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Newsletter : 9fax0429.txt
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>JN April 29, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 80
Lifer Petitions High Court for Right to Die
By IsraelWire
A prisoner serving a life sentence for murdering his mother has petitioned prison authority officials to permit him to die by ceasing to give him the pharmaceuticals that sustain his existence. Mordehai Ben-Tzvi has filed a petition with a district court, explaining that he no longer wishes to continue living with his chronic illness and wants to be permitted to die passively.
Colorado Attacker Participated in Passover Seder
By IsraelWire
Dylan Klebold, 17, one of the two teenagers who opened fire last
week in a Littleton, Colorado, school, reportedly participated in
a Passover seder earlier this month and recited the Four Questions.
Klebold, who killed himself after he and his partner, Eric Harris,
18, shot and killed 12 students and a teacher, was Jewish. Klebold,
whose father is Catholic and mother Jewish, was buried this week in
a Catholic ceremony. According to the New York Times, the Klebold
family took part in a seder.
I has been learned that the two planned to kill 500 persons in the
school, then steal a plane, and crash it into a populated center of
a major city. According to the Jefferson Country sheriff,
interviewed by the Denver Post, they planned to crash a plane into
New York City and kill as many persons as possible.
Officials investigating the case believe a connection exists with
neo-Nazis -- adding the attack took place on the 110th anniversary
of Hitler's birth.
It's Israel's Version of Take an Indian to Lunch Week
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
The campaign for Israel's May 17 general election has moved into
high gear with the start of radio and television advertising by
political parties and their candidates for prime minister.
Campaign laws in Israel prohibit political ads on TV and radio
until three weeks before the election. They began this week in an
onslaught of messages by the 33 parties and five prime ministerial
candidates that filled a 42-minute bloc of prime time on Israeli
television.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who trails Labor party leader
Ehud Barak in the opinion polls, claimed in his messages Barak
would sacrifice Israeli interests by giving in to Palestinian
demands for an independent state.
Labor countered with ads stressing Barak's glittering military
career and focussing on scandals and high unemployment in
Netanyahu's three-year tenure. Meanwhile, Centrist candidate
Yitzhak Mordechai, Netanyahu's defense chief until last December,
attacked his former boss for mishandling the peace process.
In an ad directed at Israel's 1-million-member Arab community the
Iraqi-born Mordechai promised if elected to, for the first time,
name an Arab to the Cabinet, and he greeted viewers in Arabic.
About 800-minutes of free broadcast time is allocated among the
parties, according to how many seats they had in the 120-member
parliament -- with newly-formed parties getting only a few minutes
exposure. If, as expected, no prime ministerial candidate gets an
outright majority, there will be a run-off June 1 between the
two top finishers, who will get another allocation of TV and
radio ads.
High Court Orders Israel to Acknowledge Lesbian Adoption
By IsraelWire
The Interior Ministry has been given 90-days to show why it has
refused to recognize a lesbian woman's adoption of her lover's
child. The High Court of Justice ordered the ministry to explain
why it has refused to acknowledge the adoption of the child.
Ruthi Brenner-Kadish, 35, and Nicole Brenner-Kadish, 34, met
one-another in Tel-Aviv. The two then moved to the United States,
where they studied in California. They were subsequently "married" by
a Conservative rabbi and Ruthi became pregnant by artificial
insemination. She later gave birth to a boy. Nicole adopted the
child while in the United States but the Interior Ministry in
Israel has refused to acknowledge the child as her son.
The two, who are Jerusalem residents, returned to Israel two years
ago. They explain they their efforts since their return to register
the child have failed with the Interior Ministry officials
explaining a child cannot be registered as having two mothers.
High Court President Aaron Barak said if one may have two
grandparents, one may also have a biological and adopted mother.
Drugs Clog Toilet in Religious Council Office
By IsraelWire
Marijuana and hashish were found to be the cause of a clogged toilet tank in the office of the Beersheva Religious Council. When the cause of the clogged toilet was discovered, the officials in the rabbinate called police. The substances found in a plastic bag inside the tank were identified as illegal drugs. Police have since launched an investigation.
Yaakov Maragi, the head of the Beersheva Religious Council,
expressed his outrage over the incident and stated that even the
toilets are no longer above suspicion. "This should light a red
light," he reported.
