To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Palestinians aim to break U.S. mediation monopoly
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 08:27:02 -0500
Monday, November 6, 2000
Palestinians aim to break U.S. mediation monopoly
Clinton meets Arafat Thursday, Barak Sunday
By Aluf Benn, Amira Hass, Dalia Shehori
Ha'aretz Correspondents
The declared Palestinian aim in forthcoming talks with President Bill Clinton
will be "to break the American monopoly" of involvement in the dispute and in
mediating Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Official Palestinian Authority spokesmen have been stressing this stand in
advance of the meeting - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat will
meet with Clinton this Thursday.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak will leave Saturday night for the United States
and will meet Clinton in the White House the following day, November 12.
During the five weeks of violence in the Al-Aqsa Intifada, the Palestinian
public has come to regard Washington as a wholehearted supporter of Israeli
interests and positions. Among the Palestinians this perception has eroded
American credibility as a mediator and honest broker.
Marwan Barghouti, a Fatah leader and head of Tanzim militias on the West
Bank, voiced Palestinian skepticism of American intervention yesterday,
saying that "since the Intifada began, the U.S. has tried to contain and
belittle it...The U.S. has lost its credibility and the time has come to break
the American monopoly over the peace process." Barghouti called for UN
involvement in the process to supplant American intervention.
PA Information and Transportation Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said the
Palestinian public wants immediate diplomatic results from the Intifada. He
said international involvement in the negotiation process would be important
"to persuade the Palestinian public there is no longer an American
monopoly." Such UN-sponsored involvement could also provide guarantees
that Israel will implement any agreement which is reached, Abed Rabbo
said.
Clinton wants to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders to search for ways of
resuming the peace negotiations. He intends to probe each side's readiness
to compromise and accept his proposals as a basis for a discussion about a
final status accord. Should the sides accept Clinton's proposal, the outgoing
president will consider convening another summit aimed at finalizing an
agreement.
Barak will urge Clinton to seek a comprehensive framework agreement which
will either address all points in contention between Israel and the PA, or
defer decisions on Jerusalem. Israel will demand that any such agreement
include a declaration about the "end of the conflict" and will ask that Camp
David understandings concerning security issues be re-discussed in light of
the violent clashes of recent weeks.
Meanwhile leading security officials, led by IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz,
warned at the government meeting yesterday of a possible escalation of
violence in the region. The said Israel is properly prepared for a worst-case
scenario of regional conflict.
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=11/06/00&
id=99486
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US said floating plan for int'l force in W. Bank, Gaza
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 08:51:44 -0500
Monday, November 6 2000 14:47 8 Heshvan 5761
US said floating plan for int'l force in W.
Bank, Gaza
By Herb Keinon and Janine Zacharia
JERUSALEM (November 6) - The US administration is
testing the waters to see if Israel will meet the
Palestinians half way and agree to the posting of some
kind of international force in the territories, an Israeli
source said last night.
The UN Security Council is to take up the Palestinian
demand for an international force in a closed session
planned for Wednesday. Until now, both Israel and the
US have been adamantly opposed to the idea.
US President Bill Clinton, eager to persuade Israelis and
Palestinians to lay down their arms, may try to persuade
Prime Minister Ehud Barak to accede to a temporary
UN force to appease the Palestinians, when the two
meet at the White House on Sunday.
Officials here, however, say that the outcome of Clinton's
Thursday meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat will largely dictate the agenda of the
Clinton-Barak meeting. Overall, Clinton hopes to secure
promises from both leaders to implement the Sharm
e-Sheikh security understandings.
"The goal is to assess the situation on the ground and
begin to find the way back to the negotiating table,"
White House spokesman Jake Siewert said yesterday.
According to the source, the idea the US is floating is for
the posting of a force that would not be armed, but
would have observer status similar to that of the
Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH),
dispatched after the Baruch Goldstein massacre in 1994.
TIPH'S sole function is to monitor and report on events.
The force is composed of 30 Norwegians.
The source said that the idea has been broached by the
highest echelons of the US peace team, and that it was
discussed with Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami on his
recent trip to the US.
Barak's spokesman said last night that he does not know
whether Israel has been contacted about this idea, but
that Israel is adamantly opposed to it.
US Embassy spokesman Larry Schwartz said he was
unaware of any such proposal. He added that it is not
American policy.
The Foreign Ministry said last night that US Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright and Ambassador to the UN
Richard Holbrooke told Ben-Ami that they would
oppose this initiative.
The Israeli source said that raising the issue fits a pattern
whereby the Palestinians have raised demands, and the
US peace team, instead of rejecting them out of hand,
tries to find a way for the Palestinians to feel they are
getting some of what they want, while Israel's interests
are not harmed.
The source, however, said that the timing is especially
bad, since Arafat is scheduled to arrive in Washington on
Thursday, and the fact that the US is willing to even
entertain the idea of an international force is sure to give
him encouragement to continue pressing the idea.
"It's come up in a number of meetings," said another
Israeli official in Washington. "The Americans ask
whether we can work with this idea. But it is a total
non-starter from an Israeli perspective."
The White House yesterday officially announced that
Arafat will be coming for talks on Thursday, while Barak
will arrive in Washington on Sunday. Afterward, he will
go to Chicago to address the United Jewish
Communities annual General Assembly.
Diplomatic sources said the talks will concentrate
primarily on implementing the Sharm e-Sheikh
understandings, which called for a cessation of violence,
the formation of a fact-finding commission headed by the
US, and a return to negotiations.
Meanwhile, the cabinet heard a briefing on the security
situation from Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul
Mofaz and OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka at
its weekly meeting. According to their assessments,
Arafat is still interested in the diplomatic path, but will
encourage violence to improve his negotiating position.
The cabinet heard reports that Arafat has done nothing
to curtail the incitement in the PA. The atmosphere
encourages terrorism, as does the releasing of Hamas
and Islamic Jihad prisoners, security officials told the
ministers.
But Arafat does not want matters to get out of hand,
because he does not want to lose his status of statesman
in the eyes of the world.
The cabinet also heard reports that Iran is sending
terrorists to carry out suicide missions in Israel, targeting
buildings. In addition, the Iranians are encouraging
Hizbullah to kidnap soldiers and civilians in the North as
a way of helping the Palestinians.
One cabinet source said that dangers in the North and
the likelihood of a prolonged confrontation now with the
Palestinians were discussed at great length in an attempt
to impress upon the ministers the urgency of approving a
request for an additional NIS 750 million in the defense
budget next year.
MK Silvan Shalom (Likud) said Barak's decision to
travel to Washington shows that he is willing to "reach an
agreement at any price" and initiate elections based on
acceptance of a peace deal.
His plan is to ask voters whether they support peace or a
continuation of riots and casualties, Shalom said, while
ignoring that Arafat initiated the violence.
According to Shalom, Barak is continuing with the Camp
David track when he knows he does not have support of
a majority of the Knesset and the people.
In a separate development, the cabinet yesterday
approved the appointments of two new ambassadors.
Sando Mazor, formerly head of the police's investigation
division, will be dispatched to Romania and Eli Bar-Navi
to France, replacing Eliahu Ben-Elissar, who died in
August.
Also yesterday, Saudi Arabia donated $30 million to the
Palestinian Authority to help overcome economic
difficulties resulting from the closure that has kept
workers from entering Israel, Saudi officials said,
according to The Associated Press.
The closure has cost Palestinians $870 million, according
to official Palestinian estimates.
(Nina Gilbert and Lamia Lahoud contributed to this
report.)
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/11/06/News/News.14939.html
_____________________________________
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US report urges Arafat to use torture for peace
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 08:57:43 -0500
US report urges Arafat to use torture for peace
An influential think-tank advises Palestinian Authority to ruthlessly
repress militant elements without regard for basic human rights
By Robert Fisk in Gaza
6 November 2000
Palestinian leaders have been shocked to read an American think-tank
report which urges them to act "ruthlessly" against opponents of the
Oslo agreement – even if this involves "excessive force", trials without
due process of law and "interrogation methods that border on
psychological and/or physical torture."
A draft copy of the report by the influential Centre for Strategic and
International Studies (CSIS), which has close links with the United
States government, has been published on the internet and circulated
among dozens of members of the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, including
Yasser Arafat's most senior intelligence officers.
The report says that even if peace follows the "Second Intifada", "both
sides [Palestinian and Israeli] will be forced to conduct aggressive
[sic] security operations for years to come" which "can have a high
price tag in terms of human rights." By way of comparison, it adds that
British security forces in Northern Ireland "balanced" what it calls
"effective security" with human rights – even though "the British used
excessive force, abused human rights, and used extreme interrogation
methods and torture."
Amnesty International and other human rights groups have frequently
condemned the use of arbitrary false arrest, detention and torture by
Arafat's "muhabarrat" security apparatus, pointing out that CIA
operatives appear to have been complicit in these abuses. Far from
denouncing these practices, however, the draft CSIS report appears to
encourage their use, stating that "such measures also tend to work".
The document is dated 18 October and bears the name of Anthony H
Cordesman – a former national security assistant to failed Republican
presidential candidate Senator John McCain – who is now holder of the
Arleigh A Burke Chair in Strategy at the CSIS, named after the former
Chief of US Naval Operations. His document is heavily referenced to CIA,
State Department and Israeli sources and, according to Palestinian
officials here, has been circulated within the US and Israeli
governments.
Entitled "Peace and War: Israel versus the Palestinians", it recounts
the turbulent history of Israeli-Palestinian relations since the 1993
Oslo agreement although its bias is obvious from the frequent use of
"terrorist" to describe violent Arab groups and the almost ubiquitous
use of "extremist" in reference to their violent Israeli opposite
numbers.
It excuses the use of Israeli live bullets against stone-throwers,
adding that CS gas and rubber bullets are often "not effective in
stopping large groups" and that "troops cannot let mobs armed with
stones and Molotov cocktails close on their positions, or rely on the
riot control gear used in civil disobedience."
In a section headed "The Need for Palestinian Authority Ruthlessness and
Efficiency", it states "there will be no future peace, or stable peace
process, if the Palestinian security forces do not act ruthlessly and
effectively. They must react very quickly and decisively in dealing with
terrorism and violence if they are to preserve the momentum of Israeli
withdrawal, the expansion of Palestinian control, and the peace process.
They must halt civil violence even if this sometimes means using
excessive force by the standards of Western police forces. They must be
able to halt terrorist and paramilitary action by Hamas and Islamic
Jihad even if this means interrogations, detentions and trials that are
too rapid and lack due process. If they do not, the net cost to both
peace and the human rights of most Palestinians will be devastating."
The report says that permission must be obtained for any publication of
the contents, but copies have now been circulated throughout the
Palestinian Authority, including the offices of Mohamed Dahalan and
Jibril Rajoub, respectively heads of Arafat's "Preventative Security" in
Gaza and Ramallah. Both Dahalan and Rajoub were sent to Langley,
Virginia, for what was called "human rights training" by US government
intelligence services.
Although it condemns "Israeli terrorism" – a phrase used only once and
in reference to Jewish settlers' groups – the document concludes with
chilling advice to both Palestinians and Israelis. "Every
counter-terrorist force that has ever succeeded has had to act
decisively and sometimes violently," it says.
"Effective counter-terrorism relies on interrogation methods that border
on psychological and/or physical torture, arrests and detentions that
are 'arbitrary' by the standards of civil law, break-ins and
intelligence operations that violate the normal rights of privacy,
levels of violence in making arrests that are unacceptable in civil
cases, and measures that involve the innocent (or at least not provably
directly guilty) in arrests and penalties."
The issue, the report adds, "is not whether extreme security measures
will sometimes be used, or whether they are sometimes necessary. The
issue is rather how many such acts occur, how well-focused they are on
those who directly commit terrorism, and how justified they are in terms
of their relative cost-benefits."
