Illegal
Israeli Arab weapons
MAARIV 9/27/99: "Sixty percent of the thousands of weapons possessed
by Israel's Arab residents are unlicensed and held illegally."
This transpires from a letter sent by local council heads to
Police Commissioner Yehuda Wilk last week.
A probe conducted by the union of local authorities and
the association of Arab local councils indicates that 60 percent
of the thousands of weapons of all kinds held by Israeli Arabs
are unlicensed and illegal. 'Adi Eldar, the chairman of the
union of local authorities, and Muhammad Zaydan, the chairman
of the association of Arab local councils, wrote: "This is
the cause of various problems in maintaining normal civic
life in local councils and could also lead to fatalities,
God forbid."
The letter adds: "The large quantity of illegal weapons
in the Israeli Arab sector proves that the Israel Police is
incapable of acting effectively to end this phenomenon; otherwise,
the Israel Police would have already located and confiscated
the weapons."
Eldar and Zaydan added that they have decided to act in
conjunction with Arab local council heads and the Israel Police
in order to try to stop the illegal possession of weapons.
Israel Police spokesman, Deputy Commander 'Uzi Sandori, preferred
not to comment on the claims made in the letter. He said that
the police would respond "but not through the media."
Syrian
negotiations
IDF RADIO 9/27/99--Talk in the studio between anchorman Golan
Yokhpaz and political correspondent Raviv Drucker:
[Yokhpaz] A new Israeli formula for the resumption of the
negotiations with Syria was recently relayed to the Americans.
What does this new formula say, Raviv?
[Drucker] There has been very intense activity aimed at
restarting the negotiations between Israel and Syria. Today
we learn about a new formula relayed by Prime Minister Baraq
to the US Administration, whereby the prime minister would
publicly announce that he accepts Rabin's heritage, undertakes
to do what Rabin did, and will actually follow in Rabin's
steps.
Baraq is thus seeking to meet the Syrian demand that the
negotiations resume from the point they were left off, and
at the same time, maintain the necessary vagueness regarding
a withdrawal to the 4 June 1967 lines since there is a big
dispute over the issue.
The Syrians say Rabin promised them to withdraw to those
lines, and therefore, all they want from Baraq is to declare,
just like Rabin did, that he undertakes to do the same. Baraq
is saying now: All that Rabin did -- which is what Israel
has been saying in the last few years -- was to pose an hypothetical
question to the US secretary of state as to what would be
the Syrian president's response in terms of security arrangements
and the nature of the peace he would be prepared to offer
Israel in the event that we were willing to effect such a
withdrawal. After he was disappointed by the answer, Rabin
turned to the Palestinian track.
By the way, sources in his bureau say that Prime Minister
Baraq adheres to Rabin's formula whereby the depth of the
withdrawal would be tantamount to the depth of peace. However,
Baraq has added to it the quality of the security arrangements.
In other words, the quality of the security arrangements would
ultimately determine the depth of the Israeli withdrawal.
[Yokhpaz] To what extent are we talking here about sophistry,
about an attempt to focus on formulations, rather than a proposal
likely to lead to a significant breakthrough in the negotiations?
[Drucker] The truth is that this is what the dispute precluding
the resumption of the negotiations is all about. Israel thinks
it is a matter of sophistry, a game of words, and that as
soon as the right formula is found everything will be settled.
Many formulas are being floated.
For example, in their meeting with Baraq the French proposed
to precede the negotiations with a detailed document summing
up all the understandings reached in the talks between the
two sides to date. The Americans proposed to send a letter
to the sides, and now we have the Israel approach.
The Syrian stance, on the other hand, says that the opening
of the negotiations is also a substantive issue. The Syrians
want an Israeli declaration a priori that this and that point,
such as the withdrawal and other issues, have been finalized
and that the negotiations will only be on the matters left
outstanding when the talks were halted in early 1996.
[Asked to comment on the aforementioned report, Justice
Minister Yosi Beilin says in a live telephone interview later
on in the program: "This is the first time I hear about such
a formula. In principle, however, I think it is a fairly simple
formula. In other words, we are committed to our previous
commitments. A commitment to return to the June 4th borders
was never given by any one of us, and therefore, there is
no problem with such a formula."
Beilin adds that "any statement to the effect that we will
pursue the negotiations in the same spirit in which they were
conducted by Yitzhaq Rabin, and later by Shim'on Peres, is
right. We returned to power in the same spirit, and we are
trying to make peace."
