ZINC-9/16-17/99-Y2K solved
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   Z   .   I   .   N   .   C   .
THE ZIONIST ORGANIZATION OF AMERICA'S
ISRAEL NEWS CONNECTION
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Thurs.--Fri., September 16-17, 1999  12:00 AM EDT (0400 UTC)
Editor: Michael C. Hoffman  O&F: 301-681-0858
Email: michaelh@clark.net
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NOTE:  There will be no ZINC on Monday, September 20th--Yom
Kippur

TODAY'S NEWS:

1.  Y2K solved
2.  Barak's secret meetings
3.  Israel & Sudan
4.  Hamas divisions
5.  10 months & out
6.  Compromise on return?
7.  Investment up
8.  J/S policemen down
9.  PFLP leader return?
10. 5 No's
11. Maale Adumim OK
12. No state for 1 year
13. Arab League decisions
14. Jordanian journalists
15. Arafat@Arab League
16. Zionism & revisionism
17. Maintain presence
18. Epcot entreaty
19. COL up a bit
20. Israel/Syria in Virginia?
21. PA list
22. NAM resolutions
23. Barak hid Labor
24. Extradition discussions
25. Histadrut scandals
26. Terrorist policemen
27. Bibi queried
28. Shas schools
29. Investigation insights


1. Y2K solved

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "A computer amateur, who took a
six-month programming course 27 years ago and has since learned
applications during his IDF reserve duty, has found a solution to
the Y2K computer bug that is applicable to all databases. The
revolutionary solution, for which patents have been applied in
the US, compresses four digits for the 21st century into two
symbols, without interfering with any years from the 20th
century. It accomplishes this by using special algorithms for
expanding two symbols into four digits and compressing four
digits into two symbols.

The achievement belongs to Ben-Etzion Yaron, head of manpower and
payroll in the Hebrew University's department of computerized
information systems. It has already proven itself in checking for
and fixing computer bugs in the department's listing of faculty
sabbaticals scheduled for the 21st century. Yaron received a Kaye
Prize for Innovation from the HU last June for a program that
identifies the bugs in programs running only on VAX computers.
Realizing that this limitation would restrict the use of his
invention, he worked day and night over the past two months to
expand the application to all computers and computer languages.
The only Y2K bugs it cannot fix, he said, are those in computer
components embedded in equipment, such as medical devices. The
result of his work is Sapir 2000, which makes possible the
analysis of computer programs written in COBOL, used in the 1970s
and '80s for databases that its developers thought would be
abandoned by the end of the century but remained, with repairs
over the years, to cause the Y2K bug. Yaron's invention can even
identify errors in other programs that have already been revamped
to cope with Y2K and make corrections, thus providing a kind of
"second opinion" to ensure that chaos does not ensue after
January 1. Sapir 2000 can also be applied to other situations
requiring expansion of existing information to incorporate
additional digits. It is estimated that the time needed by
Yaron's program to make databases compatible with the next
century is 15 percent-20% of the time required using other
solutions..."


2. Barak's secret meetings

MA'ARIV 9/15/99: "Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ehud Baraq
has recently held a number of secret meetings with Abu-Mazin
[Mahmud  'Abbas], the number two official in the Palestinian
Authority [PA]. The  two discussed key issues pertaining to the
permanent arrangement. The  meetings were kept a complete secret
even from the narrow circle of the  prime minister's associates.
The two held three to four meetings over the past few weeks. At
least  one of the meetings was held at the prime minister's home.
Baraq and  Abu-Mazin tried to draw up a list of issues for the
permanent arrangement  talks in an attempt to outline reasonable
solutions. Baraq tried to  convince Abu-Mazin of the importance
of attaining a framework agreement  between the two sides by
February 2000, according to his original plan.  The prime
minister also raised the need for self-restraint as well as the
need not to launch the permanent arrangement negotiations with
extremist  statements that could cause an atmosphere of crisis
early on in the  negotiations.