Palestinian officials here noted with surprise how accurate was the
report's list of escalating Israeli responses to the current
low-intensity war, from Israeli mobilisation of armour to the sealing
off of Palestinian towns and "the use of helicopter gunships and snipers
to provide mobility and suppressive fire". Apparently based on a 1996
Israeli test plan codenamed "Operation Field of Thorns", the military
responses end with the "forced evacuation" of Palestinians from
"sensitive areas". Palestine Authority officers, however, were taken
aback to read that the PA's "military strength" includes a Lockheed
Jetstar aircraft. The plane, they point out, happens to be Arafat's
personal executive jet.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Middle_East/2000-
11/ruthless061100.shtml
_____________________________________
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israeli Arab suspected of instigating riots after payoff
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 09:00:49 -0500
Israeli Arab suspected of instigating riots after payoff
Special to World Tribune.com
MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Monday, November 6, 2000
TEL AVIV — An Israeli Arab parliamentarian is being investigated on
suspicion that he received funding from a millionaire close to
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat to launch violent
demonstrations in Israel.
Azmi Bishara, head of the National Democratic Alliance, has been under
police interrogation that he received $500,000 from millionaire Hasib
Sabr to finance what turned out to be the worst Arab unrest in Israel
during the last 50 years. Sabr is regarded as close to Arafat.
The sources said the money was transferred through a bank account abroad
by Sabr, who is based in Jordan and deals in banking and property. They
said the money has not yet been fully traced.
The investigation of Bishara is based on an assessment by Israeli
intelligence that the violent demonstrations by Israeli Arabs last month
were prompted by orders from Arafat. Israeli sources said Fatah
activists relayed orders and communications devices to coordinate the
protests, which swept through Israel.
Aides to Prime Minister Ehud Barak confirmed that Palestinians from the
West Bank participated in the Israeli Arab unrest. They said the General
Security Services is monitoring the growing relationship between Israeli
Arab leaders and the PA.
Last week, Barak attended a meeting with senior Israeli and GSS
officials on the Arab unrest. Sources said among the proposals discussed
was a crackdown on the Israeli Arab leadership and the prosecution of
those suspected of incitement.
For his part, Bishara has acknowledged his relationship with Sabr. But
he denied that he accepted money from the Jordanian millionaire or that
the Israeli Arab protests were coordinated with the PA.
" He was in Israel," Bishara said. "I went around with him, I showed him
places, but he did not pass me money. Balad [Bishara's party] is in a
very difficult situation, but we know that we are being watched closely
and we are being cautious. There was no coordination with the PA. In my
opinion, PA officials were also surprised by the demonstrations."
Another Arab parliamentarian, Mohammed Baraka, is under investigation
for inciting his constituents to violence. Baraka is said to have been
accused of calling for violence during solidarity demonstration with
Palestinians.
A third Arab parliamentarian, Abdul Malik Dahamshe, is also being
interrogated on suspicion of incitement.
Monday, November 6, 2000
http://www.worldtribune.com/tout-3.html
_____________________________________
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Experts find genetic Jewish-Arab link
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 09:05:44 -0500
Monday, November 6 2000 14:47 8 Heshvan 5761
Experts find genetic Jewish-Arab link
By Judy Siegel
JERUSALEM (November 6) - DNA research carried
out at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School
and University College in London has shown that many
Jews and Arabs are closely related. Over seven out of
10 Jewish men and half of Arab men whose DNA was
studied inherited their Y chromosomes from the same
paternal ancestors - who lived in the Middle East in the
Neolithic period in prehistoric times.
The research, to be published soon in the journal Human
Genetics, was disclosed in a recent conference in New
York on human origins and disease. It was carried out
by Prof. Ariella Oppenheim, a senior geneticist in the
Hebrew University's hematology department. Dr. Marina
Faerman, Dr. Dvora Filon of the Hadassah-University
Hospital in Jerusalem, HU doctoral student Almut Nebel,
and Mark Thomas and others at the British university
assisted. The work was also reported last week in the
journal Science.
Oppenheim and her colleagues tested blood from 143
Israeli and Palestinian Moslem Arabs whose
great-grandfathers were not related. Chromosome set
data were compared with that of 119 Ashkenazi and
Sephardi Jews, and to that of non-Jewish residents of
northern Wales. The researchers found that the Arabs
are more closely related to Jews than they are to the
Welsh, indicating a more recent common ancestry.
Arabs and Jews had about 18 percent of all their
chromosomes in common.
A previous study of 1,371 men from around the world
by geneticist Michael Hammer of the University of
Arizona, with collaboration from Oppenheim, found that
the Y chromosome in Middle Eastern Arabs was almost
indistinguishable from that of Jews.
According to historical records, part - perhaps the
majority - of the Moslem Arabs in Israel descended from
local inhabitants, mainly Christians and Jews, who had
converted after the Islamic conquest in the seventh
century CE, Oppenheim wrote. These local inhabitants,
in turn, were descendants of the core population that had
lived in the area for several centuries, some even since
prehistoric times.
The results of the study match historical accounts that
some Moslem Arabs are descended from Christians and
Jews who settled in the southern Levant (Israel and
Sinai) and came from a core population that lived in the
area since prehistoric times.
"Our findings are in good agreement with historical
evidence and suggest genetic continuity in both
populations despite their long separation and the wide
geographic dispersal of Jews," Oppenheim wrote.
http://www.jpost.com/Editions/2000/11/06/News/News.14948.html
_____________________________________
To subscribe to BPR send a message to bpr-list@philologos.org
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Israel Update #02
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 10:16:15 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: Israel Update <Israel-Update@aish.com>
To: Crisis In The Middle East <Israel-Update@aish.com>
Date sent: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 13:36:19 +0200
Subject: Israel Update #02
Send reply to: Israel-Update@aish.com
Priority: normal
Subscription info at the end of this email.
"ISRAEL UPDATE"
Issue #02 - 06 NOV. 2000
http://aish.com/israel
In this email:
1) Quotes from the past & present
2) Great links to forward around
3) News you won't hear on CNN
4) C.O.M. - Center for Media Objectivity
======================================
1) QUOTES FROM THE PAST & PRESENT
"All we ask is that the [Arab] countries stand by our side, give us
weapons, and we, on our own, will prevail; we'll kill them on our own,
murder them, slaughter them, all of them. We ask only for weapons, and
we won't spare a single Jew."
(Palestinian woman interviewed on PA Television - 22 October 2000)
* * *
"...You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are merely
'anti-Zionist.' And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high mountain tops,
let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When people criticize
Zionism, they mean Jews -- this is God's own truth... All men of good will
exult in the fulfillment of God's promise, that his People should return in joy
to rebuild their plundered land. This is Zionism, nothing more, nothing
less...
"And what is anti-Zionist? It is the denial to the Jewish people of a
fundamental right that we justly claim for the people of Africa and freely
accord all other nations of the Globe. It is discrimination against Jews, my
friend, because they are Jews. In short, it is anti-Semitism... Let my words
echo in the depths of your soul: When people criticize Zionism, they mean
Jews -- make no mistake about it."
(Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., from "This I Believe")
======================================
2) GREAT LINKS TO FORWARD AROUND
(NOTE: If a link goes onto 2 lines of this email, you have to cut-n-paste
both parts into your browser.)
http://facts4peace.com/photos
Oops -- last week's link was incorrect. This site includes shocking photos
of Palestinian violence, including anti-American activities and weapons
training for children.
http://www.jecc.org/edres/curric/irc/mecrisis.htm
http://www.adl.org/frames/front_anti_israel_violence.html
Good background information into the Mideast situation.
======================================
3) NEWS YOU WON'T HEAR ON CNN
EXCESSIVE FORCE IN THE MIDDLE EAST??
04 November 2000
Three civilians were shot dead and dozens injured when Egyptian police
tried to block villagers supporting Islamist candidates from heading to the
polls in Egypt's legislative elections.
Angry residents threw stones at the police, who responded with guns and
teargas. In separate incidents, three civilians were shot dead by Egyptian
police, including 16-year-old Hani Noaman al-Sayyuhi.
Excessive force? UN condemnations were not forthcoming.
In the meantime, authorities in Cairo reportedly announced plans to
rename the road in front of the Israeli embassy "Mohammed al-Durra
Street," in honor of a 12-year-old Palestinian boy shot by Israeli forces.
(reported by Reuters and www.albawaba.com)
* * *
ANTI-SEMITIC ATTACKS IN THE WAKE OF THE MIDDLE EAST CRISIS
Jew stabbed on London bus... rabbi's home firebombed in Sydney...
synagogues torched in St. Paul, MN, Harrisburg, PA, and Syracuse, NY...
Jewish monument in Brussels defaced with swastika... and over 100 anti-
Semitic incidents reported in France, including firebomb attacks on
synagogues in Trappes, Bondy and Paris. See an incredibly shocking list
at:
http://www.wiesenthal.com/itn/pr101900.html
According to Joseph Singer of the World Jewish Congress, over the past
few weeks, there were more attacks against synagogues around the world
than during Nazi Europe. Singer added that Israeli embassies around the
world are advising Jews to hide their religion, and instructing people not to
wear their yarmulkes in order to not provoke anti-Semitic attacks.
More details online at: http://aish.com/ar.asp?an=1650
* * *
"JOINT STATEMENT ON THE CESSATION OF VIOLENCE"
02 November 2000
> From: Roger David Carasso - rdc@best.com
I read the two statements and said "what?!" The Israeli statement was in
the spirit of mutual cooperation. The Palestinian statement was just
another list of backhanded slaps at Israel (and wasn't even broadcast on
Palestinian media). I think the two statements reflects the nature of the
whole conflict for the last 50 years. Israel has tried and tried, with virtually
no reciprocation from the Arab world. The Palestinians never talk "peace"
without slamming Israel. Never an attempt to be conciliatory. Never an
attempt to calm their people -- just further incitement.
Following is an excerpt of the Israeli statement:
"The sides share the hope for a future of stability, prosperity and peace,
when two separate political entities will co-exist side by side in good
neighborly relations. The sides undertake to exert every effort to realize this
dream of Peace of the Brave in dignity, fairness and mutual respect."
Following is an excerpt of the Palestinian statement:
"The Palestinian Leadership which has always been concerned for
maintaining the peaceful and popular intifada and has practiced self-
constraint through the past phase of continuous attacks and violations,
calls on the struggling masses and its national forces to observe their
united position and to continue their popular expression, adhering to the
peaceful means in all their activities and forms of national action."
* * *
ROCK-TOSSING AT SCHOOL
New York Times reporter Clyde Haberman tested out Western tolerance for
violence by threatening to throw a rock on the Columbia University
campus.
In doing so, he raises the issue of Palestinian Edward Said, the Columbia
professor who was photographed this year at the Lebanon-Israel border
firing a rock at an Israeli guardhouse. John R. Cole, a dean at Columbia,
defended Said's "right to free speech" and said his rock-throwing fell under
the protection of "principles of academic freedom."
Read the article at: http://facts4peace.com/articles/columbia.htm
* * *
UNITY MINUTE
People from 33 countries participated in the Unity Minute on November 1.
The "Peace Prayer" was translated into Hebrew, Russian, Spanish,
Portuguese and German. A student council member read the prayer over a
loudspeaker in a Kansas high school, three businessmen held a
conference call to say the prayer together, a high school student took a
quite moment in a corner of the library during lunch period -- and many
more stopped their scheduled activities to join in.
TV stations reported the Unity Minute, and articles appeared in the Miami
Herald and Yahoo.com. For info on related activities, write to
mimi@aish.com.
======================================
4) C.O.M. - CENTER for OBJECTIVITY in the MEDIA
Submit your own findings to: media@aish.com
Read the "7 Rules of Media Objectivity" -- http://aish.com/a/r/5.asp
* * *
WHO SHOT FIRST?
> From: Sybil - ssybil@home.com
The lead paragraph in a recent Philadelphia Inquirer article stated:
"Israeli attack helicopters fired missiles at Palestinian security offices last
night in swift retaliation, after an Israeli guard was killed at a government
office in Jerusalem and an Israeli civilian was stabbed to death in a
southern neighborhood of the city."
