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Newsletter : 2fax1206.txt
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Al Qaeda Promises Attack with 48 Hours
By IsraelNationalNews.com
According to CNN, a message received from Al Qaeda promises a major terrorist attack against Americans within the next few days. The deadline corresponds to the end of The Muslim festival Id al Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan.
Sharon: Al-Qaeda Operating in Gaza Strip, Lebanon
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that members of Osama bin-Laden's al-Qaeda network have begun operating in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon. Israel believes last week's terror attacks in Kenya were the work of al-Qaeda.
Sharon said Israel has been aware for some time that al-Qaeda members have infiltrated Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and are also in Lebanon, working with the militant Islamic group Hizbullah. Speaking to a conference of editors in Tel Aviv, Sharon said he has no doubt that "Israel is a target for an attack" from al-Qaeda.
Israel suspects that the terrorist group is behind last week's suicide bombing on an Israeli-owned hotel near Mombassa, Kenya, as well as an unsuccessful missile attack on an Israeli airliner in the same area.
Sharon is not the first Israeli official to link al-Qaeda with the Palestinians. Earlier this week, Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, said bin-Laden had been sending instructions to Palestinian militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A former defense minister of Israel, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, has also claimed that some al-Qaeda members, after fleeing Afghanistan, moved into southern Lebanon, where they joined forces with the Hizbullah.
The leader of the Hizbullah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, has dismissed the claims as "ridiculous." Both the Hizbullah and al-Qaeda have vowed to destroy Israel.
Sharon said Israel is better prepared than at any time in the past to counter attacks. He says more security forces have been deployed than ever before to counter the terrorist threat. He said Israel is taking what he called "appropriate measures" to guarantee security. On Wednesday, Sharon's office said a U.S. citizen was arrested in Israel last month on suspicion of transferring funds to al-Qaeda. The man has since been deported.
Sharon Gives Conditional Backing to Palestinian State Plan
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has given his conditional backing to a plan supported by the United States that calls for the founding of a Palestinian state. The Palestinian leadership and Israeli right-wingers have rejected his announcement.
Sharon has endorsed President Bush's call, made in a speech earlier this year, for far-reaching Palestinian reforms and the establishment of a Palestinian state. The Israeli prime minister said the proposal outlined by Bush offers a real opportunity for a peace agreement.
Sharon made his comments in a speech at a security conference in Herzilya, north of Tel Aviv. He added that political concessions to the Palestinians, like those made in the past, are irreversible.
The prime minister ruled out any possibility that Israel would re-take Palestinian self-rule areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that were established under interim peace accords signed since 1993. He said Israel will not re-control territories from which it withdrew as a result of political agreements.
Sharon allowed that some Judea, Samaria and Gaza settlements would be uprooted as part of Bush's peace plan. It should be remembered that then Defense Minister Ariel Sharon pitted Israeli soldier against Israeli citizen in the uprooting of Yamit in 1982.
But there are areas of difference between the plan proposed by Bush and what the Israeli prime minister said he could accept. Under the U.S. plan, a provisional Palestinian state with temporary borders would be created next year, followed by a final agreement on the borders of the state by 2005. But in his speech Sharon made it clear he was not accepting any time frame.
Sharon said before a Palestinian state with temporary borders was formed, the Palestinian Authority must go through a process of sweeping reform. He also said no progress was possible while Palestinian leader, Yasir Arafat, remains in power and that the Palestinian state would have to be demilitarized. Sharon said while he would allow a Palestinian police force to maintain law and order, he would not allow an army that could threaten Israel.
The head of Israel's National Religious Party, Effi Eitam, attacked the plan, saying that a Palestinian state in any form poses an existential threat to Israel. The leader of Israel's Labor Party, Amram Mitzna, who will face Sharon in the January election, charged that Sharon's proposal was only an attempt to win votes for the upcoming general election.
Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Erekat also rejected Sharon's proposals. He said Israel's prime minister is repeating ideas he has long held: that a Palestinian state should be confined to 40 percent of the West Bank and 70 percent of the Gaza Strip. This, he said, was unacceptable to Palestinians.
Hizbullah To Export Suicide Murders
By IsraelNationalNews.com
"I encourage Palestinians to take suicide bombings worldwide. Don't be shy about it," Hizbullah leader Sheikh Nasrallah said at a rally in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley last week.
"Martyrdom operations - suicide bombings - should be exported outside Palestine," he said. Paul Martin reported in the Washington Times that a Hizbullah-owned TV station in Lebanon broadcast Nasrallah's remarks.
Hizbullah has established a stronghold in Canada, and the National Post there recently reported that the organization has been using Canada as a source of money, forged documents, stolen cars, recruits and military equipment.
Hillel "Expelled" From Canadian University
By IsraelNationalNews.com
The Concordia Student Union has shut down Hillel, one of the only Jewish presences on the campus of Concordia University in Montreal. The reason? Hillel members allegedly distributed a flyer for Mahal, a volunteer IDF program for overseas students.
The new ruling revoking Hillel's "funding and tabling privileges" means that the Jewish organization will not be able to hold events or set up displays and information tables. The Student Union voted that Hillel must apologize and be investigated by the Concordia administration if it wishes to be reinstated.
Palestinian activist Samer Elatrash objected to the material, saying it supports "a military brigade set specifically to guard settlements." The motion passed by an 8-1 margin; only Chairman Omar Badawi said that Hillel had not been forewarned. "If we don't do anything about this, how do we know we won't be held responsible?" asked President Sabine Friesinger.
Jewish students of Concordia, announced, "War has been declared on us," have begun a campaign to have the decision revoked. "This is a dangerous escalation in the war against Jewish students on campuses across North America," they explained in a media release. Concordia was the site of a violent demonstration that forced the cancellation of a scheduled speech by former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu three months ago.
Neo-Nazis To Protest Katzav's Visit
By IsraelNationalNews.com
German neo-Nazis have vowed to protest when Israeli President Moshe Katzav arrives next Tuesday on a state visit. They are demanding that Germany cease supplying military equipment to Israel, and have paraded under the banner, "Get Their Hands Out of Palestine."
The city of Berlin issued a permit for the Tuesday demonstration; the tiny Jewish community of Berlin has promised a counter-demonstration
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