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Newsletter : 9fax1105.txt
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>JN Nov. 5, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 206
Blind Brothers Charged with Cybercrime
By IsraelWire
Munther Badir, 22, Muzhir Badir, 23, and their younger brother, a minor who cannot be identified, were charged in a military court with a 42-count indictment. The brothers, all blind, used Braille keyboards to hack into IDF computers and then sell overseas telephone calls at reduced lines, with the bills going to the military. According to the military prosecutor, at their peak, the three were earning $10,000 daily. They are also charged with breaking into the Shopping Channel and ordering a 25-inch television that was sent to their home.
Barak Threatens West Bank Settlers
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is threatening to send soldiers to dismantle illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied territories. Barak has set today as the deadline for removal of 12 unauthorized Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Barak says if the controversial outposts are not dismantled by today, Israeli soldiers will be sent to remove them and evict any Jewish settlers who refuse to leave.
The prime minister made the decision shortly after returning from a peace summit in Oslo, Norway, with President Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat.
Israel and the Palestinians are scheduled to begin intensive negotiations Monday on a final peace plan that is expected to determine the fate of Jewish settlements on land Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Barak and Arafat reaffirmed their intention at the Oslo summit to negotiate a framework agreement by next February and a permanent peace treaty by next September.
Leaders of the Jewish Settlers' Council promised Barak they would remove the illegal settlements as part of a compromise agreement reached last month. Some of unoccupied outposts have been abandoned but settlers are still living in some of the areas that were supposed to be cleared under the agreement.
The spokeswoman for the Settlers' Council -- Yehudit Tayar -- calls Barak's deadline "counterproductive."
"There has been, thank God, since the establishment of the State of Israel, no Jewish refugee problem. I do not envision Prime Minister Barak initiating this -- that he is going to throwcitizens of Israel out of their homes and not offer them an alternative solution -- which is why the negotiations are so sensitive." Tayar says if the soldiers begin to physically remove the settlers there may be resistance but no violence. "There can be passive resistance as there has been in other times. But our people are not violent. Our people are normal citizens of Israel and we are an integral part of Israel and not only respect the Army but respect the law. And I think in the most democratic of societies it is understood that not all decisions by governments are moral decisions. We recommend to our people to accept the resolutions and the decisions that we have agreed upon with the prime minister. We hope that we will be able to reach a conclusion with them in a positive fashion and that no army will have to be called on any of the citizens of Israel." While there are up to 200,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza, removing the illegal settlements is expected to affect only a few dozen families. Palestinian leaders have criticized the agreement between the Settlers' Council and the Israeli government, charging that all of the settlements in the occupied territories are illegal and are a major obstacle to a permanent peace agreement in the Middle East.
Christians May Shutter Churches
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Christian leaders in the Holy Land say they will shut their churches for two-days later this month. The Christian leaders are protesting the Israeli government's decision to allow a mosque to be built next to a major Christian holy site in Nazareth.
In a statement released from the office of the Vatican's chief representative in Jerusalem, Christian leaders announced they will close -- all the sanctuaries of the Holy Land on Nov. 22 and 23.
The move is to protest the Israeli government's decision to allow Muslim groups to build a mosque adjacent to the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth where Christian tradition says the Angel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary she would give birth to Jesus.
In the statement, the Christian leaders say -- we trust we do not need to take any further steps in the near future.
Some Christian representatives have threatened to close churches at Christmas -- a move that could have a major impact on Israel's hopes for a tourist boom tied to the millennium. The Vatican has also hinted Pope John Paul may reconsider his planned visit to the Holy Land, which is tentatively scheduled for next year.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak declined to comment on the decision.
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