Imagine the same facts written with a different voice and in a different order
(my version):
"A Palestinian gunman shot two Israeli security guards yesterday at a
government office in Jerusalem. Missiles were fired at a Palestinian
security offices last night in swift retaliation."
Complain to: inquirer.letters@phillynews.com
* * *
THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE: LETTER OF PROTEST
> From: Susan J. Mitchell - smitchell@mhachicago.com
A friend forwarded me your article, "7 Principles of Media Objectivity."
Every day I am enraged by the media's bias in favor of the Palestinians. I
find the Chicago Tribune and CNN to be the worst offenders. In response, I
sent a long letter to the Chicago Tribune regarding their unbalanced
reporting (pasted below). I feel like it's the least I can do!
To the Editors of the Chicago Tribune:
The Tribune recently ran a "timeline" entitled "Two weeks of violence in the
Middle East." A photo of Palestinians standing atop Joseph's Tomb in
Nablus bears the caption, "Palestinians fly their flag on top of Joseph's
Tomb after an Israeli withdrawal from the holy site in Nablus." No mention
of the violent destruction of this Jewish holy site despite PA assurances
otherwise? Your caption puts a benign face on a hideous crime committed
by Palestinians.
Curiously, on the same timeline, no picture depicts the vicious mob murder
of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah. In the text, the whole incident is referred
to as "two Israeli soldiers killed." Gee, is that all that happened?
Recently, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict arrived in Chicago, when a
Palestinian attempted to murder an unarmed rabbi in West Rogers Park by
shooting at his car. There were also reports of objects being "fired" with
slingshots at Jewish worshippers on their way to synagogue. As a
Chicagoan, this is big news to me. It's horrible enough to see the events
unfold in the Middle East, but if the conflict spills into this country, let
alone this city, I think that is big news. I would expect something like that
to be on the front page, or at the very least, in the front section. I am
disappointed and furious that it was not there.
Complain at: http://chicagotribune.com/interact/letters/letted.htm/
* * *
WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS
> From: Elliot Gordon - Egordon@NobleAmericas.com
You guys are terrific! I sent out four emails today: to USA Today, Time,
CNN and The New York Times -- a positive letter to USA Today, and
protesting to the others. I also forwarded this to all my Jewish address
book, asking them to do the same.
I think that we are actually starting to have an effect. Reuters today referred
to the "Temple Mount" as the holiest spot to Jews, BEFORE they named it
as a Moslem holy site. Furthermore, I saw a Reuters article mention that
Ariel Sharon did NOT enter the mosque on the Temple Mount. I don't recall
ever seeing that in print before. In the past it was just the usual gibberish
about Moslem claims that he "defiled" the mosque.
* * *
NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO PROMOTES EXTREMIST VIEWS
> From: www.camera.org
On "Weekend Edition Sunday" (October 29), NPR allowed Palestinian
spokesperson Allegra Pacheco to deliver an uninterrupted anti-Israel
monologue. NPR host Liane Hansen deceptively introduced Pacheco as
simply a "defender of Palestinian human rights," failing to tell listeners that
the guest actively campaigns for the dissolution of the Jewish state.
Pacheco is against the two-state plan which underlies Oslo and which, in
1947, was endorsed by the U.N. In a speech to a September "right of
return" rally in Washington DC she declared:
"I have come here today with another, broader message for all of us. I am
here to say that there is a solution to the refugee issue. And it isn't Oslo.
And it isn't an international fund or family reunification of 50,000 out of 5
million refugees. And it isn't return to today's ghetto of Gaza or to a West
Bank bantustan. The solution is Awda, complete and unrestricted return to
Palestine, all of it, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea... My
friends, I am talking about the call for the establishment of a democratic
secular republic in all of historical Palestine..."
Granting airtime to speakers as extreme and one-sided as Pacheco is
journalistically defensible only if there is balance provided by another
speaker, or if the program host challenges the assertions made. But there
was no other speaker in the NPR segment, and host Hansen raised no
objections whatsoever to Pacheco's positions.
Such politically biased programming is commonplace on National Public
Radio, even though Federal Statute requires that tax dollars be dispensed
by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) only to networks
providing "strict adherence to objectivity and balance in all programs or
series of programs of a controversial nature."
To protest the CPB funding of NPR, write to: comments@cpb.org
Complain to NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin at: ombudsman@npr.org
And contact your local NPR affiliate station to voice objection.
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Lawsuit would seek damages for slavery in U.S.
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 10:19:35 -0500
Lawsuit would seek damages for slavery in U.S.
Sunday, November 5, 2000
By PAUL SHEPARD
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
A powerful group of civil rights and class-action lawyers who have won
billions of dollars in court is preparing a lawsuit seeking reparations for
American blacks descended from slaves.
The project, called the Reparations Assessment Group, was confirmed by
Harvard law professor Charles J. Ogletree and appears to be the most
serious effort yet to get American blacks compensated for more than 240
years of legalized slavery. Lawsuits and legislation dating back to the mid-
1800s have gone nowhere.
"We will be seeking more than just monetary compensation," Ogletree said.
"We want a change in America. We want full recognition and a remedy of
how slavery stigmatized, raped, murdered and exploited millions of Africans
through no fault of their own."
Full Story:
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/national/slav05ww.shtml
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Military missing absentee balltos
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 10:22:08 -0500
[This is from a list member.--Moza]
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 4 2000
ELECTION 2000
Military missing
absentee ballots
Some Army, Navy personnel unable
to vote for new commander in chief
By Jon E. Dougherty
=A9 2000 WorldNetDaily.com
Members of the military who are currently
stationed overseas have complained that the
Pentagon has not yet sent out absentee ballots
this year, meaning they will not get to vote for a
new commander in chief on Tuesday.
Specifically, members of U.S. Navy units who
are stationed overseas and aboard the USS Cole
-- the destroyer recently attacked by terrorists
while it was undergoing refueling in the port of
Aden, Yemen -- have either not received ballots
or won't get them in time because of current
deployment circumstances, Pentagon officials
said yesterday.
"I've heard about this within the past week,"
said Lt. Dave Guy, a spokesman for the Army.
"We are trying to get more information. We
don't know if they were delayed through the
mail."
He added that due to current deployment
considerations, some military members
overseas likely would not get their ballots in
time.
"The support team for the USS Cole may not get
their ballots due to intermittent mail," Guy said.
"Some ballots could very well be delayed for a
number of reasons."
A Maine resident -- who asked not to be
identified -- said her Navy daughter who is
stationed in Tokyo has received her absentee
ballot for every election except this one.
"No one at the base will be voting because all
the absentee ballots are missing," she told
WorldNetDaily.
Navy officials were also contacted but did not
return phone calls.
Critics have suggested that the Clinton
administration may have purposely delayed
sending absentee ballots to military personnel
overseas because most, according to recent
surveys, will vote Republican. The White
House has denied those charges.
According to Guy, officials with the Federal
Voting Assistance Program -- which helps
manage balloting for overseas service members
-- "was not aware of any group non-delivery."
Guy said depending on the home state of the
member, ballots can be sent via Standard Form
136, which is a write-in ballot. States have
different deadlines for such ballots, he added.
Each ballot "is unit specific and handled
individually," he said.
Guy noted that "the military has a much higher
participation [of overall voters] in the voting
process" than does the general voting public. In
the 1996 election, he said 64 percent of service
members participated; 40 percent of those were
absentee ballots. Twelve percent could not vote
for various reasons, including because ballots
were either sent late or otherwise not received
on time.
Jon E. Dougherty is a staff reporter for
WorldNetDaily.
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Real World News -- 11/06/00
From: bpr-list@philologos.org
Date: Mon, 06 Nov 2000 10:32:01 -0500
Selected items from...
REAL WORLD NEWS 11/06/2000
Visit Real World News online at http://www.realworldnews.net
RUSSIAN MERCHANT SHIPS SPYING ON U.S. SUBS
Russian merchant ships are spying on U.S. nuclear submarines in the
Pacific Northwest and reporting the information to Moscow's military
intelligence service, according to classified U.S. intelligence reports.
The classified July 2000 CIA report obtained by The Washington Times
states that recent intelligence "provides the first solid evidence of
long-suspected Russian merchant ship intelligence collection efforts
against U.S. nuclear submarine bases."
http://www.washtimes.com/national/default-200011622921.htm
U.S., ISRAEL DISCUSS PROSPECT OF MIDDLE EAST WAR
Only weeks ago, Israel and the United States were planning a diplomatic
offensive that would end in Middle East peace. Today, both countries are
quietly discussing the prospect of a regional war. Israel and the United
States completed two days of strategic talks in the southern port city of
Eilat in which officials and intelligence commanders reviewed the threat
assessments in the region. This time, however, representatives from the
two countries did not focus on such long-range threats as Iran and Iraq --
but rather the prospect of a regional war that could sweep Lebanon, Syria,
the Palestinians and even Jordan. http://www.menewsline.com/headline9.html
BARAK REJECTS U.N. ROLE
The Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Barak, has flatly rejected the deployment
of United Nations troops in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The idea was
proposed by the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat on Sunday. "I am asking
for international forces ... to protect us, to stop attacks against our
people," Mr Arafat said in an interview with CBS television. But speaking
in the Israeli parliament, Mr Barak was dismissive of the proposal. "An
international army or observers cannot help find a solution to the
conflict but may even make it worse," Mr Barak told reporters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1009000/100971
4.stm
REPORT: MICROSOFT BREACHED BY HACKER AGAIN
Microsoft's network of servers has been compromised by another hacker,
according to a report. The Dutch hacker, who uses the alias "Dimitri,"
claimed to have gained access to several of Microsoft's public Web
servers, according to technology news site IDG.net. The hacker managed to
place a short text file entitled "Hack the planet" on a Microsoft Web
server and download various encoded password files, according to the
report. The files contain administrative account information that would
allow Dimitri to obtain total control of the servers in question.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/110500/microsoft.sml
SPINAL PARALYSIS 'BREAKTHROUGH'
Scientists in the United States have made a breakthrough which could lead
to restoration of movement in people with damaged spinal cords. A team
from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore have restored movement to
paralysed mice and rats by injecting immature stem cells into the animal's
spinal fluid.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1004000/1004133.stm
ENORMOUS DEEP-SEA SPECIMEN ASTOUNDS SCIENTISTS
Fishermen off northern Spain have captured a giant specimen of a strange,
light-emitting, deep-sea cephalopod, scientists say. The octopus-like
creature, a taningia danae, weighs in at 275 pounds, measures seven feet
and is easily the biggest of its type discovered. Disappointingly for big
eaters near the Asturian port of Ribadesella it will not end up on their
plates, but will be preserved and displayed in a marine center whose most
impressive cephalopod to date was a mere 140 pound example.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20001104/sc/spain_cephalopod_dc_2.html
'ALIENS' CULT ABOUT TO CLONE DEAD BABY GIRL
A company run by a bizarre cult is to start work this week on creating the
world's first cloned human baby. It is intended to be a genetic copy of a
10-month-old girl who died in February. The project is being carried out
in a secret laboratory which is believed to be in the American desert
state of Nevada. The scientists involved hope their baby will be born
towards the end of next year. The company is called Clonaid and is run by
a cult that believes humans originated from aliens.