Abu Marzuk
interview
London's AL SHARQ AL AWSAT 9/27/99--Telephone interview with
Dr. Musa Abu-Marzuq, member of the Islamic Resistance Movement's
Political Bureau, in Damascus:
[Al-Salih][the reporter] Can you explain to us the scenarios
for a solution to the existing crisis?
[Abu-Marzuq] I have nothing to say about this matter at
the moment. But, God willing, signs of a solution are coming.
[Al-Salih] When you say the signs are coming, are your remarks
based on facts or mere optimism?
[Abu-Marzuq] This is happening at present. There are extensive
contacts with the Jordanian authorities. There is a massive
political move by various sectors in Jordan in this direction.
There is also a message from the [Islamic Resistance] Movement
[Hamas] that the Jordanian authorities are studying.
[Al-Salih] There is talk about a compromise that could be
reached within one week, such as a gentleman's agreement similar
to the first that you personally concluded when you were chairman
of the Movement's Political Bureau with the Jordanian Prime
Minister at the time Zayd Bin-Shakir.
That was concluded in the presence of the Director of Intelligence
and his Deputy Samih al-Battikhi (the present Director). The
new agreement would reduce the Movement's media activities,
restrict its presence to a single representation office, and
move its leaders to another country.
[Abu-Marzuq] First of all, the right of Khalid Mish'al and
Ibrahim Ghawshah to remain in Jordan is guaranteed, regardless
of whether there is an agreement or not, because they carry
Jordanian passports. As to the solutions, we cannot say that
solutions have been reached. If we receive any new proposals,
then we will study them. But we have not received any proposals
of any kind so far.
[Al-Salih] Do you expect Mish'al and Ghawshah to be released
soon?
[Abu-Marzuq] We hope so. We hope that the arrests will not
continue and there will be no repercussions because the situation
is not in the interest of either the Jordanian or Palestinian
peoples or any other party for that matter. The arrests were
wrong. It is not a judicial case, even if they are kept in
prison until the investigation is finished, but a political
one. It is wrong to deal with it in any other way.
[Al-Salih] In your view, why was this timing chosen for
the measures against Hamas, its leaders, members, and offices
when you were outside Jordan, specifically in Tehran? Was
it to avoid the repercussions of these measures and their
impact, in addition to keeping you outside Jordan without
clamor or problems?
[Abu-Marzuq] I believe that the measures were taken while
we were outside Jordan so that the decision not to let us
return would come from outside the country.
[Al-Salih] It is for this reason that your decision to return
to Amman and your actual return were a challenge to the Jordanian
authorities and a way to embarrass it.
[Abu-Marzuq] It definitely was not our aim to challenge
or embarrass the authorities in Jordan by returning. First
of all, no one can avoid the charges leveled against him.
If there are charges against the Movement's leaders, does
this mean that they should turn their back on them or should
they face and deal with them? If there was a summons for them,
then they responded to it. Therefore it was not a case of
challenging anyone because we have never in our lives targeted
any of our brothers or Arab and Islamic peoples.
[Al-Salih] Some circles are saying that the arrests of Mish'al
and Ghawshah strengthen Abu-Marzuq's leading position in Hamas.
This implies a power struggle in the Movement's leadership
ranks. What is your comment?
[Abu-Marzuq] These remarks are harmful to Abu-Marzuq before
being harmful to Hamas or any person in it. There are no power
struggles in the Movement. We are all one entity.
[Al-Salih] Some are saying that orders from the Movement's
leadership abroad to the leadership inside to take military
action and the confessions made by the detainees in Israel
in the cases of the two failed suicide attempts in Tiberias
and Haifa, in which they mentioned contact with a Hamas leader
in Jordan, prompted Jordan to take the measures against Hamas,
its leaders, and its offices. How true is this information?
[Abu-Marzuq] In addition to this, press circles have said
that Hamas's Arab and foreign relations led to the Jordanian
measures. Is it reasonable for Hamas not to have Arab, Palestinian,
and international relations? The rumors and stories are many
and varied. A new rumor is spread when one is found to be
false and so on.
[Al-Salih] Mystery surrounds your deportation from Jordan
after the arrest of Mish'al and Ghawshah. To which country
was Abu-Marzuq deported?
[Abu-Marzuq] There was no mystery in my deportation. I did
not make this decision and therefore make it mysterious.
[Al-Salih] We are asking where Abu-Marzuq is. Some said
that he was in Tehran, then the United Arab Emirates [UAE].
Others said he ended up in Qatar and then Yemen. Where has
Abu-Marzuq landed?
