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Newsletter : 8fax1030.txt
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>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Oct. 30, 1998, Vol. 6, No. 195
Syria: Wye Agreement May Lead to Palestinian Civil War
Israel Faxx Staff Report
The Wye Agreement may lead to a civil war among the Palestinians, according to a high-ranking Syrian official. In an interview with the BBC, the Secretary-General of the Arab Socialist Party in Syria said that there are those "even within the Palestinian Authority who oppose the agreement," and that this could lead to a civil war. The official said that Syria opposes the agreement, as it "turns Arafat into a police station commander to protect Israel."
Terrorists in Gaza Attack Israel School Children
>YX By Al Pessin (VOA-Jerusalem)
The Palestinian Authority has placed the leader of the militant Palestinian group Hamas under house arrest after his group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing Thursday that targeted an Israeli school bus. The children escaped without serious injury, but a 19-year-old Israeli soldier was killed in the blast.
Palestinian security forces surrounded the home of Sheikh Ahmed
Yassin Thursday afternoon, allowing family members to come and go
but keeping others out, including journalists. Officials said the
sheikh is under house arrest.
This is the first time the Palestinian Authority has moved against
Yassin since he was released from an Israeli jail last year. He
opposes the Authority's decision to make peace with Israel and says
Palestinians have the right to use force to destroy Israel, which
Hamas says is on Palestinian land.
Palestinian security officials have said recent statements by the
sheikh are against Palestinian interests, including his criticism
of last week's Israeli-Palestinian agreement signed in Washington.
The sheikh's house arrest, and the detention of dozens of
lower-level Hamas activists, came after 40 Israeli school children
narrowly avoided a powerful Hamas suicide car bomb aimed at their
school bus in Gaza. An Israeli army jeep escorting the school bus
intervened and took the brunt of the explosion.
The children say there was a loud boom, their bus windows
shattered, and the vehicle was filled with acrid smoke. Under
orders from the driver, the children dove onto the floor of
the specially re-enforced, bulletproof bus.
Aged six to 14, they were on their daily trip from the isolated
settlement of Kfar Darom (South Village) to a larger Gaza
settlement where their school is located. The children continued
to the school, where they received counseling from psychologists,
and then returned home.
For several anxious minutes Thursday morning Israel waited to learn
the fate of the children after initial radio reports said their bus
had been targeted. The bus driver broke the tension with a call
from his mobile phone to say the children were safe. Some were
treated for shock and minor bumps and scrapes. The blast also
collapsed the roof of a nearby building, injuring three Palestinian
girls.
Israeli troops and Palestinian police clashed briefly as the
soldiers were pursuing some suspects, who fled into the large
Palestinian-controlled part of Gaza. The army says one of the
suspects was injured and is in Palestinian police custody.
Most of Gaza is under the Palestinian Authority but Israel controls
areas around the Strip's Jewish settlements. The attack was in an
area where both Israeli and Palestinian traffic and security forces
circulate.
Visiting the site of Thursday's attack, Israeli Defense Minister
Yitzhak Mordechai said if the Palestinian Authority fulfills its
promise to intensively fight terrorist organizations, Israel will
still fulfill its obligation to hand over more territory.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu visited the wounded at
a hospital in southern Israel and repeated his demand for what he
called the "complete mobilization of the Palestinian Authority
against terrorists."
Arafat called the bombing a "terrorist act" aimed at hurting the
peace process and the Palestinian people. He vowed that his
Authority will find and prosecute whoever planned the attack.
Rabbi Sells Sex Manual to Playboy Magazine
By IsraelWire
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, a British rabbi, has sold his Kosher Sex Manual to Playboy for a reported $200,000, but as a result of the deal, the rabbi has been forced to submit his resignation to the London synagogue where he was employed.
Despite the controversy surrounding the rabbi's publication, and
his dealings with Playboy, he maintains that he has done nothing
wrong, explaining that, "Jews should not be squeamish about sex and
should attempt to cement their marriages by experimenting beyond
the missionary position."
The rabbi, who also wrote "The Jewish Guide to Adultery," stressed
that he was not a fan of pornography, but he was pleased that he
was able to use Playboy as the vehicle to deliver his serious
message to the Jewish public. The former American living in England
said that in accordance with his deal made with Playboy, there will
be no pornographic photographs near his article appearing in the
magazine.
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