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/2000/11/05/stifgnusa02003.h
tml
FOR A HISTORIC CHURCH, ONE MORE MILESTONE
The Unitarian Church of All Souls, whose elegant building stands at the
corner of 80th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, carries historic
associations with such creative figures as Herman Melville, who was a
member, and its onetime pastor the Rev. Henry Whitney Bellows, who built
the United States Sanitary Commission to care for the sick and wounded of
the Civil War. But today the church will achieve another distinction, as
the setting for a public prayer ceremony involving the kindling of a
sacred fire by a Japanese Buddhist organization that has never before
performed the rite in North America.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/04/national/04RELI.html
SOUTHEAST ASIA SHAKEN BY RISE OF STRICT ISLAM
In the northeastern Malaysian state of Terengganu, known for its
white-sand beaches and offshore oil fields, karaoke bars have been forced
to disconnect beer taps and toss out liquor bottles. Unisex hair salons
have been told to close. And men and women no longer are allowed to stand
in the same supermarket lines lest males witness females purchasing
personal hygiene products. The new rules are part of a crackdown by
conservative Islamic politicians who won control of the important
industrial province in recent parliamentary elections.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41643-2000Oct19.html
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - A Different Reading of Revelation
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 12:08:40 -0500
11/06/2000 - Monday - Page B 6
A Different Reading of Revelation
http://www.newsday.com/coverage/current/fanfare/monday/nd5225.htm
by Bob Keeler
Staff Writer
THE FIRST revelation for Wes Howard-Brook about the Book of Revelation was
the stunningly definitive way that his Bible study students rejected this
complex text.
At the end of each series of Bible study programs in Seattle, Howard-Brook
asked the participants to fill out a survey describing their interest in
biblical texts for future study. A few rated Revelation highly, but many
rated it so low that they felt the need to emphasize their distaste with
underlining, exclamation points or even an emphatic "NO!" Up to that point,
Howard-Brook had not focused heavily on Revelation, but these emotional
reactions started him thinking: "Why is this book so powerful that people
who are coming to Bible study don't want to read it?" Howard-Brook had been
an antitrust lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission, a minority counsel to
the Senate Judiciary Committee and an assistant attorney general in Seattle.
He left government, earned a master of divinity degree from Seattle
University in 1990, and found himself drawn into Scripture study when he
read a book by Ched Myers, "Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of
Mark's Story of Jesus." In his Bible study groups, people would tell him
they had a relative or a colleague who had said that Revelation predicted
the world is coming to an end.
"I didn't have an answer," Howard-Brook said. "I knew that wasn't right, but
I didn't have a way to say, 'No, here's what the book's really about.' So I
just started diving in to see what we could come up with." The result is
"Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now," a 1999 book published
by Orbis Books. Its reading of Revelation differs sharply from the
interpretation of those who use the text as a decoding device to figure out
when the end-of-the-world events will begin.
For those who see Revelation as an end-times book, "the text had no meaning
until right now," Howard-Brook said. In contrast, he and his co-author,
Anthony Gwyther, believe that no one can understand what Revelation means
for modern times without grasping what the biblical author intended it to
mean for its original audience, seven Christian communities in the Roman
province of Asia.
Most scholars believe that the author, John, is not the same John who wrote
the fourth Gospel or the one who wrote three epistles.
"John did not write a book to be sealed away," Howard-Brook said. "He wrote
a book to be read, by particular communities that are named specifically in
the book, real communities of Christians trying to figure out what God
wanted of them and what it meant to live in their situation." At its core,
Howard-Brook believes, Revelation calls on the Christians of those
communities to remain faithful to God and to resist faithfully the
seductions of empire. For John's readers, that meant the Roman Empire. In
conveying that message, John used imagery from earlier apocalyptic texts.
(The roots of the word "apocalypse" in Greek and "revelation" in Latin are
almost identical: drawing aside the veil or revealing what is hidden.) "The
original audience that was literate with Hebrew Scripture recognized the
imagery. We don't. So it seems weird to us," Howard-Brook said. "Another
thing is, there's imagery from the Roman Empire and the imperial cult that
we don't recognize, because it's not our culture. They would have recognized
it." Many mainstream Christians find this symbolic murkiness off-putting,
and they reject the use of Revelation as a key to end-time events. "And so,
they've basically written off the book, and their spirituality is based on
other parts of the Bible, if they use the Bible at all," Howard-Brook said.
Still, Howard-Brook and Gwyther argue that Revelation is meaningful today.
No nation now claims to lead an empire, but the authors find "imperial
earmarks" in American history, such as slave labor and displacement of
indigenous peoples. And they locate sinful traits of empire in the system of
global capital, such as greed, idolatrous pursuit of the good life and
murderous indifference to the health of those who work in the sweatshops of
the Third World to make that good life possible. For them, Revelation is not
about divining the future, but repairing the present.
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Exploring the mysteries of the Holy book
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 12:16:20 -0500
Exploring the mysteries of the Holy book
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/1105cu14.htm
Miki Takashima Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
The official version of the 1947 discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has it
that the historic event occurred while a boy was tending goats by Qumran, an
area of barren land about 20 kilometers east of Jerusalem. This idyllic
account says the boy happened to come across some pots that were later
recognized to contain the manuscripts that would help reveal the origin of
biblical texts and portray a clearer image of Jesus.
"Many people suspect the boy wasn't actually tending goats but engaged in
some shady business, smuggling, for example. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found
on a very steep cliff, and this is not the kind of place people would tend
goats," said Akio Moriya, professor of Tokyo Woman's Christian University
and an expert on the Old Testament.
This is one of many mysteries surrounding the 800-plus scrolls that have
been dated to between the mid-third century B.C. and the first century after
Christ. So far, it has been confirmed that the scrolls (90 percent of them
are written in Hebrew, the rest in Greek and Aramaic, the official language
of the Persian empire) include manuscripts of biblical texts, apocryphal
compositions and writings of a religious sect. There is a possibility that
some of the manuscripts may be the very biblical text that was used by
Jesus.
"The scrolls are also significant in that they fill the crucial historical
gap between the third century B.C., the latest period covered in the Old
Testament, and where the New Testament starts," Moriya said.
Until the Qumran discovery, the earliest extant manuscripts of the Hebrew
Bible were those transcribed at the very beginning of the 11th century. What
we now call the Old Testament is pretty much based on this manuscript, known
as the Leningrad Codex. But some scrolls from the Dead Sea manuscripts (the
Book of Samuel and Psalms, for example) contain lines quite different from
those of the Bible of our age.
The Dead Sea Scrolls have provoked much speculation and controversy (many of
the popular books purported to solve the mysteries of the manuscripts are
rather fishy, Moriya says), but most intriguing of all is the ultimate
question of who Jesus was.
Long before extensive research was carried out on the Qumran scrolls, there
was already an argument that Jesus belonged to the Essenes, a separatist
group that formed an ascetic monastic community and retreated to the
wilderness. Ancient documents say these people lived by the Dead Sea, and
theoretically, it is possible to build a link between the Essenes and the
community whose rules are given in the Qumran manuscripts.
"It must have been an awfully ascetic people who lived in such a barely
habitable area as the Dead Sea," Moriya said. "Some people jump to the
conclusion that Jesus or John the Baptist was actually an Essene. It's nice
to imagine, for example, John the Baptist as an Essene based in Qumran
caves, because the idea would certainly match his description given in the
Bible--an ascetic man wrapped in camel leather." But what is written in the
scrolls does not support anything more than mere speculation, he added.
Six biblical manuscripts from among the Dead Sea Scrolls are now on display
in Tokyo--the first time they have been exhibited in Asia. The exhibition
also includes the Gutenberg 42-Line Bible; old and rare books from the
Vatican, including the Barreto Manuscript, a washi booklet for preaching
from 1591 that contains Japanese written in Roman letters; Bibles used by
famous figures such as Helen Keller, Mother Teresa, Yasunari Kawabata and
many other Japanese writers.
From the perspectives of academia and general interest, the Dead Sea Scrolls
are truly fascinating discoveries. But for some Christians, the matter may
not be so simple.
"People who have been taught there is only one Bible may not want to accept
that there actually are variants," Moriya said. "The Dead Sea Scrolls give
us clues to the origin of Jesus' thought, and this is what is great about
them."
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Daily World Affairs Report items (11/5/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 12:47:21 -0500
POPE AGREES "HOLY HEADBOARD" TEST
The Pope is expected to allow the first scientific test on a piece of walnut
wood that for centuries has been venerated as the headboard of the cross
on which Christ was crucified. The fragment, displayed in the church of
Santa Croce in the Rome suburb of Gerusalemme, is most likely to undergo
testing for pollen in an attempt to map its original location. A similar test on
the Turin Shroud, worshipped by millions as the cloth in which Christ's body
was wrapped, found pollen from a plant that grows only in the Near East,
and could have been used to weave the crown of thorns. Carbon dating of
the shroud, however, suggested it was a medieval forgery.
Tests on the headboard, or title, of the cross would be conducted under the
supervision of Professor Carsten Peter Thiede, a German New Testament
historian and papyrologist. "We are also negotiating with the Pontifical
Academy for Sciences, which advises the Pope, to carry out other tests,
including taking minute slivers of the wood to analyse its origin and try to
date it, much like you can tell the age of a tree from the rings in the trunk,"
said Thiede.
A headboard is mentioned in all 4 gospels. St John says Pontius Pilate, the
Roman governor, had the phrase "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews"
inscribed. "And it was written in Hebrew, and Greek, and Latin." In a
recent study by Michael Hesemann, an author and mysteries researcher, 7
international experts date Greek and Latin inscriptions on the title to
between the 1st and 3rd centuries. Scholars have also found striking
similarities between the Latin writing and another inscription, the only one
attributable to Pilate, on a stone altar.
They conclude that both were probably the work of slaves trained by Pilate
in Jerusalem.Sceptics argue that wood said to have come from Christ's
cross can be found in churches and convents across Europe. Speaking in
the pontiff's name, however, Stanislaw Dziwisz, his private secretary,
thanked Hesemann for his research by writing: "Indeed this silent witness
of the passion of our saviour is a symbol for the jubilee of the 2,000 years of
the birth of Jesus Christ." (The London Times)
PUTIN MAY BE WORSE THAN WE THINK
Those - such as Robin Cook and Tony Blair - who seem to think that
Vladimir Putin is a new kind of Russian politician, with Western attitudes
and moral scruples, may be forced to change their attitude in the coming
weeks. According to Alexander Litvinenko, the latest defector from the
KGB who arrived in London last Thursday, the President of Russia is quite
prepared to order the assassination of political opponents, and the murder of
hundreds of ordinary Russians when he thinks it will gain him political
advantage.
Litvinenko used to be a lieutenant colonel in the KGB (the organisation's
acronym has officially been changed to FSB, but it's still the old KGB). A
couple of years ago, he held a sensational press conference in which he and
four other masked men claimed that they had been part of a special KGB
assassination unit. The group, he alleged, had been set up by Nikolai
Kovalyov, Putin's predecessor as head of the KGB. Number one on the
target list was Boris Berezovsky, the billionaire who owns some of Russia's
most popular television stations and newspapers.
Litvinenko has hinted that he has "information" which shows that Vladimir
Putin was behind the bombs which killed 300 people in Moscow more than
a year ago. Those bombs, blamed on Chechen terrorists, gave Putin the
excuse he needed for a new offensive in Chechnya. That propelled him to
victory in the presidential election. If you ask the question, who benefited,
the answer is simple: Putin did.
Planting a bomb which kills 300 civilians merely to increase your popularity
would set a new record for cold-blooded callousness, even by the standards
set by Russia's past leaders. It would mean Putin is capable of the kind of
Caligulan cruelty which would raise serious questions about his sanity. Not
even Stalin deliberately blew up blocks of flats containing his own citizens.
Could Putin have done it? My own belief is that it is very unlikely.
