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Newsletter : 1fax0119.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Jan. 19, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 9
Fund for the Kahane Kids
Israel Faxx Staff Report
A fund has been established to help the six orphan children, ranging in age from two months to 11 years, of Rabbi Binyamin Kahane and his wife, Talya, murdered by Arab terrorists nearly three weeks ago. Donations should be made to the National Council of Young Israel, with a notation for the Kahane Family Fund, and sent to NCYI, 3 West 16th Street, NY, NY 10011. Tax-deductible receipts will be mailed for checks over $200.
Arafat Ready for Negotiations with Israel
By VOA News
Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat said he was ready for marathon talks with the Israelis aimed at reaching a final peace agreement. He spoke in Gaza after returning from Wednesday night talks in Cairo with Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami and later discussions with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak.
Israeli media reported that Ben-Ami suggested the marathon talks in a last ditch bid to forge an agreement before Israel's Feb. 6 election for prime minister. Arafat said he suggested holding intensive talks in Taba, Egypt, like those in 1995 that clinched an interim peace deal. He said the Israelis told him they would consider the suggestion. After the Cairo meeting, Ben-Ami said he thinks that reaching a peace agreement before the Israeli election in three weeks is not impossible.
Sharon Vows No More Land for Peace
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
The front-runner in the race for Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has pledged not to hand over any more territory to the Palestinians. He said he will also refuse to dismantle any Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials said Sharon's plan could ignite a new conflict.
Opinion polls indicate Sharon is headed for victory in the elections for Prime Minister on Feb. 6. He said that Israel will aim for a long-term interim agreement with the Palestinians.
Under the plan, all Jewish settlements would stay in place, despite Palestinian protests that these communities represent an obstacle to peace. His proposals call for a Palestinian State to be established in the Gaza Strip and no more than 42 per cent of the West Bank.
Israel would also control all of the Jordan Valley, on the eastern edge of the West Bank, as a buffer zone against a possible invasion by Arab armies. Sharon's plan offers the Palestinians economic co-operation in exchange for their support in halting terrorism.
His proposals fall far short of what has been offered by Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who offered the Palestinians the whole of the Gaza Strip, more than 90-percent of the West Bank, and a share of Jerusalem. Palestinian chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, immediately branded Sharon's proposals, a recipe for disaster, a recipe for war.
Ten Years Later, Gulf War Still Affects Israel
By Laurie Kassman (VOA-Jerusalem)
Ten years ago this week, a coalition of Arab and Western Forces launched Operation Desert Storm to push Iraqi troops out of Kuwait. A day later, Iraq started raining Scud missiles onto the heart of Israel.
The Scud attacks shattered the nighttime silence of Tel Aviv with the piercing wail of an air raid siren. It sent shivers of fear into the hearts of Israelis who had, until then, believed they were invulnerable to direct attack.
Nachman Shai was spokesman for Israel's Defense Forces at the time. He quickly became the voice of calm and reason when Israelis reached for their gas masks and hovered in sealed rooms to await possible attack by chemical weapons.
"When missiles landed in Israel," he said, "I immediately ran to the underground headquarters. I had two phones in my hands, one to radio and one to TV. And I used to talk to the public directly and tell them what to do. The first message on the first night was missiles landed. We don't know the outcome yet, if people were killed or wounded. We don't know the damage. But for the time being what I ask is to get into the sealed rooms, close the room well, put on the gas mask, make sure everyone feels comfortable and to wait."
Shai remembers the psychological impact of those direct hits on Tel Aviv. "For the first time in our history, we were attacked at home. And it was always Israel who was always taking the initiative and, even being attacked, immediately taking counter-attacks, like in 1973 and 1967.
"This time we didn't do anything," he said, "which was very difficult because they were looking for something to do. They said where is the Israeli Defense Force?, where is the best air force?, where is the best army? Are they good? What happened to them? And this was a crisis in the confidence of the people in the military forces of Israel."
The Defense Minister at the time, Moshe Arens, says there was never any question of retaliation during the early days of the war. "We were aware of the fact that our intervention might fracture the coalition that President George Bush had put together," he said. "So it really was not too difficult to say well, let the Allies do the job."
But, Arens says Israel was ready to strike against Iraq later on. "We were prepared to take action against the area from which scuds were launched against Israel," he said, "but then President Bush very suddenly and without any advance notice to us, declared a ceasefire and the fighting was over before we were able to intervene." In all, Iraq launched 49 scud missiles against Israel.
Palestinians living under Israeli occupation applauded Saddam Hussein's boldness. Modar al-Hassi remembers cheering the Iraqi missile attacks from the rooftop of his home in the Arub refugee camp. "I remember one sight. When there were missiles. Everybody was upstairs on the ceiling (roof) and they start clapping and everybody was happy," he said.
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