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Newsletter : 9fax1111.txt
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>JN Nov. 11, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 210
Teenager Injured by Donkey Bite
By IsraelWire
A 15-year-old youth sustained moderate injuries when he was bitten on his face by a donkey. The incident occurred in Jaffa and an EMS ambulance transported the injured youth to Wolfson Hospital in Holon. The report did not indicate what might have prompted the donkey to attack the teenager.
It Appears to be Yamit All Over Again
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers have forcibly evicted Jewish settlers from an illegal outpost on the West Bank. The settlers were evicted before the Israeli cabinet approved another transfer of West-Bank land to the Palestinians.
Defiant Jewish settlers kicked and screamed as Israeli soldiers removed hundreds of men, women, and children from the illegal hilltop outpost of Havat Maon in the West Bank. Settlers shouted "refuse orders" as the soldiers broke through the doors of a makeshift wooden synagogue and dragged the protestors away. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak ordered the eviction after the settlers refused to leave the remote outpost voluntarily.
Havat Maon is the last unauthorized hilltop settlement to be dismantled under a compromise agreement reached between leaders of the settlers' movement and the Israeli Government.
The settlers opposing the compromise are protesting the return of West-Bank land to the Palestinians as required under interim peace accords. Some of the settlers resisted the evacuation, but no serious injuries were reported.
Yehudit Tayar is the spokesperson for the Jewish Settlers Council, which negotiated the original compromise with the government. "Any person who has to leave his home, especially under these circumstances, you can imagine it is a very emotional and heart wrenching situation especially since we are really on a continuous struggle here in our country to survive."
Palestinian leaders have protested the agreement between the Settlers Council and the government, charging it is a smoke screen while construction in the larger West-Bank settlements continues. Palestinians say all of the 145 Jewish settlements are illegal and should be removed before a final peace treaty can be signed.
Hours after the evacuation of the outpost, the Israeli cabinet overwhelmingly approved another transfer of West Bank land to the Palestinians. By a vote of 17-1 the Cabinet decided to hand over 5 percent of the West Bank Monday.
The cabinet agreed to transfer 2 percent of the land to full Palestinian control and 3 percent to Palestinian civil administration. The handover is required by the revised Wye-River peace accord signed by Israel and the Palestinians last September in the Egyptian (formerly Israeli) Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
A map showing the areas that will be transferred will be presented to the Israeli Parliament and Palestinian Chairman Yasir Arafat. Under the revised Wye-River accord another land transfer is scheduled to take place next January. After that hand-over the Palestinians will have partial control of about 40-percent of the West Bank.
Scientists Create Dead Sea Quake
By IsraelWire
Despite statements of assurance by scientists, environmentalists insist that controlled blasts in the Dead Sea conducted on Monday and Tuesday may create an ecological disturbance, which will have an impact on the area, the lowest natural place on earth.
Scientists from Israel's Geophysical Institute detonated 500 kg (1,100 pounds) of explosives Monday and repeated the experiment Tuesday, using approximately twice the amount of explosives, in an attempt to measure the accuracy and speed of shockwaves in the earth's surface, which would permit scientists to then measure the epicenter of an earthquake.
Greenpeace activists were not completely assured by statements from scientists insisting the blasts would not disturb the ecosystem. "You have to be very careful in such a delicate area and I'm not sure they have taken all the necessary precautions," said Ofer Ben-Dov of Greenpeace Israel. "Some bacteria live in the Dead Sea and there are natural streams. It's just a big question mark."
Scientists on the other hand indicated the tests would diminish earthquake hazards in the future by permitting scientists to obtain a better understanding of the quakes. The scientists added that since there are no fish in the Dead Sea, it was an ideal location for the tests.
Avi Shapira of Israel's Seismology Department in the Geophysical Institute stated there have been two studies by the Institute and the Geological Survey and the environmental issues were addressed in both.
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