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Newsletter : 9fax1209.txt
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>JN Dec. 9, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 228
Yad Vashem Establishes School for Holocaust Study
By IsraelWire
The Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum announced the establishment of a school devoted exclusively to Holocaust studies. The International School for Holocaust Studies employs 100 full-time educators and staff. Yad Vashem Chairman Avner Shalev said "The school, first of all, is aimed to train the teachers," Shalev said, adding that about 1,000 teachers, primarily from Israel, Europe and North America, already have undergone seminars there in seven different languages. The school also will develop Holocaust education materials and curricula based on history, music, art and literature.
Syria, Israel Will Meet in Washington
By David Gollust (VOA-White House)
President Clinton announced that Israel and Syria have agreed to resume their peace dialogue with a meeting in Washington next week between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Sharaa.
The agreement was reached by Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on her current Middle East mission and announced here by the president, who spoke by telephone with Barak and Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad.
He told reporters at his news conference that the Israeli Prime Minister and Syrian foreign minister will meet in Washington for one or two days next week, and that intensive follow-on negotiations will be held in the region soon thereafter.
Clinton said the peace talks would resume at the point where they broke off more than three years ago, but he declined to give other details and made clear that hard work remains: "Israelis and Syrians still need to make courageous decisions in order to reach a just and lasting peace. But today's step is a significant breakthrough, for it will allow them to deal with each other face to face, and that is the only way to get there."
The key issue in the negotiations will be - as before - the status of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
Syria contends that in the previous negotiations, the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin promised a complete withdrawal from the strategic plateau in exchange for peace.
Successor governments in Israel have insisted such a deal was not finalized, and Barak has said the depth of Israel's withdrawal from the heights will depend on the extent of Syrian security guarantees and normalization commitments.
Under questioning, Clinton declined specifics and said that given the delicacy of the process, the principals had, as he put it, "taken a blood oath" not to go beyond some limited talking points.
He also side-stepped a question as to why Assad himself would not be attending the Washington meeting, but insisted the Syrian leader - who is reported in ill-health -- will be intimately involved in the process: "He is very personally involved in this. He thinks it's better - for whatever reason - he's made the decision that Foreign Minister Sharaa, who thankfully has recovered from his recent stroke and is perfectly able to do so, will come here to do so. And I'm quite comfortable with this. This is as close to person-to-person talks as they could have without doing it."
Clinton said he hopes the agreement will soon lead to negotiations between Israel and Lebanon and a conclusion of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, though he said there can be "no illusions" about the obstacles still in the way of a comprehensive regional peace.
Anniversary of U.N.-Palestinian Relief
By Breck Ardery (VOA-United Nations)
Wednesday was the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations relief agency for Palestine, and the occasion was marked by a call for continued international support of the operation.
U-N Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters that, 50 years after its creation, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees - or UNRWA - continues to provide vital help to thousands of Palestinians.
"It is no cause for celebration that the need for that assistance continues to be felt today. But it is a source of pride for the organization that millions of refugees have received vital assistance and the basics of life directly from an agency of the United Nations."
The Secretary-General said it is essential that donor nations continue to respond to the needs of Palestinian refugees.
Peter Hansen, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, said he is heartened that donor nations have indicated strong support for UNRWA. But after 50 years, there is now some hope that the worst problems of Palestinian refugees may be resolved. Hansen said the current peace process involving the Palestinian Authority and Israel could eventually put UNRWA out of business.
"If there is a dramatic step forward in the peace process we would hopefully get closer to that day when the refugee problem will have been addressed in a way that there will be agreement on a just and lasting solution. When that is done, UNRWA could say, 'mission accomplished.'"
However, Hansen said, even a comprehensive peace agreement would probably require transitional arrangements for the re-settlement of Palestinian refugees.
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