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Newsletter : 0fax0207.txt
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>JN Feb. 7, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 23
They're Proud to be Jewish Athletes
By Arutz-7
A Jewish school basketball team in Virginia opted to forfeit a game last week rather than remove their kippot (yarmulkes). The Hebrew Academy of Tidewater team of 11-to-13 year olds was preparing to play Sweethaven Christian Academy when the referee told six of the players they could only play if they removed their kippot. It was explained that the kippah clips might fall off and injure other players. But coach Nathan Drory had his own explanations, saying this was "not something we are going to be flexible on." After the forfeit was made official, the teams played anyway, and Sweethaven won, 33-22. "The kids were great on both sides," Drory said. "Our kids were very happy to uphold something they believe in."
Cairo Meeting Discusses Displaced Palestinians
By Lisa Bryant (VOA-Cairo)
Foreign ministers from Israel, Egypt and Jordan, along with a senior Palestinian official, met in Egypt Sunday to resume talks halted four years ago on the status of displaced Palestinians. The officials focused their public remarks on the deadlocked peace negotiations.
Egyptian foreign Minister Amr Moussa said the ministers from all four sides would meet again in three months for a follow-up meeting on the status of displaced Palestinians - those who fled their homes when the 1967 Middle East war broke out. He said that a technical committee will be set up and given a concrete working mandate.
Moussa said all four parties want to resolve the problem of displaced Palestinians. These differ from Palestinian refugees, which are considered those who lost their homes during the 1948 Middle East war.
But the Israelis and Arabs are at odds over who should be considered displaced and how many displaced Palestinians there are. Palestinians claim about a million people meet that definition. They argue that about 850,000 should be allowed to return to homes they lost when Israel captured the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. By contrast, Israeli officials say there are only about 300,000 displaced Palestinians.
The ministers focused most of their remarks to the media on larger disagreements that have ground Israeli-Palestinian talks to a virtual halt in recent days Indeed, Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath told reporters that it is hard for him to see where the peace negotiations are leading.
"There are serious problems on the Palestinian-Israeli track, and these serious problems have to do with both the implementation of the Wye River agreement as well as the content of what is being suggested on the Israeli side of the permanent status negotiations."
A meeting between Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak last week did not break the impasse over Israeli troop withdrawals and other matters. The two sides suspended talks Sunday as they waited for fresh U.S. proposals. Earlier in the day Arafat met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo about the problems.
But Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy insisted that the peace negotiations were not facing a crisis. Levy said that negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians continue, and that both sides are trying to resolve their disagreements. He said threats do not help either party or promote the cause of peace.
Meanwhile efforts continue to move the two sides closer together. Barak met with Jordan's King Abdullah Sunday for talks on ways to resolve differences with the Palestinians.
Barak Weighs Options Following Lebanon Attack
By IsraelWire
Following the killing of another IDF soldier in the security zone of southern Lebanon on Sunday, the fifth in 2000, Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with senior members of the defense establishment. Following two consecutive weeks of increased Hizbullah offensives, which have claimed the lives of five IDF soldiers and the deputy commander of Israel's-allied SLA force, in addition to wounding over 11 soldiers, many seriously believe, the government may decide to change tactics from its current policy of restraint. Speaking on Sunday from Jordan, the prime minister stated once again that Hizbullah would pay "a heavy price" for every soldier injured in southern Lebanon.
Levy Says No Return to Pre-'67 Lines
By IsraelWire
Foreign Minister David Levy told Israel Radio on Sunday that those persons seeking to push Israel back to the pre-1967 Six Day War boundaries, namely relinquishing control over liberated western Jerusalem, will learn that such an event will not take place.
On Thursday, following the abrupt ending of the meeting at the Erez crossing between Prime Minister Ehud Barak and PLO Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat, Levy stated that a crisis was not brewing, acknowledging there were difficulties that needed to be worked out.
On Sunday morning, Levy made a definitive statement during a radio interview, sending a message to PA officials that Israel was unwilling to give away portions of the capital which were liberate over three decades ago.
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