palestinian people. The Israelis uprooted quarter of a
million of olive trees in addition to tens of thousands of other kinds of
trees, ruined farms, orchids, groves and green houses, flooding the lands of
Gaza with polluted water, buried their radioactive toxic waste in our lands,
used exploited uranium ammunition against our civilians, in addition to
poisonous gases, all these facts are documented by us, and by the US and
the
EU documents which represents a noticeable dangerous escalation.
The Israelis concentrated their aggression on our Islamic and Christian holy
sites including in Holy Jerusalem, and they shelled Bethlehem, Beit Jala and
beit Sahour, and prevented Moslems and Christians from their right of
worshiping God in Alaqsa , Alharam Alsharif and in the Holy Sepulture
Church.
5- Continuing building settlements and Jewedizing Jerusalem.
Sharon's government decided to build 135000 new apartments in the existing
and new settlements and escalated the demolishing of Palestinian houses in
order to replace them with settlements, and threatened to close Palestinian
institutions in Jerusalem and still continues building settlements, although
they admit to that more than 45% of the existing settlements are empty.
Dear brothers
You must be aware with our human casualties reaching 600 Martyrs so far in
addition to more than 28000 injured, and our losses exceeded $ 5 billions,
and the unemployed number exceeded 360000. while our budget unable to
pay
the employees salaries in spite of your loans and donations.
The situation is difficult the losses are great, the daily escalation
continues and we are grateful to outer aid, although it is limited and in
small portions but we hope it will get bigger and bigger. And I assure you
that your people in Palestine is solid as steel and will not surrender,
retreat from, or give up his legitimate goals, rights or achievements, and
will not allow the aggression against his Holy sites, and will be given the
Victory with God's will as our Prophet said: "United until the last day",
and we insist on the popular character of the Intifada, but our people need
support.
We are struggling against an illegal occupation of our lands and against it'
s military escalation which makes our struggle legitimate by all means, this
occupation violates all human and international treaties and signed
agreement and practices official state terror.
We are still peace seekers, a peace based on the international legality and
the signed agreements witnessed and sponsored by the USA, Russia, the
EU.
The UN, the NAM, and the Arab brothers and international Organizations, and
by accepting the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the Mitchell report, we
agreed to return the peace process to the right track, because violating the
above principles, ignited the Intifada even more.
It's true that the Intifada exploder was the Sharon's visit to Alharam
Alsharif, which was executed in spite of our public and official objection
to it, delivered to Barak two days before the visit, and after the Alaqsa
massacre committed by the Israelis the next day, in addition to the cancer
of settlements which keeps spreading in our body and our lands by force
especially in Jerusalem.
We kept patient for many years waiting to regain our rights through the
peace process, we went to Madrid with our brothers and kept committed to
its
resolutions in spite of the limits imposed on us, we negotiated in
Washington and Oslo and we tried to face all means of pressure implied upon
us to return our land and our refugees rights according to UN resolution 194
and protect our Islamic aChristian holy places , we also tried to build our
state moving from temporary situation to a permanent one where important
and
difficult issues lie ahead of us, but at the same time they kept expanding
their occupation by expanding and adding settlements, escalating their
military aggression, imposing siege and not respecting their obligations,
and when we reached the final status negotiations, and they found out that
we are still demanding our rights, and that we didn't give up any inch of
our land or our refugees right to return, in addition to establishing our
independent state with Jerusalem as it capital, our right of our Holy
places, and our sovereignty on our land, sea and air, the final solution was
delayed.
Did we miss the chance given to us in Camp David and Taba?.
Some Israelis accuse us of that, in order to justify their unwillingness to
stop their aggression and trying to blame us for what is going on in order
to cover their escalating crimes against our people.
It is true that Camp David was the first chance to discuss the final status
after we have been through 57 meetings, negotiating the peace process and
reached some progress in Taba, but Barak was not ready to continue after
faking his involvement in the Syrian track for six months and his
manipulating of the Arab tracks, although he promised before being elected
to complete the peace process, and the results are known to you all.
Although we reached some progress, some issues remained unsolved
because our
people will not accept them after a century of struggle, and let me ask you
Dear Brothers, were we able to accept a solution which keeps Alharam and
some of the most important Christian and Muslim Holy places in Jerusalem in
their hands?.
Were we able to accept a solution that prevents our refugees from their
right of return while they allow hundreds of thousands of even non Jews from
the former Soviet Union to exercise their "right of return" just by giving
the lightest proof that one of their ancestors was a Jew, or fake such
proof?
Were we able to accept a limited divided sovereignty in our state?.
Will you accept giving Israel the right to use our lands as a base to attack
Arab countries, or allow the Israeli war planes to control our skies or use
them to attack you?
We didn't and will not accept such things, but we didn't refuse to continue
the negotiations or to go back to the peace process.
We find no better solution to end the Israeli aggression and return to the
peace process than the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the Mitchell
committee recommendations, especially regarding the total and final freezing
of settlements.
The truth is that there is almost a full international consensus about this
issue and the Sharm Alshiekh conference should, reconvene in order to
decide
the mechanism of implementing the said recommendations fully.
We are committed to our struggle no matter the price and sacrifices will be,
because our struggle and firm standing is essential to preserve our rights,
dignity, Holy places and our people's future.
Our firm standing is essential to stop the racial attacks on our Arab nation
and our precious holy sites, but we are also committed to correct the peace
process and return to it in order to regain our rights and achieve a just,
comprehensive and lasting peace in the whole region.
We also appeal to you to support our people who face war, destruction and
siege imposed by Israel, and we need your support to get international
protection, to stop the military aggression and the financial and economical
siege.
We also need to activate the UN, the human rights organizations and the
international commerce organization to confront the Israeli aggression.
Dear Brothers
This war in on our destiny in Palestine, Holy Jerusalem and for our Islamic
and Christian Holy places and for a better Arab future ruled by freedom
dignity and independence, for a just, comprehensive and lasting peace, which
will be accepted and approved by all the countries of the region and I am
confident that with God's will we will prevail.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Shavuot - ABC's of Shavuot
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 08:56:33 -0400
--------
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "Aish.com" <aishlist@aish.com>
Date sent: Mon, 21 May 2001 14:15:30 +0200
Subject: Shavuot - ABC's of Shavuot
Aish.com Holidays Home Page:
http://aish.com/holidays/
======================================
Aish.com
Shavuot is the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai - 3,313
years ago. The holiday begins at sundown Sunday, May 27, and continues
until nightfall on Tuesday, May 29, 2001 (in Israel, until Monday, May 28).
Get more online at: http://aish.com/holidays/shavuot/default.asp
* * *
"ABC'S OF SHAVUOT"
by Rabbi Shraga Simmons
* * *
It is ironic that Shavuot is such a little-known holiday. Because in fact,
Shavuot commemorates the single most important event in Jewish history --
the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Shavuot is the culmination of the seven-week-long "counting of the Omer"
that occurs following Passover. The very name "Shavuot" means "weeks,"
in recognition of the weeks of anticipation leading up to the Sinai
experience. (Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after the first day of Passover,
it is sometimes known as "Pentecost," a Greek word meaning "the holiday
of 50 days.")
3,300 years ago, after leaving Egypt on the night of Passover, the Jews
traveled into the Sinai desert. There, the entire Jewish nation -- 3 million
men, women and children -- directly experienced divine revelation:
"God spoke to you from the midst of the fire; you were hearing the sound of
words, but you were not seeing a form, only a sound. He told you of His
covenant, instructing you to keep the Ten Commandments, and He
inscribed them on two stone tablets." (Deut. 4:12-13)
The giving of the Torah was an event of awesome proportions that indelibly
stamped the Jewish nation with a unique character, faith and destiny. And
in the 3,300 years since this event, Torah ideals -- monotheism, justice,
responsibility -- have become the moral basis for Western civilization.
HOW TO CELEBRATE
Perhaps the reason for the relative obscurity of Shavuot is because this
holiday has no obvious "symbols" of the day -- i.e. no Shofar, no Sukkah,
no Chanukah Menorah.
On Shavuot, there are no symbols to distract us from the central focus of
Jewish life: the Torah. So how do we commemorate Shavuot? It is a
widespread custom to stay up the entire night learning Torah. And since
Torah is the way to self-perfection, the Shavuot night learning is called
Tikkun Leil Shavuot, which means "an act of self-perfection on the night of
Shavuot."
At synagogue services on Shavuot morning, we read the Biblical book of
Ruth. Ruth was a non-Jewish woman whose love for God and Torah led her
to convert to Judaism. The Torah intimates that the souls of eventual
converts were also present at Sinai, as it says: "I am making [the
covenant] both with those here today before the Lord our God, AND ALSO
WITH THOSE NOT HERE TODAY." (Deut. 29:13)
Ruth has a further connection to Shavuot, in that she became the ancestor
of King David, who was born on Shavuot, and died on Shavuot.
On Shavuot, it is customary to decorate the synagogue with branches and
flowers. This is because Mount Sinai blossomed with flowers on the day
the Torah was given. Also, the Bible also associates Shavuot with the
harvest of wheat and fruits, and marks the bringing of the first fruits to the
Holy Temple as an expression of thanksgiving. (see Exodus 23:16, 34:22,
Numbers 28:26)
DAIRY FOODS
There is a universal Jewish tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot. The
reason has been offered by many scholars, some of which are more
convincing than others. We offer a selection:
1) The Biblical book Song of Songs (4:11) refers to the sweet nourishing
value of Torah by saying: "It drips from your lips, like honey and MILK
under your tongue."
2) The verse in Exodus 23:19 juxtaposes the holiday of Shavuot with the
prohibition of mixing milk and meat. On Shavuot, we therefore eat separate
meals -- one of milk and one of meat.
3) Upon receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai, the Jews immediately became
obligated in the laws of Sh'chita -- slaughter of animals. Since they did not
have time to prepare kosher meat, they ate dairy instead.
PILGRIMAGE TO THE WESTERN WALL
In 1967, the Six Day War ended just a few days before Shavuot. Israel had
reclaimed the Western Wall, and for the first time in 20 years Jews had
access to their holiest site. On Shavuot itself, the Western Wall became
open to visitors, and on that one memorable day, over 200,000 Jews
journeyed by foot to the Western Wall. (In Jerusalem, no cars or buses run
on Jewish holidays.)
In subsequent years, this "pedestrian pilgrimage" has become a recurring
tradition. Early on Shavuot morning -- after a full night of Torah learning --
the streets of Jerusalem are filled with tens of thousands of Jews walking
to the Western Wall.
This tradition has Biblical precedence. Shavuot is one of Judaism's three
main pilgrimage festivals, where the entire nation would gather in
Jerusalem for celebration and study.
======================================
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------- End of forwarded message -------
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] BPR news
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 09:05:37 -0400
--------
A new book has been added to the website:
HOW TO ENJOY THE BIBLE:
Or, The "Word," and "The Words," How to Study them.
By E. W. Bullinger, D.D.
1916
http://philologos.org/__eb-htetb/
Helpful resources from BPR Research Tools page:
http://philologos.org/bpr/tools.htm
The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
http://www.freegrace.net/gill/
Jamiesson, Fausett & Brown
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
http://www.ccel.org/j/jfb/jfb/JFB00.htm
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Apple of the Eye
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 09:12:26 -0400
--------
From BPR
http://philologos.org/bpr/files/a001.htm
Apple of the Eye
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings."
These two figures are used frequently in the Old Testament. "The apple of
the eye." If you were to look up that word "apple" in a critical concordance or
a Hebrew lexicon you might be surprised at the real word, for the literal
Hebrew is, "little man"-"Keep me as the little man in the eye." If you stand
close to me and you look into my eye, what do you see there? A little man
and that little man is yourself; you see yourself reflected upside down; you
are a little man in my eye. Now the Lord Jesus says to the Father; David
says to Jehovah, "Keep me as the little man in Thine eye." God is always
looking at you, and you are reflected in His eye. How deep is His interest in
you! And then the other figure is that of a great eagle protecting its young.
"Hide Me under the shadow of Thy wings." "He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa.
91:1). "From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who
compass me about."
H.A. Ironside
"Studies on the Psalms" (17:8)
========
To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: RE: [bprlist] Apple of the Eye
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Date: 21 May 2001 09:54:18 EDT
--------
I seem to recall an article/research that indicated that the Hebrew translated
as 'apple' could also be translated as 'pupil'. Anybody able to fill in my
memory as to a source, or verify if 'pupil' is a valid translation???, Thanks,
SSG
*******************************************
From BPR
http://philologos.org/bpr/files/a001.htm
Apple of the Eye
"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings."
These two figures are used frequently in the Old Testament. "The apple of
the eye." If you were to look up that word "apple" in a critical concordance
or
a Hebrew lexicon you might be surprised at the real word, for the literal
Hebrew is, "little man"-"Keep me as the little man in the eye." If you stand
close to me and you look into my eye, what do you see there? A little man
and that little man is yourself; you see yourself reflected upside down; you
are a little man in my eye. Now the Lord Jesus says to the Father; David
says to Jehovah, "Keep me as the little man in Thine eye." God is always
looking at you, and you are reflected in His eye. How deep is His interest in
you! And then the other figure is that of a great eagle protecting its young.
"Hide Me under the shadow of Thy wings." "He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa.
91:1). "From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who
compass me about."
H.A. Ironside
"Studies on the Psalms" (17:8)
____________________________________________________________________
Get free email and a permanent address at http://www.amexmail.com/?A=1
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [bprlist] Apple of the Eye
From: "TheLegend- rjoslin"
Date: Wed, 23 May 2001 07:08:46 -0000
--------
Yes. I am pretty sure that is right. I vaugley remember checking it ou when
John Hagee pointed that out in a sermon a few years back.
