USAJewish 12/28/01 PRINT

Van Kills Six in Midtown
A commercial van driven by a 76-year-old man plowed into holiday shoppers in Herald Square yesterday, killing six people and injuring nine in the city's deadliest pedestrian accident in at least a decade. The rush-hour nightmare left bodies strewn on the street amid gift-wrapped packages, shattered glass and pools of blood. A high-ranking police officer said the intersection of Sixth Ave. and 34th St. — always one of the busiest in the city — "looked like a slaughterhouse."
(NY Daily News)

6 Killed in Herald Square by Out-of-Control Van
The police identified the driver of the van as Sidney Weinstein, 76, of Valley Stream on Long Island. Officials said their investigation was continuing but the crash appeared to have been an accident, and as of last night no charges had been filed. Mr. Weinstein had parked a blue commercial van illegally near a bus stop on 34th Street and a police officer had ordered him to move, officials said. Mr. Weinstein, who was facing west, put the van in gear but apparently lost control and accelerated, striking the crowd of pedestrians, officials said. "He puts the van in drive and it shoots off on him, mowing down pedestrians," said Sgt. Ralph Carone, a police spokesman. The van then slammed into the back of an express bus operated by Queens Surface Corporation. The bus was making a right turn onto the avenue.
(NY Times)

Driver Illness Is Eyed
wo weeks shy of his 77th birthday, Sidney Weinstein was making a delivery at Steve Madden, a trendy shoe boutique on W. 34th St., when he somehow lost control of his van in yesterday's fatal accident, police said. Investigators are looking into the possibility that Weinstein suffered a stroke or a seizure after he was told to move his van on Sixth Ave. and ended up running into a crowd of pedestrians. "He's a great, wonderful person," said a woman who identified herself as the manager of the shoe shop.
(NY Daily News)

Our good friend Adir Zik said this morning on Arutz-7 radio that he fully supports Arik Sharon's ban on Arafat's church worship across from the manger. Two reasons: First, under Arafat's rule Bethlehem has undergone a frightening de-Christianization, by which we mean the intimidation of the town's Christian majority into leaving. No longer a majority, Christians amount to about 20 percent of the area's Palestinians. The world is mum on that one, including the Pope, but it might explain why the local Church bigs have not raised a serious outcry over the snub.

Second reason: Why should Yasser get to visit the church of his choice while Jews are prohibited to set foot on Temple Mount? While the Arab Temple authority has been messing with the mount, de-Jewifying the living daylights out of it, Jews have been disallowed to visit there for more than a year.
Yori Yanover

NY Jewish Week's excellent coverage of the "debate" between Miss November and Rabbi Shmaltzy Boteach at Makor. Boteach was booed and hooted. Boteach characterized the audience as juvenile. The audience characterized the rabbi as a publicity hound. :-)
Anonymous Reader

The notion of making women into sex objects which most certainly is characerized by a 'Miss November' is repugnant to me as a woman. It is contemptuous of the gift women are to men and a gift in our own right. The disparity between the title of Rabbi, an affiliation with spirituality, and 'Miss November', a debasement of women set up for 'debate' needs no further comment from me.
Bracha

Man to Plead Guilty in Nuclear Case
By Andrew Bridges
LOS ANGELES –– A man accused 16 years ago of illegally exporting potential nuclear triggers to Israel will plead guilty Friday to two charges in federal court, his attorney said. Richard Smyth, 72, a former electronics supplier, will plead guilty to two of 30 counts contained in his indictment, his attorney James D. Riddet said Thursday. He had previously pleaded innocent to all charges. The remaining counts will be dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

The original indictment involved the alleged export of about $60,000 worth of krytrons, two-inch triggering devices that can be used in nuclear weapons. Smyth intends to plead guilty to a single count each of illegal shipments and preparing false documentation for the export of roughly 800 of the tubelike devices. Authorities said they were sent to Heli Corp. in Israel between January 1980 and December 1982.
(AP)

The Rabbi And The Playmate
Vuolo, a small-town Pennsylvanian who played down her good looks and dressed modestly for the occasion, came across as sympathetic and sincere, explaining that she contacted Playboy on a bet, to get back at a boyfriend, and to help pay tuition at Indiana University in Pennsylvania because she was tired of working two jobs. A Reform Jew, she said her hometown rabbi and parents supported her Playboy decision. She discussed her “amazing” Israeli tour in high school and her desire someday to raise Jewish children.