Abu-Mazin came to the meetings in his capacity as Yasir 'Arafat's
personal  emissary and reported to the PA chairman on their
contents. Baraq, as far  as known, did not report to anyone.
In the meantime, perplexity in Jerusalem is increasing in light
of the  fact that the prime minister has not yet appointed anyone
to replace  attorney Gil'ad Sher as head the negotiating team
with the Palestinians.  The leading candidates are attorney Yo'el
Singer, Major General 'Uzi  Dayan, Shin Bet head 'Ami Ayalon,
Defense Ministry Director General Ilan  Biran, and a new name
that has been raised in the last few days:  businessman Yosi
Ginosar...Another problem: The prime minister intends to conduct
the negotiations  through two to three persons alone in a
discreet, covert, and private  manner. The Palestinians, however,
formed a large team that includes a  great number of legal
advisers -- among them a considerable international
"strengthening" -- professional negotiators and other
officials..." [ISRAEL RADIO on 9/15/99 reports: "The  prime
minister's bureau this morning denied Ma'ariv's report to the
effect that the prime minister has held secret negotiations with
Abu-Mazin on the permanent arrangement."][ISRAEL RADIO reported
today, 9/17/99 that Baraq has met secretly with Yasser Arafat.
No details of the meeting were available.]


3. Israel & Sudan

Omdurman's SUDAN TV 9/12/99: "The Israeli state-owned radio on
Friday [10  September] disclosed that some Israeli military
experts had toured south  Sudan in [the] framework of exploration
visit to the lands occupied by  the outlaw's movement [Sudanese
People's Liberation Movement]. The  experts visited Yei, and the
areas in which a civil administration has  been established by
the outlaws, the radio said. However, the radio did not mention
the number and names of the experts who  entered the country
without the permission of the government, in a clear  violation
of international norms. The experts [who] were invited by rebel
leader, John Garang, were briefed on the military plans of the
outlaws  Movement, and they were informed about the Movement's
endeavors to  rebuild its forces. It is worth mentioning that the
outlaw's Movement has been receiving  technical and military aid
from the Jewish state. Garang has also sent  some of his military
leaders to Israel to attend training sessions."


4. Hamas divisions

Beirut's AL NAHAR 9/1/99: "Recently there were some signs
indicating  deep disagreements within Hamas. Leaflets were
distributed inside [the  Palestinian territories] and abroad,
targeting the leaders of Hamas, such  as Shyakh Ahmad Yasin. Are
these leaflets part of the struggle within  Hamas and are there
actual disagreements within the movement?  [Ghawshah](The Hamas
spokesman in Jordan, before Jordan shut down the Hamas offices):
Hamas is a unified movement in the territories and abroad and it
has  remained like this for the past 11 years. The movement has
proved that it  is quite difficult to penetrate it through
conspiracies targeting it. We  do not deny that some differences
occur within the movement's leadership  here and there, but the
movement is based on the process of consultation  and is
committed to the decisions of the majority. During all the
critical junctions in the movement's history, consultations were
carried  out with the core centers in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip, as well as  inside the prisons and abroad. Whenever the
majority of members agrees on  something, their decision is
regarded as the movement's decision.  However, the campaign
against Hamas had been intensified considerably during  the past
two months, targeting the leaders of the movement in the
territories and abroad. We cannot but connect this media campaign
to  Baraq's assumption of power, which brought an atmosphere of
false  optimism to some of the quarters that believe in the
settlement process.

[Jaradi](the newspaper reporter) Do you accuse the Palestinian
Authority [PA] of playing a part in  this campaign?
[Ghawshah] You can say that some suspicious quarters, which are
backed by  particular circles, are behind the campaign, but we do
not want to add  further to the description of these circles.

[Jaradi] There were reports about a financial crisis within Hamas
following  the reduction in the financial backing that the
movement used to receive  from several regional quarters. Other
reports say that the cause of the  crisis is the squandering of
funds by some of he movement's leaders.  [Ghawshah] Hamas is an
austere Islamic movement and whatever is said about it  is
absolutely incorrect. You can see for yourself from the
appearance of  the spokesman's office. If the leaders' hands were
tainted with dirty  money, the movement would not have been able
to remain intact in light of  the ongoing massive campaign
against it. We do not have a financial  crisis, because our main
backing comes through legitimate channels from  Muslims in Arab
and Islamic countries. While our resources are limited in
comparison to the billions, which the PA gets, the effect that
these  funds make is clear and tangible to the observers, many of
whom are  foreigners, who have attested to the transparency of
our movement and  certified that it is clean and far from any
sort of corruption.