RPJ
>From: Shophar_Sho_Good
>Reply-To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
>To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: RE: [bprlist] Apple of the Eye
>Date: 21 May 2001 09:54:18 EDT
>
>
>I seem to recall an article/research that indicated that the Hebrew
>translated
>as 'apple' could also be translated as 'pupil'. Anybody able to fill in my
>memory as to a source, or verify if 'pupil' is a valid translation???,
>Thanks,
>SSG
>
>*******************************************
>From BPR
>http://philologos.org/bpr/files/a001.htm
>
>Apple of the Eye
>
>"Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of Thy wings."
>These two figures are used frequently in the Old Testament. "The apple of
>the eye." If you were to look up that word "apple" in a critical
>concordance
>or
>a Hebrew lexicon you might be surprised at the real word, for the literal
>Hebrew is, "little man"-"Keep me as the little man in the eye." If you
>stand
>close to me and you look into my eye, what do you see there? A little man
>and that little man is yourself; you see yourself reflected upside down;
>you
>are a little man in my eye. Now the Lord Jesus says to the Father; David
>says to Jehovah, "Keep me as the little man in Thine eye." God is always
>looking at you, and you are reflected in His eye. How deep is His interest
>in
>
>you! And then the other figure is that of a great eagle protecting its
>young.
>
>"Hide Me under the shadow of Thy wings." "He that dwelleth in the secret
>place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psa.
>91:1). "From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who
>compass me about."
>
>H.A. Ironside
>"Studies on the Psalms" (17:8)
>
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Prayer request
From: Syks
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 12:50:57 EDT
--------
The SDAs are holding a conference this Pentecost weekend at Andrews
University. Interestingly enough, the theme of the conference is "The Hebraic
Roots of the Adventist Faith".
I understand Dr Sidney Davis will be presenting a study of GOD's Holy Days
and their relevance to GOD's plan of salvation and to the SDA Faith today.
Join me in prayer, asking our Father to have His Holy Spirit descend on this
meeting providing truth and understanding as He did nearly 2,000 yrs ago.
In Jesus's name
Steven Sykes
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) NIGHTLINE: Violence in the Middle East
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:28:17 -0400
--------
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Mon, 21 May 2001 09:11:43 -0700
Subject: NIGHTLINE: Violence in the Middle East
TONIGHT´S SUBJECT: With the violence in the Middle East escalating
dramatically last week, and calls from other countries in the region for
some sort of help, where is the Bush administration? Will they take an
active role?
----
I was talking with the ABC News bureau chief in Israel last week. He
produced last Friday´s broadcast on the Seeds of Peace program. We were
talking shortly after Israeli F-16´s, for the first time, had bombed
targets in Palestinian territory. He said that no matter what anyone was
saying, or trying not to say, there is a war going on between the Israelis
and the Palestinians. Jets, helicopters, tanks, mortars, bombs, rifles and
machine guns. It looks like a war, sounds like a war, and has casualties.
Lots of them.
Does it really matter what you call it? Did calling Korea a “police
action” change what was happening there? And we all learned a whole list
of new terms for the Vietnam War. Bottom line, the word that really
matters is “peace,” as in “There is no peace.” Through the years of the
Clinton administration, we got used to watching intensely personal
diplomacy. Long round-the-clock sessions at Camp David. Shuttle diplomacy.
Policy through personal relationships. The last round ended in failure
shortly before President Clinton left office, although most people agree
that last session got the parties closer than they had ever been to a
comprehensive solution, only to fall short at the end.
President Bush came into office saying that he was going to take a
different approach, and in fact, he has. There has not been the same type
of personal arm-twisting, or series of meetings, that we had gotten so
used to. But the violence has continued to escalate, and governments in
the region began to talk of fears of a wider war. This past weekend, what
had been talked about more privately became more public. The governments
of other Arab countries called for a greater American involvement. The
peace process will not go forward without it.
And where is the Bush administration? Secretary of State Powell just
finished an appearance in which he outlined the administration´s
position. He endorsed the report of the Mitchell Commission, a
fact-finding commission headed by the former Senator that says that both
sides are at fault and lays out recommendations for trying to rebuild some
sort of trust that will allow the peace process to be resurrected. That
report had been released an hour earlier. So where does that leave us?
What is the right role for the U.S. in the peace process? And what do you
do when there really is no peace process right now, how do you get the two
sides to sit down when the casualty figures continue to rise each and
every day? Those are the questions we´re going to ask tonight.
Nightline correspondent John Donvan will report on the Bush
administration´s role so far, we´ll hear from ABC News correspondent
Gillian Findlay in Israel, and we´re still working out who the guests will
be.
I was talking with the Bureau Chief again this morning and we agreed that
it was a pretty quiet day over there today. Only a couple of people shot.
That´s what passes for a quiet day now.
Monday, May 21, 2001
Leroy Sievers
Executive Producer
Nightline Offices
Washington, D.C.
-----------
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========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Briefing by Major General Giora Eiland, Head of the IDF Operation Branch
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:31:15 -0400
--------
Briefing by Major General Giora Eiland, Head of the IDF Operation Branch, to
the Foreign Press Association
[Source Ministry of Fireign Affairs Website www.mfa.gov.il]
Jerusalem May 20, 2001
MAJ.GEN. GIORA EILAND: Since we are now in the Foreign Office, I am
not going to speak about the political aspect of the present conflict for
obvious reasons, but I am going to explain the security situation as we see
it, and not only as a result of the past two days but also as a summary, if
you want of the past two or three months.
If we want to see some changes in the way that this conflict develops, we
can go back to let us say March 1st this year. We can see that during the
past two and a half months, since that date, we have experienced 28
attempts
to plant bombs inside Israel. When I say inside Israel I actually mean two
things: first, it is inside what we call the Green Line; and second, all
these 28 attempts have been in civilian places. Fortunately not all of them
were successful. In some cases we detected the explosive before it was
detonated and in some there was some kind of technical failure, but some of
them were successful, at least in their eyes.
Maybe the best example to show the two types of terrorist attacks is what
happened in Netanya on Friday on the one hand, and what didn't happen in
Jerusalem later that day. In Netanya, there was a suicide attack and the
results are quite known. A few hours later there was an attempt to plant a
bomb inside a pub in Jerusalem where dozens of youngsters were drinking
and
spending their time. Fortunately the owner of this pub saw someone who had
no reason to be there at the time - a Palestinian employee who used to work
at that place until a few weeks ago or a few months ago. She asked him what
exactly he was doing there. Since she didn't trust what he said and she
noticed that he had a bag in his hand, she took that bag, she looked into it
and she noticed that it was a bomb. So she took it quite bravely outside the
pub and everybody was evacuated from this place. Later on the police came
and exploded the device. Actually nothing happened. But you can imagine
that
if the owner of the pub was not that careful then the results would have
been even much more severe than what happened in Netanya.
So when we speak about the Palestinian terrorist attacks inside Israel, it
is not right to count only those attacks that were successful, but actually
to look at the numerous number of attempts - and I speak now only about
those that were put inside Israel, not to mention other types of civilian
targets like mortar shells at Israeli settlements inside Gaza or outside
Gaza - actually, no one makes and distinction between these two.
Now, how did this happen and why did it begin at such a level only in March?
Such attacks also took place earlier, but in much lower quantities. It is
part of a very clear decision that we can see not only the results, but
intelligence provides us with the facts to explain it.
The Palestinian Authority decided not only to release from prison all those
terrorists who belong to the organizations like Hamas and the Islamic Jihad,
but also to encourage them to do what they do. Maybe one of the best
expressions of that new situation was made by the leader of the Hamas,
Sheikh Yassin, who said a few weeks ago that the cooperation between the
Palestinian Authority and the Hamas was never that good and for the first
time his people are completely free to do whatever they want.
Now let me explain what is to be completely free to do whatever they want.
The Palestinians already control about 30% of the total area of the West
Bank and Gaza. They have full control of about 97% of the Palestinian
population. So in these places, mainly in the big Palestinian cities, which
are under the full control of the Palestinian cities, the Hamas organization
or the Islamic Jihad or others have the full freedom to have their
laboratories where they produce their explosives, they have the full freedom
to try to draft youngsters to join the Hamas and be ready to participate in
such suicide attacks. They have the full freedom to make all their tests and
military rehearsals and planning to prepare themselves to carry out such an
attack.
So actually, when we speak about the Palestinian Authority, which we all
regard as a political entity, in many senses not far away from being very
close to be a state - actually it doesn't only permit that these kind of
activities to be carried out, but actually encourages them and inspires them
and sponsor this kind of activity.
We need not explain again why Hamas is a terrorist organization and the
Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization, but when these kind of
organizations get support of the establishment, actually we can see that a
Palestinian political entity encourages this kind of activity. Although
shortly after the attack in Netanya they can say that they condemn this
attack, everybody can understand that besides the announcement there is
nothing real behind this announcement. There is no attempt to do something
in order to prevent such attacks. So this is one thing that has changed in
the past three months.
The second thing that has changed in the past few months is the distinctions
between the different Palestinian military groups. Because if you really
want to see what has changed in the Palestinian military capability or the
Palestinian military operations since the beginning of this crisis until
now, we can see that development. In the beginning we could clearly
distinguish the Palestinian formal armed groups or the Palestinian police
organizations that were quite disciplined, that had certain level of
cooperation with us, but maybe not always did what we expected them to do,
but at least they didn't fight against us in a very active way.
The second organization was the Tanzim. The Tanzim is actually the
Palestinian movement or party, or militia, you can call it whatever you
want, but actually this militia is an armed militia, again fully sponsored
by the Palestinian Authority. If you speak about someone like Barghouti and
who exactly supports Barghouti, of course his money he gets from Arafat. His
salary is given by the Palestinian Authority, the instructions are given by
the Palestinian Authority. This Tanzim that was very passive until this
crisis became more and more active in its activities. In the very first days
of the conflict they participated only in popular uprisings, but a short
time later, due to their military capabilities, because they hold thousands
of illegal weapons, they began to participate in attempts on Israeli targets
not less than the others.
The third group is the traditional terrorist organizations that I already
mentioned are the Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
Now, the differences between these groups have completely diminished, to
the
point that in many places they don't exist. You can see, even more than
that, that someone can be at the same time a member of the Tanzim and a
member in the Islamic Jihad. Or he can be a Palestinian policeman but at the
same time he has in his house where he produces explosives for the Islamic
Jihad. So actually, when you speak about Palestinian military capabilities
then it is quite hard to distinguish who is what. So this is the second
thing that we can see.
The third thing that we can see is that, at the beginning of this crisis,
the most significant form of Palestinian activity was the popular uprising
in the streets. The frequency of the very use of this way of protest has
completely diminished, and at the same time the number of real military
operations have increased. The best example we could see a week ago when
there was the Nakba Day, which was supposed to be a day that all the
people
were supposed to participate in some kind of protest, but only a relatively
few really participated, and only in one place, in Ramallah. In all other
places the people were quite passive and even indifferent. At the same time,
there is an increase of the use of weapons by all members of the different
Palestinian organizations, whether they are official organizations or they
are not very official. As I said, the differences between those have
completely disappeared.
If you want to see the results, we can unfortunately count now 88 Israelis
who have been killed - 55 of them, which the majority of course, are
civilians. All these civilians, without any exceptions, were killed
deliberately and they were killed as civilians. It was not such a accident
or a situation where civilians were close to some military post and
accidentally they were killed simply because there was an exchange of fire
between soldiers and Palestinians. All of them were killed deliberately
because they were civilians, whether it was in a bomb like Netanya or it was
along the roads or wherever or in many other different ways of using force.
Now, no one should be surprised by this result, because it is said loud and
clear by the Palestinian leaders that as far as they are concerned every
Israeli is a legitimate target. Now every Israeli can be a soldier, but at
the same time can be a civilian and every civilian can be a man or a woman
and can be a child. Since they don't make and distinction between these
elements, the results are quite obvious.
Under these circumstances someone has to ask himself what Israel should
do
in order to defend himself, especially to defend its civilians. Of course,
we don't have the illusion that if we retaliate and if we do something to
the other side then we could stop the violence immediately. It is not so and
we are not that naive. On the other hand we believe that the way that the
Palestinians increase the use of violence and especially terrorism has
nothing to do with any Israeli previous retaliation or response of use of
force.
Actually it is a result of a very clear and strategic decision to try to
escalate the situation, to escalate the violence, to try to create a
situation that will be as similar as possible to what, for example as that
time in Bosnia about a year, a year and a half ago. So our responses, beside
the simple fact that every country has the right to defend itself actually
and to try to reduce of their capabilities, in many aspects were successful.
If you remember, until three or four months ago the main criticism was
against the Israeli ways of using force, what the journalists used to call
the Israeli assassinations. Through this kind of targeting, the specific
targets, all of them behind a specific terrorist capability or a specific
terrorist operation, we managed to reduce a significant number of planned
operations. I don't want even to imagine what could have happened if we
didn't take this kind of steps.
So we know that there is no one military way to reduce this violence. But
there are certain ways that we can reduce the other side's capability, in
some ways to reduce the other side's motivation, in some way to cause a
cost
to the other side and not a way to be in a situation where the only thing we
have to do is to suffer terrorist activities that, as I said, are fully
sponsored and encouraged by the Palestinian Authority.
* * *
Q: How wide is Hamas in support of the infrastructure, because it is
unlikely that a man carrying an explosive bag was smuggled across the
Green
Line? This is the first question about the infrastructure inside Israel. The
second one is, on Friday an army officer was ambushed and killed in
circumstances similar to the liquidation methods you fight in the Israeli
army. Do you think the Palestinians are copying the liquidation methods you
are fighting in the Israeli army and using them against the Israeli army?
GEN. EILAND: To the first question, we hope that the Hamas
and the Islamic Jihad don't have significant infrastructure inside Israel,
although in some experiences that we had in the past some Israeli Arabs
used
to help them. But they don't have to have this infrastructure inside Israel,
because it is very simple to cross the line between the West Bank and
Israel. In order to carry out these kind of attacks you have to have a very
solid infrastructure inside the Palestinian areas. Later on the capability
to smuggle into Israel is unfortunately not very difficult. So we guess, the
only way to prevent these kind of attacks is to do something inside the
Palestinian area, something that for obvious reasons the Palestinian
Authority are doing it.