The audience had far less sympathy for Rabbi Boteach, who was hooted at by several in the crowd for monopolizing the discussion as he argued that Vuolo’s decision was demeaning and against Jewish values. He said “pornographic” magazines like Playboy damage men’s ability to have meaningful relationships and causes divorce. The rabbi was criticized as a hypocrite for bashing Vuolo and Playboy while defending his own deal to have “Kosher Sex” excerpted in the magazine.
(Jewish Week)

The Playmate and the Assemblyman
By Leonard Fein
Beliefnet's coverage of Ms. Vuolo's uncovering features an interview with the vice president of CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Rabbi Bradley Hirschfield. In the interview, Rabbi Hirschfield argued that Ms. Vuolo's posing for the magazine is about more than just her being Jewish. "If Jews have a problem with [Ms. Vuolo posing nude], it ought to be a problem with Playboy, not with her as a Jewish girl," Rabbi Hirschfield said. "That is, their discomfort should be coming from the fact that a magazine is paying women to get naked for a camera. If it only bothers them when Jewish girls do it, then they would have to admit that they really believe there's some kind of moral superiority that Jews possess."
(Forward)

Lehrer to Leave
David Lehrer, the regional director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) since 1986, will be leaving his position in the near future. He has been with the organization for 27 years. At press time, the circumstances surrounding Lehrer’s departure were unclear. ADL spokesperson Myrna Shinbaum released a statement from the civil rights agency’s national office in New York saying: "The Anti-Defamation League is always reviewing its operations, including that of its regional offices. Recognizing the importance and the needs of the Los Angeles community and ADL’s commitment to the community, we are undertaking steps to strengthen our leadership and development efforts. To this end ADL’s longtime director, David Lehrer, will be leaving the league."
(Jewish Journal of Greater LA)

Shakeup At WJCongress
Sweeping changes at restitution-advocacy group; future direction unclear.
Eric J. Greenberg
The World Jewish Congress, the aggressive international organization that led the multibillion- dollar fight for Holocaust restitution, is undergoing dramatic changes that raise questions about the future of the group, its mission, and where its seat of power will be located. For the first time in its 60-year history the post of secretary-general — the top paid position — will be based in Jerusalem. Current New York-based Secretary-General Israel Singer is stepping down from the post he has held for the last 15 years. His deputy, Elan Steinberg, who as WJC executive director was the second-ranking paid professional, is leaving the group after 27 years because, according to sources, he was not tapped to replace Singer. (Steinberg denies this.)
(Jewish Week)

Critics Charge Racism As Jewish State Places 'Quota' on Ethiopians
Activists Say Blacks' Plight Ignored As Aliya Dollars Flow to Russia. Ethnic Bean Counting, or Prudent Policy-making?
By Ami Eden
Critics are claiming racism is behind what they say is the Israeli government's establishment of a 400-person monthly quota on immigration from Ethiopia — even for those who qualify under the Law of Return. Ethiopian Jewry activists complain that the quota and what they cite as a lack of humanitarian aid from American Jewish philanthropies are doubly offensive because of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's recent calls for a mass immigration of Jews from Argentina, France, Australia and South Africa.
(Forward)

ARE THE ARGENTINES COMING?
Our doubts are still lingering, but, hey, we've been wrong before...

Argentine Jews Have Bags Packed
By Steve Lipman
Hernan Leonoff saw a frightening sight on CNN one night last week — his store being ransacked. Leonoff and his father Armando own Optical Shop, a major eyeglasses supplies business in downtown Beunos Aires. Anti-government rioters, frustrated over the country’s continuing economic crisis, were breaking into and looting scores of stores in the Argentine capital last Thursday, and Optical Shop was one of the main targets. Leonoff saw it happening live. But it wasn’t safe to leave his home in a Buenos Aires suburb.
(Jewish Week)

The silence of the rabbits
By Zvi Bar'el
"For us, every newborn is a new debt. From where will our governments find the money to see to his medicine, education, job? And we are multiplying like rabbits." Thus wrote Abed al-Rahman al-Rashid this week in Al-Sharq al-Awsat, which is published in London. This is the core of the fears that the economic crisis in Argentina has triggered in the states of the Middle East. Palestinian commentator Majed Kiali, who lives in Syria, cites a wealth of data explaining why Arab countries are closer to Argentina than to what he calls the developed countries.
(Ha'aretz)

