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Newsletter : 8fax0803.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Aug. 3, 1998, Vol. 6, No. 136
Middle East Negotiations Resume
By Mark Lavie (VOA-Tel Aviv)
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resume talks Monday over
implementation of an agreement calling for Israel to hand over
another part of the West Bank to Palestinian civilian control.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Arekat is to meet with Israeli
Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh. The two sides continue to disagree
about the issues, and even about how the talks are progressing.
The last negotiating session was Thursday. The Palestinians say
nothing has been accomplished, and warn the talks will end in a
few days if the Israelis do not accept a US proposal to bridge
the gaps.
The Israelis claim there has been progress in the past few days
-- adding the Palestinian pessimism is aimed at building pressure
on Israel. The direct talks resumed two-weeks ago after the United
States urged both sides to solve their own problems instead of
relying on US mediation. The Israelis and Palestinians each want
the US to pressure the other side.
Sunday, Jews commemorated the destruction of the biblical Temple in
Jerusalem 2,000 years ago. Thousands gathered in the Old City of
Jerusalem to pray and chant the liturgy of mourning at the Western
Wall, the holiest Jewish site in the world.
The Wall is the last remnant of the ancient Temple, a retaining
wall below the site the Jews call the Temple Mount, where a Muslim
shrine and mosque now stand.
The present-day struggle between Israelis and Palestinians for
control of Jerusalem -- entered the religious observance, when
Jewish extremists demanded the right to pray on the Temple Mount
itself.
The Muslim Religious Council administers the area, called
Haram-al-Sharif, the Holy Mountain, in Arabic. According to Muslim
belief, it marks the spot where the Prophet Mohammed ascended to
heaven.
The Jewish demonstrators demanded Israel take control of the Temple
Mount. Israeli police kept the demonstrators away from the area.
It was an illustration of the complexity and explosiveness of the
issues that remain to be resolved here, dwarfing the disputes that
have stalemated Israeli-Palestinian negotiations for more than a
year and a half.
Auschwitz Crosses at Site Where Jews Were Burned Alive
By IsraelWire
The Jerusalem Post reports that at the present site at Auschwitz, Polish Catholics are setting up crucifixes is the very location where Jewish children were burned alive during the Holocaust. The Post quoted the former Israeli Consul in New York, Naftali Lavie, a Holocaust survivor, as the source for the report.
Lavie, who heads the World Jewish Restitution Organization, was
responding to a Jerusalem Post report which spoke of 50 crucifixes
being set up on the site of the concentration camp where 12,000
persons were killed daily.
In addition to Lavie's reaction, the Labor Party's former Knesset
Speaker, Shevach Weiss, another survivor of the Nazi death machine,
sent a letter to Poland's president calling upon the government to
immediately take actions to remove the crosses.
According to the Catholic officials who are placing the crosses
around the length of the camp's perimeter fence, it has no plans to
stop its actions to erect the crucifixes.
The directorate of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum also issued a
statement calling upon Polish authorities to remove the crosses.
"This provocative act is a violation of the agreement reached
between the international bodies according to which no religious,
ideological or political symbols would be erected on the site. Over
a million people were murdered at Auschwitz and did not receive a
proper burial. It was agreed that a tombstone would not be erected
on the site and that only a museum for educational purposes would
be allowed to remain there.
"The placing of the crosses, after special efforts have been made
to reduce tensions, may aggravate the situation and prevent further
dialogue between the sides about the future of the site."
Yad Vashem also emphasized that there are many places of worship in
the vicinity of Auschwitz where anyone who wishes to do so may
express their religiosity.
Miss Universe Competition Scheduled for Eilat
By IsraelWire
The next Miss Universe beauty pageant in May 1999 will be held in the port city of Eilat. The final deal was closed between Eilat Mayor Gabi Kadosh and Donald Trump. The event was originally scheduled for Eilat, but Kadosh stated he was unable to secure the financing. It was then tentatively scheduled for Hawaii, but after the meeting with Trump, it appears the necessary funds were secured.
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