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Newsletter : 0fax0516.txt
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>JN May 16, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 88
Right-Wing Demonstration at Zion Square
By IsraelWire
Nearly 100,000 persons participating in a rally in downtown Jerusalem, at Zion Square, proclaiming "Enough of free land giveaways," and calling upon the government to stop plans to uproot Jewish communities. Police officials report that at least 1,500 buses brought demonstrators to the area. The only provocative event was a laser display of the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, shown on the walls of building where the rally was being held.
Barak Wants to Transfer Jerusalem Suburbs to PA
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
The Israeli Parliament approved a request from Prime Minister Ehud Barak to transfer three Arab villages near Jerusalem to full Palestinian control. The vote coincided with some of the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in years. At least two Palestinians were killed and hundreds more were injured during clashes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Knesset voted 56-48 to approve the transfer of Abu Dis, Izzarieh and Sawahreh from civilian to full Palestinian control.
One village, Abu Dis, is located a short distance from Jerusalem's Old City. Abu Dis has been discussed as the possible capital of a future Palestinian state.
Opposition lawmakers in parliament and some members of Barak's ruling coalition opposed the transfer, arguing it will undermine Israel's hold over all of Jerusalem.
Barak defended the handover, which he views as a goodwill gesture to the Palestinians. "This government is determined to keep moving forward toward a framework agreement with the Palestinians and separation between Israel and the Palestinians in a way that will strengthen Israel and keep Jerusalem undivided, under our sovereignty, the eternal capital of Israel."
The Palestinians are demanding that their future state include all of the occupied territories, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured the territories and East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. The Hashemite kingdom captured it from the state of Israel in 1948.
As the votes were being taken, thousands of Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli soldiers and police in towns and villages across the West Bank and Gaza.
In the worst violence in years, Israeli soldiers and Palestinian police fought fierce gun battles, exchanging fire in the West Bank. Demonstrators, Palestinian police and Israeli security forces were injured by bullets, stones and tear gas.
In Gaza, black smoke filled the sky as protesters set fire to tires and hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers guarding a Jewish settlement there. Palestinians launched the demonstrations to protest the holding of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The protests also marked the anniversary of what Palestinians call al-Nakba, or "the catastrophe" -- the creation of Israel in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees.
Jewish Trial Continues in Iran
By Lisa Bryant (VOA-Cairo)
Eight of the 13 Jews on trial in Iran have now pleaded guilty to charges they spied for Israel. So far, only one of the 13 defendants has declared his innocence. Defense lawyers said two more Jews -- a shopkeeper and a university professor -- have pleaded guilty to being members of an alleged spy ring.
Both defendants apparently said they collected information, which they handed over to Israel. Their confessions were made in court Monday, in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz.
Their pleas add to a steady stream of confessions made so far at the spy trial, which opened last month. Some of the Jewish defendants have later repeated their confessions to the press or on state television. A few said they had not been coerced into pleading guilty.
Defense lawyers say the two who confessed Monday denied they were founders of the alleged spy ring or that they spread propaganda against the Iranian government.
A defense lawyer, Esmail Naseri, also told the Associated Press the defense may file a lawsuit against the Iranian government if more confessions are broadcast on television. Naseri said the confessions were made without the lawyers' permission and without a chance for the lawyers to consult with their clients.
Naseri and other defense lawyers have also argued that beyond the guilty pleas, the state has no evidence to substantiate its spying charges.
Meanwhile, two lawyers from the French organization Lawyers Without
Borders have volunteered to discuss the case with the defense team.
The two lawyers said they were in Shiraz to examine Iran's judicial
system. Iran has vowed a fair trial for the Jews. But
international Jewish and human rights groups, who have lobbied for
outside observers to attend the closed-door proceedings, say they
fear this will not happen.
Foreign governments have also voiced concern about the trial. And
Iran's Jewish community says it fears a possible backlash against
the country's 30,000 Jews. The trial in Shiraz is scheduled to
resume on Wednesday.
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