Magen David Adom Chief Doubts Account Of Red Cross Ouster
By E.J. Kessler
The head of Israel's Magen David Adom is disputing an account by the former president of the American Red Cross, Dr. Bernadine Healy, who put her support for the Israeli medical society at the center of the controversy over her recent resignation. Dr. Healy, who came under fire for her handling of the ARC's response to the September 11 terrorist attacks, has contended in several published accounts — most forcefully in The New Yorker — that she was forced out of her job for insisting on a policy that withheld dues from the international Red Cross movement until Magen David Adom was admitted as a full member.
(Forward)

Charity’s New Mantra: Make It Relevant
Some Jewish nonprofits retooling pitches to stress intifada, crisis response.
By Stewart Ain
Jeannie Gerzon was at her wit’s end. The ongoing Palestinian violence had caused many major donors to delay trips to Israel to dedicate projects they had funded for her group, the American Committee for the Tel Aviv Foundation. And new potential donors are reluctant to contribute to capital projects. “People want to see in person what they are giving money to, and when they are not traveling to Israel, it is very hard to sell it,” explained Gerzon, the group’s executive director. “We learned we couldn’t do things the way we were doing before. It’s not anymore about putting a name on a kindergarten or a park, it has to be relevant to current events.”
(Jewish Week)

Official off to China to tackle Phalcon fiasco
By Aluf Benn
Defense Ministry director general Amos Yaron will go to Beijing next week to negotiate with senior Chinese defense officials over the Phalcon affair.The cancelation of Israel's deal to sell the airborne AWACS system to China under American pressure has chilled relations between the two countries. China is demanding that Israel fulfill its contractual obligation or pay $1.26 billion in compensation. The Chinese say this includes Beijing's advance payment, interest on that payment, and compensation of $1 billion for cancelling the deal.
(Ha'aretz)

U.S. Awards New Projects To Egypt
WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration has awarded new military projects for Egypt. The projects include help for Egypt's tank program as well as construction of marine facilities. In the first project the Pentagon approved a contract for the design and construction of a new marine railwary at the port of Alexandria. American International Contractors, based in Arlington, Va., was awarded a $11. 4 million contract.
(MENL)

DEATH INDUSTRY BLUES
We can mess up our business on our own, thank you very much...

India cuts ties with Rafael rep
By Yossi Melman
The Indian government says it has cut its ties with arms dealer Israel Yaniv of Elul Asia company, which represents the Rafael Armaments Development Authority. The Indian decision is a direct result of an investigative report published in Ha'aretz three months ago. Representatives of the Indian Defense Ministry told Israeli defense officials and directors of Rafael they would cut all business links with them if Yaniv and Elul Asia continue to promote Rafael products in India.
(Ha'aretz)

Looking out for number one
Defense relations between Israel and India have grown so strong that some say Israel is replacing Russia as India's main arms supplier.
By Amnon Barzilai
No fewer than three official Israeli delegations have visited India in recent weeks. Just last week, the two countries conducted their semi-annual political dialogue in New Delhi. At the end of November, for the first time since Israel and India established diplomatic relations almost a decade ago in the wake of the Madrid Conference, a parliamentary delegation headed by MK Amnon Rubinstein, visited the Indian parliament. And early in November, a defense delegation headed by Defense Minister Director General Amos Yaron went to India for a strategic dialogue between the two countries. Next month, an Indian delegation arrives here to discuss the war against terrorism.
(Ha'aretz)

Howard M. Squadron, 75, Influential Lawyer, Dies
By William Glaberson
Howard M. Squadron, who made himself one of the city's powerful lawyers by mixing an active law practice with liberal politics, support for the arts, a keen sense of public relations and ties to influential clients like Rupert Murdoch, died Wednesday night at his home in Riverdale, the Bronx. Mr. Squadron was 75 and died of melanoma, his wife said. Mr. Squadron, the Bronx-born son of a delicatessen counterman, led national Jewish groups and city cultural organizations from the Manhattan law firm where he was the senior partner, Squadron Ellenoff Plesent & Sheinfeld.
(NY Times)