It would be a major policy reversal for the KGB to go back to murdering
people in the way it did in the Stalinist era. On the other hand, if
Litvinenko's allegations are not true, it is mysterious why he should have
made them. Gossip in Moscow says he was given a huge bribe by
Berezovsky, who simply wanted a way to discredit the KGB. I have no
idea whether the gossip is true. But if MI5 establishes that Vladimir Putin
or his close associates have been ordering assassinations, then even Tony
Blair will be able to see that he will have to reconsider his "special
relationship" with the President. It would not be before time. (The London
Telegraph - Opinion by Oleg Gordievsky, the highest ranking KGB officer
ever to work for MI6)
_____________________________________
To subscribe to BPR send a message to bpr-list@philologos.org
with the word "subscribe" in the subject. To unsubscribe send a message
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Contacts: Moza (moza@butterfly.mv.com);
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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - NewsScan items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 12:58:17 -0500
TWO-WAY HIGH-SPEED INTERNET ACCESS VIA SATELLITE
StarBand Communications, a McLean, Virginia company that plans to offer
consumers a nationwide two-way satellite Internet service, has begun its
venture by providing high-speed connections to the previously inaccessible
Havasupai Indian reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. StarBand's
chief executive says, "It's the only technology that you can put anywhere in
the U.S. If you can see the southern sky, we can put in a terminal." And yet
the company is marketing its services not only to the 50 million households
not passed by a cable or DSL line, but also to the "customers out there who
just don't want to deal with the local telephone company or the cable
company, or are frustrated with installation problems." (Washington Post 6
Nov 2000) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A20175-
2000Nov5.html
PAY INCREASES FOR HIGH-TECH FEDERAL WORKERS
To improve its ability to compete with private industry for high-tech
employees, the federal government will be raising salaries as much as 33%
for such workers in high-tech corridors such as San Francisco. Office of
Personnel Management Director Janice R. Lachance calls the pay increase
"a shot of adrenaline" and says she is "very excited about prospects for
competing with other employers for top graduates in computer science. I
think we'll even be able to entice some current, nonfederal employees to give
public service a try." (AP/San Jose Mercury News 4 Nov 2000)
http://www.mercurycenter.com/svtech/news/breaking/ap/docs/595514l.htm
MICROSOFT'S VISION FOR TABLET COMPUTERS
Dick Brass, who is leading a team of 100 Microsoft designers developing
wireless, keyboardless "tablet computers," has predicted that the last
printed issue of the New York Times will be published in 2018, and that the
jobs of executives in the paper-making industry will be made obsolete by e-
books and tablet computers ("I see dead men everywhere," he told them).
The high-resolution tablet computer will be an ultra-slim slate about the size
and shape of a yellow notepad, and will have an all-day battery and the
ability to recognize handwriting; the tablet would always turned on and
always connected wirelessly to the Internet. Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates
will give the first public demonstration of the device at the Comdex show
November 12. (New York Times 6 Nov 2000)
http://partners.nytimes.com/2000/11/06/technology/06SOFT.html
KURZWEIL IS ROOTING FOR THE MACHINE
Ray Kurzweil says he's eagerly anticipating the point in time at which
machine intelligence will surpass human brainpower: "By the end of this
century, I don't think there will be a clear distinction between human and
machine," Kurzweil told participants at the Foresight Institute's Eight
Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. Kurzweil predicted that
computers will meet the "raw capacity" of the human brain by 2020, and the
entire human race by 2050. He envisions a future in which most humans will
be immersed in virtual reality, not by using clunky headgear, but by flooding
our bodies with microscopic nanobots, which will essentially inject images
and sensations directly into our nervous system. (Wired.com 3 Nov 2000)
http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,39967,00.html
via: NewsScan" <newsscan@newsscan.com>
_____________________________________
To subscribe to BPR send a message to bpr-list@philologos.org
with the word "subscribe" in the subject. To unsubscribe send a message
to the same address with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject.
Contacts: Moza (moza@butterfly.mv.com);
(owner-bpr@philologos.org)
See http://philologos.org/bpr for additional info.
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Physicians for Human Rights: Evaluation of the
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 17:58:19 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: "IMRA Newsletter" <imra-l@lyris.vcix.com>
Subject: [imra-l] Physicians for Human Rights: Evaluation of the Use of Force in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank Medical and Forensic Investigation
Date sent: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 22:33:15 +0200
Send reply to: imra@netvision.net.il
Physicians for Human Rights: Evaluation of the Use of Force in Israel, Gaza
and the West Bank Medical and Forensic Investigation
A Report by Physicians for Human Rights
100 Boylston St., Suite 702
Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 617-695-0041
Fax: 617-695-0307
[IMRA note: The report boils down to one question: are soldiers facing a
mob trying to kill them with rocks and firebombs (Physicians for Human
Rights [PHR] only mentions "stones") and backed by Palestinians with assault
rifles in a life threatening situation or not?
PHR's description of the violence faced by Israelis is extremely understated
in the report:
* The lynch is the only Palestinian violence actually described.
* Someone reading the report would not be aware that rioting Israeli Arabs
dragged many Israeli Jews out of cars and beat them in a nightmare that
lasted for days.
PHR mentions in passing the Israeli complaint that ambulances were "not
being used properly". The "improper" use was to as a platform to shoot from
as well as for the transportation of weapons, ammunition and forces.
PHR's recommendations indicate that they only object to the use of gun to
kill Israelis - rocks and firebombs appears to be fair game.
In contrast with PHR's death figures, Dr. Mussa Abu Hmed, Director General
of Hospitals in the West Bank
for the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health provided IMRA a table
"Distribution of Martyrs by Age Group (West Bank) Until 25 October 2000"
that showed that 21% were age 17 and below.
It should be noted that PHR finds the reports of the use of dum-dum bullets
by Israel are false.]
http://www.phrusa.org/research/forensics/israel/Israel_force_2.html
November 3, 2000
INTRODUCTION AND MAJOR FINDINGS
Physicians for Human Rights (USA) (PHR) conducted a medical and forensic
investigation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank from October 20-27, 2000 to
investigate allegations of excessive use of force, including the use of
prohibited ammunition in the current conflict between Israeli forces and
Palestinian demonstrators and authorities. The three-person physician team
also collected information on attacks on ambulances, patients and health
professionals.
Physicians for Human Rights (USA) also investigated the disputed cause of
death of a Palestinian man, 'Issam Judeh Mustafa Hamed. Palestinian
authorities and groups have alleged that 'Issam Judeh was tortured and
killed. Israeli authorities claim he died in a car accident. Physicians for
Human Rights finds, within a reasonable degree of medical and forensic
certainty, that 'Issam Judah died in a vehicular roll-over accident. PHR has
issued a separate investigative report on this case (visit www.phrusa.org
for a copy of this report).
The PHR team included forensic pathologists Robert H. Kirschner, M.D.,
University of Chicago School of Medicine; Nizam Peerwani, M.D., Tarrant
County Medical Examiner's Office, Forth Worth, Texas; and James C. Cobey,
M.D.,M.P.H, an orthopaedic surgeon based in Washington, D.C.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
The PHR team found that the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has used live
ammunition and rubber bullets excessively and inappropriately to control
demonstrators, and that based on the high number of documented injuries to
the head and thighs, soldiers appear to be shooting to inflict harm, rather
than solely in self-defense.
HEAD INJURIES
PHR's analysis of fatal gun shot wounds in Gaza reveals that approximately
50% were to the head. This high proportion of fatal head wounds suggests
that given broad rules of engagement, soldiers are specifically aiming at
peoples' heads. Since the beginning of the conflict, of the first 1,134
casualties reported in West Bank and Gaza Hospitals, 26% were to the head
and neck. Of 339 patients who presented to the emergency room through
October 22 in Makassed Hospital, East Jerusalem, there were 25 confirmed
bullet wounds to the head and neck of admissions. Four of these injuries
were from live ammunition (ammunition fired from handguns, rifles, and
machine guns).
THIGH INJURIES
In its visits to hospitals, the PHR team observed a repetitive pattern of
high velocity gunshot wounds to the leg, particularly to the thigh. These
wounds cause extreme injury, usually producing complex fractures and
extensive muscle, nerve, and vascular injury. The majority of victims of
these injuries, according to PHR, will have permanent disability in the
affected leg. Witness reports, statements from an IDF spokesman to a member
of the PHR team, and information from other human rights organizations,
indicate that, while in some instances the IDF was subject to Palestinian
fire, many of those injured in this manner were at most throwing stones, and
were not carrying firearms. The numerous high velocity wounds to the thigh
are highly unlikely to be random events, but rather suggest a policy on the
part of the IDF that allows individual soldiers to shoot under very broad
circumstances. Of the 12 patients that PHR interviewed and examined at
Makassed and Shifa hospitals, 10 had gunshot wounds to the thigh or lower
leg. All ten of these were either diagnosed as or consistent with high
velocity ammunition. PHR has concluded, that a response to throwing stones
that results in permanent disability, constitutes a gross violation of human
rights.
RUBBER AND RUBBER COATED STEEL BULLETS
The numerous head and eye injuries related to rubber and rubber coated steel
projectiles must be considered to reflect frequent misuse of these weapons,
such as firing at a range of less than 40 meters and firing at the upper
part of the body. Of 2,299 emergency ward visits recorded for the West Bank
and East Jerusalem hospitals from September 29 to October 17, rubber bullets
accounted for 40% of the injuries. 21 of 25 gunshot wounds to the head
reported through October 22 at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem were
rubber bullet injuries. Of the 21 rubber bullet injuries to the head, 16
were penetrating.
HIGH VELOCITY CASUALTIES
After reviewing post-mortem photographs, post-mortem and anti-mortem X-rays
and CT scans, operating room records and medical records of the 31
Palestinians killed in Gaza between September 30 and October 24, the PHR
team found that in 53% of the cases the victims were shot by high velocity
weapons. Live ammunition was responsible for 30% of injuries among the 2,299
casualties previously cited.
CHILD CASUALTIES
Of the 31 Palestinians killed in Gaza between September 30 and October 24,
38% were under the age of 18. Of the first 1,134 injuries reported in the
combined West Bank and Gaza data, 2% were under the age of 9, 14% were under
the age of 15, and 17% were 16 through 18 years of age.
VIOLATIONS OF MEDICAL NEUTRALITY
Medical neutrality, enshrined in international humanitarian law, human
rights law, and medical ethics, seeks to protect and limit injury and death
to civilians, combatants, while providing standards for health professionals
with respect to their rights and duties during war and peace. There have
been repeated violations of medical neutrality during the renewed
hostilities. The PHR team studied two damaged ambulances in Gaza; one of
which had received a direct hit to the front window and the other was struck
at least five times on the left-side by 50 caliber armor piercing ammunition
that went completely through to the other side and damaged the stretcher
inside the vehicle.
IDF officials who were interviewed by PHR admitted that early in the
conflict there had been incidents of violations of medical neutrality, but
the orders had been reissued from headquarters for officers to respect the
neutrality of ambulances and medical personnel. However, the PHR team
personally interviewed a hospital van driver at Shifa hospital who was
taking five cancer patients to Israel for outpatient chemotherapy and
radiotherapy, who were all turned back at a check point between Israel and
Gaza despite their valid permit to enter Israel.
LEGAL STANDARDS
Events on the ground suggest that the IDF are not following their
regulations, instead allowing soldiers to fire when they are not acting
solely in self-defense. This leniency extends to both non-lethal and lethal
weapons. Israel's regulations for the IDF states that the soldier will use a
weapon in the event of immediate "danger to life," and when it is impossible
to effectively defend one's self from the assailant other than by the use of
the weapon. Under these regulations, stone throwing or a violent riot can
equate to danger to life, justifying the use of firearms. However, the
regulations state that weapons are to be used to strike the assailant and
not others, and should not cause loss of life to others or grave bodily
harm. Also, regulations prohibit open fire towards women and children. As
explained by an IDF spokesperson to the PHR team, any soldier in a
life-threatening situation may fire his weapon in self-defense if other
means of deterrence are not effective.
In addition to not following their own standards, the IDF is violating
international humanitarian and human rights standards.
