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Newsletter : 0fax0316.txt
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>JN March 16, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 50
Petah Tikvah Man Killed by Crocodile
By IsraelWire
Eran Elon, 23, of Petah Tikvah, was killed in Botswana, Africa, by a crocodile. His remains were discovered Sunday following a search of several days. Israel does not maintain a diplomatic facility in Botswana and as such, a member of the diplomatic corps in Africa was sent to the area to arrange for the remains to be sent back to Israel for burial.
Palestinians to Get an Additional 6.1% of West Bank Land
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak's security cabinet has approved the handover of more West-Bank land to the Palestinians. And Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat has accepted the transfer.
The Israeli security cabinet approved the handover of 6.1 percent of the West Bank to full Palestinian control. Five cabinet members voted for the transfer, three opposed the decision, and one abstained.
Barak is expected to present maps of the handover to his full cabinet for ratification Sunday. Palestinian officials say Arafat has approved the maps, and the redeployment of Israeli soldiers will occur next week. The security cabinet also decided to release dozens of Palestinian prisoners in the coming days.
The land transfer was to have taken place in January, but stalled over Palestinian demands the handover include Arab villages near Jerusalem.
Tuesday, Barak decided the West Bank village of Anata, which borders Jerusalem, would not be included in the latest handover. Israeli media reports that Anata would be included caused an uproar from hard-line opposition leaders and Jewish settlers in the occupied territories.
When the latest redeployment is complete, the Palestinians will have full or partial control of about 40-percent of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel and the Palestinians agreed to the land transfer as part of the revised Wye-River accord signed last September in the Egyptian Red-Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The handover should improve the atmosphere when Palestinian and Israeli negotiators resume peace talks next week in Washington.
The so-called final status talks will focus on the most difficult issues facing negotiators; such as the borders of a possible Palestinian state, Jewish settlements in the occupied territories, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the future of Jerusalem.
Both sides have set May as the target for a framework accord on a permanent agreement and September as the deadline for a final peace treaty.
Putin: Anti-Semitism Won't be Tolerated
By Peter Heinlein (VOA-Moscow)
Russia's acting president, Vladimir Putin, says in a letter to the U.S. Congress that anti-Semitism will not be tolerated in Russia. U.S. lawmakers earlier appealed to the Russian leader to crack down on religious intolerance.
In his letter to Congress, Putin says any sign of anti-Semitism in Russia amounts to what he calls "an unacceptable display of aggressive nationalism." He says there is no place for this in civilized society.
A statement issued by the Kremlin news service says the letter was in response to a plea by 190 congressmen and senators concerned about anti-Semitism and religious persecution in Russia. Jewish groups have reported a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents in countries of the former Soviet Union. A survey conducted last year by the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews found anti-Semitism is often supported by the remains of the Soviet infrastructure, including the Communist Party.
A former Communist member of Russia's parliament, Albert Makashov, was filmed making anti-Semitic speeches at a 1998 political rally. Communist lawmakers later defeated a parliamentary resolution that would have censured Makashov.
18 Hurt in Cellular Telephone Antenna Riots
By IsraelWire
Police report that 18 persons were injured during violent riots Tuesday night in the Druze village of Usfiya . The riots erupted over a dispute dealing with the placement of cellular telephone antennas in the area.
Police fired live ammunition when they felt they were in life-threatening danger from the angry mob. Police vehicles also sustained heavy damages. Village leaders rejected the notion of the antennas remaining in the area, insisting they would endanger the health of local residents. They were unwilling to hear reports to the contrary from local and senior health officials.
Equipment belonging to cellular telephone providers was also burned by the mob with local leaders justifying their actions, explaining that lobbying efforts to stop the installation of the antennas failed, leaving residents with no other alternatives.
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