Taking a moral stand
By Dan Izenberg
(December 28) - In barring Ehud Yatom yesterday from serving as head of the anti-terror desk in the National Security Council, the High Court of Justice was serving as the moral rather than the legal arbiter of the nation. Even by the court's own precedents, the decision as to whether or not to allow Yatom, who was granted a presidential pardon after killing two captured and bound terrorists and lying to two committees that were established to investigate their deaths, was by no means obvious. Needless to say, there is nothing on the statute books that deals with this precise situation.
(Jerusalem Post)

What happened on Bus 300?
JERUSALEM (December 28) - On April 12, 1984, four Palestinian terrorists hijacked Egged Bus No. 300 en route from Tel Aviv to Ashkelon with 41 passengers and forced it to drive to the Gaza Strip. In Deir el-Balah, about 15 kilometers south of Gaza City, the bus finally came to a stop and was surrounded by military and Border Police units. The terrorists said they belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, headed by George Habash. All night long they negotiated for the release of some 500 PLO terrorists in Israeli jails. Just before dawn, an IDF elite unit, led by then-brigadier-general Yitzhak Mordechai, stormed the bus.
(Jerusalem Post)

A GOVERNMENT THAT SLAUGHTERS AN ENTIRE PRISON POPULATION IS PREACHING HUMAN RIGHTS

U.S. seeks Israeli responses for human rights report
By Aluf Benn
The U.S. State Department has requested explanations from the Foreign Ministry on a number of issues due to be included in its upcoming annual report on human rights. These issues include assassinations of Palestinian terrorists, administrative detentions, and various incidents involving Israel Defense Forces troops in the territories. Government sources said the report, which is due out in February, is of particular interest because it will be the first to reflect the Bush administration's approach to human rights. For instance, last year's report, prepared by the Clinton administration, unequivocally denounced Israeli assassinations, and this is still official State Department policy. But the U.S. is now carrying out "interceptions" of its own in Afghanistan, and it is not yet clear how this will affect its view of similar Israeli actions.
(Ha'aretz)

Antisemitic Literature Selling Fast in Moscow
(December 27, 2001) -- Despite laws banning the incitement of ethnic or religious hatred, antisemitic literature is openly sold in Moscow, according to UCSJ's Moscow Bureau chief Aleksandr Brod. One bookstall in the center of town (near the "Russia" theater) owned by the "Ring" company sells over 30 blatantly antisemitic books six days a week. The titles include books by well know antisemitic writers like "How an Antisemite is Made" by Deacon Andrey Kuraev, "What the Jews Want from Us" by A. Sevastyanov and "Russia Under the Rule of the Masons," by Oleg Platonov. The bookseller told Mr. Brod that she doesn't read what she sells, and added that the books are selling so quickly that she has to replace them with new copies 2-3 times a week.
(UCSJ)

Clergy Accused Of Enflaming National Strife
by Viktor Belimov
A criminal case on article 282 of the criminal code of the Russian federation, that is applied extremely rarely, was recently conducted by the prosecutor's office of Sverdlovsk province. The list of suspects includes not only overt nationalists from the editorial board of the local "Russian Society of Ekaterinburg" newspaper but also religious personnel representing the Ekaterinburg diocese. The chief of the administration of the Prosecutor General of the Urals federal district, Yury Zolotov, sent the case of the clergy for supplementary investigation so that "it would be studied with all care."
(Vremia novostei)

Anti-Semitism Stirs Aliyah
Around the world, a spike in anti-Jewish incidents and economic hardship are forcing Jews to return to the homeland.
By Amy Klein
In Europe, anti-Semitic incidents are at such a high level — the highest since World War II — that some have stopped counting, said an Israeli official who is spearheading a new worldwide forum to fight anti-Semitism. Examples are many: in Prague, two shuls were evacuated because of bomb threats; in Brussels, the chief rabbi was attacked by five Arab men; in England, Selfridges department store is boycotting goods made in the West Bank and Golan Heights.
(Jewish Journal of Greater LA)

African Students Beaten in Nizhny Novgorod
(December 27, 2001) -- African students at the Nizny Novgorod Medical Academy were beaten by "local racists" on December 17, 2001, according to a December 18, 2001 report by the IMA Press news agency. One student from Sudan has been hospitalized in serious condition. This is at least the second time such an attack has taken place. The students are reportedly convinced that the local police will not be able to solve the problem, and have appealed to their respective embassies in Moscow for help.
(UCSJ)

