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Newsletter : 8fax1029.txt
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>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Oct. 29, 1998, Vol. 6, No. 194
Aide: Arafat Didn't Understand What He Was Signing
By Arutz-7 News Service
The Palestinian Authority claims that Yasir Arafat's command of the
English language is not strong enough to hold him to contracts he
signs in that language. Newsweek reports that this claim was made by
Arafat's chief economic adviser, Mohammed Rashid, in a case
currently before American courts.
The case involves a Virginia communications company, which sued the
PA for canceling a signed contract; the PA was sentenced to pay
damages of $18.7 million to the company. Appealing the case, the
PA's Rashid claimed that Arafat did not understand what he was
signing, and that Arafat has only a modest command of English.
Rashid also allocated some blame to the "unreliable postal and fax
services" in Gaza, saying that this led to the PA not responding to
arbitration notices. Finally, Rashid also argued that paying the
money would jeopardize the regime's international funding in the
future.
Drama at Sea: PA Police Seize Channel 2 Yacht
By IsraelWire
PLO Authority police Monday seized an Israeli yacht travelling near
the Gaza coast while filming a story for Israel television's
Channel Two. The Israeli Navy prevented the arrest of the Israeli by
the PA police at the end of a dramatic incident.
On Monday morning a team of Channel Two reporters set out to
prepare a story about navy commandos who 50 years ago sank the
Egyptian ship "Amir Farouk." Towards the end of filming, some 2.5
kilometers west of Gaza, the yacht was commandeered by the PA Coast
Guard.
According to Channel Two reporter Dov Gil-Har, the ship was
approved by both the Israel Navy and the PA. "Therefore, we were
very surprised when the PA policemen, armed with Kalashnikov rifles
with the magazines in place, came on board the yacht and asked that
we transfer to one of their waiting dinghies and accompany them to
the Gaza police station. We refused, and called the navy," said
Gil-Har.
In a short time a Israel Navy ship arrived and asked the Arabs to
leave the yacht, which they refused to do. The navy called in a
second ship and also contacted the PA.
"The PA "soldiers" had their fingers on the triggers. I worried
that one would discharge a bullet because of the rocking of the
boat, and then the whole picture would have changed," said Itzik
Brookman, one of the commando veterans filmed in the TV story.
For hours Israel Navy officers deliberated with the PA Coast Guard
commander, and only in the afternoon did the Arabs leave the yacht.
IDF sources said: "The PA had no justification in seizing the
yacht, and their actions are not in accordance with the Oslo
Accords, since the sea is not under PA police jurisdiction, except
for the beach. This is well known to them. Their action were
unjustified, and shouldn't have happened. In accordance with the
Oslo accords the sea adjacent to Gaza is under Israeli
jurisdiction, and Israeli sea craft need no authorization from the
PA to sail there."
War on Counterfeiters: Paper Money to be Redesigned
By IsraelWire
In an attempt to limit the amount of counterfeit bills in
circulation, the Bank of Israel will begin in January a gradual
process of changing over to a new series of paper money. On Jan. 3,
production of NIS20 and NIS100 denomination bills will begin; later
in the year NIS50 and NIS200 bills will be added.
The old money will remain in use congruently with the new bills for
18 months.a year The public will be able to exchange old series
bills for new bills in branches of the Bank of Israel in Jerusalem
and Tel-Aviv until 2005.
The newly designed bills have a new, vertical orientation. The
series is multi-colored, each denomination its own distinctive
color. The colors are similar to the ones currently in use, except
for the NIS20 bills, which will be green, instead of gray. Each
denomination carries the same portraits currently in use, and on
both sides have background pictures and texts illustrating the
person pictured.
The bill's worth is printed in raised figures on both sides, and
additional symbols are raised for blind users. The new series also
will include a bill of NIS500 denomination with a
portrait commemorating Yitzchak Rabin.
Speedily in Our Time: New Jet Record
By Arutz-7 News Service
A new record has been set for a flight between Chicago and Tel
Aviv. Itim News Agency reports that Capt. Moshe Heichal landed his
Boeing 747 in Ben Gurion International Airport today exactly 10:02
after take-off from Chicago. The average time for the flight is
10:45.
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