About the second question, the Israeli officer who was killed was killed in
his private car. He was travelling with his family, his mother was severely
injured and actually he was attacked not because he was a military target,
but rather as a civilian target, although of course he was a military man
and we count him this way. But we have to remember if we can see the
figures, so far we can count 88 Israeli people who have been killed, 55 of
them are civilians. All of the civilians, not including this officer, were
killed deliberately because they were civilians. For example, Marwan
Barghouti said and repeats saying all the time, "Every Israeli is a
legitimate target." Every Israeli can be a military man but also can be a
civilian. As we know a civilian can be a man, a woman or a child. But
actually the Palestinian attacks don't distinguish between targets, contrary
to what we do and the attacks are deliberately and initially civilian
targets for obvious reasons.
Q: Why did the army recommend (the retaliatory bombing) and how effective
was it?
GEN. EILAND: First, it doesn't go in the way that the army recommends and
then comes the approval of the political level. There is the discussion of
the military people with the high officials in the political level and this
kind of decision is taken as a result of this discussion.
Now, we understood that the last attack in Netanya that was successful was
not very different from the other attacks that were not that successful. But
due to the results, we thought the time has come to respond just in order to
show first that we are doing whatever is needed to defend our people, and
second, to show the other side that there is a cost not only on the Israeli
side of the line, but also in their line.
The effectiveness of this attack, as many others, not always can be
understood one or two days after the attacks. Some of them are understood
only a longer period later on and I hope the other side will understand that
we will not be in a position that the only thing we can do is to accept
terrorist activities or terrorist attacks inside Israel and not to do
anything in response.
Q: I would just like to follow that up. I am sure as you are very aware
there has been severe criticism of the escalation of use of F-16s in Israel,
not just abroad - severe criticism in the Israeli media, severe criticism
from the Israeli political community. What do you see as the strategic gain
or the strategic use, the strategic benefit of using F-16s rather than Cobra
helicopters, for instance?
GEN. EILAND: First, the criticism is not necessarily solely
on whether it was justified or not justified to attack. Some of the
criticism is whether it was smart enough to do it at this specific time or
not. This is of course legitimate, as we live in a democratic country.
Of course, when you take any initiative in this kind of conflict, you might
be accused later on for use of force that is not necessarily the right
thing. But if you take this kind of suggestion not to do anything, then you
will really not do anything. As I said, we got a lot of criticism about our
targeting specific targets, something that received a lot of criticism only
two or three months ago. But despite this criticism, we are sure that these
kind of attacks, which were very successful, that we used until a month, two
months ago actually were very effective. They were based on very specific
information and by carrying out these kind of activities, we prevented a
huge number of terrorist attacks.
So it is not necessarily that you have a complete answer one day after the
Israeli response with regard to the effectiveness. Sometimes you have to
wait until you understand the situation completely. But we have to remember
another thing, or maybe another two things. When we speak about
escalation,
we speak about a number of incidents. We speak about the situation,
sometimes we forget one very important element in this conflict and this is
who initiates these violent activities?
I would not exaggerate if I say that about 95% of all the hostile
activities, of military incidents in the past eight months, are initiated by
the Palestinians. Basically the Israeli policy is to respond and not to
escalate the situation. I mentioned at the beginning of my briefing the
figure of 28 Palestinian attempts to place bombs inside Israel, and this is
the main escalation as we can see it.
The second thing, I know that the F-16 was not designed to attack targets in
Palestinian cities. But we have to remember that although we use this kind
of aircraft, it is still very accurate. All the targets were military
targets. All the targets were heaped in a very precise way and the damage
that was caused to the other side was just the anticipated damage. So it was
not that we did something and then later on we understood that we made a
tremendous mistake, it is quite far away from that.
Q: I have two questions. First of all you talk about the strategic value of
using the F-16. It is really unclear what that strategic value is valid
using the F-16s from using the Apache missiles. The Palestinians say that
the Israelis are using the F-16s only to strengthen their determination to
continue their intifada.
GEN. EILAND: The decision to use the F-16 was not a
strategic decision, it was rather a tactical decision, simply because the
targets were big enough, were strong enough or solid enough that attack
helicopters were considered not effective enough to penetrate or to hit
these specific targets. So when we decided or we chose these targets then
we
were looking for the best ammunition for them and in this specific case it
was F-16. It doesn't imply that this is a new stage and from now on the only
way that we are going to deploy our forces or our aviation is only by F-16s.
Actually we see it as something that will not be used in a very open way.
The fact that the Palestinians say that they will continue their violence,
it is not something new. They say it again and again for the past eight
months. This is a very clear Palestinian strategy. There is nothing new
about it.
Q: What about the danger of a possible regional retrogression?
GEN. EILAND: Of course there are dangers for that but we
have to calculate them. As I said, all these targets were relatively remote
from a very close populated area. If they were not so, we probably wouldn't
have chosen this kind of method. At least in this case we hit at the exact
targets. It doesn't mean that we can guarantee forever that we will never
make mistakes. By the way, the Americans in their campaign in Bosnia,
which
was under much better conditions, made a lot of mistakes, attacking the
wrong bridge where a bus with school children was hit and the children were
killed. I don't accuse them. Sometimes you might make mistakes, but if you
don't ever want to make mistakes then don't do anything. This is something
that might come to be the biggest mistake.
Q: Were you aware that a man named Abu Habboud was being held in the
Nablus
police station before it was attacked? Do you know where he is now? It would
be critical for the Palestinians... why attack the one place where in fact
they had a number of people...
GEN. EILAND: First they didn't have a number of people in custody, they had
only one man Abu Habboud. This was used only as a shelter and he did not
stay all the time. out and when he was there it was simply because The
Palestinians were holding him there simply to take care of him because they
knew that we were looking for him.
You have to remember that this Abu Habboud is the Palestinian military
leader of the Hamas in the West Bank. He is personally responsible for the
death of dozens of Israelis, not only in this crisis, but also in previous
years. He is really a legitimate target. We had information that he was in
that prison and that by targeting this prison he would be the main target
that will be hit. Unfortunately, and this is not the first time, he managed
to escape, he was very lightly wounded and we don't know exactly where he
is
now. The Palestinians considered that place as the safest place for the main
leaders of the major organizations that work against us.
Now, at least we can say that this place doesn't exist anymore.
Q: (inaudible)
GEN. EILAND: I tried to emphasize that we didn't retaliate
only to the last terrorist attack. Actually we responded to the series of
attacks inside Israel. Some of them were successful, so they got publicity
and some of them were not that successful, but the circumstances were just
as severe. So it doesn't mean that any time that there will be any
Palestinian attack the response will be necessarily similar.
Q: The army stressed over and over again that it is using its strength and
that it is not going to be dragged into a situation that will cause an
escalation.
GEN. EILAND: No, first of all we don't shoot tanks at
refugee camps, at least not deliberately. Sometimes where the Palestinians
take position in Palestinian refugee camps and we respond fire, if there are
civilians there, they might be hurt and I know that sometimes it happens and
of course we regret that. Our policy remains restrained and everything, of
course, is relative to other options. Of course, Israel doesn't use all its
military capability, which I think is quite obvious. While the situation is
very severe, it is still under control, I can say on both sides.
So the situation between us and the Palestinians is a military or if you
want and armed conflict, but it doesn't escalate to a war or it doesn't
escalate to a situation where both sides take all possible actions against
the other side. Both sides understand that there are a lot of severe
circumstances. Both sides understand that probably this is not the right way
to do things and at least as far as Israel is concerned, we are looking for
better solutions for the situation and not to use our military force. So we
do think there is a restraint as I said relative to the situation and to the
other options that we can use.
Q: One of the main recommendations of the Mitchell Report is to resume
security cooperation. You are saying those organizations are terrorist
organizations...
GEN. EILAND: I said there are differences between the
different groups which have diminished, but there are still some kind of
differences between the philosophy at least of the leaders of the
Palestinian police and the Hamas for example on the other side. Speaking
about security cooperation, I represented the IDF in all the last attempts
to speak with the Palestinian officials and try to resume new security
associations. Despite all the sincere attempts by the Israeli side, we
failed in all the last attempts including the attempts that occurred only
two or three weeks ago. There is one simple reason why this kind of
cooperation does not succeed, and this is that the Palestinian officials or
the Palestinian military leaders that we meet don't have a very clear
directive or very clear instructions to do really whatever is necessary to
stop the violence.
Since they don't have this kind of instruction and since that makes them in
not a very easy situation and sometimes they are even confused, of course
they cannot do whatever is needed - for example, to arrest some terrorists
of the Hamas. Now, the hope for resumption for cooperation in the military
field depends on one simple thing and this is a real Palestinian political
decision and instruction and maybe a public announcement that this is the
right solution for the military situation and if something like this will
happen, we will be more than glad.
Q: (inaudible)
GEN. EILAND: As I said, the situation is very sensitive and
of course there is always the risk that the escalation will be greater and
that some day there will be a little bit of control. But we are not in that
situation now and I hope that some of the diplomatic attempts and the
political attempts that are made now to find some kind of formula, first to
bring upon a cessation of violence and later on to discuss other things,
will bring us to a better situation than what we are now. The situation is
not irreversible as it is now, it is something that is still under control
or can be under control.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] NewsScan items (5/21/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:34:51 -0400
--------
IBM BREAKS DISK DENSITY BARRIER
IBM disk technology researchers have broken what had been regarded as a
fundamental limit in disk density, and the company's Travelstar product
line of notebook hard disks can now be produced with densities up 25.7
billion bits a square inch; by 2003 IBM will be able to achieve disk
density on the Travelstar line to 100 billion bits per square inch. With
disk drive density doubling every 12 months, the technology is advancing
even faster than the rate of Gordon Moore's celebrated "Moore's Law," which
predicted a doubling of transistor density (and computer power) every 18
months.(New York Times 21 May 2001)
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/21/technology/21DISK.html
37% OF PROGRAMS USED IN BUSINESS ARE PIRATED
Software piracy grew in 2000 for the first time in more than five years,
according to the Business Software Alliance, which estimates that 37% of
all software programs used by businesses worldwide are illegal copies. The
Asia-Pacific region -- where more than half of all software in use last
year was stolen -- tops the list in terms of dollars (an estimated $4
billion) lost to piracy. Meanwhile, Eastern Europe has the highest piracy
rate, with 63% of its software illegally copied in 2000. In the U.S., 24%
of programs are pirated copies. Although progress is being made in some
regions, BSA director of enforcement Bob Kruger takes little comfort.
"That's kind of like saying that I'm having fewer heart attacks than I used
to. But the damage that's being caused by piracy is still devastating. It
can be counted in the thousands of jobs and billions of dollars lost." (AP
21 May 2001)
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/010521/07/software-piracy
http://www.newsscan.com/
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Official Palestine News Agency: Israel is poisoning Palestinians
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:39:01 -0400
--------
Official Palestine News Agency: Israel is poisoning the Palestinians
candies!!
http://www.wafa.pna.net/EngText/21-05-2001/page014.htm
Gaza May 21st Wafa, Head of the emergency in Alshifa Hospital in Gaza,
stated that it seems to be that Israel has started a new genocide against the
Palestinian people by poisoning them, using poisoned candy bags dropped
down from airplanes.
He based his suspicion upon four peculiar cases of poisoning as a result of
touching and smelling candy bags that were dropped from an Israeli airplane
at Beit Lahia north to Gaza City.
He said that when the four examined the bags, they felt bad and vomited, and
were rushed to the hospital.
He added that the initial testing for these bags showed that the candies
smell like coconuts, were poisoned and there is a strong doubt that the
candy contains radioactive materials!.
Finally he warned Palestinian citizens to be alert and aware of any
suspicious goods.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
========
To: bprlist <bprlist@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Fwd: SPACE.com Update for Monday, May 21, 2001
From: "Patt A."
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 13:55:24 -0700 (PDT)
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spacenews@SPACE.COM wrote:
Today on SPACE.com -- Monday, May 21, 2001 -- http://www.space.com/
In today's issue:
-----SPECIAL-------------------------
NEW! Space Reporters Network
http://www.space.com/php/outerforce/
SPACE.com is now accepting applications for our new Space Reporters Network, where YOU are the Star Reporter. If you have the talent to write and report about space subjects, this is your opportunity to work with our professional staff and have your work published on SPACE.com. Apply today!
-------------------------------------
Science/Astronomy:
Today in Science/Astronomy:
* Earth and Mars Converge
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_view_010518.html
By the time you finish reading this sentence, you'll be 30 miles (50 kilometers) closer to the Red Planet.
* Copycat Comet Cracks Into Three Pieces, Maybe More
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/comet_breakup_010521.html
If copyright laws applied to cosmic acts, then Comet 2001 A2 would be in court right now.
First it broke into two pieces earlier this spring just after a rapid brightening session. Now one of those two chunks has split apart and researchers say there may be many smaller pieces flying through space.
If the scenario sounds familiar, it's because this isn't the first comet to break apart in recent months. The disintegration act comes less than a year after another comet, called 1999 S4, broke into several large pieces and countless smaller ones, all in plain view of numerous telescopes. That event led to a bevy of revealing scientific papers on comet formation that were released just last Thursday.
Both of these comets have been popularly called "LINEAR," named after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research telescope, which was used to discover them.
The most recent LINEAR comet, 2001 A2, was discovered just this year on Jan. 3 and presumed initially to be intact. It brightened suddenly and unexpectedly back in March and April. As comets approach the Sun, their nucleus of gas and dust burns off and forms a halo, or coma, that glows with reflected sunlight.
Then on April 30th, researchers at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory photographed the comet after its nucleus had broken into two pieces. When a comet breaks apart, more fresh material is exposed, which likely contributed to the sudden brightening.
The latest split
Now the comet is about 62 million miles (100 million kilometers) from Earth, but it is no longer visible from the Northern Hemisphere. On May 14, scientists using a European Southern Observatory telescope in Chile noticed that one of the comet's two fragments appeared to be elongated.