Bin Laden Fled Into Pakistan, Afghans Report
By Amy Waldman with Eric Schmitt
ABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 27 — An Afghan defense official said tonight that Osama bin Laden had escaped the country and was hiding in the mountainous border region of Pakistan. The Pentagon dismissed the report but said it had no idea of his whereabouts. The report came as the Pentagon said American warplanes destroyed a compound in eastern Afghanistan that it believes was used by the chief of intelligence for the Taliban. Local villagers said as many as 40 civilians were killed, but the Pentagon said that while some civilians may have been in the compound, it could not confirm the casualty figure. It insisted that the target was a Taliban leadership headquarters.
(NY Times)

Terror Cells Slip Through Europe's Grasp
By Steven Erlanger and Chris Hedges
PARIS — Late last July in Afghanistan, after months of terrorist training, Jamal Beghal, an Algerian-born Frenchman, was summoned to the home of a senior aide to Osama bin Laden. The time for action had come, said the aide, Abu Zubeida. Mr. Beghal was instructed to return to France via Morocco and Spain and orchestrate a suicide bombing of the American Embassy in Paris. According to a senior French intelligence official, Mr. Beghal shaved his beard, put on Western clothing, and, before leaving, was given three gifts from Mr. bin Laden — a toothpick, prayer beads and a flask of incense.
(NY Times)

Suicide bomber explodes in Gaza; Israel lifts Bethlehem siege
By Amos Harel
A Palestinian man was killed Thursday night near the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip, apparently when the bomb strapped to his body exploded by accident, Radio Israel reported. Military sources say that the bomber most likely intended to blow himself near a military jeep that was approaching him. However, when IDF soldiers detected his presence they opened fire. It was at that time that the bomb exploded. It is still unclear if the bomber was killed first by IDF fire or by the force of the explosion.
(Ha'aretz)

IDF arrests 8 Hamas men in Hebron raid
By Amos Harel
In an early morning operation yesterday, an IDF force entered Palestinian Authority territory in Hebron (H1) and arrested eight persons suspected of being members of Hamas. Palestinian sources reported that all eight were students at the Islamic College in the city. An IDF spokesman said that the eight were Hamas activists and that the operation took place in the northwestern part of the city. Three of those arrested are members of the Bisharat family, from the village of Tamun, east of Jenin. Earlier in the week, the IDF arrested seven members of the family in an operation in their village.
(Ha'aretz)

LOOK AT THAT - MOTIVES!
They guy came to fix their fridge - while being Jewish!

Palestinians kill Israeli; nationalistic motives suspected
By Baruch Kra
The body of an Israeli man, who police suspect was murdered by a Palestinian youth, was found Friday morning in a cave near the Palestinian village of Jaba in the Binyamin Area of the West Bank. The man, 45-year-old Zion Ohana, a resident of the nearby settlement of Adam, had disappeared 10 days ago, Israel Radio reported. Two Palestinian youths from the village of Jaba near the settlement of Adam, who were in contact with Ohana before his disappearance, were arrested by Judea and Samaria Police Friday morning. During interrogation, one of the suspects said that he and his friends murdered Ohana the day of his disappearance. After his confession the Palestinian led investigators to the body.
(Ha'aretz)

Israeli found murdered near Jerusalem
Ohana met with the Palestinian at the entrance to Jaba to discuss the repair of a broken refrigerator. The Palestinian lured Ohana further into the village and then, with the assistance of two other Palestinians, killed him in an abandoned house. The Palestinians later hid the body in a cave in the vicinity. The Palestinian said he killed Ohana in order to steal his car, and implicated four others in the deed.
(Jerusalem Post)

FM: talks with PA to continue
By Yossi Verter, Aluf Benn
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is to continue talks with Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia (better known as Abu Ala) and other senior Palestinian officials, despite the statement made by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday that the diplomatic plan being formed in talks between Peres and Abu Ala had "many problems," was unacceptable to him and had no government mandate. Peres's office said Friday that contacts with Palestinian officials continue all the time, to discuss the cease-fire understandings and renewal of permanent agreement negotiations.
(Ha'aretz)

