ISRAEL
- IS THE WALL WAILING?
In a highly unnatural phenomenon, water has begun dripping from
the midst of a stone in Jerusalem's Western Wall. The water leak,
which was first noticed Saturday by worshippers at the Wall,
continued yesterday for the fourth straight day, Shmuel Rabinovitch,
the
rabbi of the Western Wall, said yesterday. On Sunday, Antiquities
Authority director-general Shuka Dorfman and Jon Seligman, its
Jerusalem regional archeologist, were rushed to the scene to
examine the dripping, which has so far dampened a 10 by 40 centimeter
section of the Wall.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=
- 1023716586985
- JESSE JACKSON ADVOCATES NON-VIOLENT MOVEMENT FOR PEACE IN
THE MIDDLE EAST
Geneva (ENI). Jesse Jackson, the prominent United States civil
rights leader, is planning to take an INTERFAITH delegation to
the Middle East to help promote a non-violent "THIRD FORCE"
for reconciliation. Political sides are "frozen" and
neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians have "the courage
to overcome the deadlock", Jackson told journalists today
in Geneva after
meeting senior officials of the World Council of Churches. "We
need a THIRD FORCE to reconcile the sides, we must build a bridge
and heal a breach, reach out to civil society within Israel and
among the Palestinians," said Jackson. [ENI-24 June 2002]
- FIRST GAY PRIDE MARCH IN JERUSALEM.
Friday Church News Notes, June 21, 2002 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental
Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI
48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) - The first "gay
pride" march took place in Jerusalem on Friday June 14,
just hours before the start of the Jewish Sabbath. Estimates
of the number of participants ranged from 2,000 to 4,000. The
march was protested by orthodox Jews. One held a sign reading,
"We won't let this become Sodom." JIsrael's main problem
is not the Palestinians; it is her apostasy from God.
- ISRAEL DEPORTS MISSIONARY WHO HELPED SICK PALESTINIANS CHILDREN
Jerusalem (ENI). Israel has deported the head of a Christian
organisation who had organised heart surgery and other operations
for Palestinian children by Israeli doctors. Jonathan Miles,
a United States citizen who founded the Israeli non-profit organisation
Light to the Nations, was told he was no longer welcome in the
country. The move has disturbed some Christian groups who had
praised Miles for his humanitarian efforts in the midst of a
deep conflict. Miles had been working in conjunction with Save
a Child's Heart, a foundation providing free, urgent heart surgery
for children in poor and developing nations. [ENI-6/28/02]
- POLL SHOWS AMERICANS' SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL IN DECLINE
The number of Americans who believe the US supports Israel too
much has climbed since last fall, according to a new CNN/USA
Today/Gallup poll. Fifty percent of those polled said the US
either supports Israel the right amount or too little. But 43%
[up from 29%] said the US gives too much support to Israel..
"These figures represent a significant decline in a pro-Israeli
point of view over the last eight months," an analysis put
out by Gallup said.
http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/PrinterFull&cid=
- 1023716471204
- HAMAS THREATENS CHEMICAL TERROR
Hamas is threatening to use chemical weapons in future attacks
against Israeli targets, claiming "slaughter will bring
slaughter," Channel 2 reported last night. "When we
reach that stage [using chemical weapons], the gates will be
opened to develop suicide attacks with Allah's help," the
report said, quoting from the statement issued by the movement
yesterday. The statement claimed that the aim is to further harm
those hit by shrapnel in a bomb
blast and "create a massacre."
http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=
- 1023716499108
- SAUDI BROADCASTS PROMOTE ANTI-SEMITISM, MARTYRDOM
A television station backed by a Saudi prince has sparked outrage
by broadcasting clips that show young children being taught to
hate Jews - referring to them as "apes and pigs" -
and embrace martyrdom. Recent broadcasts on Iqraa Television,
one of the global satellite channels packaged by the Arab Radio
and Television
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,55321,00.html
- BUSH AGAIN POSTPONES MOVING U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM
U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday again deferred for six
months the moving of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem but said he was still committed to making the transfer
sometime in the future.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=177612&contrassID=
- 1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
- ISRAEL PLANS TO DEPLOY NUKES ON NEW SUBS
U.S. experts and officials believe Israel seeks to deploy nuclear
weapons on its newly-procured diesel submarines. A new book published
by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, discusses
Israel's purported project to deploy nuclear missiles in its
new fleet of German-built Dolphin-class submarines. Israel has
received three such submarines over the last two years, Middle
East Newsline reported.
http://216.26.163.62/2002/me_israel_06_17.html
- YOUNG PALESTINIANS GO WILD FOR 'MARTYR' NECKLACES
Youngsters in the Balata refugee camp adjoining Nablus have replaced
their once-precious Pok mon cards with a less innocent craze
that has swept up children in the camp: necklaces with
pictures of "martyrs" in the current violence against
Israel, according to a report in The Toronto Star "I used
to have plenty of Pok mons - my school bag was half full of them,"
Saleh Attiti, 14, told the paper. "I threw them all away.
http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=
- 1023716505515
- ARAB LEADERS SNUB ARAFAT
Arafat's isolation even in the Arab world is increasing. Itim
News Agency reports in the name of a "senior PA source"
that Arab leaders used to phone Arafat frequently and update
him on various international developments, but that this has
all but stopped of late. Even Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak
did not call him after his recent trip to the U.S.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=25437
- WORK HALTED ON SECURITY FENCE AFTER EXPLOSION, GUNFIRE
Bulldozer operators halted work on a security fence in the northern
West Bank, after border police at the site came under attack
by a bomb and gunfire, Israel Radio reports. No casualties were
reported at the Kfar Salem site. IDF soldiers and police gave
chase after the assailants in the direction of the West Bank
town of Jenin.
