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Newsletter : 8fax0918.txt
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>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Sept. 18, 1998, Vol. 6, No. 168
Happy Rosh Hashana. L'Shanah Tovah (To a Good Year)
The next issue of Israel Faxx will be dated Sept. 23, 1998
Security Forces Work to Prevent Terror Attack
By IsraelWire
Security forces are on alert in an effort to prevent attempts by
Hamas and other terror organizations from striking out over the
upcoming New Year holiday. The IDF, police and other forces have
been deployed in large numbers and security precautions in
high-profile and public areas has been increased.
Following the killing of two senior Hamas leaders by Israeli forces
last week, Hamas has vowed to take revenge. Hamas leader Sheik
Achmed Yassin made public threats against Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, explaining that he is not safe.
With a large influx of visitors expected for the start of the
holiday season, along with the anticipated tens of thousands of
Israelis who will begin making their way to Ben-Gurion
International Airport, security forces are increasing their
activities in the airport and other public transportation
facilities.
Palestinian Student Killed
By Al Pessin (VOA-Jerusalem)
An Israeli traveler shot and killed a Palestinian high school student on a West Bank road Thursday, and wounded several others, further increasing tensions as Israel prepares to mark the Jewish New Year holiday.
Israeli and Palestinian sources say a group of students threw
stones at a car and two men inside responded with gunfire. But the
students claim they were attacked without provocation. The incident
took place on a road near Ramallah, where Israeli settlements and
Palestinian villages are nearly side-by-side.
The shooting came just before Israel announced its annual closure
of the Palestinian territories for the New Year holiday Monday and
Tuesday. The closure starts Friday night. Israel has just eased a
closure which has been in effect since last week, when its forces
ambushed and killed two leaders of the militant Palestinian group
Hamas, sparking Palestinian anger.
Lawyers Say Austrian Firms Used Slave Labor
By IsraelWire
Lawyers accused three Austrian companies of using slave labor
during Nazi rule and urged them to pay compensation or be included
in a lawsuit against German companies.
The companies were identified as viscose manufacturer Lenzing
vehicle assembler Steyr-Daimler-Puch and industrial giant
Voest-Alpine, which has since split into several companies.
US attorney Edward Fagan and German lawyer Michael Witti, who
forced Swiss banks to compensate for profiting from gold stolen
from Jews and other groups during the Nazi era, said they were
turning their attention to Austrian banks, insurance companies and
industry.
"We urge that slave labor companies in Austria finally pay
compensation to our clients so that they don't get included in the
lawsuits (against German firms)," Witti told a news conference in
Vienna.
No comment was available from Steyr-Daimler-Puch but Lenzing said
it had started to search its archives for evidence of forced labor
in its factories during Hitler's Third Reich.
Fagan said Nazi-era slave labor companies all had lists showing who
worked for whom, in which concentration camp or factory, under what
circumstances and for how long.
"We will not stop until we have recovered the lists and followed
the money, and it is not going to end here in Austria. This will go
on and on until the last penny has been divested from the people
and the companies to which it does not belong," he said.
Report Predicts Decline in Diaspora Jewry Population
By IsraelWire
If assimilation trends among world Jewry continue at the present
rate, the population of the Jewish Diaspora will be halved within
30 years, from an estimated 8.6 million today to about 4.4 million,
Haaretz reported. This trend was predicted in a survey conducted
recently by the Jerusalem-based Institute of the World Jewish
Congress.
Most Diaspora communities are showing a negative natural growth
rate, with the number of deaths outstripping the number of births.
Meanwhile, the worldwide rate of assimilation stands at roughly 50
percent.
The United States remains home to the world's largest Jewish
community, with 5.6 million, although the survey forecasts that
within 10 years Israel will surpass the US in Jewish population.
Israel's Oldest Newest Mother
By IsraelWire
"I'm a mother!" exclaimed Simi Chermon, 59. She told reporters that after almost 40 years of being barren, she is finally a mother. She conceived using frozen sperm from her late husband who passed away three years ago. She added it was a bittersweet moment that her late husband of 37 years was not alive to see his daughter.
Simi explained that she has tried many times but was never
successful in becoming pregnant, until now. She said next month,
when she celebrates her 59th birthday, it will be a most joyous
occasion. The new baby girl, named Nisya (Miracle) weighed in at 6
lbs. 8 oz.
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