On May 16, last Wednesday, it became clear that the comet had split into three pieces. A colorful image of the latest breakup was released Friday.
Hermann Boehnhardt of the European Southern Observatory works on the team that spotted the three large chunks. He told SPACE.com that the orbit of 2001 A2 is so different from 1999 S4 that the two comets are not likely close relatives in terms of where they were created in the disk of gas and dust that swirled around our Sun when it was born.
Depending on what the comet does in coming months, Boehnhardt said, additional observations might allow researchers to figure out where it formed and why it broke apart.
Drifting apart
When Boehnhardt and his colleagues first spotted the comet in three pieces, roughly 310 miles (500 kilometers) separated the two freshly-split chunks. The distance between this pair and the other piece was about 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometers) on May 14 and increased by about 620 miles (1,000 kilometers) within two days.
No one can yet say how big the pieces are or how large the comet's nucleus was before it broke apart.
The comet moves in an exceedingly elongated orbit around the Sun and it is making perhaps its first return trip to the inner solar system after a long hiatus in the Oort Cloud, a halo of comets that surrounds the solar system.
If it is the comet's first pass, that means it has not been in the main part of the solar system since back when it formed, likely about 4.6 billion years ago when the rest of the solar system developed. Its contents would be pristine, and researchers will be interested to study it and see if it adds to the long list of discoveries made by observing the other LINEAR comet that broke apart last summer.
Where it is, where it's going
Comet 2001 A2 can now be seen with the unaided eye by observers in the Southern Hemisphere as a faint object in the southern constellation of Lepus (The Hare).
It will pass through its perihelion -- the point in its orbit nearest to the Sun -- on May 25, at a distance of about 72 million miles (116 million kilometers). Then it will reappear in Northern Hemisphere skies at the end of June after it swings under the Sun. By then, it might be visible to the naked eye, though that is not certain and its recent further disintegration clouds that possibility.
Hal Weaver, a Johns Hopkins University researcher involved in the recent studies of Comet 1999 S4 that broke up last summer, said it's possible the same fate might await 2001 A2.
"We'll have to keep watching over the next several months," Weaver said. Meanwhile, he's working on a French-led team making plans to observe 2001 A2 with the Hubble Space Telescope, likely in July.
Click here for more news and information about comets.
* Drought Due to Solar Cycle May Have Doomed Maya
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mayan_droughts_wg_010518.html
By Will Dunham
Reuters
posted: 04:27 pm ET
18 May 2001
Terra Scouts Looming Drought
Solar Data Sheet
Predicting the Sun's Weather
Dust Aggravates Drought in Africa
Global Warming Threatens Cities
The sky in ancient Egypt: Builders may have used the vertical alignment of two bright stars to align the pyramids north-south.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The ancient Maya people were obsessed with the sun, moon and planets -- and perhaps for good reason.
The Yucatan peninsula, home to the Maya civilization during the first millennium A.D., was victimized by recurrent droughts linked to cyclical variations in the Sun's energy output, researchers on Thursday said. The worst of the droughts appears to have been instrumental in the collapse of the civilization at around A.D. 900, the researchers added.
Archeologists long have debated what snuffed out such a vibrant and durable civilization.
The Maya were among the great ancient civilizations of Mesoamerica, building cities with elaborate ceremonial centers and soaring stone pyramids such as Tikal in Guatemala, Palenque in Mexico and Copan in Honduras. The classic period in Maya civilization (starting around A.D. 300) pre-dated by hundreds of years the rise of the Aztecs in Mexico and the Incas in Peru.
A team led by University of Florida geologist David Hodell analyzed sediment from beneath Lake Chichancanab in Mexico to establish a record of changes in climate in a region already predisposed to be hit hard by drought, much like sub-Saharan Africa. The team dug a 6-1/4-foot core sample of lake sediment by driving a hollow tube into the lake bottom.
The researchers found layers of gypsum (calcium sulfate) concentrated at certain levels in the cores. When rainfall decreased, evaporation from the lake concentrated salts in the lake water and left behind bands of gypsum on the bottom, providing an enduring testimony to the periods of drought.
The recurrence of drought was remarkably cyclical, the researchers noted, occurring every 208 years. That interval was nearly identical to the previously known oscillation in which the sun is at its most intense every 206 years.
An ironic end
The Maya were skilled astronomers, religiously tracking the movement of heavenly bodies.
"I do think it was ironic that considering this culture really placed so much emphasis on tracking the movements of the sun and the moon and some of the planets, particularly Venus, that they may have met their ultimate demise due to a 208-year solar cycle,'' Hodell said in an interview.
"There's no evidence that I know of that the Maya were cognizant of this long-term cycle.''
The timing of the droughts matched periodic downturns in the Maya culture, as demonstrated by abandonment of cities or diminished stone carving and building activity, he said.
Hodell found that the worst drought in the region in 7,000 years took place from about A.D. 750 to A.D. 850, coinciding with the civilization's slip toward oblivion.
He said it is hard to believe this was mere coincidence, adding the drought may have triggered a cascade of events.
The population centers had become densely packed with people, almost to the breaking point, making agricultural production crucial in order to keep everyone fed, he said.
'A chain reaction'
"When drought hit, then it may have started a chain reaction -- you have crop failure, which leads to malnutrition, increased disease, increased competition for resources, which would have caused increased warfare between city states, and sociopolitical upheaval," Hodell said.
The study, appearing in the journal Science, built on work by Hodell in 1995 that found evidence of the big drought, but offered no mechanism to explain it.
Some archeologists seem willing to accept that climate played a role in the collapse, but are divided over the size of the role. Others note that the civilization's demise actually began in the wetter southern highlands of Guatemala before reaching the more arid northern Yucatan lowlands.
"The biggest problem is why, in a drought, does the dry area last longer than the wet area,'' archeologist Matt O'Mansky of Vanderbilt University said in an article accompanying the study in Science.
------------------------------------
Today in Missions/Launches:
* Progress Freighter En Route to Space Station Alpha
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/exp2_mission_page.html
The spacecraft will now fly a two-day approach to the International Space Station and is scheduled to make an automatic docking at 8:19 p.m. EDT Tuesday.
* Delta 2 Lifts Experimental Technology Satellite for NRO
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/launches/delta2_launch_010518.html
Laser technology that might provide future spy satellites with a better way to transmit information to Earth will be tested on a $130 million spacecraft launched into orbit Friday from Florida's Space Coast.
------------------------------------
Today in Business/Industry:
* Search for New NASA Chief Taking Time
http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/nasa_chief_search_010520.html
Space analysts, who have asked since January who President Bush would pick to head NASA, now wonder whether anyone wants the job.
* Tito Says He Will Evaluate Space Tourism Market
http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/tito_dobbs_010518.html
Before space tourist Dennis Tito works to further the cause of Space Tourism, he plans to find out whether it will be a moneymaking proposition.
* Ex-Army Chief Criticizes Bush Space Strategy
http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/bush_space_criticized_010521.html
The man who guided the Army's first post-Cold War cutbacks says the Bush administration appears headed toward the "easy but erroneous" conclusion that space and missile defense, rather than ground forces, should be the main building blocks of U.S. security.
* Missile Defense May Not Bring Jobs
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/missile_defense_jobs_010521.html
While pie-in-the-sky to critics, President Bush's missile defense plan could deliver billions of dollars to a handful of states as the Pentagon moves to develop the system.
* Potholes On The Highway To Space
http://www.space.com/news/spaceagencies/potholes_hiway2space_010518-1.html
NASA's new Space Launch Initiative (SLI) is resetting the pinball machine on how best to lower sky-high prices to reach Earth orbit. Once again, the space agency is trying to muster the technology, budgets and backing to move beyond the space shuttle to a second-generation reusable launch vehicle.
------------------------------------
* COMING SOON:
Stargazing is a culture, a pastime, and an international phenomenon. SPACE.com's Stargazing 2001 package, debuting Friday, May 25th, will feature a star party calendar, stargazing tips and a telescope buying guide. Awaken the astronomer within!
------------------------------------
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To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] (Fwd) Netanyahu Defends Sharon and Comments
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 18:42:21 -0400
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------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Mon, 21 May 2001 18:20:34 -0500
From: "Koenig's International News" <bill@watch.org>
Subject: NetanyahuDefendsSharonandComments
Note from Bill:
The words in the Jerusalem Post article below are powerful words
from Benjamin Netanyahu.
Also, it was stated today in a Fox News article that the Mitchell
Commission recommended a freeze on all construction activity in
Jewish settlements as part of a process to rebuild confidence —
complying with a long-held Arab demand. At the same time, the
report suggests Palestinian leaders had fallen short of making a
full effort to end attacks on Israel. (Note: There will be new
pressure on Israel to give up more of their land.)
Additionally, Sharon has said firmly he will not give up the Golan
Heights, the sovereignty over the Temple Mount or allow the
splitting of Jerusalem.
Moreover, Arafat in a fall interview on CNN said it comes down to
the Holy Sites after having been offered 95% of what he wanted.
There stands the main problem.
If Arafat's regime collapses that could change things. However, the
Arab leader that compromises on Jerusalem and the Holy Sites won't
survive after the expectations Arafat has left with the Muslim
populace.
Any other peace dialogue at this time is "ground clutter."
----
Netanyahu defends Sharon
By Douglas Davis
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2001/05/21/News/News.26620.html
LONDON (May 21) - Former prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu
yesterday made an impassioned plea for Israelis to unite behind the
government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in order to confront "a
storm that seems to be getting out of control."
"We have to put all our differences aside and join together,
because now we are in a battle," he said at a press briefing during
a visit to London.
He told The Jerusalem Post that by breaching agreements Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has forfeited his role as a peace
partner and must now prove himself anew.
Netanyahu brushed off accusations that Israel is using
disproportionate force in response to Palestinian atrocities. "If
we respond proportionately," he warned, "we will lose...the
response to terror must be disproportionate."
He added that the violence will stop only when Arafat, whom he
described as"a corrupt dictator," believes that his regime - and
his own position - are threatened.
"Arafat should know that if the violence continues, he will
personally have to face the consequences," said Netanyahu adding
that the violent convulsion that erupted last September revealed
that Arafat is not prepared to limit his ambitions for a
Palestinian state to the West Bank, Gaza Strip and a share in
Jerusalem.
"We are facing an ideology that is not prepared to compromise over
the existence of Israel," he said. "What has happened over the past
eight months has been the unmasking of Arafat."
He could not say how long the "testing period" would be for Arafat
to prove himself as a peace partner - "certainly not a day or two,
or a week or two.... When you see it, you'll know it. I don't look
at the personality or identity of a leader I look at his actions."
Netanyahu last night attended a Jerusalem Day rally in London
arranged by the One Jerusalem organization.
In interviews with London-based BBC TV and Sky News he declared
unconditional support for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's use of
warplanes against Palestinian targets.
He drew a contrast between what he called Israel's targeting of
military installations and the Palestinians' deliberate attacks on
children and other civilians. He likened Israel's attacks to those
of the British against the Nazis in World War II, which harmed
civilians even though they were intended specifically for the
enemy.
--
Koenig's International News - http://watch.org
To subscribe or unsubscribe: http://www.watch.org/subscribe.html
FishNet: Internet service for business and ministry http://www.fni.com/
------- End of forwarded message -------
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Infobeat News items (5/21/01) PM
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 18:53:10 -0400
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*** Experts issue tropical storm alert
WASHINGTON (AP) - As many as 11 tropical storms - including five to
seven hurricanes - could threaten the Atlantic and Gulf coasts this
year, government forecasters said Monday. The National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration predicted what it called a normal
hurricane season this year, but it warned that doesn't mean the
danger is less. "Don't focus on the numbers, you need to be
prepared," Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center
in Miami, said in an appearance on The Early Show on CBS. A normal
Atlantic hurricane season typically brings eight to 11 tropical
storms, of which five to seven reach hurricane strength, the
forecasters said. Such a season can include two or three major
storms. Hurricane season for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and
Caribbean lasts from June 1 to Nov. 30.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407344466
*** Supreme Court mulls online porn law
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court said Monday it will revisit the
free-speech debate over congressional efforts to limit children's
access to online pornography. The court agreed to review lower court
decisions blocking enforcement of a 1998 law making it a crime to
knowingly place objectionable material where a child could find it
on the World Wide Web. The American Civil Liberties Union and other
free-speech advocates claim the law violates the First Amendment.
The Justice Department claims the law correctly targets only
material that is inappropriate for children. The justices are
expected to hear the case and issue a decision during the court term
that begins next October. In the meantime, the Justice Department is
barred from enforcing the 1998 Child Online Protection Act. The
legislation, signed into law by then-President Clinton, sets out
criminal penalties or civil fines for failing to ensure only adult
eyes will see adult material offered commercially online.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407347796
*** Court rules on wiretap law
WASHINGTON (AP) - Ruling in a free speech case with special
implications for the news media, the Supreme Court said a radio host
cannot be sued for airing an illegally taped telephone conversation.
In a 6-3 vote, the court said the First Amendment trumps wiretap
laws in the case of the host who played a recording made by someone
else. "A stranger's illegal conduct does not suffice to remove the
First Amendment shield from speech about a matter of public
concern," Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the majority. The
court's three more conservative members dissented. The court steered
clear of a broad ruling on the constitutionality of all restrictions
on publication of truthful information. Instead, the court ruled
narrowly on whether a publisher who came by useful information
legally may be punished because the information was gathered
illegally.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407347870
*** Taiwan leader begins historic trip
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - Taiwan's president started a two-week tour
Monday that begins in New York - a historic stopover for a Taiwanese
leader and one that threatens to enflame already bruised U.S.-China
relations. For decades, China has put extreme pressure on the United
States not to allow Taiwanese presidents to visit New York, arguing
that such a trip would bestow legitimacy on Taiwan's government.
Since the rivals split amid civil war about 50 years ago, Beijing
has insisted that it's the island's real ruler. But the
Taiwan-friendly government of George W. Bush decided to break
tradition and allow President Chen Shui-bian to visit New York from
Monday to Wednesday before he travels to Latin America. Chen will be
the first sitting Taiwan president to visit the city - home to the
United Nations and arguably the world's financial and media capital.
