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Newsletter : 2fax0109.txt
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>JN Jan. 9, 2002, Vol. 10, No. 6
Netanyahu Visits Pollard in Prison
By IsraelNationalNews.com
Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday visited Jonathan Pollard in his North Carolina prison, becoming the highest-ranking official to visit Pollard since his arrest. He is now in his 17th year in solitary confinement.
Pollard and his wife Esther expressed disappointment during the Netanyahu administration for its abandoning of efforts to secure his release as part of a package deal with President Bill Clinton at the Wye plantation talks.
U.S.: Credible Evidence Links Palestinians to Weapons Ship
By David Gollust (VOA-State Department)
The Bush administration said it accepts as "credible" Israel's allegations that the Palestinian Authority was involved in foiled efforts to smuggle weapons to Palestinian territories.
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Tuesday U.S. officials are waiting to hear a full explanation from Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, who has an opened an internal investigation into the matter.
Israel seized the weapons-laden ship in the Red Sea last week and accused Iran and Palestinian officials of being responsible. The detained captain of the ship, a Palestinian, said the weapons were bound for the Gaza Strip. An Israeli cabinet minister visiting Washington said Tuesday there can be no doubt the weapons were supplied by Iran and were headed to Palestinian fighters and that Arafat was responsible.
Iran's government and Arafat have both denied involvement. The British-based maritime trade report Lloyd's List is reporting that an Iraqi national is the owner of the boat in question -- the Karine A. It was seized by Israeli commandos in the Red Sea last Thursday.
In a talk with reporters after meeting Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Israeli Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit insisted that Palestinian Authority chief Yasir Arafat himself had a personal role in the operation.
"There is no doubt, according to the knowledge we have, no doubt that Arafat himself was responsible for the purchase of these weapons, for bringing them to the area. The captain of the ship is the deputy commander of the naval Palestinian forces. So I don't understand why anybody [should] have any doubt about what's the target of this ship, and who brought it, and who stands behind it," Sheetrit said.
Israel To India: We'll Help You Fight Terrorism
By VOA News
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said his country is ready to offer India all possible assistance in its fight against terrorism. Peres made the offer following talks in New Delhi Tuesday with Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes and Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh.
India is involved in a confrontation with neighboring Pakistan, which India accuses of harboring terrorists that attacked parliament in New Delhi last month, killing 14 people.
India and Israel have forged defense and counter-terrorism cooperation since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1992. Israel has become a main arms supplier for India.
An Israeli newspaper, Ha'aretz, said India has already purchased Israeli aerial surveillance vehicles and is negotiating the purchase of an Israeli-made Phalcon airborne early-warning radar system.
After meeting the Indian leaders, Peres said he believes India wants to avoid a war with Pakistan, and that he does not see the Indians as being "trigger happy."
But Peres stressed the need for an uncompromising global war on terrorism. "I don't not think the war of terror can be stopped before terror will disappear - cannot be compromised, cannot be forgiven, cannot be postponed."
Nazi Filmmaker Releases New Work
By VOA News
German filmmaking legend Leni Riefenstahl, famous for making movies for Adolf Hitler, has announced she will release her first film since 1954, in time for her 100th birthday in August.
Riefenstahl told the German newspaper Die Welt that she is finishing a film called "Impressions Under Water," a 45-minute compilation of footage she took during 2000 dives in the Indian Ocean over the past quarter-century.
The artist gave up filmmaking in favor of still photography during the 1950s, possibly to leave behind her reputation as a Nazi propaganda artist. Her 1930s film "Triumph of the Will," which glorified the career of Hitler, has been called the best propaganda film ever made. She is also famous for "Olympia," which chronicled the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
After the fall of the Third Reich, Riefenstahl said her association with Hitler was the product of her own naivete. The leader's influence was, in her words, uncanny. "He had us all under his spell," she said.
Riefenstahl has since pursued less controversial topics with photographs of natural subjects, including the Nuba people of Sudan. The British newspaper, The Independent, says she has plans for a Riefenstahl museum to open after her death.
