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Newsletter : 9fax0726.txt
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>JN July 26, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 135
Happy Birthday to Rita Starr Klyde in New Hempstead, NY
Passports Will be Valid for 10 Years
By IsraelWire
Good news for Israelis who do not enjoy bureaucracy. Passports will no longer have to be 'extended' every five years and will remain valid for a period of ten years from the date of issue.
Barak, Peres and Other Israelis at King Hassan's Funeral
By Arutz-7, IsraelWire & Laurie Kassman (VOA-Rabat, Morocco)
Israel was well represented among the two million citizens and
foreign dignitaries at King Hassan's funeral in Morocco, with Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, President Ezer Weizman, Foreign Minister David
Levy, Minister of Regional Development Shimon Peres, and others in
attendance. Although PA Chairman Yasir Arafat, Jordan's King
Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak were on hand, Syrian
President Hafez Assad did not attend.
King Hassan II of Morocco died on Friday night at the age of 70.
King for 38 years, he was the world's longest-reigning leader.
Shimon Peres revealed that he met Hassan secretly 10 times,
beginning in 1978, and that in one of the meetings the king
introduced him to Arafat. Israeli law forbade meeting PLO officials
before 1993, and Peres had always denied doing so. The late King
will be succeeded by his son, 36-year-old Muhammad VI, who
reportedly will continue his father's policies concerning Israel.
The Prime Minister's Office on Saturday issued a formal statement
praising the late king, calling him a "great leader and friend of
Israel."
As the casket bearing King Hassan passed by, the crowds chanted
verses from the Koran. Women and children wept openly and men held
their heads in disbelief. King Hassan's son, followed behind on a
horse-drawn carriage, alongside the male members of his family,
government officials and politicians and dignitaries from more
than 30 countries around the world.
Hundreds of thousands of people lining the route surged forward,
breaking through the barriers to join the official mourners as they
walked slowly toward the mausoleum where King Hassan was buried
alongside his father, King Mohamed V. Police and security
tired to keep them at a distance from the official mourners.
Moroccans describe the late King Hassan as a father figure. For
most of Morocco's 29-million citizens, he is the only king they
have known. The funeral services concluded with special Muslim
prayers for King Hassan who is considered a descendant of the
prophet Mohamed.
Vatican Blames Israel of Being Anti-Christian
By IsraelWire
Miffed by Israel's cool response to its efforts to rid the church
of anti-Semitism, a Vatican representative said that Israel is to
blame for tensions between Jews and the Catholic Church.
The Rev. David Yager shocked a conference on anti-Semitism by
saying that Israel's anti-Catholic attitude -- not the Catholic
Church's anti-Israel attitude -- is preventing relations from
warming as Israel prepares to greet millions of Catholic pilgrims
in the millennium.
"The Catholic Church and the Jewish people are now allies, friends
and lovers," said the brown-robed priest, who represents the Holy
See on a bilateral committee to improve relations with Israel.
However, Israel has angered the Vatican by refusing to acknowledge
Catholic overtures of friendship, including recent official
declarations against anti-Semitism, Yager said.
He said Israel aimed to keep the Vatican on the defensive, pointing
to Israeli reminders of Pope Pius XII's alleged failure to speak
out against Nazi atrocities during World War II, which he called a
"blood libel."
Israel has sharply criticized a proposal in the Vatican to beatify
Pius, the last step before making him a saint, saying his public
silence on the genocide of 6 Million Jews facilitated collaboration
with the Nazis. The Vatican says Pius acted for Jews behind the
scenes.
Jewish participants said Yager was glossing over 2,000 years of
Catholic anti-Semitism. "Our questions, our desires to search the
truth are not blood libelous," said an angry Abraham Foxman,
director of the Anti-Defamation League.
Foxman praised efforts by the current pope, John Paul II, to remove
anti-Semitism from Catholic liturgy but said the message was not
filtering down to churches at the grassroots level. "We both have
responsibilities that we haven't fulfilled," he said, suggesting
that levels of anti-Semitism were still higher-than-average among
Catholics.
Plane's Synagogue will Always Face Jerusalem
By Arutz-7 News Service
The European airplane manufacturer Airbus is offering to include a
synagogue aboard the planes it wishes to sell to El Al Israel
Airlines. Airbus is currently competing with Boeing for the sale of
El Al's next jumbo jets. Hatzofeh's Danny Shalom reports that the
plans call for a synagogue to be built in the lower deck of the
plane, and would include seats for 12 worshippers, a full-size
stand for Torah reading, and an Ark for the Torah. Airbus noted
that it would be technically possible to install the Torah Ark such
that it would be able to revolve on its hinges and face Jerusalem
at all times.
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