The stopover is unofficial, and 50-year-old Chen is not expected to
hold any news conferences or public events.
*** Biography of Taiwan's president, see
http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407346559
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407346536
*** Ukraine abolishes death penalty
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma signed a new
Criminal Code that formally abolished the nation's death penalty,
putting it in line with most European countries, his office said
Monday. The legislation was overwhelmingly approved by parliament
last month. Kuchma signed it Friday and the new code takes effect
June 1. Ukraine's previous criminal code allowed the death penalty,
but the new one sets life imprisonment as the maximum form of
punishment. People under 18 and older than 65 and women who were
pregnant when they committed a crime or during sentencing are not
subject to life terms. Ukraine promised to abolish the death penalty
when it joined the Council of Europe in 1995, and imposed a
moratorium on executions in March 1997. But the government was
sharply criticized for its failure to fully abolish it.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=407344366
*** Iran woman said stoned to death
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A woman was executed after a court ordered that
she be stoned to death for acting in pornographic movies, a
newspaper reported Monday. The woman, 35, was partially buried in a
hole at Tehran's Evin prison and stoned to death Sunday after her
conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court, the daily Entekhab said.
Police arrested the woman eight years ago on charges of acting in
"obscene sex films." The woman, who was not identified, denied
committing any crime, but evidence and testimony by witnesses led
judiciary officials to issue the stoning sentence, the daily said.
The paper gave no further details. Judiciary officials were not
available for comment Monday. Stoning is a rare punishment in Iran,
where drug smugglers and murderers are usually condemned to death by
hanging.
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Arutz-7 News (5/21/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 18:59:54 -0400
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Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, May 21, 2001 / Iyar 28, 5761
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. CELEBRATING JERUSALEM DAY
2. JERUSALEM QUOTES
3. BURG AGAINST DIVISION OF JERUSALEM, BUT CAN'T PROMISE
4. NEW OUTPOST OUTSIDE N'VEI TZUF
5. RAJOUB'S HOME HIT PURPOSELY
6. TODAY'S VIOLENCE
7. CELEBRATING ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM IN NEW YORK
1. CELEBRATING JERUSALEM DAY
Thousands of yeshiva students, high school youth, and supporters of all
ages marched to the Western Wall in Jerusalem during the course of the
night, in celebration of Jerusalem Day. Several dozen of them walked all
the way from the Ashdod-area Kibbutz Yavneh; the walk, which has become
a
Yavneh tradition, took some 18 hours. Today, the 28th of Iyar, marks the
34th anniversary of the liberation and reunification of Israel's capital
during the Six Day War.
The IDF General Staff held a special meeting at Ammunition Hill in
Jerusalem, the site of an important battle during the aforementioned
war. On the agenda: the IDF's code of ethics. Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.
Sha'ul Mofaz will issue a declaration designed to "raise the fighting
spirit of the soldiers." A memorial ceremony will be held there later this
evening for the soldiers who fell during the war.
2. JERUSALEM QUOTES
President Moshe Katzav, speaking last night at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav
Kook's
traditional Jerusalem Day celebration, said that no government has the
right to cede the holy sites in Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount. He
repeated this several times, while emphasizing that there is and will
always be full freedom for worshippers of all religions to pray at these
holy sites.
MK Rabbi Chaim Druckman (National Religious Party) at the same forum,
referring to his preferred strategy for the current conflict: "Let us
speak straightforwardly: We must smash them - just as the IDF began to do
at the end of last week. We must hit them so strongly that they come to us
begging for a ceasefire! Not like the humiliations of the past eight
months, where we ask them nicely over and over for a ceasefire. Let them
ask us for a ceasefire - as was the case in all of Israel's other wars!"
Jerusalem Affairs Minister Eli Suissa (Shas) at the same
forum: "...Jerusalem with G-d's help will continue to grow in all
directions - mostly to the east (applause), towards the only side that it
has not yet expanded. Our Sages have taught us that in the future,
Jerusalem will extend all the way to Damascus. Which way leads to
Damascus? Through Tel Aviv?! Of course not, it will have to be through
the east… (laughter and applause)"
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, speaking to reporters in Jerusalem: "I can
tell you that I am convinced that most of the Arabs in eastern Jerusalem
want a united city. Of course, they won't tell you this in front of
microphones, but they say it in their daily behavior. They are never a
party to any action that disturbs the peace here in the city; we all know
that those who come to disrupt the daily routine come from the
outside... I see this as a true expression of what they are
thinking. They don't want Arafat, they don't want Feisal Husseini - they
want to live in this city with equality, and it is our job to create this
reality."
3. BURG AGAINST DIVISION OF JERUSALEM, BUT CAN'T PROMISE
Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg (Labor) said today that his party erred
greatly when its former leader Ehud Barak agreed to the division of the
city. Burg said that ex-President Clinton told him that he never would
have thought to make such a proposal if Barak had not brought it up
first. "Even full peace is not worth the division of Jerusalem," he
said. "Sometimes I have the feeling that our politicians approach the
issue of Jerusalem as Israelis and not as Jews."
Burg qualified all of the above, however, by telling Arutz-7 today that it
is hard to rectify Barak's mistake, and that he cannot promise that if and
when he becomes Prime Minister, he will be able to prevent the division of
Jerusalem. Burg is currently favored to become his party's next
leader. "I will certainly work to re-anchor Jerusalem back in the Labor
party program, but I don't know if the Clinton proposals are reversible -
even though, after Arafat turned them down, Barak and Clinton said they
were no longer binding... I will fight for Jerusalem with all my might,
and it comes from deep within my Jewish consciousness, but I don't - that
is, I hope that it is possible."
Asked what he thinks about those fighting for the Jewish right to pray on
the Temple Mount, Speaker Burg said, "In principle, I think that the
holiness we decreed upon ourselves all these years against setting foot
there is the proper course. [Jewish law permits entry to parts of the
Temple Mount only to Jews who have taken the proper ritual precautions to
purify themselves, and forbids entry to the Holy of Holies altogether - ed.
note] There is just one place on the face of the earth that we can't get
to with our backpacks and shoes and cars - just one place, and that is the
few square meters of the Holy of Holies that belong only to G-d... We may
not set foot there until G-d returns to our lives in an active way." Burg
denied that this was a "hareidi" approach: "Religious Zionism, too, felt
this way for many years, and the Chief Rabbinate has rulings to this
effect, and this is how I was brought up in my father's home [his learned
father, Yosef Burg, was head of the National Religious Party for many years
- ed. note]... I would just distinguish between individuals, who can go up
to the Temple Mount - I can go up, you can go up, our friends can go up,
this doesn't matter to me - but as a nation, as a people, as a kingdom, we
cannot take action until the arrival of our Righteous Messiah."
Rabbi Yeshai Ba'avad, owner of Tefillin Beit El and a leading advocate of
Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount, told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson
today that he finds Burg's words to be "clearly hypocritical:"
"If he's talking about rights, then why does he recognize the individual
rights of prayer of everyone except for Jews? And if he's speaking from a
halakhic [Jewish legal] perspective, then not only are Jews forbidden
beyond a certain point on the Mount - non-Jews are also not allowed! Does
he plan to prevent them from entering the Mount?! And if he's talking
about the 'one little spot that belongs to G-d,' we have no argument with
him - but what about the rest of the [permitted area of the] Temple, and
certainly the additions from the time of Herod? Why shouldn't we be
allowed to pray there?" Rabbi Ba'avad wished to emphasize that the great
12th-century rabbi and scholar Maimonides is quoted in the Sefer Hareidim
as having written that he put himself in danger to make a trip to
Jerusalem, where he entered "the Large and Holy House [a reference to the
Temple Mount, not the Mosque of Omar] and prayed," and made the
anniversary
of that day his personal festival for years to come.
4. NEW OUTPOST OUTSIDE N'VEI TZUF
The residents of N'vei Tzuf and the army have come to an agreement
regarding the new outpost they established at the site of Friday's
terrorist murder of Lt. Ya'ir Nebentzal. The N'vei Tzuf people brought a
caravan to the site yesterday, which resulted in a minor clash with special
police forces. After hours of negotiations, Binyamin Commander Col. Ilan
Paz agreed, at around 2 AM, that the residents may stay there until the end
of the seven-day mourning period, and that the army will establish a
permanent military position there afterwards.
For N'vei Tzuf, the long-range purpose of the outpost is to create a new
point of settlement - but for the short term, the goal is merely to have a
civil and military presence at a point that has become mortally dangerous
for them. Local Arabs have been shooting at them several times a week
from
the site of the new outpost, miraculously causing very few injuries - but
after the murder of Ya'ir Nebentzal, they finally took action. "Our silent
protests ended when the miracles ended," they say.
One of the leaders of the initiative, Oded Stern, told Arutz-7: "We
grabbed the hill on Saturday night, and then informed the army and
demanded
that they fulfill their promise and take it over permanently. We also
demanded that they 'shave' the trees and overgrowth behind which they hide
to shoot at us time after time. We also took over a point down below,
turned it into a memorial for Ya'ir and a place for our youth; this forces
the army to be there. In addition, there will be no Palestinian traffic
here..." The army brought a tank to the site and plans to erect a
permanent outpost there or nearby, for the protection of the Jewish traffic
on the route.
5. RAJOUB'S HOME HIT PURPOSELY
Lt.-Col. Erez Viener, commander of the Duchifat Battalion stationed just
north of Ramallah, explained today that Jibril Rajoub's house in a Ramallah
suburb was not hit yesterday accidentally by Israeli missiles. He said
that shooting has been directed from Rajoub's home towards Israeli soldiers
on several occasions in the past, and that in fact "the homes of PA seniors
- such as that of Arafat's deputy, Abu Mazen - is a favorite site from
which to shoot at us." Viener said that his forces will not hesitate to
"return fire towards wherever shots are fired at us." Arutz-7 has learned
that a clear order was given to hit Rajoub's house after sniper shots from
the building hit and wounded an Israeli soldier in Psagot yesterday.
6. TODAY'S VIOLENCE
An Israeli man was shot late this afternoon in southern Jerusalem - the
Gilo neighborhood - by Palestinian terrorists operating out of Beit
Jala. He suffered a wound in the area of the eye; hospital officials have
not yet announced his condition.
PLO terrorist snipers in Hevron opened fire around 11:00 this morning from
the Abu Sneineh - renamed Shalhevet - Hills at the Avraham Avinu
neighborhood below. No injuries were reported, and Israeli soldiers
returned fire. Arabs fired at the Jews last night as well; one bullet
penetrated a caravan in the Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida) neighborhood. The
Jewish residents continue to man the protest tent opposite and below Abu
Sneineh, demanding that the hills be conquered by the army and made safe
for the Jews below. Some of them began climbing the hills in response to
what they felt was the soldiers' ineffectual response today, hoping to
force the Israeli army to conquer the hills. The Jews were forced down.
Shots were fired at Psagot into the early hours of the morning last
night... This morning, a van transporting teachers was fired upon near the
Otniel junction, south of Hevron. Seven bullets hit the vehicle, but no one
was hurt... Other areas targeted by Palestinian mortars, shooting, or bombs
today include Netzer Hazani, northern and southern Gaza, the Shomron
community of Einav, and more.
Hizbullah's threats to bombard northern Israeli communities with Katyusha
rockets have so far had no practical effect. Guesthouses there continue to
be filled at an almost 100% rate, and no unusual movements have been
detected by Hizbullah forces in Lebanon. Israel Air Force jets broke the
sound barrier over Beirut and Lebanese areas under Syrian control.
7. CELEBRATING ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM IN NEW YORK
Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers turned out for yesterday's Israeli Day
Parade, according to New York radio reports - and close to 20,000 of them
walked another mile or so to participate in the Israel Day Concert in
Central Park. The annual concert, organized by the National Council of
Young Israel and Jerusalem Reclamation Project President Dr. Joseph
Frager,
was originally established to protest the Oslo Accords. Its theme this
year was, "Jewish Sovereignty Over the Temple Mount." Speakers included
Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz, Carl Freyer, and Avi Cohen - son of
terrorist-victim Baruch Cohen of Efrat, who was murdered by Arab terrorists
two months ago. Hassidic music stars Avraham Fried, Dedi Graucher, Ira
Heller and others provided musical entertainment.
Many politicians at the parade were outspokenly supportive of Israel's
right to use force to defend its interests. New York's Mayor Giuliani
said, "Thank you to the people of Israel, for the resolute way in which
they defend freedom and spread it in a part of the world that needs to
learn about freedom. And G-d bless them in their quest for peace - a peace
that is built upon security."
Hebrew News Editor: Haggai Segal
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Weekend News Today items (5/21/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:13:02 -0400
--------
Fast-food giant testing cashless systems
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: ABC News
Mon May 21,2001 -- The fast-food giant, McDonalds, is testing out a new
cashless payment system in 26 Boise restaurants. McDonald's says that
more than 2,000 customers have signed up for the new technology in the
largest pilot program of its kind. "This is our first market-wide test," says
Lisa Howard, a spokeswoman for the Oak Brook, Ill.-based fast-food
company. Customers get a tiny plastic wand that allows them to pay for a
meal by waving it in front of an electronic sensor in restaurants or drive-thrus.
The free device, developed by Pennsylvania-based FreedomPay Inc., fits on
a key chain. People can load the wand electronically with dollars by using a
credit or debit card online or over the phone.
"You're at the drive-thru, you've got the music going and you're digging
around for money," says Peter Oakes, a restaurant analyst for Merrill Lynch
in New York. "You only need 76 more cents. The convenience of the
cashless system is important." "cashless technology improves the quick
and efficient service our customers expect." Analysts believe speed is
critical to McDonald's future. McDonald's has reportedly come up with a plan
designed to cut service times, including double drive-thrus, self-order kiosks,
electronic menu boards and cashless systems, Advertising Age reported in
April.