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW OF THE CONFLICT
Since the renewed crisis in the Middle East erupted in late September, there
have been at least 160 deaths and over 5,000 injuries, the vast majority of
which have been Palestinian. According to the Israeli human rights
organization B'Tselem, as of
October 29, the death toll was 136. 95 Palestinian civilians had been killed
by Israeli security forces (of which 23 were minors under the age of 17); 14
Palestinian security force personnel were killed by Israeli security forces,
at least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli civilians, and two
foreign nationals were killed by Israeli security forces. Three Israeli
civilians were killed by Palestinian civilians, two Israeli security force
personnel were killed by Palestinian security forces, three members of the
Israeli security forces were killed by Palestinian civilians, and 13
Palestinians citizens of Israel and one Palestinian from the Occupied
Territories were killed by police forces inside Israel.
There have been charges of serious human rights abuses committed by both
sides. Israeli authorities as well as civilians have attacked and fired on
civilian Palestinian and Israeli Arab targets, and armed Palestinian
authorities, groups, and individuals have attacked Israeli civilians,
soldiers, and police.
PHR (USA) sent its team to the region to investigate numerous allegations
that included the following:
Numerous and repeated allegations by human rights organizations that the
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have used inappropriate and excessive lethal
force in their efforts to control Palestinian demonstrations and riots.
That the IDF and Israeli police have been reported to use inappropriate
military methods rather than policing methods in controlling recent
demonstrations.
Concerns that have been raised that a large proportion of those injured or
killed included children and unarmed civilians.
Reports that lethal weapons have been used by the IDF in an illegal and
indiscriminate manner.
Reports of improper and illegal use of ammunition, such as rubber-coated
metal bullets, Dum-Dum type bullets, hollow point and expandable bullets,
and other high velocity live ammunition.
That Palestinian police failed to prevent armed Palestinians from shooting
at the Israeli Defense Forces where civilians have been present and likely
to be caught in a crossfire.
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE PHR INVESTIGATION
The current crisis was ignited on September 28, when Israel's Likud Party
leader, Ariel Sharon, visited Haram al-Sharifa or the Temple Mount, a
Jerusalem site sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Accompanied by hundreds of
Israeli riot police, Sharon stated: "The Temple Mount is in our hands and
will remain in our hands. It is the holiest site in Judaism and it is the
right of every Jew to visit the Temple Mount." Riots and demonstrations by
Palestinians followed Sharon's visit, with stones being thrown at Israelis
over the Western Wall. Israeli riot police responded with force including
rubber bullets and live ammunition and several Palestinians were killed and
at least 200 were injured.
Demonstrations and violent clashes erupted throughout the West Bank and Gaza
to protest the killings at the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharifa. Israeli
authorities claimed that the violent unrest had been planned and
orchestrated in advance of the Sharon incident. The clashes escalated when
the killing of 12-year- old Palestinian boy, Mohammed al-Durah, in Gaza was
captured on television and broadcast around the world. The violence between
Palestinians and Israeli forces continued throughout the West Bank and Gaza
and spread to Arab towns in Israel resulting in numerous deaths and
injuries, the vast majority of which were Palestinian.
After Palestinians declared a "day of rage" following the death of nine
Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem, Palestinian
demonstrators, on October 7, stormed Joseph's tomb in Nablus, a holy Jewish
site, setting fires and tearing holy books. That same day, Israel's Prime
Minister Barak issued a warning to Palestinian leader Arafat calling for an
end to the violence within 48 hours or Israeli troops would respond in full
force.
The crisis escalated further. In one of the most intense clashes in decades,
the road that separates the predominately Arab town of Nazareth and the
predominately Jewish Upper Nazareth became a battle scene on October 9. In
response to Arab protests, hundreds of Jewish residents from Upper Nazareth
crossed into Nazareth armed with stones. The police forcefully separated the
two sides, and two Arab Israeli citizens were killed and hundreds were
injured.
On October 12, two Israeli reserve soldiers who had made a wrong turn near
the West Bank town of Ramallah were taken into Palestinian police custody
and subsequently beaten to death by an enraged Palestinian mob. In
retaliation for the killing and mutilation of the reserve soldiers, Israeli
helicopters fired missiles on Palestinian targets in the West Bank and Gaza.
Following this intensification of the conflict, peace efforts by the United
Nations, United States, European Union and others brought Barak and Arafat
together for talks.
By the time the PHR team arrived in the region on the weekend of October 21,
prospects for reducing the violence and returning to peace talks had dimmed.
Violent incidents continued throughout the period of the PHR investigation,
including clashes between armed Palestinian police and Israeli soldiers, but
with the vast majority of injuries and deaths due to Israeli fire on
Palestinian demonstrators.
METHODS
The PHR (USA) team interviewed physicians and patients in Israel, Gaza and
the West Bank to gain objective data on hospital admissions and injury type.
The team also reviewed data from the Ministry of Health of the Palestine
National Authority, and confirmed the data by reviewing hospital records,
emergency room logs, and admission reports. The team studied the weapon
types being used and confirmed the ammunition type by viewing X-ray data of
patients and by examining bullets removed from patients.
In addition to gaining objective data in hospital admissions and injury
types, the team interviewed Eitan Felner Director of the Israeli human
rights organization, B'Tselem; Dr. Munther Alsherif, Deputy Minister of
Health for the Palestine Authority; Dr. Nasri Mu'allem, neurosurgeon from
Ramallah Hospital in the West Bank; Dr. Khaled Qurie, Director of Makassed
Hospital, East Jerusalem; Dr. Arafat S. Hidmi; Chairman of the Board of
Directors Makassed Hospital, East Jerusalem; Mustafa Barghouti, M.D, M. Sc.,
Director of Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute; Jihad
Mashal, M.D.MSc, Vice President of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief
Committee; Bassem Eid, Director of the Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring
Group; Jehuda Hiss, M.D.,Director of the Greenberg Institute of Forensic
Medicine, Jerusalem; Hedva Radanovitz, Executive Director, Physicians for
Human Rights/Israel; Hadas Ziv, Director of Projects, PHR Israel; Dr. Marwan
El Za'eem, Ministry of Health, Palestine National Authority; Dr. Abd-Elraza
H. Elmasry, Director of Forensic Medicine, Palestine National Authority; Dr.
Khalil M. Abou Foul, Supervisor of Emergency Medical Services-Gaza,
Palestine Red Crescent; Colonel Daniel Reisner, Chief of International Law
Section of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF); and Lieutenant Colonel Lairon
Leibmen, Deputy Chief Army Prosecutor, IDF.
LEGAL STANDARDS
Legal standards apply to Israeli Defense Forces' activities as well as the
security forces of the Palestinian Authority. Standards at both the internal
and international level prohibit excessive and/or disproportionate use of
force and prohibit violations of medical neutrality, such as attacks on
ambulances and medical personnel.
The conduct of both Israeli and Palestinian security forces is subject toto
international standards, including the Geneva Conventions and the United
Nations' Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials (Law Enforcement
Code) and its Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law
Enforcement Officials (Law Enforcement Principles). Other international laws
outlaw exploding bullets and specific kinds of weaponry and ammunition.
Despite the fact that in the past, Israel has challenged the application of
international norms to IDF activities, the U.N. has applied the Geneva
Civilian Convention (1) (also known as the Fourth Geneva Convention) to
Israel's activities in the West Bank and Gaza (2), as have major human
rights groups. As part of international humanitarian law, the Geneva
Civilian Convention protects civilians under occupation and has applied to
Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza since the 1967 war. In
addition, the IDF senior officer told PHR that "the Fourth Geneva Convention
and other humanitarian laws apply" to the current clashes. The Geneva
Conventions prohibit murder, torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading
treatment. In addition, included in the Geneva Conventions is the customary
rule of law against force that results in disproportionate and/or
indiscriminate killing or violence to civilian persons. In an occupation,
such as Israel's of the West Bank and Gaza, the rule of proportionality
applies and prohibits excessive force against civilians.
The U.N.'s Law Enforcement Code and Law Enforcement Principles cover all law
enforcement officials, including military authorities with such duties.
Article 9 of the Law Enforcement Principles states, "Law enforcement
officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self defense or
in defense of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury.
and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these
objectives." Article 5 states that officials shall use firearms in
proportion to the offence, to minimize injury and preserve human life.
Israel's own regulations - Israeli Defense Forces' Orders for Opening Fire
in Judea and Samaria (i.e. the West Bank) - call on the IDF to police or
have responsibility "for internal security and public order." In an October
26, 2000 interview with a member of the PHR team, an IDF senior officer in
the legal office stated that unlike the clashes of the 1987-1993 Intifada,
the current clashes did constitute an "armed conflict," or "warfare," but
not "war." He also said that the regulations developed to govern IDF
activities in Gaza and West Bank since the Oslo Accords - and known to human
rights groups and others in Israel - still apply to IDF forces during the
current round of clashes.
These regulations state that a soldier will use a weapon, in the event of
immediate "danger to life," and when it is impossible to effectively defend
oneself from the assailant other than by the use of the weapon." Under these
regulations, stone throwing or a violent riot can equate to danger to life
and justify the use of firearms. However, the regulations state that weapons
are to be used to strike the assailant and not others, and should not cause
loss of life to others or grave bodily harm. As explained by an IDF
spokesperson, any soldier in a life-threatening situation may fire his
weapon in self-defense, if other means [of deterrence] are not effective.
This is defined subjectively by each soldier. Similarly, according to the
IDF, snipers are only used in life-threatening situations. Also the
regulations prohibit firing towards women and children.
The IDF legal officer said soldiers, whose use of live ammunition results in
the death of a Palestinian, need not file a report or face an investigation
into the justification for the use of their weapon. This is a departure from
the procedures in place during the 1987-1993 Intifada. He also said the
rules for the use of the so-called "rubber" bullets remain unchanged.
Medical neutrality is a principal enshrined in medical ethics and
international law that seeks to limit injury and death to civilians and
soldiers who are hors de combat, and to protect medical personnel and health
facilities. The Geneva Conventions require that the wounded and sick be
cared for, medical personnel carry out their duties in a non-discriminatory
manner, that they not be attacked, and that health facilities, such as
hospitals and ambulances, not be attacked. The Law Enforcement Basic
Principles also say that officials (i.e. soldiers) must ensure that medical
assistance is rendered as soon as possible.
HOSPITAL DATA
The PHR (USA) team reviewed admission and surgical data from Israel, the
West Bank and Gaza to determine the types of weapons used by the IDF and to
assess the resulting injuries and deaths. PHR has requested from the IDF a
list of Israeli soldiers who have been wounded or killed during the recent
conflict to assess the nature and extent of their injuries.
PHR (USA) reviewed admissions data for the West Bank and East Jerusalem
hospitals that had been compiled by each hospital, and forwarded to the
Ministry of Health of the Palestine National Authority. According to
records - emergency room admission reports, hospital census data and
operating room summaries - reviewed, compiled, and cross checked by PHR,
from September 29 to October 17 there were 2,299 emergency ward visits with
22% of patients being admitted and 18% requiring surgery. Live (handgun,
rifle, or machine gun) ammunition was responsible for 30% of the injuries,
and "rubber" bullets for 40%. The overall death rate from the admission data
from these hospitals was 2.5%, ranging from 0.4% in Hebron to 8% in Rafidia
Hospital in the West Bank.
Although physicians at these hospitals could not give PHR a specific number,
they reported that many patients had their injuries treated and were
released without being registered by the hospital.
Of the first 1,134 injuries reported from the West Bank and Gaza: 70% were
injuries to the upper body; more than 98% were males. Twenty-two percent of
the injuries were from live ammunition; 40% were from rubber bullets; 26% of
the injuries were to the head and neck; 7% were to the chest; and 5% were to
the back. Of these 1,134 injured, 2% were under the age of 9, 14% were under
the age of 15, 17% were 16 -18 years, 49% were 19 - 24 years, 14% were 25 -
29, and 13% were 30 - 71 years old.
