 |
 |
|
|
||
Newsletter : 9fax0819.txt
Directory | Previous file | Next file
>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Aug. 19, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 153
Prisoner Negotiations Continue
By Ilene Prusher
Israel and Palestinian negotiators say they are moving closer to a
formula for resuming implementation of the Wye-River Accords, but
are having a difficult time agreeing on the criteria for releasing
prisoners.
After the first meeting Tuesday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb
Erekat said he expects Israel to begin releasing Palestinian
security prisoners before Sept. 1, when the sides are to restart
the Wye River deal. Under the agreement, Israel is to release
750 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu released one-third
of those shortly after signing the deal last October. But
Palestinians were angry because many of those released were common
criminals, not detainees who had acted with nationalist motives
in mind.
Israeli officials confirmed another 250 prisoners would be released
soon, some next month and some in mid-October. But negotiators
have not been able to reach agreement on what kinds of prisoners
will be released. Israel wants to include more common offenders in
the mix, but Palestinians leaders want the release of only,
so-called, security detainees -- those who committed acts of
violence on behalf of the Palestinian cause.
Sources in Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office say that conflicts
with the criteria set up in the Wye negotiations. At that time,
Netanyahu insisted no Palestinians with "blood on their hands"
would be released. The 1995 Oslo Accords stipulated that the
prisoner releases would not include those involved in offenses
causing fatality or serious injuries.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are also expected to reach an
agreement soon on opening a long-awaited safe passage route between
the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
With those confidence-building measures underway, an official for
Barak says, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would enter
intensive talks aimed at agreeing on a framework for a final peace
deal within six months.
Trial Begins for 13 Iranian Jews
By IsraelWire
Despite efforts to obtain the release of 13 Jewish leaders and
teachers in Iran, their trial on charges of spying for Israel and
the United States gets under way today.
Diplomatic and other efforts to secure the release of the members
of the Iranian Jewish community who have been imprisoned since
April have not yielded results.
The trial begins in the shadow of reports that the Iranian
government used tractors to destroy the ancient Jewish cemetery in
Iran, a report that is still being confirmed by the Israeli Foreign
Ministry. Reports of increasing anti-Semitism in Iran has the
international Jewish community concerned over the plight of the
remaining small Jewish community of Iran.
"Buzz" Not Authorized by Police
By IsraelWire
Marijuana substitute "Buzz" -- being sold in the Tel Aviv area in
kiosks -- no longer enjoys the blessing of the Israel police. When
Buzz began being sold about two weeks ago, in each bag was a copy
of a letter from the police laboratory indicating the substance was
not a 'drug' and was not problematic under the law. The enclosed
letter was to allay fears of consumers and stores alike, making all
parties aware that the new marijuana substitute did not pose a
hazard.
When police became aware that the written report concerning their
laboratory examinations of the substance was being used in the
marketing of the product, they complained and the importer agreed
to exclude the report.
Persons who have tried Buzz report it left them with the same
effects as marijuana and were pleased with its legal status and it
being readily available.
Uprising Remembered After 56 Years
By IsraelWire
Jews around the world joined city of Bialystok officials to light candles commemorating the anniversary of the second largest ghetto revolt against the Nazis after that of the Jewish Warsaw Ghetto.
Twelve people, including Israeli officials, said Kaddish Monday
at a monument to the ghetto fighters and Holocaust victims. "It is
hard to believe that 56 years ago an inferno erupted in such a
peaceful place," Eliaz Luf, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy
spokesman, said.
The Nazis invaded Bialystok in 1941, burned Jewish neighborhoods
and set fire to two synagogues where hundreds of people had sought
shelter, and then moved 60,000 Jews into a ghetto.
On Aug. 16, 1943, 300 Jews began resisting Nazi plans to send the
ghetto's residents to death camps. They fought for several days
against 3,000 Nazis who used tanks and aircraft to quell the
uprising. Those who survived were transported to death camps and
killed in the gas chambers. Only a few hundred of the 60,000
escaped.
The ill-fated uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, where more than
400,000 Jews were crowded, began when Nazi troops started breaking
up the ghetto in April 1943. Most residents died during the
fighting or in the death camps' gas chambers. About 3 million
Polish Jews perished in the Holocaust.
| Home My Account Search Contact Us |
by Electronic World Communications, Inc.)
