 |
 |
|
|
||
Newsletter : 0fax0216.txt
Directory | Previous file | Next file
>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 16, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 29
Rentgan Rabbi Adds Name to Ofra Chaza
By IsraelWire
Rabbi Yaakov Effergan has added a name to singing star Ofra Chaza, 46, who continues to fight for her life in Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv. She is listed in serious and stable condition in a respiratory intensive care unit, connected to life-support systems, being treated for systemic collapse resulting from the flu. The star's name is now Chaya Ofra Chaza -- Chaya referring to life -- in accordance with Jewish tradition to add a name to a person who is critically ill for several reasons, including an attempt to evade the "Angel of Death" who may be seeking a person with a specific name.
Holocaust Insurance Claims
By Penny Dixon (VOA-Washington)
An international commission has launched a campaign to resolve outstanding claims on insurance policies held by victims of the Holocaust. The effort - announced Tuesday in Washington -- is sponsored by insurance regulators in the United States and Europe, as well as several Jewish organizations and the state of Israel.
The International Commission of Holocaust Era Insurance Claims wants to hear from Holocaust survivors and heirs who may benefit from insurance policies issued between 1920 and 1945. Former Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger chairs the commission. He says it wants to investigate and swiftly pay insurance claims. "I have no idea how many there are, but clearly there are claimants out there who deserve justice and have not yet received it."
The problem is that many of the records normally needed to file an insurance claim no longer exist. Some descendants of Holocaust victims may have nothing but family stories saying that a policy ever existed. Now, under special relaxed standards of proof, these beneficiaries may have a chance to gain compensation. But Eagleburger says that despite relaxed standards, companies will do their best to prevent fraud.
"If they decide that it is not reasonable, the company will then say "we're not going to pay," and then the commission will have to take a look at that decision and see whether it is something that we want to ask the company to look at again, and as I say there is also an appeals process that can be used."
Five European insurance companies have so far agreed to cooperate in the project. They are paying for the $9 million outreach effort to locate claimants. The companies, from France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland, have also established a fund to pay claims for policies issued by companies no longer in existence. Eagleburger says insurance companies would pay roughly 10 times the face value policies had when they were purchased - to help compensate for inflation.
Insurance regulators in the United States spearheaded the effort to resolve the insurance claims. North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Glenn Pomeroy says many states have received appeals from residents whose claims were denied.
"The U-S insurance regulators frankly would have just preferred that this matter had been taken care of 60 years ago, but it wasn't. There are policies that are still out there that have not been paid. And so, under our watch we're determined to work through this process to get every claim paid that we can possibly do."
People have two years, until Feb. 15, 2002, to file claims. Individuals who believe they may have unpaid insurance claims can request a claims package by contacting telephone centers in 41 countries, or by visiting the commission's web site at www.icheic.org
Vatican, PA Decry Changes in Jerusalem's Status
By IsraelWire
During a brief meeting in the Vatican on Tuesday between Pope John Paul II and PLO Authority Chairman Yasir Arafat, an agreement was signed to promote cooperation between the PA and the Catholic Church in Jerusalem.
A statement was issued following the meeting in which the Vatican and the Catholic Church rejected any unilateral changes in the status of Jerusalem as "morally and legally unacceptable." The Vatican has never accepted Israel's liberating eastern portions of Jerusalem in the June 1967 Six Day War.
Teller Said "No Money," Robber Began to Cry
By IsraelWire
The S'derot police are on the lookout for "the crying robber," an unidentified man who arrived last Wednesday evening at a postal bank branch in the town and tried to hold up the bank while crying that he needed money to feed his children.
The would-be robber handed the teller a note saying, "This is a hold-up, give me the money." The teller told him that there was no money in the postal bank, and even after the man showed her that he had a gun, the teller did not give in. The thief then broke into tears, crying that he is unemployed, and that his daughter is hungry. The teller took NIS 200 (about $50) from her wallet and gave it to the man, who ran from the postal bank crying.
| Home My Account Search Contact Us |
by Electronic World Communications, Inc.)