In East Jerusalem the major referral hospital for trauma and all types of
surgery is Makassed Hospital. There, the PHR team reviewed the daily log
sheets of all patients presenting to the emergency room and subsequent
admissions. The team also reviewed the daily list of in-patients. Of the 339
patients presenting to the emergency room from September 29 to October 22,
57 or 17% had injuries to the head, neck, chest, or back. The team found a
high number of head wounds from rubber bullets. Of hospital admissions in
Makassed, from October 1 to October 22, there were 25 confirmed bullet
wounds of the head and neck - 21 of these were rubber bullet injuries and 4
were from live ammunition. Of the 21 rubber bullet injuries to the head, 16
were penetrating. There were 13 chest and back wounds, 10 from rubber
bullets and 3 from live ammunition. There was one abdominal wound resulting
from a rubber bullet. In terms of the lower extremity, there were 15 cases
altogether, 11 from rubber bullets and 4 from live ammunition.
In Gaza, the PHR team reviewed the Ministry of Health's data from the
established hospitals and small, emergency field hospitals. From September
29 to October 24, there were 2,324 injuries, of which rubber bullets
accounted for 493 or 21%.
The PHR team personally interviewed and examined 12 patients from two
hospitals, Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, and Shifa Hospital, the
major trauma hospital in the Eastern half of the Gaza strip. One of the 12
had been injured by a rubber bullet shot at close range (5 meters) injuring
his face, and fracturing his jaw. Ten of the patients interviewed had
gunshot wounds to the thigh or lower leg. In six of the 10, the injuries
were diagnostic of high velocity ammunition, and the other four were
consistent with high velocity ammunition. This ammunition caused massive
damage to bone, muscle, nerves and blood vessels. The PHR physicians
determined that it is very likely that all of these patients will be left
with permanent disability in the affected limb.
DEATHS IN GAZA
Between the period September 30 through October 24, 2000, 31 Palestinians
were shot and killed by members of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), at
various locations in Gaza. These were sites of Palestinian demonstrations.
Nitzarim was the site where most of these killings (74%) took place on
different days. Thirty-eight percent of those shot were children below the
age of 18 years, with the youngest 12 years; the oldest was 48 years, the
driver of an ambulance. In 53% of cases, the Palestinians were shot with
high velocity weapons, mostly 5.56-mm. In one instance, the injury pattern
was consistent with a .50 caliber round. This decedent was 24 years of age
and from witness accounts, he was shot from a helicopter gunship.
Nearly half the victims were shot in the head. There were several victims
shot in the back or from behind and in one instance, evidence indicates the
victim was probably on the ground when shot (the victim had a "shored" exit
gunshot wound of the back. To a forensic pathologist, this indicates that
the exit wound site was supported against a firm surface.) In several of
these cases, PHR was able to document that there was no imminent danger
posed to the IDF in the context of the shooting. In addition, the IDF
breached medical neutrality by shooting at ambulances and killing at least
one ambulance driver, Bassem Al-Bebesi, who died from a single gunshot wound
of left flank. Finally, the IDF improperly deployed rubber-coated steel
bullets in a manner that caused the death of at least one child, a 12 year
old Wael M. Emad, who was shot in the forehead on October 21 near the Eretz
checkpoint.
DATA ON ISRAELI ARAB CITIZENS INJURED IN ISRAEL
The results of the Nazareth clashes as reported by PHR-Israel gave a 27%
admission rate, a 17% surgical rate and a 1.3% death rate out of 303 injured
patients reported at hospitals in Nazareth - Holy Family, Scottish and
French hospitals. Reliable reports indicate that in these clashes virtually
no Arab Israeli citizens had any firearms, but both steel-coated rubber
bullets and live ammunition were used by the police and border guards. The
PHR team was unable to visit Nazareth during this period.
ATTACKS ON AMBULANCES AND HEALTH PERSONNEL
Human rights groups have repeatedly reported violations of medical
neutrality during the conflict. Medical neutrality is a normative construct
that draws on international humanitarian law, human rights law, and medical
ethics. Medical neutrality seeks to protect and limit the injury and death
to civilians and combatants and provide standards for health professionals
with respect to their rights and duties in war and peace.
According the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), 33 ambulances were hit
by gunfire and 17 were destroyed from 64 separate attacks. The PHR team
studied two damaged ambulances in Gaza. One had received a direct hit to the
front window and the other was struck at least five times on the left side
by 50 caliber armor piercing ammunition that went completely through to the
other side and damaged the stretcher inside the vehicle. It was also hit by
a rubber bullet on the same side. According to the driver, the ambulance had
sustained damage on the right side from a previous attack.
Colleagues at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHR-Israel) have reported
numerous instances in which the IDF have violated medical neutrality
including: the blocking of the Augusta Victoria and the Makassed Hospitals
in Jerusalem and preventing injured patients from receiving care. PHR-Israel
has also reported shooting at medical personnel, some of whom were wearing
vests clearly identifying them as medical personnel, while they were
providing care to the injured. They also reported delays in medical
treatment to detainees (two Israelis and one Palestinian) who were arrested
during the current crisis.
Between October 1 and October 23, PHR-Israel reported that 17 Palestinian
ambulances were "utterly destroyed" by the IDF. During the week from October
19 to October 23 alone, PHR-Israel reported that an additional 26 ambulances
were damaged by gun fire.
PRCS personnel and vehicles have been attacked by Israeli settlers in
Israeli controlled areas and Magen David Adom ambulances have been attacked
by Palestinian civilians in areas under Israeli security controlled areas,
according to Human Rights Watch.
In other instances of violations of medical neutrality, the Union of
Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) has reported that 12 UPMRC
medical personnel have been injured by Israeli forces while providing
medical care.
The Israeli army claims that the ambulances are not being used properly, but
the PHR team received no documentation of an ambulance being used for
purposes other than transporting the wounded. When PHR interviewed IDF
officials, they admitted that early in the conflict there had been incidents
of violations of medical neutrality but that orders had been re-issued from
headquarters to officers in the field to respect the neutrality of
ambulances in the field and medical personnel.
The PHR team also personally interviewed a hospital van driver at Shifa
Hospital who was taking five cancer patients to Israel for outpatient
radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Despite the fact that all of the patients had
valid permits to enter Israel, they were turned back at the Eretz checkpoint
between Israel and Gaza, and refused entry into Israel.
WOUNDING AND AMMUNITION
Because of the many allegations of the use of illegal or atypical forms of
ammunition by the IDF, the PHR team evaluated projectiles and bullet
fragments recovered by physicians during the current conflict. This
evaluation was carried out by review of X-rays of patients and decedents,
examination of wounds in hospitalized patents, as well as bullets removed
from patients during the time surgery and postmortem examination. The PHR
Team visited three area hospitals, including Ramallah Government Hospital
serving the entire township of Ramallah, West Bank, the Makassed Hospital in
Jerusalem and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza which serves the northern half of
Gaza. The types of ammunition examined included:
5.56-mm (.223 caliber): A U.S. and NATO round fired by M-16 weapon, it is
widely used by the IDF. It has a muzzle velocity of 975 to 1,00 meters/sec.
This round fired from an M-16 weapon has a tendency to break open on impact
causing a "lead storm" in the tissue (visible by X-ray), even without
impacting a bone, thereby releasing all the kinetic energy possessed by the
bullet and causing large temporary cavities, and extensive damage to muscle,
nerves and blood vessels, as well as fractures. The entrance wounds produced
on the skin surface are generally small, no greater than 1/8 inch in
diameter and typically depict radial "micro-tears". An exit wound, when
present, is very large.
7.62-mm: This round can be fired from an AK-47 and is also used by NATO. It
has a muzzle velocity of 715 meters/sec but because of its greater mass it
has more muzzle energy than M-16 ammunition. It is, however, stable and
generally tends to go directly through a body without breaking up unless
bony tissue is encountered. It produces a small entrance defect slightly
larger than 1/8 inch with large exit defects.
9-mm: Introduced in 1902, the 9-mm Luger is the most widely used military
handgun cartridge in the world. All modern submachine guns, including the
Uzi, are chambered for this cartridge. The muzzle velocity ranges from 370
to 390 meters/sec. A 9-mm round is generally stable and does not break-up on
striking the tissue. The loss of kinetic energy is much less than those
encountered in high velocity rounds including the 5.56-mm and 7.62-mm, and
hence the temporary cavities and the severity of injuries are less intense.
50 caliber: This is a military round generally fired from a mounted gun,
either on a helicopter or tank. The large size of the bullet and high
velocity (exceeding 1,000 meters/sec) cause tremendous damage to the human
body on impact. Entrance defects produced by this bullet approach 1/2-inch
in diameter with extremely large blow-out exit defects. Many of such rounds
are re-enforced as "armor piercing". The PHR team examined a Red Crescent
Ambulance in Gaza which was damaged by a helicopter gunship which strafed
the ambulance with five 50 caliber shells that passed right through the
ambulance, including a metal Gurney parked in the ambulance.
Rubber and rubber-coated steel bullets: These are intended, if correctly
used, to incapacitate by inflicting painful and superficial injuries without
killing or causing serious injury. They are intended to be fired at a range
no less than 30 to 70 meters, with fire generally directed at the lower
extremities. Although originally designated as "non-lethal", they are now
generally called "less lethal". The bullets used by the IDF against Jewish
citizens within the State of Israel or against the Jewish settlers in the
West Bank and Gaza for riot control are exclusively rubber. There have been
no reported deaths resulting from these pure rubber bullets.
Those used against the Palestinians by the IDF and examined by the PHR team
are rubber coated steel bullets. The PHR team reviewed several patient
records including postmortem findings of a 12 year old Palestinian boy, Wael
M Emad, who was fatally shot in the forehead at Eretz crossing on October
21, 2000 by a rubber coated steel bullet. The rubber coated steel bullets
are of two types: (a) Spherical 1.83 cm steel with approximately 2 mm outer
rubber shell; (b) Cylindrical 1.83 cm in diameter with a length of 1.83 cm
steel with approximately 2 mm outer rubber shell. Each of these has a muzzle
velocity of 100 meters/sec. They may be fired from a metallic canister that
is mounted on the muzzle of either an M-16 or Galeil rifle. The cannister
can hold up to 15 rubber bullets. There have been reports of steel rubber
coated bullets fired singly in the recent conflict.
Plastic Bullet: The PHR Team also noted the use of plastic (poly-vinyl
chloride) bullets with metallic fragments (and hence visible on X-Rays).
This is a bullet-shaped missile having a 5.56-mm caliber that is loaded on a
regular 5.56-mm cartridge. It has a muzzle velocity is 375 meters/sec.
Plastic bullets with metallic fragments can easily penetrate the cranium and
cause death as reported by Dr. J. Hiss.
The PHR team found no evidence of the use of as Dum-Dum type bullets, hollow
point bullets, or other expanding bullets. The confusion regarding the types
of ammunition used by the IDF is not unusual in situations where high
velocity, M-16 ammunition, not previously in common use, has been
introduced. The massive tissue destruction caused by the release of kinetic
energy from these small projectiles which often disintegrate in the body
produces a frightening clinical presentation which greatly challenges the
surgeons who must care for these patients. When there are many such
injuries, medical resources are stressed to the limit.
DISCUSSION OF EXCESSIVE AND INAPPROPRIATE USE OF FORCE
The high number of disabling injuries and deaths of Palestinians reflects a
change from the Intifadah of 1987 - 1993, at which time the IDF controlled
the entire West Bank and Gaza and few, if any, Palestinians had firearms.
Currently, the Palestinian Authority police have light arms, and small
geographical regions of the West Bank and much of Gaza are no longer under
formal IDF control. Yet, numerous independent eyewitness accounts from PHR
interviews and other reliable reports have documented that most of those who
have been shot were not carrying or using firearms. In one instance, on
October 24, PHR physicians witnessed a demonstration on the outskirts of
Ramallah where they saw IDF soldiers fire live and rubber ammunition at
Palestinian civilians when they could see no evidence of Palestinians using
firearms.