[Jaradi] What is the reason for not holding elections at the
Consultative  Council? Is it the struggle for positions or are
there some specific  arrangements, which you are preparing to
contain the disagreements within  the movement?
[Ghawshah] There is no truth in these reports, which were carried
by some  newspapers. We cannot delve into the internal structure
of the movement.  We can say that Hamas is a movement that is
based on consultation among  its members. There is no struggle
for positions and everybody's goal is  to participate in the
jihad effort against the Zionist enemy.

[Jaradi] Do you not agree that Hamas' bid to separate the
political wing from  the military wing is leading to a negative
outcome because the two wings  are supposed to have some type of
coordination so that military  operations can correspond with the
political situation in order to get  better results?
[Ghawshah] I stress that the military wing is totally separate
from the  political wing. Without this separation, Hamas and the
'Izz-al-Din  al-Qassam Brigades would not have been able to
survive thus far. Hamas  has made use of past experiences and now
its military structure is based  on the creation of cells, which
are always on the ready. The cells cannot  be eliminated despite
the vicious campaign against the mujahidins in  Palestine carried
out by the unholy alliance among the Zionist Shabak,  the
Palestinian shabak [intelligence service], and the CIA.

[Jaradi] The military operations then are not connected to any
political  circumstances. So when the military operations are
fewer, as they are  this year, the reason is situation in the
field.
[Ghawshah] Right. During the first six months of 1999 military
operations were  very much limited but have we made some moves
recently. The reason for  the reduction in the operations is due
to the iron grip that the unholy  tripartite alliance has imposed
on us. There is no truth in the reports  that the 'Izz al-Din
al-Qassam Brigades ceased their operations when  Netanyahu was in
power and that now when there are signs for "peace", it  is
renewing the attacks.

[Jaradi] The negative atmosphere in your ties with the PA makes
the  possibility of holding a dialogue with it remote even though
certain  Palestinian factions are opening up to the PA and have
initiated a  dialogue with it.
[Ghawshah] It is no secret that Yasir 'Arafat sent us one of his
ministers,  Talal Sidr, who met with Hamas Political Bureau Chief
Khalid Mish'al and  asked for a dialogue between the two parties.
Hamas' response was that we  knew well that the call for a
dialogue was not innocent and that the goal  was to drag Hamas
through dialogue to join the process of relinquishment  and
concessions, particularly because the final negotiations are
imminent. Our experience with 'Arafat shows that he is good at
embroiling  others in plans that lead to the relinquishment of
the Palestinian cause.  So our response was clear: We refused to
participate in this dialogue  even though the PA hinted that it
might release some of Hamas detainees  as a bribe. As for
participation in the dialogue by brothers in the Popular Front
for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], Hamas declared at the
latest  meeting of the follow-up committee in Damascus that the
PFLP should  reconsider its position, especially because it is a
group with a long  history of struggle, because 'Arafat's
invitation is not innocent, and  because the PFLP's participation
with the PA on the basis of the  so-called final negotiations
would raise suspicion about the Palestinian  opposition and
resistance...

[Jaradi] You have a plan for national Palestinian unity aimed at
grouping the  opposition forces within a framework that provides
a new charter. Is this  a sign that you are prepared to put
forward an alternative to the PLO  after it gave up its charter?
[Ghawshah] We have said clearly that the PLO no longer exists,
that the PA has  replaced it, that the PLO gave up its national
charter in 1993, and that  its chairman 'Arafat sent a message to
Yitzhaq Rabin in which the PLO  recognized the Jews' national
right to establish a state on the land of  Palestine. During
'Arafat's tenure, the PLO was not democratic and did  not really
represent the Palestinian people. We also said that most  members
of the Palestine National Council are appointed by 'Arafat.
During the 1990's we in Hamas were not against the PLO but we
insisted  that if we wanted to join the PLO, it must hold free
and honest  elections. Fatah, however, did not agree. We now
believe that it is  necessary to find a establish a national
representative authority to  chart the framework of the follow-up
committee. At the latest follow-up  committee meeting, brother
Khalid al-Fahum promised to put forward a  concept of this
authority within one and a half months. We believe that  this
authority should be formed by a freely-elected Palestinian
parliament. This parliament will represent the real authority of
the  Palestinian people so that the lie that one person
represents this  authority must end. The authority must revert to
all the Palestinian  people who exceed 8 million. This
parliament, which is supposed to  represent all the Palestinian
ideological and political trends, will  decide on the various
plans put to it..."


