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Newsletter : 0fax0218.txt
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>JN Feb. 18, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 31
IDF Patrol in Gaza Attacked with Firebomb
By IsraelWire
For a second consecutive day, a firebomb was hurled at an IDF patrol Thursday morning in southern Gaza near the Egyptian-Israeli border. The incendiary device according to the IDF spokesman came from inside the PLO Authority autonomous area. There were no injuries or damages in the attacks.
Nazi Slave Laborers Must Wait
By Jonathan Braude (VOA-Berlin)
The victims of Nazi-era slave labor programs will have to wait a little longer for compensation payments. Talks are still deadlocked over how the $5 billion government and industry compensation fund is to be divided among the more than one-million survivors. But the German negotiating team said the atmosphere was positive and constructive.
German government negotiator Graf Otto Lambsdorff emerged from the latest round of talks in Berlin to say no decision had been made on payments for former Nazi-era slaves. And he said another round of discussions will take place in Washington March 7.
Lambsdorff said the atmosphere in the negotiations was positive and there had been progress. He said East European governments made a positive contribution with their proposals on how the compensation should be divided up among the victims. The German government negotiator said he hops a deal could be reached soon so that the victims could finally get their money and German industry will not have to face any new Holocaust claims in U.S. courts. But, so far, an agreement had not been reached.
The chief U.S. negotiator, Stuart Eizenstat, said, "We are on the brink of achieving something truly historic." But he said speed is vital because the survivors are now elderly and many are dying.
It all seemed so easy last December when the German and American government negotiators announced they had reached agreement on a $5 billion compensation fund. It was to be set up by German government and industry to help hundreds of thousands of former concentration camp victims and Eastern European civilians who were forced to work as slaves for their Nazi captors.
About 200 firms have signed up to contribute, and more are expected to join up once the details are in place. Since December, however, progress has been slow as Eastern European governments, Israel, the United States, and a number of U.S. lawyers haggle with Germany about how the fund should be divided among the victims.
In addition, there is wide opposition among the victims organizations to a German plan to put 500 million (German) marks ($250 million) from the total to a so-called "Future Fund" for Holocaust awareness projects and to compensate those whose assets were stolen by the Nazis.
That, say Germany's critics, would spread the available cash too thinly. They say if Germany wants a future fund, it should raise the money separately.
Olmert Holds New York's Most Wanted Parking Permit
By IsraelWire
Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert is the owner of a special New York City parking permit permitting one to park one's vehicle anywhere, even in the most forbidden parking spots. Only four persons were issued the special permits. The NYC parking laws are extremely strict, and many places forbid parking at any time and under any condition.
Olmert is an old friend and supporter of New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani. Olmert visited New York several weeks ago, and is scheduled to visit in coming days to take part in a fund-raising dinner for Giuliani's Senate campaign.
According to the New York Daily News, which revealed the parking permit story last weekend, they needed a special court order to receive a list of those issued the special parking permits. Besides Olmert, three other friends and supporters of Giuliani hold the special parking permits. When the newspaper asked Olmert to comment on the parking permit, Olmert denied owning such a permit.
Signs Appear in Jerusalem Opposing Pope's Visit
By IsraelWire
With Pope John Paul II scheduled to arrive in Israel in March for a one-week visit, not everyone is pleased. Signs began appearing in the ultra-Orthodox sections of Jerusalem stating in Hebrew, "For sorrow comes when the enemy is at the gates of Jerusalem."
Government and security officials are preparing for the visit that entails unprecedented preparations and government ministers welcome it. There are details, which remain to be worked out, including demands being made By Israel's chief rabbis who are insisting that the pontiff meet with them in the office of the Chief Rabbinate, and not at the Western Wall Plaza as suggested by Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon.
When the pope delivers his mass in Nazareth, officials expect some 100,000 persons to be in attendance. About one-half of the expected worshipers will be Christians that are visiting the holy land at the same time as the Pope to take part in the historic visit. The mass will be held at Korazim, opposite Vered Hagalil.
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