The PHR team in its visits to hospitals observed a repetitive pattern of
high velocity gun shot wounds to the leg, particularly to the thigh. These
wounds cause extreme injury, usually producing complex fractures, and
extensive muscle, nerve and vascular injury. The majority of victims of
these injuries will have permanent disability in the affected leg. Witness
reports, statements from an IDF spokesman to a member of the PHR team, and
information provided to other human rights organizations, indicate that
those injured in this manner were at most throwing stones, and were not
carrying firearms.
Our analysis of fatal gunshot wounds in Gaza reveals that approximately 50%
are to the head and 50% to the torso. To date, the PHR team has been unable
to compile comparable data for the West Bank. IDF soldiers in
life-threatening situations are taught to aim for the torso, as this is the
largest area of the body. The IDF spokesman commented to the PHR team that
he was aware of the high incidence of high velocity gun shot wounds to the
head, and did not dispute that most of these injuries were not inflicted
upon individuals who posed an immediate threat to a member of the IDF.
In addition to the high velocity live ammunition used, the numerous head and
eye injuries related to the use of rubber-coated steel projectiles must be
considered to reflect frequent misuse. Such projectiles are designed to
incapacitate without causing serious injury and thus when fired at
appropriate range and in the proper manner should rarely, if ever, cause
such injuries. Witness accounts of IDF soldiers firing rubber bullets
directly at demonstrators from close range are confirmed by the high number
of penetrating wounds to the head and blinding eye injuries that were found
by the PHR team.
Events on the ground suggest that the IDF are not following their
regulations. Instead they are allowing soldiers to fire under more lenient
circumstances. This extends to both non-lethal and lethal weapons.
The numerous head and eye injuries, the high proportion of thigh wounds and
fatal head wounds, and the fact that similar patterns of such shootings
occurred over a period of weeks demonstrate two disturbing patterns: 1) IDF
soldiers are not firing only in life threatening situations and 2) they are
firing at heads and thighs to injure and kill, not to avoid loss of life and
injury.
Such patterns of excessive force violate the IDF regulations and the UN Law
Enforcement Principles calling for soldiers not to cause injuries and
fatalities except in extraordinary life threatening situations. These
patterns also violate the Geneva Conventions prohibitions against murder,
torture, cruel and degrading treatment and other targeting of civilians, and
the Conventions' proportionality protection mandating that officials
minimize civilian casualties.
RECOMMENDATIONS
PHR deplores the injury and loss of life to both Palestinians and Israelis
in the current conflict, and urges all Palestinians and Israelis to act in
good faith to de-escalate the violence. PHR appeals to Palestinian and
Israeli authorities and civilians to exercise restraint, and warns of the
grave danger of a spiraling conflict that will result in more injuries,
disability and death.
PHR calls on Israel to stop the excessive use of force by its military and
police against the Palestinian population.
PHR also urges Israeli authorities to adhere to strict rules allowing use of
live ammunition only in life-threatening situations. It calls on Israel to
abide by international restrictions regarding use of lethal force in clashes
with civilians and to strictly follow the IDF's own rules of engagement for
the use of rubber bullets.
PHR deplores attacks on ambulances and medical personnel, and calls on all
authorities to ensure safe evacuation, passage and entry of patients and
health professionals into hospitals and clinics.
PHR calls on Israeli authorities to investigate and prosecute in Israel
those military personnel and civilians responsible for unjustified use of
force in the current conflict.
Children should be protected by Palestinian authorities to every extent
possible. They should be shielded from participation in, or presence at,
violent demonstrations. Israeli authorities should make all efforts to
ensure that children are not targets of lethal weapons or inappropriate use
of force.
Whenever possible, professional forensic death investigations should be
conducted by the responsible authorities. Interpretation of wounds and
ammunition types by persons without appropriate forensic training can lead
to dangerous errors in interpretation of causation of injuries.
The Palestinian Authority has the responsibility to ensure the safety of all
persons within their jurisdiction. They must take measures to ensure that
armed individuals do not endanger the lives of other civilians. PHR calls on
the Palestinian Authority to make public its rules of engagement, and to
adhere to international standards regarding the use of force. PHR calls on
the Palestinian Authority to investigate and bring to justice all
perpetrators of illegal use of force.
Endnotes
(1) Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time
of War, adopted 1949.
(2) See S.C. Res. 1322, UN SCOR, 4205 mtg, UN doc S/RES/1322 (2000)
Physicians for Human Rights mobilizes the health professions and enlists
support from the general public to protect and promote the human rights of
all people.
The group shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize for its work as a founding
member of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Physicians for Human
Rights is the coordinating organization of the United State Campaign to Ban
Landmines.
------- End of forwarded message -------
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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Harpazo.net News items (11/6/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org("Moza")
Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2000 18:01:20 -0500
November 6, 2000
PA Secretary: 'PLO Flag Over Jerusalem'
The Palestinian Authority Secretary, Abdul Ahmed Rahman said this
morning, "the Al-Aksa intifada will continue until Jerusalem is freed." He
added that the Palestinians would not relent until the PLO flag flies over all of
the churches and mosques in Jerusalem. Jerusalem Post
Latest Developments:
A roadside charge was detonated in Rafiah as an IDF patrol drove by. There
were no reports of injuries to the soldiers. Rafiah is on the Egyptian border in
the Gaza Strip.
A Senior IDF commander in the West Bank said there have been no genuine
signs of a ceasefire in the territories. Incidents are continuing throughout the
West Bank and Gaza.
Army Chief Shaul Mofaz comes under Palestinian fire in one of dozens of
overnight shooting incidents in West Bank - Mofaz uninjured but two Israelis
wounded in separate incident, ambush near Ma'aleh Levona.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak may unleash "doomsday weapon" against
Palestinian Authority: revealing details of alleged corruption by PA officials,
including Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Settlers say IDF told them it will trim forces in West Bank, settlers say
reinforcements, not troop reductions are needed.
Jerusalem Residents Preparing For Terror Attacks
Residents of the East Jerusalem, areas in predominately Arab areas of
Jerusalem are preparing first response tactical units to deal with the
increasing likelihood of Islamic terror attacks in those areas. As the daily
attacks continue to spread to areas outside of Yesha, coupled with repeated
cries for the liberation of Jerusalem by the PA, the decision was made to
begin preparations for emergency responses to attacks and other
emergencies. Police commanders have expressed disapproval of what they
call armed militias. Israel Wire
IDF Warns Of Possible Escalation In Violence
Three senior IDF officers warned the cabinet Sunday that escalation in
violence is a viable possibility. IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz, Director of
Military Intelligence Major General Amos Malka and head of the research
division within military intelligence, Brigadier General Amos Gilad, told the
government, in its capacity as a ministerial committee on defense matters,
that the military was preparing for an escalation across the board, although it
is unclear that this will necessarily be the scenario. In any case, Israel
should be prepared, they said.
Mofaz said that the violence in the territories will continue for a long time,
and asked for another NIS 750 million for the defense budget in 2001.
Defense Ministry Director General Amos Yaron supported him, and said that
after the withdrawal from Lebanon this budget was cut by NIS 800 million,
most of which should now be reinstated.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak said that the treasury would discuss the impact
of the new developments on the budget, and Finance Minister Avraham
Shochat said a NIS 100-150 million advance will soon be approved Ha'aretz
Iran Working To Perpetrate Major Terror Attacks In Israel
Intelligence community officials on Sunday briefed ministers on the activities
or Iran, explaining Iranian officials are sending foreigners to Israel to carryout
major terrorist attacks, paying special attention to multi-story buildings.
According to the Israel Radio report on Sunday evening, Iran is also working
on the northern border front, seeking to reactivate Hizbullah attacks against
northern Israel, instructing guerilla forces to strike out against Israeli military
and civilian targets. Israel Wire
Tanzim Leader: Intifida Must Go On
"We cannot end our intifada," Hussein Sheikh, a Tanzim leader in the West
Bank, told The Jerusalem Post yesterday. "The intifada must continue until
the Palestinians reach their goal of an independent state in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip with east Jerusalem [as its capital], whether there will be
negotiations." Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti also urged Palestinians to
take their intifada against Israel "into every street and every Jewish
settlement" on "occupied" land. Jerusalem Post
PFLP, Hamas Urge Arafat Not To Meet With Clinton
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has called to Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat not to go to Washington to participate in
talks with President Clinton. A statement released by the organization said it
is clear U.S. policy will help and support Israel's positions, and calls for the
negotiations to be overseen by other countries or the United Nations. Hamas
also called on Arafat not to participate in the meetings with Clinton. Ha'aretz
Barak To Meet Clinton Next Sunday
Prime Minister Ehud Barak will leave Saturday night for the United States
and will meet U.S. President Bill Clinton at the White House on Sunday,
November 12. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat will meet Clinton
three days earlier. Clinton wishes to discuss ways to renew the peace
process with the two leaders, in order to examine their willingness to accept
his suggestions as a basis for negotiations and for achieving a permanent
agreement, and to see how flexible they are willing to be. If Barak and Arafat
approve his suggestions, Clinton will consider convening a summit for the
completion of the agreement. If Clinton determines that the parties are not
ready to achieve an agreement, he may reveal "the Clinton plan for peace"
which will detail the United States' stands on the controversial issues at the
heart of the agreement and leave the plan for his successor as a basis for
future negotiations. Ha'aretz
Time Magazine: Arafat Prepared An Escape To Yemen Or Iraq
In Case IDF Occupied Gaza Strip
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has prepared an escape to
Yemen or Iraq, should the IDF re-occupy the Gaza Strip, Time Magazine
quotes an Arafat confidant as saying in Monday's issue. Monday's issue
also features an interview with a Palestinian described as a senior leader of
the military wing of Hamas, referred to as "Abu Ali." In the interview, which
took place in "an isolated village in the West Bank", Abu Ali told Time
Magazine: "We are not a party to any agreement between Arafat and the
Zionists ... Israel respects force. Force makes Israel bow its head." Abu Ali
made it very clear that the Hamas will continue the armed fight against
Israel. "Don't expect me to tell you when we are going to carry out military
operations," he said. Arafat's meeting with Peres revealed the Chairman to
be a traitor, and in this meeting the Palestinian Authority declared war on
itself, he added. Ha'aretz
50 Dead In Java Landslide
More than 50 people have been killed in Indonesia in landslides after days of
heavy rains buried 14 villages in the central province of Java. This is the
second series of landslides in a week to hit the province. A local official said
the villages had been badly damaged and roads blocked. The landslides hit
the hilly district of Purworejo early on Sunday, according to local media
reports. Most of the villagers were asleep when their homes were engulfed.
The area had experienced three days of heavy rain. Soldiers and police are
involved in efforts to recover people still buried under tonnes of earth. There
are fears that the death toll will rise as the rescuers continue their work. BBC
Death Toll In Uganda Ebola Outbreak Rises To 90
The death toll in Uganda from an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus has risen
to 90 after three more people died in the past 24 hours, a health official said
Sunday. Francis Omaswa, director-general of Uganda's medical services,
said the deaths occurred in Gulu, a town in northern Uganda where the
outbreak was first confirmed October 14. Authorities had hoped to contain
the disease in Gulu, 360 kilometers (225 miles) north of Kampala, but
experts confirmed on Thursday that an Ugandan soldier had died of the
disease hundreds of kilometers (miles) south of the capital, raising concern
that it may have spread. CNN
Britain and France Brace For Further Storms
Britain was braced for further deluges as France's northwest coast battened
down for expected gale force winds and heavy rain. About 3,600 properties
across England and Wales have so far been inundated in the widespread
flooding, including 1,000 in the northern city of York, where water levels in
the River Ouse hit their highest point since 1625. Flood levels peaked on
Saturday, but with more rain falling late on Sunday and an additional 4.5
centimetres (1.8 inches) forecast for Monday, Britons were warned that the
nation's rivers would swell further with the latest downpours. The Environment
Agency spokeswoman warned that the retreating floodwater in some areas
was "the calm before the storm." CNN
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