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Newsletter : 1fax0622.txt
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>JN June 22, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 104
Israel to Receive $74 Million for Gulf War Damages
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Israel is to receive $74 million for damages incurred from Iraqi Scud missiles during the Gulf War. The United Nations rejected most of Israel's claims that amounted to about $1 billion.
Israel, Germany, Turkey, and Syria filed for the compensatory payment from Iraq via the UN reparations committee. The total amount being sought was $8.5 billion.
Powell Outlines Goals For Mideast Trip
By VOA News
Secretary of State Colin Powell says he will push Israel and the Palestinians to solidify their ceasefire when he travels to the Middle East next week. Powell said Thursday, an improved security coordination and a drop in violence made this a good time to make the trip.
The cease-fire seemed shaky Thursday, as a Palestinian grenade attack injured an Israeli soldier near Rafah and Palestinians fired a large-caliber mortar shell into Israeli territory near Gaza.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority Secretary-General Ahmed Abdel Rahman said Thursday that Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza are not civilians, but an armed militia that needs to be fought.
Rahman said the settlers have been attacking Palestinians with the help of Israeli soldiers, and Palestinians have no choice but to defend themselves.
A group of settlers demonstrated outside the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, demanding Israel retaliate for Palestinian attacks that have killed four settlers in the past week.
On Wednesday, Israel said it would continue efforts to implement the ceasefire, but reserved the right to defend itself against Palestinian violence. Some analysts interpreted the statement as meaning the Israeli military will resume trying to kill Palestinian activists it believes to be organizing the attacks.
Each side has accused the other of breaking the eight-day-old cease-fire, which was negotiated by Central Intelligence Agency head George Tenet.
Blair Says No to a Face-to-Face With Sharon
By VOA News
Israeli media reports said British Prime Minister Tony Blair has turned down a request from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to meet in London next week.
Israel Radio said Blair refused the request because of a busy schedule but the British also fear certain parties will petition a British court to arrest Sharon on war crimes charges.
Sunday, the British Broadcasting Corporation aired a documentary examining Sharon's role in the 1982 massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Lebanese militiamen allied with Israel.
The program included law experts saying that Sharon, then Israel's defense minister, should be held accountable for the killings, which took place during Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Israel has harshly condemned the documentary as one-sided and unfair. Sharon will be making a brief stopover in London on his way to meet President Bush in Washington.
Man Guilty of Conning Haredi Women Into Sex
By Zvi Harel (Courtesy of Ha'aretz)
The Tel Aviv District Court has convicted Yitzhak Feder of raping five Haredi brides in Bnei Brak while pretending to be a marriage counselor. Feder, 27, of Bnei Brak, was also convicted of violating the privacy of three other women.
Feder gained access to the new brides by introducing himself as the expert who had instructed their husbands in the ritual laws of family purity before their weddings. He said he had been sent by the Association for Family Purity to make sure the new couple's sexual relations were going smoothly.
In at least one case, he said well-known rabbis had authorized him to instruct women on how to achieve physical pleasure during intercourse. He also said the same rabbis had ruled that the women were not to tell anyone about the instruction he gave.
Feder's conviction was part of a plea bargain under which the prosecution removed certain incidents from the indictment, including use of force, in exchange for a full confession. Prosecutor Hedva Baum spent months trying to negotiate the plea bargain so as to avoid having to summon the women to the stand. She believed some of them would refuse to testify for fear of being publicly shamed before their communities.
The plea bargain did not include any deal on sentencing. Feder will be sentenced in September, when the court returns from its summer recess. Until then, he will remain in jail, where he has been since the trial began.
Israeli Surgeons Save Life of Palestinian Policeman's Son
By IsraelNationalNews.com
The two-month-old son of a PA policeman from Gaza underwent complicated open-heart surgery in Haifa's Rambam Medical Center on Wednesday. The infant, Hussein Raslan, a resident of the Jabalya refugee camp in the PA area of Gaza, is reported to be recuperating.
The arrangements for the humanitarian aid were made by the "Or LaGoyim" ("A Light Unto the Nations") organization. The organization also arranged for the payment for the surgery and medical care. Rambam officials agreed to charge the minimum necessary to cover expenses.
The mother of the baby thanked and praised the Rambam physicians, telling reporters she was not afraid of coming to Haifa and hoped the two nations would one day live side-by-side in peace.
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