Barak's trip to concentration camp
ARUTZ7 9/22/99: "Prime Minister Ehud Barak participated today in
a memorial ceremony for Jews murdered by the Nazis in the
Sachsenhausen concentration camp, together with German Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder. The two then toured the camp together. Barak
later flew to France, where he is scheduled to meet with French
President Jacques Chirac in Paris.
Foreign Minister David Levy will depart tonight for New York, to
take part in and speak at the annual session of the United
Nations. He will meet with dozens of Foreign Ministers, as well
as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Anan.
Iranian Jewish rethink
HA'ARETZ 9/23/99: "Prime Minister Ehud Barak is planning a major
rethink on government policy toward the 13 Iranian Jews accused
of spying for Israel. Barak is asking whether Israel should adopt
a "high profile" and emphasize its concern for the fate of the
Iranian Jews. After taking office, Barak adopted his
predecessor's policy of refraining from public statements on the
Jews' arrest and attempting to enlist international opinion for
their release. The prime minister calculated that Israel's open
involvement would only complicate matters for the detainees, and
opted instead to work quietly through diplomatic channels.
Barak
and Foreign Minister David Levy have repeatedly raised the issue
with foreign leaders and requested them to pressure Iran. In
recent days, however, it has become clear that Israel's silence
has not helped the arrestees.
The Iranian authorities have become
more vehement in their statements regarding the prisoners and
even claim that some of those arrested have confessed. In the
face of Tehran's extreme stance, Barak said yesterday at a
memorial ceremony at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp that
"we shall defend ourselves and all Jews."
Even so, Barak is
insistent that Israel does not need to take a confrontational
stance with Iran, as that will only exacerbate the existing
tensions between the two countries."
Coalition loses
HA'ARETZ 9/23/99: "The ruling coalition suffered a major blow
yesterday when Shas MKs scuttled key government proposals for
the budget. Three Shas MKs voted with the opposition in protest
at the unresolved financial crisis in their party's education
system. The MKs brought the coalition down on six votes in the
Knesset finance committee concerning budget transfers requested
by Finance Minister Avraham Shochat. Committee Chairman Eli
Goldshmidt (One Israel) yesterday threatened not to convene the
committee for the opening of the Knesset's winter session in 10
days time, if the coalition doesn't get a majority by then.
"Under these conditions the Finance Committee cannot continue to
function. We're on the verge of complete paralysis in regard to
the committee's work. I have no intention of holding committee
sessions when it's clear that the government proposals will fall
in committee one after another."
He added that he had submitted
the government proposals knowing that they would fail, "in order
to bring the situation to the edge of a crisis." Goldshmidt
called on Prime Minister Ehud Barak to bring the coalition to
order in the Finance Committee..."
Albright & Syria's Al-Sharaa
HA'ARETZ 9/23/99: "U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met
yesterday with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara for
another round of inconclusive talks that yielded no breakthrough
in the attempt to renew the Israeli-Syrian peace talks. Al-Shara
said after the meeting that the current American strategy was to
try and reach an understanding first on "side issues" so that
these would not sidetrack negotiators from the main points of the
peace agreement when talks are actually renewed.
Syria holds a
different position, waiting for an Israeli commitment for a full
withdrawal from the Golan Heights before negotiations are
renewed. Al-Shara specifically noted Syria's demand for the
five-kilometer strip east of the Kinneret lake, referring to the
al-Hama area.
"No progress has been made yet," al-Shara summed up
after the meeting in Albright's hotel suite in New York. Al-Shara
reiterated the Syrian claim that late Prime Minister Yithzak
Rabin had agreed to a full withdrawal and that Shimon Peres
concurred. "The moment" Israel acknowledges that, al-Shara said,
Syria is ready to negotiate peace and security terms. He added
that the United States was aware of the Israeli commitment to
withdraw to the June 4, 1967 lines and can "try to bridge the gap
between the sides."