Boise's cashless approach is not the only one being put to the test. Howard
says that in Chicago, the fast-food giant is testing a similar system, called
Speedpass, in 9 restaurants. Using electronic-payment, customers can buy
food by waving a tiny, barrel-shaped device at the cash register or drive-thru
window. Each Speedpass transponder is linked to a credit or debit card.
Speedpass was developed by Mobil 3 years ago for use at its gas pumps
and is being offered to other companies. McDonald's was its first major
customer.
Another approach — a preloaded debit card — was tested by Burger King for
about five months last year with mixed results and was ultimately scrapped.
"If the card was lost that was an issue," Burger King spokeswoman Kim
Miller says. "It was one more card to carry." Still, Miller said, "we're keeping
an eye out." McVety concedes that consumers often resist new
technologies, but the test in Chicago has proved popular.
In Orange County, Calif., McDonald's is using FasTrak, an electronic toll
payment plan originally designed to help motorists whiz past highway tolls
without stopping. Now, the same device that sits on a driver's windshield
buys Big Macs and fries. Howard says this test is slated to expand from 4 to
50 California McDonald's. "When they did it in Orange County, they found
that people spent more," Oakes says. "When it's already paid, people are
less hesitant and focus less on price and more on the food." "One thing we
like about FreedomPay," Howard says, "is that it combines loyalty with a
cashless program." Oakes believes the cashless idea will catch on. "It's
going to be like an ATM," he says. "Younger people will see the convenience
right away and adopt to it more quickly." "Over 65 percent of households
have online capabilities," Pons says. "The Internet is not something new
anymore."
Fears over new Foot & Mouth Disease cluster
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: BBC News
Mon May 21,2001 -- Farmers have been warned to remain vigilant following a
spate of cases of foot-and-mouth disease in North Yorkshire. 4 new cases
were confirmed in the Settle area over the weekend, bring the total to 15 in
the region in just 10 days. Local farmers estimate that 50,000 animals have
already been culled, but warn that could rise steeply if the virus spreads to
hills where thousands of sheep graze. But the Ministry of Agriculture believes
the cluster is a "localised" outbreak, not connected to the widespread
movement of infected animals.
Tim Palmer, group secretary of the Craven National Farmers' Union, said:
"The speed with which it is spreading is worrying. It is jumping about in leaps
and bounds quite a long way from the initial nucleus. "We have held our
breath and hoped it wouldn't come here but now farmers know the storm is
going to hit us. Retired farmer Frank Sharp, of Airton, near Settle, said the
effect on the local farming community was devastating. He said: "People do
not realise how bad the situation is up here. "They read that there is a farm
hit by foot-and-mouth but don't understand the enormous knock-on effect
each outbreak has. For every farm infected, the animals on the neighbouring
eight or nine farms get slaughtered." His nephew James Sharp added: "It
makes us furious when we hear politicians saying the outbreak is all but
over." "There's been so much culling, it's like a morgue up here."
James Sharp: "We feel our problems have been covered up because the
politicians do not want it getting in the way of their election plans." Concern
has also been raised after the disease was confirmed at a farm 9 miles south
of the nucleus of the current outbreak. A spokesman for the Ministry of Ag.,
Fisheries and Food said the disease could have been in flocks for "some
weeks" as it is difficult to spot the early signs in sheep. "Although nationally
the number of outbreaks were falling, there was always the possibility of
outcrops such as this one. "We were beginning to think we were out of the
woods so to have to deal with a cluster like this is particularly distressing."
There have been 1,621 reported cases of foot-and-mouth in the UK, resulting
in the slaughter of millions of animals, since the 1st cases were confirmed
on 20 February.
Sheveluch Volcano erupts in Kamchatka, Russia
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Volcano World
Mon May 21,2001 -- Sheveluch, Kamchatka, Russia...Location: 55.38N,
161.19 E On May 19, the Sheveluch volcano erupted and sent an ash cloud
skyward to 33,000 ft. ASL (10 km). On May 22, the volcano erupted again
producing a mushroom ash column to a height of ~ 20 km ASL (~ 65,000
ft.).
New Technology Joins Our Brains & Computers
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Discovery News
Mon May 21,2001 -- Researchers at NASA's Ames Research Center are in
talks with several companies to market a new technology that marries the
human nervous system with computers. Scientists envision new types of
computer controls for a wide range of electronic products that, for example,
have become too small for human hands to operate. "This is fundamentally a
new way to talk with our mechanical world," said Charles Jorgensen, who
heads Ames' NeuroEngineering Lab. "We've identified the building blocks
and how they're put together in time and space," said Jorgensen. "How you
use it is up to you." Citing confidentiality agreements, Jorgensen declined to
name potential partners in negotiations with NASA to incorporate
neurological controls into consumer electronic devices.
The lab also is working on tapping directly into human brainwaves to control
devices. In an experiment currently under way, subjects wired with sensors
along the sides of their heads learn basic controls, such as a direction, just
by thinking of the motor skill required to make the motion. Scientists have
found the electrical signal sent out by the human brain for the body to make
a motion is the same signal the brain sends out when it is just thinking about
making the particular motion. "We're looking at using brain waves to control
things rather than monitoring them," he said. "Basically, we're looking at
alternative ways to connect our nervous system to the physical world," said
Jorgensen.
Massive Red Tide Found in East China Sea
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Discovery News
Mon May 21,2001 -- A huge red tide floating in the East China Sea near the
mouth of the Yangtze River is threatening marine life in the region. The
poisonous algae, called "red tide" covers 1,200 square miles (2,800 square
km). Government authorities issued warnings to local marine authorities to
take action to lessen the impact of the poisonous tide on fishing and
aquaculture industries. Air and marine patrols discovered the tide at the
mouth of the Yangtze River and near the Zhoushan Islands off the densely
populated city of Shanghai and Zhejiang province.
Red tide is a dense algal bloom that spreads quickly, producing poison that
paralyzes and kills fish, or suffocates them from lack of oxygen. The
poisonous tide is typically produced by urban pollution and large-scale
farming wastes that are dumped into coastal waters, triggering an
overabundance of nitrogen and phosphorus.
In recent years, numerous red tides have decimated fish in China's coastal
regions, especially in the northern Bohai Sea, the East China Sea and the
South China Sea near the mouth of the Pearl River. The tides have caused
huge economic losses.
Ravenous Bugs Invade Nevada Desert
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Discovery News
Mon May 21,2001 -- An army of plant-eating Mormon crickets, Anabrus
simplex, have descended on northern Nevada for now the 3rd spring in a row,
and have begun ravaging crops and flower gardens. The devastating insects
are technically not crickets, but related to the legendary long-horned
grasshoppers that destroyed the crops of Utah's Mormon settlers in 1848.
The insects' population explosion is being blamed on a mild, relatively dry
winter, which increased the survival rate of new hatchlings.
The large flightless insects, which are almost impossible to kill, emit a
chemical that enables them to band together and march single file, covering
significant distances in search of food. They eat 4 times their weight in
vegetation daily, and are threatening major economic damage to Nevada's
rural economy. Robert Gronowski, administrator of the plant industry division
of the Agriculture Department, said of the current invasion centered in
northern Washoe County, "We have twice the number we had last year." He
said, "There are (several) bands moving back and forth . . . Crickets kind of
behave oddly. They'll go five miles in one direction one day and turn around
and go back five miles the next day."
According to Jeff Knight, an entomologist for the Nevada Department of
Agriculture, it is the worst infestation since the early 1970s. Knight reported
that as many as 6 to 7 bands of the crickets are roaming Nevada. Teams of
entomologists and other experts will move across the state on Monday and
Tuesday to determine the full extent of the invasion.
More than 30 large dams and drainage of Tigris & Euphrates Rivers leaving
wasteland behind
Weekend News Today
Lead: faith
Source: Discovery News
Mon May 21,2001 -- Intensive damming and drainage of the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers has transformed the southern Iraqi marshland at the heart of
the Fertile Crescent into a salt-encrusted wasteland, a U.N. study said on
Friday based on newly released satellite images from NASA. The images
show that some 90 percent of the vast wetlands region — best known for its
role as the Middle East's cradle of civilization thousands of years ago — has
disappeared due to the building of more than 30 large dams over the past 40
years and huge drainage projects carried out after the 1991 Gulf War.
Based on historical records and satellite photos taken by the U.S. space
agency NASA, the study found the wetlands, which once covered 5,800 to
7,700 square miles, have now shrunk to just 580 to 770 square miles.
Iran removes main obstacle of resumption of ties with Egypt
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: DPA/Ha'aretz
Mon May 21,2001 -- Iran finally removed Monday the main obstacle for
resumption of full diplomatic ties with Egypt by changing the name of one of
the Tehran streets named after the assassin of the late Egyptian president
Anwar Sadat, the official news agency IRNA reported. The Tehran City
Council (TCC) approved in its Monday´s session the draft of a bill on
changing the street name from Khaled Eslamboli to The Martyrs of Intifada,
IRNA said.
Hezbollah said preparing for long-range Katyusha strikes
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Ha'aretz
Mon May 21,2001 -- Israeli defense officials have received information that
Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon have taken long-range Katyusha rocket
launchers out of their storage dumps, apparently to ready them for use
against Israel, Army Radio reported Monday. It said IDF troops were on
maximum alert for fear of a Hezbollah terror strike to mark Wednesday's first
anniversary of the army's withdrawal from south Lebanon.
IAF jets fly deep into Lebanon
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Reuters/Ha'aretz
Mon May 21,2001 -- IAF warplanes flew deep into Lebanon on Monday, a
day after the Hezbollah guerrilla group vowed to keep up its attacks on IDF
troops in a disputed area near the border. Reuters correspondents saw the
jets fly low over southern Lebanese territory facing the Har Dov region. IAF
jets also flew along the Lebanese side of the Anti-Lebanon mountain range,
which separates Lebanon from Syria, a main backer of Hezbollah. Planes
also broke the sound barrier over Beirut and flew over the northern city of
Tripoli. The Tripoli area is a major concentration for the 35,000 Syrian troops
in Lebanon.
Iran, Iraq to establish power link
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Middle East Newsline
Mon May 21,2001 -- Iran and Iraq have decided to link their electricity grids.
The agreement came during a visit last week by Iranian Deputy Energy
Minister Masoud Hojjat. Hojjat ended a four-day visit to Iraq. Officials said the
agreement will have to be approved by the leadership in Baghdad and
Teheran before the link is established. The two countries have been
discussing the issue for about a year.
Egypt, Sudan launch military cooperation
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Middle East Newsline
Mon May 21,2001 -- Egypt and Sudan have decided to launch military
cooperation amid a significant improvement in relations. Officials said the
cooperation includes training, Egyptian military aid and coordination of troops
along their border. The officials described relations between Egypt and
Sudan as strategic and linked to Cairo's ties with Libya.
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Mon May 21,2001 -- Expressing their discontent over recent Palestinian
claims to the contrary, more than 1,500 Orthodox rabbis plan to advertise the
centrality of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to the Jewish people this week
in The New York Times. Representing nine Orthodox groups, the full-page
ad, which calls the Temple Mount "a central Jewish link throughout the ages,
throughout the world," was paid for by a private donor in honor of Jerusalem's
34th birthday under Israeli sovereignty.
http://216.219.160.226/cgi-
bin/readnews.cgi?day=01_05_21&item=#990480596
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Harpazo.net News (5/21/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:20:45 -0400
--------
Israel Planned To Stop Arafat Going to Cairo
Israeli Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer revealed Sunday that Israel
had planned to stop Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from going to Egypt
this weekend for the meeting of the Arab League's follow-up committee.
"We did effectively plan to stop him leaving, as Yasser Arafat is waging a
total war against us, using to that end all the services under him," Ben
Eliezer told Israeli television. "He is also a leader who is leading his own
people to chaos. But at the end of the day, we let him leave," Ben Eliezer
added.
Asked about the possibility of Israel stopping Arafat leaving the Palestinian
territories or coming back, the defence minister remained vague. "I will do
everything to convince Yasser Arafat that he can gain nothing from violence,"
said the minister.
Israel has kept total control of the border posts into Jordan and Egypt, as
well as the air space, so Arafat can not go abroad or come home without the
green light of the Israeli authorities. AFP
Rajoub: Israelis 'Bloodthirsty Gangsters'
Israel is governed by a group of gangsters, bloodthirsty people," said West
Bank Preventive Security Service chief Jibril Rajoub to a group of Israeli
reporters who visited his headquarters in Ramallah yesterday.
"Your government destroyed all chances of peace or reconciliation with the
Palestinian people. We seek a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its
capital, whether you like it or not. The Israeli government cannot dictate its
conditions to the Palestinian people by using force. Sooner or later justice
will defeat Israeli power." Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah Says Israeli Threats Don't Scare Syria
Hezbollah spiritual leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah warned Israel on Sunday
against threatening Syria to end its support for the Lebanese guerrilla group
and vowed to continue fighting Israeli troops in the disputed Shaba Farms at
the foot of the Golan Heights.
"Threatening to attack Syrian targets and launch war will not scare the young
Syrian leadership," Nasrallah told a rally in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, aired
live on Hezbollah's al-Manar television station.
"If they [Israelis] are betting on scaring [Syrian] President Bashar Assad,
then they are gambling and playing with fire because neither Syria nor its
armed forces would accept insult or humiliation," he added.
In April, Israel destroyed a Syrian radar post in Lebanon, killing three Syrian
soldiers, in retaliation for a cross-border attack by Hezbollah. Israel ended its
22-year-long occupation of south Lebanon last year. Ha'aretz
Fatah Official Says Israel Might Attack Lebanon
The Lebanon head of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction
warned on Sunday that Israel might attack Palestinian refugee camps and
Syrian positions in Lebanon.