[Abu-Marzuq] When they asked the Jordanian Government where
it deported me to, it said that it deported me to Tehran aboard
the plane that brought me to Amman. Tehran denied that I arrived
there and this created the mystery about my deportation.
[Al-Salih] What did really happen?
[Abu-Marzuq] I was deported on the Emirates Airlines plane
on which I had arrived from the UAE. I stayed for a few hours
there and then went to Damascus. That is all there is to the
matter.
[Al-Salih] Does this mean that you did not go somewhere
else like Yemen?
[Abu-Marzuq] No. I did not go anywhere else..."
PA building
in Gush Etzion
ARUTZ7 9/29/99: "The two Palestinian farms in Gush Etzion are
merely the tip of the iceberg, it was learned yesterday. Gush
Etzion Regional Council head Sha'ul Goldstein was informed yesterday,
during his meeting with Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh,
that the Civil Administration had not only approved the two
farms near Efrat, but also twelve others throughout Gush Etzion.
All except one are in territory under total Israeli control
- Area C. The left-wing Gush Shalom organization announced its
intentions this afternoon to support Palestinian efforts to
construct the farms.
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that a well-known
senior officer in the Civil Administration, "known for his
great sympathy with Palestinian interests, simply circumvented
the IDF Central Command in granting the approvals to the farms.
In addition, he simply ignored the withdrawal maps, in allowing
the farms to be constructed smack in the middle of Israeli-controlled
territory." Many of the officer's colleagues objected to the
decision. The 13 Area C farms take up a total of 2998 dunams
(almost 750 acres).
Deputy Minister Sneh promised Goldstein that the works would
be stopped for two weeks in order to carefully check who owns
the lands. Huberman reports, "A certain amount of the territory
is in the early stages of being declared state land, but even
the farms on private Arab-owned lands are only allowed to
be run privately and not by the PA, as is the case.
The PA has signs on the properties, attesting to the fact
that it is behind the works. In addition, no structures are
allowed to be built there." Goldstein said today that if government
representatives were involved in the approvals - which is
not certain - "this means that the entire policy of 'Jewish
settlement blocs' in Yesha has collapsed."...
Building
in Malei Hazetim OK
ARUTZ7 9/29/99: "A police report concludes that the Jewish construction
in Ma'aleh HaZeitim (Ras el-Amoud) does not present a security
risk. The report, authorized by Police Commissioner Yehuda Wilk,
comes at an inconvenient time for the Prime Minister's Office.
Prime Minister Barak is anxious to stop the construction in
the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood, and Attorney-General Elyakim
Rubenstein ruled several weeks ago that the only acceptable
excuse to do so would be that of security."
Levy's
UN remarks
THE JERUSALEM POST 9/30/99: "As Foreign Minister David Levy
yesterday assailed the "contradictory realities" in which Israel's
negotiating partners are "conducting a strident political war
against Israel in different international forums," the Palestinian
observer to the UN walked out of the General Assembly hall.
Levy, speaking on the eve of the opening of the Israel exhibit
at Disney's EPCOT Center, also called for the end of economic
boycotts against Israel. Levy's speech was "dangerously flawed,"
the Palestinian UN observer, Nasser Kidwa, said in a statement.
He criticized Levy for failing to mention the Palestinian
people, Security Council Resolution 242, and the principle
of land for peace. The Syrian and the Lebanese delegations
did not leave the assembly.
In his speech, Levy criticized the boycott threat against
Disney "due to the fact that the company dared to allow Jerusalem
to be portrayed in an exhibition celebrating the millennium.
We condemn these threats and the use by the Arab states of
this anachronistic device," Levy said, addressing the assembly
in Hebrew.
At a meeting Friday in New York, Arab foreign ministers
backed away from a boycott threat against Disney, when they
accepted the entertainment conglomerate's assurances that
the Israeli exhibit would not refer to Jerusalem as Israel's
capital. After meeting on Tuesday with Levy, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan said he would use his influence to work against
the adoption of anti-Israeli UN resolutions while the peace
process is continuing.
Those anti-Israel resolutions are "anti-peace resolutions"
and part of the "contradicting realities," Levy said yesterday,
repeating a theme he has stressed in the last week at the
UN. "Engaging in a peace process, on the one hand, and maintaining
anti-Israel declarations and resolutions, on the other, raises
some serious concerns about our negotiating partners and their
concept of peace," he said. "We hoped for, and expected, a
different atmosphere, which would complement the impetus initiated
by the new government in Israel."
He also called for Syria to hold talks with Israel. "Meetings
and discussions are not political sacrifices," he said. "They
are basic necessities."...
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