Sharon scorns Peres-Abu Ala plan
By Yossi Verter
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday derided the plan Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is discussing with Palestinian legislature speaker Ahmed Qureia (Abu Ala) as "a plan full of problems" that he doesn't agree with. In a series of meetings with Likud activists at the party's Tel Aviv headquarters, Sharon is saying the plan as so far been published "is in absolute contradiction to what I have declared to the government, the foreign minister and the National Union Party - that before there is any discussion about a Palestinian state, it will be brought to a debate in the government. It was not brought to debate and so it is not authorized. When the day comes, if it is relevant, it will be brought before the government."
(Ha'aretz)

Laughing all the way to the end of term
By Yoel Marcus
Now that we're done laughing about Yasser Arafat's incarnation as a holy Christian saint; now that we're done sniggering at the zigzag from "I didn't know" to "I knew" about Shimon Peres' contacts with Abu Ala; now that we're done raising our eyebrows over the declaration that "I've found a solution to terror" that was followed immediately by the murder of 44 Israelis; now that we've witnessed the stagnation of the country in every possible sphere - the time has come to ask if Ariel Sharon has reached the end of his road as prime minister.
(Ha'aretz)

Labor is expendable, Sharon warns Ben-Eliezer
By Gil Hoffman
TEL AVIV (December 28) - In a bid to preempt a Labor Party move to leave his national-unity government, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday warned newly elected Labor chairman and Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer the government can thrive without him. Sharon congratulated Ben-Eliezer on his victory and reacted to his statements he intends to remove Labor from the government "sooner than expected" and work to advance the next general election.
(Jerusalem Post)

Sparks are already flying between Peres and Ben-Eliezer
By Aluf Benn
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer is slated to visit Washington on February 6, on his first visit to the U.S. capital since becoming defense minister. The visit was originally scheduled for mid-September, but the terror attacks on New York and Washington caused that session to be canceled. Now the visit will have new significance, since Ben-Eliezer is chairman of the Labor Party and yesterday announced the opening of the campaign for the next elections. His trip will be a political victory tour, and the Americans will have to decide how red a carpet they'll roll out for him. Will he get a 15-minute session with President George W. Bush or only an honor guard at the Pentagon for his meeting with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and a working meeting at the White House with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice?
(Ha'aretz)

Outgoing OC Intelligence says reaction time reduced to minutes
By Arieh O'Sullivan
TEL AVIV (December 28) - The IDF has vastly improved its intelligence gathering and dissemination capabilities in recent years, reducing from hours to minutes the time it takes to locate targets in the modern battlefield, outgoing OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka said yesterday. "There had been a great gap between our attack capabilities and target acquisitioning," Malka. "The ability to locate targets was lagging behind... but we have been able to significantly close this gap."
(Jerusalem Post)

`Ghetto idea' for Arab towns raises a storm
By Ori Nir
The Arab Students Union yesterday demanded that Haifa University condemn suggestions by its Professor Arnon Sofer that "ghettoes" be built around Arab towns. Sofer, a controversial figure for his views on the "demographic threat" he says Israeli Arabs pose, suggested in the latest issue of the university student newspaper Pesek Zman that East Jerusalem and Arab towns in the Galilee be made part of a Palestinian state to reduce the "demographic threat." If the residents refused, he said, "we should set up ghettoes for them around their villages."
(Ha'aretz)

Number of rejections at borders doubles
By Mazal Mualem
The Interior Ministry is cracking down on attempts to enter the country illegally, with a 100 percent increase of entry denials this year compared to last year. Last year, some 1,700 people were denied entry, while this year, through October, some 3,500 were rejected, mostly because they did not have valid visas. Most of them were people seeking work in the country.
(Ha'aretz)

American Jews Seeking To Aid Israel's Arabs
By Julia Goldman
Responding to a possible security and public-relations disaster, representatives of some of America's largest Jewish organizations met recently to address the financial and social disparities hobbling Israel's Arab citizens. The organizers were responding to urgent calls to ameliorate what one termed "state-supported discrimination" against Israeli Arabs. But they acknowledge that they face an uphill battle in mobilizing American Jewish support for the Arabs at a time when Israel is besieged by terrorist attacks and questions have arisen about the Arabs's loyalty to the state since the start of current Palestinian uprising.
(Forward)