http://www.jpost.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/PrinterFull&cid=
- 1023716519254
- PA CONDEMNS IN ENGLISH, JUSTIFIES IN ARABIC
Israel Radio is reporting that the PA has "condemned"
today's attack, and the PA's Saeb Erekat said as much to CNN
this morning. Michael Widlanski of The Media Line reports that
in Arabic,
however, the picture is a different one. The PA's Voice of Palestine
radio justified the attack, noting in this morning's report,
"It appears that most of the people on the bus were
colonists from the colony of Gilo which was built on land taken
from our people in Bethlehem." Widlanski also noted that
there was no condemnation of the attack in the Arabic media.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=25344
- U.S. PREVENTED MAJOR ISRAELI ATTACK ON SYRIA
The United States blocked a major military offensive by Israel
against Syria last month, but shares Israeli concerns that the
regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is openly arming Hizbullah
and Palestinian militants. Israeli officials said the attack
was to have taken place last month in response to a spate of
Hizbullah strikes along the Lebanese border with the Jewish state.
The officials said Israel's military had mobilized its reserves
for what they termed was to have been a heavy blow on Syrian
military positions in Lebanon and Syria, Middle East Newsline
reported.
http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/breaking_8.html
- ISRAELI TV COMPANIES WEIGH TAKING CNN OFF THE AIR
Israeli television broadcasters are considering pulling the plug
on the CNN news channel in protest at comments made by U.S. media
mogul Ted Turner..
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020620/tv_nm/media_israel_cnn_dc_1&printer=1
- CNN STAYS ON ISRAEL TV FOR NOW
http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/50981.htm
- POLITICALLY, ARAFAT IS A DEAD MAN WALKING
Yasser Arafat, the seemingly immortal leader of the Palestinian
national movement, was politically assassinated Monday by President
George W. Bush. His role as Israel's prospective partner in any
future diplomatic process was effectively snuffed out by a stern-sounding
American president, delivering his verdict on two years of violent
intifada and his recipe for a turnabout towards peace in this
war-torn region. Bush's verdict: Arafat is the guilty
party...
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=179737&contrassID=
- 1&subContrassID=0&sbSubContrassID=0
- MIDDLE EAST DOMINATES G-8 GATHERING
The Mideast conflict dominated initial talks of leaders of the
world's industrial powers gathered in the Canadian Rockies for
their annual summit.. The prime topic was the intractable Israel-Palestinian
conflict and President Bush's new proposal demanding the replacement
of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as a condition for creation
of a Palestinian state.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&514&e=11&u=
- /ap/20020626/ap_on_re_ca/summit_15
- PAYMENT TO AL AKSA BRIGADE SEALED BUSH CALL TO REPLACE ARAFAT
US President George W. Bush decided to call for Yasser Arafat's
removal after seeing intelligence reports last week that Arafat
had approved a $20,000 payment to the Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade,
which claimed responsibility for last week's suicide bombing
at a bus
stop in northern Jerusalem that killed seven, the New York Times
reported today. That information, the Times reported, hardened
Bush's resolve to seek Arafat's removal. "That was a key,"
one senior US administration official told the Times. "It
sealed it."
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1023716554625
- SAUDI ARABIA BANS PRODUCTS BEARING 'STAR OF DAVID'
Saudi Arabia's Commerce Ministry has launched an investigation
to determine why various products bearing a "Star of David"
had been brought into the desert kingdom, the English-language
Riyadh Daily reported yesterday. The ministry, according to the
report, had
dispatched "inspectors of commercial fraud" to various
parts of the country to confiscate items such as children's toys,
candy, and laser discs because they bore the six-cornered symbol.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1023716552689
- E.U., RUSSIA, U.N. LINE UP BEHIND ARAFAT
European governments said yesterday that it is up to Palestinians
to decide who should lead them, rejecting U.S. President George
W. Bush's assertion that Mideast peace requires Yasser Arafat
to be replaced. While expressing support for many elements of
the policy speech Bush gave on Monday - his backing for the creation
of a Palestinian state, his goal of achieving a final peace deal
within three years, and his calls for reform of the Palestinian
Authority
and an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territory - European
leaders said they could not endorse his call for a "new
and different" Palestinian leadership.
http://test.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=180129&contrassID=
- 2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y
- WAR CRIMES AGAINST SHARON DISMISSED
A Belgian appeals court ruled Wednesday that Belgium cannot investigate
war crimes charges against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
related to a 1982 massacre in two Palestinian refugee camps.
The three-judge panel said a case could not proceed against a
person who is not in Belgium. "If a person is not found
on the territory, we find it inadmissible," the court said
in its 22-page ruling. Lawyers for 23 Palestinian survivors who
launched the case in Belgium last year said before the decision
that they would appeal if it went against them.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020626/
- ap_on_re_mi_ea/belgium_war_crimes_sharon_5
- ISRAEL REJECTS PARTICIPATION ON INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Israel reaffirmed its refusal to take part in the International
Criminal Court (ICC) on the eve of its launch in The Hague, military
radio said.
http://www.arabia.com/afp/news/mideast/article/english/0,10846,235577,00.html
- ISRAEL ENDORSES 'JEWS-ONLY' TOWNS
The Tampa Tribune, July 9, 2002 - A Plan to keep Arabs out called
'Racist'. Touching off a divisive debate, the government of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon has endorsed a proposed law that allows
Jews to bar Arab citizens of Israel from living or purchasing
homes in many Israeli communities... Drafted by members of an
ultranationalist, right-wing party, the law comes in response
to a landmark decision by the Israeli Supreme Court in March
2000 that said Arab citizens are entitled to use state-owned
land... Peres said his Labor party will 'fight with all its power
against the racist decision" - even if it means quitting
the government.
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