In April, Israel destroyed a Syrian radar post in Lebanon, killing three Syrian
soldiers, in retaliation for a cross-border attack by the Hizbollah guerrillas
who helped drive Israel from south Lebanon last year after a 22-year-long
occupation. Reuters
Annan Slams Bush On Global Warming
The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, has directly challenged
President George W Bush's climate policy. Mr Annan said action to limit
climate change was the only way to ensure economic growth. He said
conserving energy and using it more efficiently was more than a matter of
individual choice. And he insisted that the science of climate change,
despite the criticisms of the sceptics, was well-founded. Mr Annan was
giving the commencement address at the Fletcher School of Law and
Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. His intervention was
pointed, particularly since it is only three days since the US administration
unveiled its national energy plan. BBC
Two People Faint During Cannibal Sex Film
Two people fainted during a film showing people getting cannibalistic while
making love. Medics at the Cannes Film Festival were called in the middle of
the film Trouble Everyday. The thriller, directed by Claire Denis, is about a
man who desperately tries to find a scientist he used to work for while on
honeymoon in Paris. Both men's wives are victims of experiments they
carried out to control and influence the libido and the film depicts people
getting cannibalistic while making love. ananova
Over 70% of Iran Prone to Earthquake
Over 70 percent of Iran prone to earthquake: official Tehran, May 19, IRNA --
Deputy Minister of Housing and Urban Development for Housing and
Technological Affairs Ali Saleh-Abadi said here Saturday that Iran's location
is such that over 70 percent of urban areas are prone to earthquake.
He told IRNA that since 1991, over 950 earthquakes have jolted Iran,
claiming the lives of 17,600 people and injuring 53,300 others. He said that
only tremors with magnitude of at least 4.0 degrees on the richter scale have
been recorded.
Saleh-abadi said based on studies conducted in 1999 over 13 million housing
units are in need of reinforcement to resist earthquakes.
He said that it is estimated that 26 million housing units will be needed by
2021, adding ''the 1996 census indicated that 1.6 million families lacked
houses, which if the present trend continues, by 2021 the number will stand
at over four million.'' irna
http://www.harpazo.net/news.html
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Grant to take swipe at bar-code ID cards
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:25:56 -0400
--------
Grant to take swipe
at bar-code ID
cards
By Sandy Louey
Bee Staff Writer
(Published May 19, 2001)
Students at a Sacramento junior
high school will soon start
carrying ID cards with computer
bar codes so officials can track
their attendance throughout the
day, whether they are getting on
a school bus, entering a
classroom or buying lunch in the
cafeteria.
The system approved this week
by the Grant Joint Union High
School District will begin this
summer at Martin Luther King Jr.
Junior High School.
State and local officials believe
Grant is the first district in the
state to try such an identification
program, though some large
East Coast school systems use
similar technology.
The benefits, Grant officials say,
will be increased attendance as
well as improved campus
security.
"If we don't have kids in class,
we can't teach them anything,"
said Jim Griffis, the district's
education technology
coordinator.
Under the pilot program, bus drivers and teachers will
use hand-held computers to scan the photo ID cards as
students get on buses or come into classrooms.
Students also will have to use the cards when buying
cafeteria lunches or checking out library books.
Officials said the system will let educators note
unexcused absences instantly, so calls to parents can be
made almost immediately.
Bus drivers will be able to tell right away whether
students are riding the correct bus, and by using the
system in the cafeteria and library, officials believe
students will be less likely to lose or forget their cards.
Grant teachers now take roll manually, reporting
absences on fill-in bubble sheets that then are fed
through a main computer.
Parents are notified after the end of the school day, but
computer problems sometimes result in absences being
processed days after a student missed school, officials
said.
The district, which has about 12,300 students in grades
seven through 12, has as many as 450 unexcused
absences each day, officials said. Truancy rates can
affect the amount of money the district receives from the
state because funding formulas are based on
attendance.
Yolanda Guajardo, mother of a Martin Luther King Jr.
seventh-grader, said the ID cards are a good idea
because parents will know much more quickly if their
children skipped school.
"Too many kids are getting away with too much
nowadays," she said.
The cards also will make it easy to spot students who
don't belong on campus, said Angie Turner, another
parent of a seventh-grader.
"It will better identify the kids who go there," she said.
Not only have card-swipe student identification systems
been adopted in other districts around the nation,
identification cards are the norm in workplaces today,
said Peter Blauvelt, president of the National Alliance for
Safe Schools.
"You can hardly go into any business today without
wearing badges. It's part of the culture in which we live,"
Blauvelt said. "It tells us who you are."
Some of the districts already using computerized ID
systems are in Baltimore, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
New York City schools will start using the system this fall,
and pilot programs will be launched in Atlanta and
Chicago.
School districts are turning to such systems because
they reduce paperwork and provide a better tool to fight
truancy, said John Amatruda, president of School
Technology Management, an ID-system manufacturer.
"It's not Big Brother. It's saving money. It's being more
accountable," he said.
These systems might be more convenient, but they also
could reduce the personal connection between students
and teachers, said Elizabeth Schroeder, associate
director of the American Civil Liberties Union of
Southern California.
"It means teachers don't have to know who their students
are," she said.
But with the pilot program at Martin Luther King Jr.,
teachers will be responsible for making sure that a
class's physical head count matches its electronic one.
When it was proposed a few months ago, the ID system
drew support from the teachers union, which said it
should improve attendance and prevent students from
trying things like slipping into classrooms where
substitutes are filling in.
The hand-held computers also will give administrators
and teachers immediate access to students' schedules,
parent-contact information and health data -- the same
information already in the student database. Detention
slips also could be printed immediately, Griffis said.
The pilot program is scheduled to begin during the
summer session so that kinks can be worked out before
it is launched for the full school year. Martin Luther King
Jr. has about 300 students for summer school and about
900 students during the regular academic year.
The University of California, Davis, through an existing
partnership with the district, will evaluate the project. Any
decision on whether to expand it to other schools would
be made later, district officials said.
The money for the project comes from a $207,000
federal technology grant that the district received with
help from Rep. Doug Ose, R-Sacramento. The district's
contribution to the project is $90,823.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/news/local01_20010519.html
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Creative Financing Lets Muslims Buy Homes
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:31:34 -0400
--------
May 19, 2001
Creative Financing Lets Muslims Buy Homes
Religion Prohibits Paying of Interest
Americans awash in credit cards, car loans and
mortgages have long assumed there's only one option for
those who need something now and can't pay cash: borrow
the sum and pay it back -- with interest.
But the world of American finance is changing to
deliver more options, thanks to demand from the growing
number of observant Muslims in the United States and
their adherence to Islam's moral code on financial
matters.
Islam prohibits usury, or interest. In the United
States, as lending and borrowing are currently
practiced, the rule has been an obstacle for Muslims
seeking to buy a house or build a worship space. Often,
they have waited until savings or donations could cover
all costs.
But as the Muslim population in this country grows
-- by some estimates to 6 million people -- its need
for as much as $1 billion annually has led foundations,
municipalities and for-profit financiers to find new
ways of furnishing capital without charging interest.
In a watershed example from earlier this year,
mortgage giant Freddie Mac started bankrolling loans
through a Muslim-friendly lender in Los Angeles whose
acronym, LARIBA, means "no usury" in Arabic.
"They concurred that there is a huge, unmet
demand," said LARIBA President Mike Maguid Abdelaaty.
Since joining with Freddie Mac in January, he said,
LARIBA has dropped its down payment requirements from
40 percent to 20 percent and is en route to doubling
the number of loans it writes each month, from 10 to
20.
With at least six Muslim lenders now competing for
customers, Hossam Jabri, of Cambridge, Mass., smells an
opportunity to buy the home he's wanted for his family
for five years.
"You used to need to invest for years before you
could make the down payment," Jabri said. "I can tell
there are many more options available now."
What makes interest-free financing possible is a
system in which the capital supplier shares ownership --
and risk -- with the consumer. Rather than lend a
chunk of money so the consumer can own a home
exclusively, for instance, the financier buys the
portion of the property that the consumer can't afford
and leases that share to the consumer at going market
rates. As the lessee makes regular payments, he or she
gradually buys out the financier's share.
In the end, the Muslim consumer usually pays as
much as a traditional interest-bearing loan would have
charged. But saving money is not the goal of interest-
free purchasing, according to Hanif Crutchfield, a
board member at the Minnesota chapter of the Council on
American-Islamic Relations.
"You may not get a better financial deal, but
morally speaking, from an Islamic point of view, you're
in much better shape," Crutchfield said.
To the question of what's so bad about charging
interest, Muslim scholars and clerics have multiple
answers. Some say it's a sin for those with capital to
take advantage of the needy by charging an interest
fee. Others say that interest represents unearned
income and that all godly income must be earned. All
seem to agree, however, that those who lend without
sharing the borrower's risk commit a sin, and this is
fundamentally why the Koran prohibits usury.
As Islam grows in the United States, it's not just
for-profit lenders who are rethinking business as
usual. Institutions of varied stripes are taking
unusual steps to get money into the hands of observant
Muslims.
The city of Boston addressed the Islamic challenge
this year by selling a $225,000 parcel at a discount to
the Islamic Society of Boston in exchange for lectures,
counseling and fund-raising assistance at Roxbury
Community College.
In Minnesota, Hennepin County, which includes
Minneapolis, started offering an Islamic contract for
the thousands of African Muslims who live there and
might want to buy tax-delinquent properties on which
the county has foreclosed. The Islamic contract costs
$75, Crutchfield said, and makes houses available for
about the same cost as interest-based contracts.
Foundations have also stepped forward to provide
interest-free loans for Muslim community centers. The
North American Islamic Trust, for instance, supplied
$300,000 interest-free toward a $1 million facility for
the West Coast Islamic Society in Anaheim, Calif.
And in yet another type of solution, donors from
the Persian Gulf are buying a rental property in Boston
to generate cash for property upkeep at the proposed
$14 million Islamic cultural center. Construction
begins in September, even though the community needs to
raise an additional $10 million to complete the project.
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47684-
2001May18.html
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] US generals go to war on European-retreat
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:34:56 -0400
--------
May 20 2001 UNITED STATES
US generals go to war on Euro-retreat
Tony Allen-Mills, Washington
American troops in Thai drug fight
WHEN President George W Bush visits the United States navy academy at
Annapolis later this week, his speech on changing America's military
strategy is certain to be cheered to the rafters by a new generation of white-
gloved officer graduates. At the Pentagon they will not be so happy.
Bush's plans for a radical shift of American military focus from
Europe to the Pacific and his intended development of a hugely
expensive anti-ballistic missile shield are encountering mounting
resistance from military chiefs and their supporters in Congress.
America's allies are also alarmed at renewed indications of a
precipitate withdrawal of US troops from Bosnia.
In Washington a political battle is looming as Donald Rumsfeld,
Bush's hawkish defence secretary, presses ahead with a
strategic review. This has upset US generals and provoked
warnings from both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill
that defence budgets will be blocked if reforms are not properly
discussed.
Overseas there is continuing concern at threats by Bush - who
is to meet Russia's President Vladimir Putin for the first time on
June 16 in Slovenia - to breach the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
and to reduce US commitments in the Balkans.
Rumsfeld's claim that the US military job in Bosnia was "done
three or four years ago" was dismissed by one western source
as a "profound misunderstanding" of the 1995 peace accords
and "playing into the hands of the extremists".
A hard-nosed political operator who was defence secretary
under Gerald Ford, Rumsfeld emerged from his Pentagon
bunker last week to announce radical proposals for a shake-up
to divert American resources from traditional cold war bases to
perceived missile threats from China and North Korea.
Rumsfeld's aggressive handling of what one adviser termed a
"revolution in military affairs" has stirred anger and scepticism in
Pentagon ranks.
Admiral Dennis Blair, head of the US Pacific Command, has
publicly doubted that Chinese missiles could threaten his bases
while General Gordon Sullivan, army chief of staff from 1991 to
1995, said the Bush administration's preference for space
defence in place of ground forces was "easy but erroneous".
Another senior general said that any strategic shift should not
come at the expense of America's presence in Europe. "We
have a big task in Europe. I think there is a tremendous benefit
that would be lost if you tried to do everything from fortress
America," he said.
Perhaps most damaging for Bush has been the widespread
complaint that Rumsfeld, 68, has excluded Pentagon brass
from much of the strategic review. Senator Joseph Lieberman,
the Connecticut Democrat who ran as vice-president with Al
Gore last year, warned last week that "now was the time to
bring Congress and the uniformed services in on the review".
Even Trent Lott, the Republican leader in the Senate, has
reportedly complained about being left "in the dark".
Also worried are reserve army officers who believe their units will
be the first to be squeezed when the bills start arriving for
Bush's missile shield. Jay Spiegel, a former Pentagon official
and executive officer of the Reserve Officers Association,
warned last week that America's ability to fight another
campaign such as Desert Storm against a rogue dictator such
as Saddam Hussein might be compromised.
"I don't believe we are at the point where you can win a land war
exclusively from space," said Spiegel.
Rumsfeld has struck a conciliatory pose, saying no decisions
have been taken and a range of opinions is being canvassed.
©
Going home? Some US troops may be pulled out of the
Balkans as Bush focuses on the Pacific and missile defence
Photograph: David Brauchli
The first test of the Bush team's willingness to accommodate
dissenting opinions may be Bosnia, where Rumsfeld has
declared he is "pushing" to withdraw US peacekeepers.
European troops in the region continue to be dependent on US
forces for a wide range of military assistance, from strategic lift
capacity to air protection.
A western diplomatic source in Bosnia said that even with US
involvement, Nato had been effective "only at keeping the three
sides apart". By hinting at an American withdrawal, Rumsfeld
was "killing off the chances of moderates just as they began to
make some progress".
While few in Bush's team pay much heed to European dismay,
senior figures in Washington have warned that a softer touch
may be required at home.
William Cohen, Rumsfeld's predecessor as defence secretary,
said Bush might alienate a dangerous coalition of the very
people he needed most to approve his proposed changes.
Additional reporting: Stephen Grey, Brussels
http://www.sunday-
times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2001/05/20/stifgnusa02001.html?
