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Newsletter : 0fax0515.txt
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>JN May 15, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 87
PA Holding General Strike to Mark Nakba
By IsraelWire
Residents of the PLO Authority autonomous areas throughout Judea, Samaria and Gaza will on Monday observe a general strike, marking Nakba, "the catastrophe," according to some Arabs, marking the day on which the State of Israel was established in 1948.
Secret Israel-PA Negotiations in Sweden
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel and the Palestinian Authority have confirmed they are holding private negotiations in Sweden in a bid to advance the peace process. The move comes amid growing unrest in the Palestinian self-rule areas, one day after the two sides missed a second deadline for a draft peace accord.
Two top Palestinians left for Sweden for meetings with two Israeli officials. Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Korei and Cabinet Minister Hassan Asfour are to meet with Israeli Internal Security Minister, Shlomo Ben Ami and another unidentified official from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.
The negotiations are in addition to the official peace talks that were re-launched earlier this month under U.S. mediation at the Red Sea resort of Eilat.
A Barak spokesman confirms that - there are and have been contacts on different levels. The spokesman described these forums as "quiet arenas in which to sound out ideas and help the main, official channel."
The meetings in Sweden were arranged following the failure of the two sides to meet Saturday's deadline for a framework peace accord. The accord has to deal with the most contentious issues, including the future of Jerusalem, the final borders of a Palestinian state, Jewish settlements, and Palestinian refugees.
Frustration over the lack of progress in the talks has been transformed into anger in the Palestinian self-rule areas.
In the Gaza Strip, violent clashes broke out (Sunday) between Israeli troops and hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators demanding the release of Palestinian security prisoners from Israeli jails.
Some of the protesters hurled stones and gasoline bombs at soldiers who fired back with rubber-coated steel bullets, injuring at least nine Palestinians.
Int'l Red Cross Proposes New Symbol
By Lisa Schlein (VOA-Geneva)
The International Red Cross Movement plans to hold a conference later this year to approve a new emblem. And the move could open the way for Israel to become a member of the world organization.
The International Red Cross says it has sent invitations to its 176 national societies to attend the conference in November.
The spokesman for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Ian Piper, says the conference will be asked to approve a neutral third emblem, which should clear the way for Israel's national humanitarian society, the Magen David Adom (Red Star of David), to join the Red Cross movement.
Piper says the new emblem is likely to be a red diamond, which would allow countries to incorporate their own national emblems.
"So if it were a diamond, it's a shape which is useful in that respect. You could put something in it. For example, the Israeli society could put the red Star of David in the diamond. For the national society's purposes, as a protective device in warfare, it would be used just as the solid red diamond, just as the cross is used or the crescent is used without any indication of anything else. That's what we call the protective use of the emblem."
The selection of a symbol has been a divisive issue that has dragged on for more than 50 years. Israel and the American Red Cross have accused the international movement of discrimination. They argue that if Muslim countries are allowed to use a red crescent, then the Jewish state should be allowed to use the Star of David.
The international conference in November will be preceded by a diplomatic conference in October. All 188 nations that have signed the Geneva Conventions will be asked to approve a new protocol to the conventions, allowing the red diamond to become the third official emblem of the International Red Cross movement.
Ping Pong Crashes in Eurovision 2000
By IsraelWire
The publicity stunt, waving Israeli and Syrian flags during the performance, did not help the Israeli representatives to the Eurovision 2000 to accumulate points, finishing in the 22nd place out of 24 participants.
Despite warnings by Israel Broadcasting Authority officials, sponsors of the team, not to introduce the political stunt into the performance, the Ping Pong performers decided to go ahead with their publicity stunt as planned, resulting in serious criticism back home.
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