Arafat `not built for historic deal,' says Malka in farewell
By Amos Harel
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat "is not built for a historic compromise" with Israel, Major General Amos Malka, the outgoing head of Military Intelligence, told journalists at a farewell press conference in Tel Aviv yesterday. "Our intelligence conclusion is that Arafat is not built, at this stage, and apparently is not built at all, for a historic compromise to reach a political arrangement, in which he would accept the existence of Israel as a Jewish state in secure borders over the long term," he said.
(Ha'aretz)

IDF: Arafat made a deal with terrorists
By Arieh O'Sullivan
TEL AVIV (December 28) - Palestinian terror organizations have reached a temporary understanding with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat not to carry out attacks inside Israel, but still have a green light to strike in the territories, a senior IDF intelligence officer said yesterday. Furthermore, the Palestinian Authority considers it in its vital interest to hold political discussions with Israel, in order for it to show that 15 months of violence have accomplished something, said the officer, who could not be named.
(Jerusalem Post)

Israel Lifts Bethlehem Cordon, Not for Arafat
By Michele Gershberg
JERUSALEM - Israel said it lifted its cordon around Bethlehem Friday for ongoing Christmas festivities, but Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was still banned from the town revered as the birthplace of Jesus. ``The Israeli army ended the encirclement of Bethlehem, in accordance with government guidelines, for the occasion of Christmas,'' the military announced.
(Reuters)

Malka: Iraq to target Israel if US attacks
By Arieh O'Sullivan
TEL AVIV (December 28) - Outgoing OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka warned yesterday that if Iraq's Saddam Hussein feels an American strike aims to topple his regime, then he would likely order an attack on Israel. "The strategic warning we give is that, if the Americans decide to attack Iraq in a way that would appear as a strike aimed at toppling the regime as it did in Afghanistan, then the probability that Saddam Hussein will try to involve us is high," Malka said.
(Jerusalem Post)

The U.S. Must Strike at Saddam Hussein
By Richard Perle
With each passing day, he comes closer to his dream of a nuclear arsenal. We know he has a clandestine program, spread over many hidden sites, to enrich Iraqi natural uranium to weapons grade. We know he has the designs and the technical staff to fabricate nuclear weapons once he obtains the material. And intelligence sources know he is in the market, with plenty of money, for both weapons material and components as well as finished nuclear weapons. How close is he? We do not know. Two years, three years, tomorrow even? We simply do not know, and any intelligence estimate that would cause us to relax would be about as useful as the ones that missed his nuclear program in the early 1990's or failed to predict the Indian nuclear test in 1998 or to gain even a hint of the Sept. 11 attack.
(NY Times)

Cerebral Palsy Doesn't Stop This Comic
By Lani Harac
Michael Aronin was born with CP but was mainstreamed — in school with non-disabled students — throughout his life. As an undergraduate at then-Towson State University, he was elected president of the Student Government Association. He recently received a master's degree in school counseling from Towson. In person, he has friendly eyes, keeps his hair close-shaved, and is up-front about the physical manifestations of his disability, which can cause problems with balance, muscle coordination and speech. Yep — he's a public speaker and a comedian, and sometimes it's hard to understand what he says. But he's funny. On a videotape of clips he sends out, he jokes, "Having cerebral palsy is great. No one asks me to clear the table."
(Baltimore Jewish Times)

Shoah 'People' Fund Attacked
By Nacha Cattan
A fund that seeks to finance Jewish educational programs around the world using monies "left over" from Holocaust restitution negotiations is coming under fire from Jewish organizations. The debate over the initiative, known as the Fund for the Jewish People, is pitting Holocaust survivors, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Committee against the fund's chief supporters, Israel and the World Jewish Congress.
(Forward)

Reform's Universe
The movement takes a look at itself and its future.
By Barbara Pash
When nearly 6,000 Jews converged in Boston recently for the national Reform Jewish convention, there was only one word to describe the experience. Ruach. Spirit. It's not a word usually associated with the Reform movement. But it's the direction the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, known simply as the Union, Reform's central organization for North America, intends to go. Since becoming UAHC president five years ago, Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie has reinvented Reform, emphasizing Torah and avodah, worship.
(Baltimore Jewish Times)

