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Newsletter : 0fax0314.txt
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>JN March 14, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 48
Poll: Majority of Jewish Israelis Support Returning Golan
By IsraelWire
A recent survey by the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University found that 60 percent of Jewish Israelis are prepared to give up the Golan Heights and accept the evacuation of Jewish settlements there in return for full peace with Syria and a withdrawal from Lebanon, The poll also noted that 9 out of 10 Jewish Israelis believe that a referendum on a peace treaty would be accepted by a majority of the Jewish population.
Pope's Plea is Met with Mixed Reactions
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Reaction in Israel has been mixed to Pope John Paul's historic plea for forgiveness for the Roman Catholic Church, for sins it has committed in the past. Some Jewish religious leaders say the pope's apology should have explicitly mentioned the Holocaust against the Jewish people during World War II. Others praised the pope's action, saying it sets the proper tone for his visit to Israel March 21st.
For the first time in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope John Paul apologized for past sins going back nearly 2,000 years. He made the unprecedented apology at Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome during a mass marking the first Sunday of Lent, a Christian time of atonement.
The pope asked for forgiveness for actions in the course of history that have caused Jews, Muslims, Orthodox, Protestant Christians and other people to suffer. But he did not mention the Holocaust by name or discuss how the Vatican reacted during World War II when the Nazis murdered 6 Million Jews.
The director of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, Avner Shalev, welcomed the pope's plea for forgiveness, but says it should have gone farther: "I am afraid that he did not ask for forgiveness for the Church. I read it carefully, and he asked pardon and forgiveness for the individuals, for Christians who are part of the Church, but not for the Church itself."
The director general of the Israeli office of the Anti-Defamation League, Rabbi David Rosen, says he expects the pope to address the Holocaust when he visits Israel.
"We should bear in mind that the pope has actually utilized language of contrition and repentance many times in relation to the sins perpetrated against the Jewish people. I imagine, that even on this particular occasion, he has not used exactly those same words. We will hear them again when he visits Israel shortly."
While the pope's upcoming visit is being described as a personal religious pilgrimage to the Holy Land, it will be watched carefully for its political and historical significance. His schedule includes highly-symbolic visits to the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and to the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism.
The secretary of Prime Minister Ehud Barak's cabinet, Yitzak Herzog, met with the pope last week, as part of the preparations for his visit to Israel and the Palestinian-controlled territories. Herzog says the Pope's apology sets the proper tone for his trip.
"We should look on the educational side of this speech of the pope and his visit next week. I feel, if I may say so, humbly, there is something very biblical that such a pilgrimage will take place in the Holy Land and with such a kind of a prologue which is so very important."
Pope John Paul has made reconciliation between Catholics and Jews a hallmark of his papacy. In 1998, the Vatican apologized for not helping the Jews avoid Nazi persecution, and acknowledged centuries of anti-Semitic teaching. However, that document defended the church's leader during the war, Pope Pius XII, who many Jewish leaders have charged remained silent during the Holocaust.
IDF Bombs Terrorist Targets in Lebanon
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli warplanes have raided suspected terrorist targets in southern Lebanon for the first time since the Arab League warned the Israeli government to stop such attacks. Two planes fired a total of eight rockets at suspected Hizbullah targets in southern Lebanon. A spokesman for the Israeli army confirmed the raids saying all planes returned safely.
The raids followed an assault on Israeli soldiers by Hizbullah gunmen in southern Lebanon. There were no immediate reports of casualties from the attacks.
The air raids are the first since the Arab League warned Israel to stop such strikes and resume peace talks. Israeli officials are expressing surprise that Arab leaders condemned Israel's plan to pull its soldiers out of Lebanon by July.
The League says a unilateral pull back could set off a new military conflict in the Middle East. The Arab League says any withdrawal should be accompanied by a peace agreement between Israel, Lebanon and Syria.
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