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Newsletter : 9fax0504.txt
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>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN May 4, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 83
Netanyahu Responds to Palestinian-Iranian Ties
By IsraelWire
Following reports of Yasir Arafat's intention to establish
diplomatic relations with Iran, and to raise the status of foreign
missions in the territories, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
said: "Arafat's intention to establish close relations with Iran
demonstrates the danger to be posed if a Palestinian state is
created. It will bring Iran -- Israel's great enemy to our
doorstep.
"If it is true that the Palestinian Authority is acting to raise
the level of its relations with other countries, this would
constitute a flagrant violation of the Oslo Accord -- and Israel
would be obliged to take aggressive action."
PD and IDF Establish Anti-Virtual Terror Unit
By IsraelWire
The police and the military have established a new hi-tech unit to
combat "virtual terrorism," namely, to deal with persons and/or
organizations attempting to penetrate into the computer systems of
security agencies of the country.
The new unit will is modeled after the bomb-demolition/removal
unit. While some of the personnel deal with neutralizing the
problem at hand, the other members will be involved in tracking
down the offenders and the subsequent interrogation of suspects
once apprehended.
In light of successful penetrations into the military's computer
systems, with increasing awareness that the next war may be fought
via computers, officials decided the time for such a unit was
overdo.
Computer hackers are sought out prior to their induction into the
IDF. They then undergo a intensive training program and unleashed
on the nation's computer systems in the hope of preventing
infiltration into computer systems serving the military,
government, telephone providers, banks, hospitals and more. The
unit enjoys the cooperation of the police as well as the various
intelligence communities.
A police spokesman admitted that in 1998, the computer unit dealt
with a 200 percent increase in computer-related crimes compared
with the previous year.
Israel Returns Kindness to Daughter of "Righteous Gentiles"
By IsraelWire
When Lamija Jaha and her husband fled their home in Albania about
one-month ago, she did not realize the slip of paper that she took
from her dead father's pocket would assist her as it did.
The paper was a certificate issued to her late parents, Dervis and
Servet Korkut, both Muslims, for their efforts in saving Jews
during World War 2, by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. As a
result, Lamija and her family were taken into a kibbutz in northern
Israel.
Her parents hid Jews in Sarajevo during the war. Her mother remains
in Sarajevo today, despite the ongoing conflict. According to the
New York Times, not only did the Korkuts hide several Jews from the
local pro-Nazi regime, but Dervis Korkut saved the precious
Sarajevo Haggadah, concealing it in his home and thus keeping the
14th-century volume, the best known illuminated Hebrew manuscript,
intact.
After Lamija arrived in Macedonia, she showed the certificate to
leaders of the Jewish community, who in turn did what they could to
assist her and her family. They assisted Mrs. Jaha and her husband,
Vllaznim, to join a planeload of Kosovar Albanian refugees accepted by Israel.
Lag B'Omer
By IsraelWire
More than 250,000 persons are expected to make the annual
pilgrimage to the Tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai, in Meron, for Lag
B'Omer, which began Monday evening.
If you were flying over Israel last night and you looked out of the
window, you saw thousands of bonfires dotting the landscape. It is
Lag B'Omer - the 33rd day of the Omer: the 33rd day of counting
the seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot.
The holiday's roots go back to the Bar Kochba revolt and a plague in which Rabbi Akiva's students died. The current customs of the day originate with the 16th century kabbalists of Safed. For many Israeli children, Lag B'Omer is the day to build the most towering bonfire possible. For weeks before, Israeli children scavenge wood and other flammable objects, then create impressive sculptures. Much calculation is involved as the children vie with each other to build the pyre that will produce the biggest and highest fire.
Among the Orthodox, Lag B'Omer is a day of weddings and haircuts,
both of which activities were proscribed during the weeks before.
Since there is a custom not to cut a boy's hair until his third
year, many boys around 3 years old receive their first haircuts on
Lag B'Omer. Some are taken to the kever (grave) of a tzaddik
(righteous person) for the ceremony, called the Chalaka. After the
haircut, the child usually receives a new kippah (skullcap),
tzitzit (fringed garment), and lots of sweets to mark the occasion.
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