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Venezuela signs Russia accord
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:36:13 -0400
--------
Venezuela signs Russia accord
By Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas
Published: May 17 2001
Venezuela has signed a military co-operation agreement with Russia, raising
speculation that President Hugo Chávez is seeking to re-equip Venezuela's
armed forces with Russian-made military hardware.
Under the accord, a copy of which was released in Caracas on Thursday, the
two countries said they would co-operate in arms supply and the
modernisation of capability. The pact also foresees plans to jointly
manufacture military equipment, including for third countries.
While the agreement is two-way, western diplomats said Russia had far
more to offer Venezuela than the reverse. "There is no military technology
that Venezuela has that Russia could possibly want," one diplomat said.
Military analysts said that the potential purchase of armaments from Russia,
such as Mig aircraft or helicopters, may be aimed at addressing concerns in
the Venezuelan military over Plan Colombia, the US-backed anti-narcotics
programme.
Senior Venezuelan officers have said they were worried that Plan Colombia,
which includes the supply of 60 Black Hawk helicopters to the Colombian
government, destabilises Caracas's military balance with Bogotá.
Observers also suggested that Russia may be seeking to use Venezuela as
a beach-head to install arms manufacturing capability in South America with
a view to gaining access to the regional market.
Mr Chávez, who is on a three-week tour of Russia and several countries in
Asia, including Iran and China, said the agreement with Russia was part of
Venezuela's foreign policy goal of building a "multi-polar" world, ostensibly to
offset the perceived dominance of the US in world affairs.
But any purchase of arms from Russia, however, could damage already cool
relations with Washington, critics said.
"Venezuela's foreign policy is now based on strengthening ties with political
systems which are ideologically opposed to the US, such as Cuba, China
and now Russia," said Mario Carratú, a former Venezuelan defence attache
to Washington.
"The military element is an important component of that exchange, and it
threatens to put Venezuela in open opposition to the US's security
interests."
The use of Russian hardware, rather than boosting Venezuela's military
capability, could disrupt Venezuela's preparedness, given that its troops are
trained in the use of equipment manufactured in the US, France and the UK,
Mr Carratú said.
Venezuela currently has 20 US-made F16 aircraft, about 20 operable French
AMX-30 tanks, and 90 British-built Scorpion tanks.
http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT3EGRZSU
MC&live=true&tagid=ZZZ60A9VA0C&subheading=americas
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] U.S. troops in military exercises near China's border
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:38:31 -0400
--------
U.S. troops in military exercises near China's border
By Uli Schmetzer
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 20 2001, 4:12 PM CDT
BANGKOK, Thailand -- Some 5,000 American troops are in northern
Thailand not far from the Chinese border this weekend as part of long-
scheduled Cobra Gold 2001 military exercises being staged at a time when
Thailand and Myanmar are trading angry diplomatic missives and live artillery
shells.
Among the troops are about 20 instructors from the U.S. 1st Special Forces
Group who will stay behind after the maneuvers to train Thai commandos in
anti-guerrilla warfare.
Thailand and Myanmar, formerly Burma, have been at loggerheads for weeks
over the disputed Doi Lang border area, a longtime stronghold of drug
warlords whose heroin refineries and amphetamine laboratories have
flourished for years with the knowledge of key military officers and officials on
both sides of the border.
Periodic hostilities over control of drug trafficking are no novelty. But this time
the United States and China are playing key roles on opposite sides, just
weeks after the U.S. spy plane incident strained their bilateral relations.
Navy Adm. Dennis Blair, chief of the U.S. Pacific Command, confirmed last
week at a news briefing that Washington has sent Special Forces guerrilla
warfare specialists to act as "instructors" for a Thai commando unit known
as Task Force 399. Thai military officials gave the initial number of U.S.
instructors as 20 but said more could be expected.
The same Thai sources said Task Force 399 and the U.S. instructors would
be stationed at Mae Rim Village just north of Chiang Mai, a garrison town on
the edge of the infamous Golden Triangle, the poppy-growing zone on the
Myanmar, Laos and Thailand borders.
The highly mobile unit of about 100 men will use two U.S.-donated Black
Hawk assault helicopters to chase and neutralize drug smugglers along the
Golden Triangle, operating less than 100 miles from Chinese border troops.
Their main enemy on the other side of the border will be the United Wa State
Army, an ethnic narcotics-guerrilla force loyal to the Myanmar military junta.
Western intelligence sources say China is the principal supplier of arms and
expertise for the Wa and the Myanmar armed forces.
More than a year ago the Chinese persuaded the ethnic Wa, the most
powerful and most militant of the hillside tribes, to move their people, their
army and their drug laboratories from the Myanmar-China border in the north
to Myanmar's border with Thailand at Doi Lang in the south.
"It was a cunning move. By sending the Wa away from their own border the
Chinese dramatically reduced drug trafficking into China, which had become
a major problem for their own population. Sending the Wa to the Thai border
meant dumping the problem on the Thais and their Western allies," said a
narcotics expert who requested anonymity.
Asian intelligence sources said Beijing supplied the Wa with sophisticated
weapons and money in exchange for Wa help in constructing a network of
roads through Myanmar from China. The road system would give Beijing
access to seaports and naval bases on the Myanmar coast, an access the
Chinese have coveted for years.
In a blunt warning, Myanmar's ruling military junta announced it was ready
"to fight side by side" with the Wa, whom the U.S. State Department has
identified in reports as major drug producers in the region.
"If intrusions at the border become direct threats to either Wa territory or
Burmese soil, we are ready to counter them," said Brigadier General Kyan
Win, deputy director of Myanmar's military intelligence.
At the same time, Win praised China for "offering material and technology to
develop the border area."
Thai intelligence sources say the Wa already have been given sophisticated
Chinese-made HN-5N surface to air missiles capable of knocking out low-
flying airplanes and helicopters. On the other side, the U.S. has supplied
Thai forces with the latest night-vision, radar and digital mapping equipment.
Warriors, the Wa are renown for their do-or-die fighting spirit. With an
estimated 15,000 members under arms, the Wa members are no pushover
for any conventional army in the rough terrain of their native habitat.
As U.S. forces prepared last week week for the annual two-week Cobra Gold
Thai-US exercises, the largest in Asia this year, the Pentagon left no doubt
which side it supports in the looming Thailand-Myanmar drug war.
"As a military man, I support Thailand," Adm. Blair said. Blair was in
Thailand to oversee the maneuvers, which also include Singaporean officers
this year. Both China and Vietnam declined to attend as observers this year.
Myanmar has already warned the Thais that calling in American "specialists"
over the escalating border dispute is perilous to regional peace. In a blunt
diplomatic note last week, the junta demanded the Thai military withdraw
from 35 border outposts that Yangon claims are within its own territory.
Bangkok has ignored the demand.
Admiral Blair said the U.S. Special Forces instructors and two US Black
Hawk helicopters had joined Thai Special Forces in the troubled North to
"teach skills needed to patrol the border." The Americans are working
closely with Thailand's 3rd Army, a force largely untainted by military
involvement in the narcotics trade.
Although the maneuvers are publicized as an anti-narcotics campaign, some
Western diplomats say the extensive military mobilization and American
participation also are aimed at containing growing Chinese influence in the
region. Narcotics experts blame Beijing for precipitating the current tension
by urging the Wa to go south. These observers fear the escalating border
incidents, with casualties on both sides, have the potential to explode into a
conflict drawing China and the U.S. into a confrontation.
The military government in Yangon, formerly the Burmese capital of
Rangoon, made a deal with the Wa in 1989. Diplomats say that in return for
allowing their poppy-growing and heroin refineries, the Wa would have
autonomy in their region and police tracts of border areas against armed
incursions by the Shan people, an ethnic group allied with Thailand. The
Shan have been fighting Myanmar troops for years.
The Shan also control parts of the border on behalf of their Thai neighbors.
Myanmar claims the Thais, who long have shown a preference for making
deals rather than fighting, are allowing the Shan to run their own narcotics
trade along the border.
The focus of the current trouble is a 20 square-mile border region known as
Doi Lang near Thailand's northern city, Chiang Mai. Doi Lang virtually
straddles the border. This makes it a perfect smuggling post for drug
trafficking. Narcotics laboratories on the Myanmar side import chemicals and
export heroin and amphetamine through Thailand.
In yet another attempt to crack down on drug peddling, especially in schools
where as many as 35 percent of students have tested positive to
amphetamine, the Thais on April 18 executed four narcotics dealers by firing
squad in Bangkok and had their last hour televised nation-wide. The Thais
say the Wa settlement of Mong Yawn, which has schools, hospitals, stores
and bars has only one industry -- laboratories that refine opium into heroin or
fabricate the designer drug amphetamine with imported chemicals. The
settlement is just 15 miles inside Mayanmar border, opposite the booming
Thai border town of Chiang Mai and less than an hour by road from the
headquarters of Task Force 399.
The man who founded Mong Yawn was Wei Xue-Gang, a Chinese born drug
lord. He was indicted by a New York court in 1993 for drug-trafficking and is
on a State Department blacklist of the most wanted drug lords. Soon after
Wei changed from producing drugs to laundering drug money, the Wa
negotiated a contract with the United Nations. In exchange for giving up
growing poppies, the Wa would receive UN financing for alternative crops.
Drug experts say the irresistible lure of vast profits from drugs makes any
such deal shaky and difficult to police. Aware the UN would monitor by air if
the poppy crop really had been replaced, the Wa thought of a lucrative
alternative: The mass production of amphetamines, known as Yaa Baa in
Thailand and "Ice" in its crystalline form in the West.
The amphetamine industry, based at clandestine Wa laboratories that
produce the designer drug with imported chemicals, flooded Asia with an
estimated 800 million pills last year. Revenue from this new narcotic windfall
provides an estimated $250 million annual profit, far more than what the UN
could offer.
Copyright © 2001, The Chicago Tribune
http://sns.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-thailand.story?coll=sns-
newsnation-headlines
========
To: bprlist@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] U.S. Names 'Special Assistant' for Mideast Peace
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 19:40:22 -0400
--------
Monday May 21 3:31 PM ET
U.S. Names 'Special Assistant' for Mideast Peace
By Jonathan Wright
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Monday named a ''special
assistant'' to help Israel and the Palestinians stop fighting, rebuild confidence
and return to negotiations.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said the U.S.
ambassador to Jordan, William Burns, would join the efforts of senior
U.S. diplomats in Israel and the Palestinian territories and ``make
himself available to the parties''.
But the United States does not expect any progress until Israel and the
Palestinians end the violence of the last eight months, in which more than
500 people have been killed, Powell told a news conference at the State
Department.
Powell endorsed the recommendations of the commission of inquiry led
by former U.S. Senator George Mitchell but refused to link the
cease-fire with a freeze on building work at Israeli settlements in the
West Bank and Gaza.
The freeze on settlement work was the most controversial aspect of the
Mitchell commission's recommendations and one of the few long-term
incentives for Palestinian cooperation.
``It is not linked ... to ending the violence. We should end the violence,
and all the confidence-building measures together are not linked to
ending the violence. It's a very clear sequence,'' he said.
The commission's report, formally released in New York on Monday,
also called for a complete cessation of hostilities, a crackdown on
advocates of violence by the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites)
and Israeli measures to help the Palestinian economy.
Powell later had telephone conversations with Israeli Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
(news - web sites), State Department officials said.
Powell said that Burns, his nominee for the post of assistant secretary of
state for Near Eastern affairs, would serve as his ``special assistant'' on
the conflict. The U.S. Senate has yet to confirm Burns in his new post.
UNLIKE PREVIOUS ENVOY
``He remains ambassador to Jordan with the added assignment
reporting to me and to the president on what we can do to help bring
these recommendations into effect and then set out the timeline for
implementation of the confidence-building measures leading to the
resumption of negotiations,'' he added.
``When Ambassador Burns is completed with this initial round of
discussions, I will determine what more I might do in a personal way to
promote the process,'' he said.
The other diplomats assigned to the task are the U.S. ambassador to
Israel, Martin Indyk, and the U.S. consul general in Jerusalem, Ronald
Schlicher, who handles U.S. contacts with the Palestinian Authority.
State Department sources said that Burns would not devote his entire
attention to the Arab-Israeli conflict, unlike Dennis Ross, special envoy
under the Clinton administration.
As assistant secretary of state, he would be responsible for a region that
stretched from Morocco to Iran, including Iraq and the whole of the
Gulf.
Powell said he did not have any immediate plans to visit the Middle East
or see Middle East leaders during a one-week trip to Africa and Europe
starting on Tuesday.
``Things could change and I always have the option of doing something
at some point in the future,'' he added.
Powell has made repeated calls on Israel and the Palestinians to end the
violence, most recently on Friday after one of the bloodiest days in eight
months.
JEWISH SETTLEMENTS
Asked why they might listen to him this time, he said the violence of the
last few days should have sobered them and the Mitchell commission
report itself should elicit a response.
``The committee has provided the parties with ideas that can help to find
a solution to the terrible tragedy that has trapped the Israeli and
Palestinian peoples,'' he said.
Arab governments and Palestinians had hoped that the United States
would take the opportunity of the Mitchell report to take a tougher line
against Jewish settlements, which are illegal under international law.
Powell noted that the report said the settlements have a ''negative
impact'' on the prospects for peace.
``This will be a very difficult issue for the Israeli side, and they've already
said so,'' he added.
``The settlement issue has to be dealt with at the end of the day as part
of the confidence-building measures between the two sides ... What I
want to see is what possibilities exist to bridge the very sharp
disagreements that exist between the two sides with respect to
expansion within existing settlements.''
``When Ambassador Burns goes in, he will engage both sides on the
settlement issue and I expect he will, once again, point out to the Israeli
side the difficulties associated with their settlement activity and how it is
going to be a key feature or the key element that has to be dealt with,''
he said.
The United States says that building work at Jewish settlements is
provocative but not that it is illegal. It has not considered any punitive
measures to prevent it.
Powell said that Egyptian-Jordanian proposals for a cease-fire and fresh
negotiations could find a place in the ''implementation plan'' Burns will
try to lay out.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010521/wl/mideast_usa_report_dc_1.htm
l
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