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Newsletter : 9fax0210.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 10, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 28
Israel to Issue King Hussein Memorial Medal
By IsraelWire
A State of Israel Memorial Medal paying tribute to Jordan's King
Hussein has been announced by the Israel Government Coins and
Medals Corporation. The obverse features the portrait of King
Hussein and the reverse, the flags of Israel and Jordan and
inscription "Peace for the Children of Abraham." The medal is to be
struck in 14k gold, pure silver, and bronze in limited editions.
Crashed El Al Flight Carried Poison, Explosives
By IsraelWire and the Irish Times
It began as a routine parliamentary investigation to appease a
minority who believed the full facts surrounding the worst civil
aviation disaster in Dutch history had not come out. Nobody in the
Netherlands could have foreseen the time bomb waiting to go off.
A stunned public, watching the live televised proceedings of the
Bijlmer Inquiry, discovered leading Dutch officials covered up
vital information endangering lives after the crash. The Israeli
airline, El Al, had received special treatment resulting in
astonishing lapses of public safety at the Amsterdam airport and
over Dutch airspace.
Five leading officials have already been suspended. The Prime
Minister, Wim Kok, has described the cover-up as "unforgivable" and
"shocking", and criminal proceedings are expected to result.
Dutch civil servants, state civil aviation officials and air
traffic controllers now stand accused of conspiring to conceal the
fact that the jumbo jet which crashed over Amsterdam in October
1992, killing 39 people on the ground and the crew of four, was
carrying explosives, poison, gases and munitions.
Recorded telephone transcripts in the crash aftermath played to the
parliamentary inquiry reveal that a cover-up was agreed between an
El Al employee and his Dutch counterparts.
The type of poisons and gases being carried aboard is still
unclear. The implications, for the hundreds who sifted through the
crash debris searching for survivors and clues to the tragedy, many
with their bare hands and without protective clothing, and for
residents, are ominous.
Also revealed was a 25-page repairs check-list never carried out on
the Boeing 747 cargo plane which ploughed into a high-rise
apartment complex in the densely populated Amsterdam suburb shortly
after taking off.
El Al mechanics testified that they were ordered by senior staff to
release aircraft they themselves considered unfit to be airborne
and did not want to sign release forms for. "Sometimes a plane
should not have been allowed to fly," said a Dutch senior El Al
mechanic, Carel Gaalman, under oath.
The El Al cargo flight, which crashed, was carrying 115 tons of
cargo, 15 above the maximum limit. Witnesses at the Dutch inquiry
have testified that planes with up to 120 tons which "could barely
get off the ground" were granted permission to fly.
The airline had a unique position at Schiphol airport, enjoying
special privileges since the beginning of the 1970s. Nobody was
allowed to inspect El Al cargo or interfere with its procedures,
challenge its security or ground staff or speak about anything they
had seen, said witnesses, describing the El Al area as a
mini-Israel.
According to Jane's Weekly, until the end of 1996 Schiphol was
Israel's most important transit point for military cargo, listed
as general cargo or electrical parts, passing through the Dutch
civil airport under a shroud of secrecy.
"A generation of Dutch people feel they owe a great debt to Israel,
and the irregularities now being uncovered at the El Al disaster
inquiry are part of accommodating this special relationship," said
the political commentator Hans Wansink. "Of the 140,000 Jews in
Holland, 105,000 were murdered during the war, and our guilt
feelings that much more should have been done to save them persist
to this day."
Jordan: The Funeral's Aftermath
By Scott Bobb (VOA-Amman)
Jordan remains officially in mourning and its new King Abdullah
continues to receive condolences from around the country and all
over the world. Jordanian television is highlighting the many
encounters between King Abdullah and some of the world's most
powerful people, who came Monday to attend the funeral of his
father.
One important pledge of support came from the crown prince
of Saudi Arabia who said his kingdom will provide additional aid
and investment to the struggling Jordanian economy. Kuwait also
sent its crown prince. The size of the delegations from the Gulf
states indicates the rift that began when Jordan backed Iraq in the
Gulf war is now over.
The president of Syria also met with the new king pledging to
improve relations which have been strained since Jordan signed a
peace treaty with Israel. And President Clinton pledged continued
support for Jordan, adding the king's father even in death
continued to serve international reconciliation.
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