But sources in Prime Minister Ehud Barak's
entourage on his European tour said yesterday that Rabin never
commited to a full withdrawal from the Golan Heights and that "we
and the Americans know that that claim is not true." The sources
admitted that there was still a significant gap between the two
nations' positions..."
Disney boycott by Arab-American groups
AP 9/21/99: "A coalition of Arab-American groups on Tuesday asked
``all peoples of conscience'' to boycott the Walt Disney Co.
because of its plans to host an Israel exhibit at its Epcot theme
park. The boycott includes TV programs on Disney-owned ABC,
Disney merchandise and Disney films, said Khalid Turaani,
executive director of Washington-based American Muslims for
Jerusalem.
The Arab groups said at a Washington news conference
that they object to the exhibit because it depicts east Jerusalem
as part of Israel, designates Jerusalem as the nation's capital
and marginalizes the roles of Muslims and Christians in
Jerusalem...
Disney spokesman Bill Warren has said the exhibit will not
designate Jerusalem as the capital. And on Tuesday, Warren said
Disney planned to go ahead with the exhibit. ``We place high
value on all our guests, and we have never intended to offend
anyone,'' Warren said. ``This kind of action is certainly
disappointing to our company.''
Arab-American officials said
Disney's statement was not enough because the exhibit will imply
that Jerusalem is Israel's capital. ``We don't expect a cultural
icon like Disney to embroil itself in Israeli propaganda by
propagating the Israeli myth that Jerusalem is the capital of
Israel,'' Turaani said.
The boycott, planned to last the 15 months the exhibit is
scheduled to be at Epcot, could be avoided if Disney makes
changes to the exhibit, the Arab-American officials said.
The other groups leading the boycott are two Washington-based
advocacy groups, the Council on American-Islamic Relations and
the American Muslim Foundation.
Other Arab-American groups, however, said they were not ready to
participate and believed there was room for negotiation.
``At this point, we don't feel we have reached a dead end,'' said
Dr. Hala Maksoud, president of the Washington-based American-Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee.
The exhibit, scheduled to open Oct. 1 in Orlando, is part of the
theme park's millennium celebration featuring exhibits from more
than 35 nations, the United Nations and the World Bank. Two Arab
countries are to be represented - Morocco and Saudi Arabia.
Arab foreign ministers also will meet this week in New York to
discuss the possibility of boycotting Disney.
Linda Bannister, a Disney analyst for the Edward Jones brokerage
firm in St. Louis, said boycotts of Disney traditionally have had
little impact on the enormous company. The 2-year-old boycott of
Disney by Southern Baptists over the company's gay-friendly
policies, for instance, has fallen flat, she said."
Environmentally friendly plastic
THE JERUSALEM POST 9/22/99: "A new-immigrant enterprise
affiliated with the Technion has developed a cheap way to provide
commercial packaging which disintegrates instead of polluting
the environment, it was announced yesterday. The new material is
as strong and water-resistant as plastic but completely
biodegradable in the ground or at a garbage site. The Haifa-based
mini-startup company, called Rademate Ltd, produced the rapid
biodegradable hydrophobic material (RBHM), which can be recycled
and serve as an alternative to plastic trash. RBHM can be used to
coat cellulose-based products, such as paper and cardboard,
making them strong and water-resistant like plastic.
Dr. Michael
Ioelovich, the company's entrepreneur and scientist who recently
immigrated from Russia, says his material is based on pulp and
combined with polymer compounds, making the cellulose base behave
like a biological material and decompose due to enzymatic
activity in the ground.
RBHM is patented in Israel and the US,
and Rademate is negotiating with several international companies
interested in its product, several of which intend to become
strategic partners. The company says the marketing potential of
RBHM is immense, as the US paper packaging and cartons market
alone is expected to reach $43 billion next year and
environmental-protection laws around the world are pushing
industry to work with environmentally friendly materials.
Unlike
plastic, which lasts almost forever, the new material can be
recycled, and whatever is left decomposes in two or three months
at a garbage dump. It is also much cheaper than other
biodegradable materials developed by polymer manufacturers in the
US and Europe..."
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