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Newsletter : 9fax0611.txt
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>JN June 11, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 105
PLO Demands Israel Withdraw from Galilee
By IsraelWire
Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen), second in command to PLO Authority Chief Yasir Arafat, has publicly demanded that Israel withdraw from the Galilee region--the northern section of Israel, which has been part of the country since 1948. In an interview with the Abu Dhabi newspaper Al Ittihad May 30, Abbas said: "Israel must withdraw from Jerusalem...Our position on the issue of Jerusalem and all the occupied Palestinian territories is clear and what applies to Jerusalem also applies to Hebron, Nablus, Galilee, and Tul Karem."
Assad Confidant in Israel
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel's Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak has been advised that peace with Lebanon is not possible without the consent of Syria. Barak heard the message from the biographer and confidant of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
Patrick Seale is perhaps one of a kind in the English-speaking
world, the writer of a biography of Assad, and one who has regular
access to the highest levels of power in Damascus.
During a week-long visit to Israel, Seale has held audiences with
both Barak and President Ezer Weizman. Seale advised Barak that it
would not be possible to keep his election promise and successfully
withdraw all Israeli troops from southern Lebanon within a year
without the backing of Syria.
Delivering a lecture at Tel Aviv University, Seale said Damascus
would not allow Israel to pull out quietly from Lebanon without at
the same time agreeing to give back the Golan Heights, captured
from Syria during the 1967 war.
"What does Assad want? I believe -- and I think we can put quite
(it) simply: first, he wants his land back. He wants to recover the
Golan lost under his watch when he was defense minister in 1967.
This is today his first priority."
Seale says without a commitment on the Golan, Assad will do
everything in his power to spoil attempts by Israel to withdraw
unilaterally from Lebanon.
His comments underline the fact with some 30,000 Syrian troops stationed inside Lebanon, it is Damascus and not Beirut that controls the country's destiny. He says that given this reality, Barak has no other choice but to negotiate with Syria and hope he can complete the job of his mentor, the late Yitzhak Rabin, the first Israeli leader to attempt a peace settlement with Damascus.
Iranian Jews Face Death if Convicted of Spying
Arutz-7 News Service
Iran has charged 13 Jews with spying for Israel and the United States, crimes punishable by death in the Islamic republic. Iranian radio reported the suspects were living in a Jewish community in the southern Fars province, and were accused of spying for the "Zionist regime" and "World Arrogance," common references to Israel and the U.S. respectively.
The brief report said they had been charged following interrogation
and documented evidence.
Sources in the Jewish community say the arrests were made two
months ago, in the city of Shiraz, and that those held included the
chief rabbi of Shiraz and students at a Jewish school there.
An expert on the Iranian legal system said the arrests may be part
of the latest "power play" between the supporters of the Iran's
spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and those backing the
popularly-elected President Mohammed Khatami, regarded a relative
moderate.
He said both the legislative and judicial branches of government
were firmly controlled by the Khamenei old-guard, as was the
Islamic militia. The arrests also "show the basic lack of freedom
in the constitution of the Islamic republic. I've studied many
legal systems, and never seen anything like this - a situation
where people can be accused of anything by those in power."
The expert dismissed the spying charges as "meaningless," saying it
was not uncommon for those considered "non-believers" - Jews,
Christians, Baha'is and others - to be the targets of trumped-up
charges of espionage or drug trafficking, whenever there were
internal problems.
Since the 1979 revolution, Iranian authorities have executed at
least 13 Jews, most of whom were sentenced to death for religious
reasons or connections with Israel, according to human rights
monitoring groups.
In 1997, Iran hanged two Jews convicted of spying for the two
countries. Iranian Jews have also been charged in the past with
attempting to help Jews immigrate to Israel or the U.S.
In June 1998, a 60-year-old Jew was hanged, apparently for having
ties to Israel or, according to one report, for helping Jews
fleeing Iran. The man disappeared a month before his family was
notified by the authorities that he had been executed. No
explanation was offered.
Iran's 25,000-strong Jewish community is one of the world's oldest
outside of Israel. On the eve of the 1979 Islamic revolution that
overthrew the Shah, there were 60,000 Jews in the country. The
majority left. The remaining community enjoys limited religious
freedom, living under constant suspicion of cooperation with Israel
and the U.S.
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