Florida Jewish community incensed as news of cemetery scandal breaks
By Paul Carson
PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 27 — As the shock begins to wear off from allegations that Menorah Gardens Cemetery desecrated hundreds of graves, the Jewish community´s tears are hardening into anger. "If everything that is being reported turns out to be factually true, this becomes a wake-up call of tremendous proportions," said Rabbi Sholom Ciment of Chabad-Lubavitch of Greater Boynton Beach. The allegations against the cemetery, he said, warrant "an immediate and severe crackdown on all area Jewish cemeteries and funeral homes."
(JTA)

Islam Complex, And Similar To Judaism, Christianity
By Neil Rubin
Anger and uncompromising violence toward non-believing infidels, or pursuit of peace girded by God's love? With the unprecedented focus on Islam in recent months, such bipolar views dominate the debates many Americans are having over the religion of Osama bin Laden and his followers. But not surprisingly, Islam is complicated, widely interpreted, and laden with surface inconsistencies — just like Judaism and Christianity.
(Baltimore Jewish Times)

An Obligation To Dialogue With Islam
By Elyakim Rubinstein
One of the most urgent challenges facing Israel today is a dialogue with the world of Islam. Perhaps we should have made a greater effort in that direction years ago, but that did not happen. There were obvious reasons for this, some arising from widespread skepticism over the possibility of dialogue with fundamentalist Islam, others related to our difficult struggle against the violence and bloodshed fomented in the name of Islam, and above all, the terrorism of the suicide bombers. Separate from all this, Israel also faces highly problematic trends among certain extremist Islamic bodies within the Israeli-Arab community, which require it to make a moral reckoning.
(Jewish Week)

BOOK BURNING AS STREET THEATER
If they had burned a Torah they could get a ministry grant...

Education Ministry suspends book-burning principal, teacher
By Shoshana Kordova
JERUSALEM (December 28) - The Education Ministry announced yesterday that it is temporarily suspending the teacher who publicly burned a copy of the New Testament and the principal who gave his approval. Rabbi Yair Bachar, principal of the Orot State Religious School in Beit Shemesh, and Ronen Tzarum, the sixth-grade teacher whose name the ministry released, will remain suspended until the national committee responsible for disciplinary action makes a final decision. Ministry spokeswoman Orit Reuveni gave no indication of when that would be.
(Jerusalem Post)

WW3 STARTED BY HINDUS AND MUSLIMS?
Scrap your play books, it's a truly new ballgame

Arab Militants Join Insurgency Against India
ISLAMABAD -- Insurgents from Egypt and Sudan have joined a Pakistani-sponsored Islamic insurgency against India. The Arab insurgents have encountered friction from their Islamic colleagues because of complaints that the Arabs are not sufficiently devout. "Militants from West Asia, Sudan, Egypt, Chechnya are also in Kashmiri militant outfits," Kashmir Mir Khursheed, a former Pakistani intelligence agent who operated in Kashmir, said. "Like Al Qaida, a majority of the outfits operating in Kashmir are full of foreigners. Kashmiri youth are sick and tired of them because they laugh at them [Kashmiri militants] for not being strict on religious matters."
(MENL)

India Is Ready to Defend Itself
By Brahma Chellaney
NEW DELHI -- The border skirmishes and the largest military buildup between India and Pakistan since their last war in 1971 could escalate to a full-blown confrontation unless Pakistan is willing to go beyond symbolic steps against the terror groups its military and intelligence service have nurtured and directed for years. The Dec. 13 attack by Pakistan-based Islamic terrorists on the Indian Parliament was a signal of how deadly and audacious these forces have become. It was an attempt to wipe out India's political leadership and to bring about chaos in the world's largest democracy.
(NY Times)

Clerk Nabbed in Bomb-Scare Spree
NYPD detectives and federal agents have arrested a hoaxer who was terrorizing thousands of workers at a midtown office tower with daily phony bomb threats, authorities said. Zane Dukes, 35, a mailroom clerk for the Random House publishing company at 299 Park Ave., told investigators he did it because he had a sore foot and wanted "additional breaktime for himself," according to a criminal complaint. Dukes allegedly made 36 bogus calls between Nov. 8 and Dec. 11, Monday through Friday, but never on weekends or holidays.
(NY Daily News)

Chief Editor: Yori Yanover
Contributing Editor: Ploni (I'm a real person, honest) Almoni
Contributing Editor: A. Engler Anderson
Contributing Editor: Glenn Richter
Contributing Editor: Moshe Matitya