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Newsletter : 9fax1006.txt
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>JN Oct. 6, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 184
German Slave Labor
By Jon Tkach (VOA-Washington)
Negotiations resume Wednesday over how to compensate survivors who worked as slave laborers in Nazi Germany. Lawyers and Jewish activists working for the victims say the compensation offered by German corporations is still not enough.
The lawyers for the survivors said Tuesday they will walk out of further negotiations with German companies unless they increase their compensation offers.
During a news conference on the eve of the resumption of talks in Washington, World War 2 slave labor survivors and their attorneys announced an advertising campaign targeting several companies they say should pay for profiting from the forced labor. They are calling for a quick resolution to the talks and for the companies to offer what they call meaningful compensation to the victims.
Mel Weiss, a lawyer handling one of the class action suits, says the offers so far have been insulting. "If they don't step up to the plate and start negotiating, not with a take it or leave it offer that's a pittance, but with real money that is representative of their ability to pay, we are going to walk away from those meetings."
Weiss was reacting to a Washington Post report that says German negotiators are set to offer up to $3.8 billion. He says that would amount to just about $200 per survivor.
The lawyers say there are more than 2 million people still alive who were forced to work for the Nazis. They would not say how much money they are demanding. German and U-S negotiators were not available for comment. In the past, they have refused to discuss compensation figures publicly.
Participants in today's negotiations will include lawyers for survivors, German companies, Jewish groups and representatives from eight countries.
Safe Passage Agreement Signed
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel and the Palestinians have signed an agreement opening the first safe passage route for Palestinians to travel between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Israeli Minister of Public Security Shlomo Ben-Ami and Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Jamil Tarifi signed the safe passage agreement at a Jerusalem hotel after last-minute negotiations finalized operating procedures for the new route.
The 44-km. route along Israeli roads will link the West Bank and Gaza across Israeli territory. The opening will allow Palestinians for the first time to travel relatively freely between the two areas they hope will be established as their state.
The safe passage is expected to boost trade, reunite families, and ease the sense of isolation in Gaza where more than 1 million Palestinians live. Tarifi said after the signing ceremony that freedom of movement is the most significant achievement of the safe passage agreement.
Ben-Ami says the new link will greatly improve the lives of many Palestinians. Under the safe passage agreement, Israel will use magnetic cards to monitor the identity of Palestinians traveling on the route. Palestinians will apply to the Palestinian Authority for the cards.
A list of approved applicants will be submitted to Israeli authorities that will have the final say over who can make the trip, either by private car or bus. The card will be good for one year.
The Israelis say the safe passage route should accommodate 100-vehicles and about 1,000 people a day. The route is expected to open later this week.
Jews Touched By Cardinal's Apology
By IsraelWire
As thousands of Jews flocked to Yom Kippur Services last month, many said they were heartened by John Cardinal O'Connor's very public apology for Catholics' anti-Semitic actions through the ages. "It's better late than never," Danny Ettinger, 38, of Manhattan said as he rushed to services.
O'Connor wrote the letter to Jewish leaders days after having surgery to remove a brain tumor. "I ask this Yom Kippur that you understand my abject sorrow for any member of the Catholic Church, high or low, including myself, who may have harmed you or your forebears," he said.
While the letter doesn't specifically mention the Holocaust, O'Connor's spokesman said he was referring to Nazi evils as well as any other anti-Semitic actions of the Catholic Church over the past 2,000 years. Last year Pope John Paul II offered an apology for the "errors and failures" of some Catholics during World War 2.
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