5. 10 months & out

Madrid's RNE-1 RADIO NETWORK 9/15/99: "...Speaking to Radio
Nacional, Shlomo Ben-Ami highlighted our country's crucial  role
in the Middle East peace process. He also reiterated his
government's desire to continue with negotiations, not only with
the  Palestinian people but also with all the neighbours in the
region. Shlomo  Ben-Ami: 'We think the Palestinian problem must
be resolved  through an historic territorial compromise
recognizing Palestinians'  rights, which we always upheld in
opposition and we see no reason not to  continue while in power.
We want to withdraw from Lebanon  without...[changes
thought]...we have said so very clearly: in a matter  of 10
months Israel will be out of Lebanon, with or without an
agreement."


6. Compromise on return?

YEDIOT AHARONOT 9/15/99: "A joint Israeli-Palestinian forum of
public figures  and academics has recently drafted compromise
versions of solutions for  he Palestinian refugee problem.
The summation document of the forum's discussions, which had been
secretly held over several years, was yesterday relayed to Prime
Minister  Ehud Baraq. The forum participants jointly drafted two
compromise proposal versions  -- an Israeli version and a
Palestinian one. The Palestinian version says  that Israel must
fully recognize the refugees' moral right to return to  their
homes. It notes, however, that the actual implementation of the
right of return is unfeasible, and the proposal therefore assumes
that  most refugees will opt for compensation, some will return
to the  Palestinian state territory, and only a small portion
will return to the  State of Israel's territory."


7. Investment up

GLOBES 9/15/99: "Foreign investments in the Israeli economy rose
sharply since September 1998. Overall foreign investments in the
period  September 1998 -- July 1999 reached a record $5 billion.
This emerges  from figures published today by the Bank of Israel.
Overall direct (non-financial) investments in the economy (real
estate and  industry) amounted to $2.8 billion in this period.
Overall foreign  financial investment was $2 billion. The figures
point to a sharp rise in  foreign investments in Israeli
securities overseas (notably high tech)..."


8. J/S policemen down

MA'ARIV 9/15/99: "Police Commissioner Yehuda Wilk has ordered to
reduce the number of policemen serving in the Police Judaea and
Samaria  District by approximately 10 percent. Police sources say
"this is the  beginning of Israel Police's withdrawal from the
area." The goal is to reduce the number of policemen in the
district by about  100 positions. It is assessed that as a result
of this, some police  stations will become small police points in
which only a few policemen  will serve. Senior police officers
say that in their opinion, "the timing  is problematic because we
are on the eve of the withdrawal discussions."  The
commissioner's decision has caused great anger in the Judaea and
Samaria District. Officers and policemen in the district claim
this  decision will cause a deterioration in law enforcement in
the area and  there will be "only an semblance of a police
presence in the area."...


9. PFLP leader return

AL QUDS in Jerusalem 9/15/99: "Al-Quds has learned that the
Palestinian Authority  is exerting intensive efforts on the
highest levels for the return of  Abu-'Ali Mustafa, deputy
secretary general of the Popular Front for the  Liberation of
Palestine [PFLP], to the homeland. There are positive
indications that Abu-'Ali will soon realize his dream of
returning to  Palestine."


10. 5 No's

GLOBES 9/14/99: "Prime Minister Ehud Baraq announced today that
Palestinian refugees would not be allowed to return to Israeli
territory  under the framework of a permanent settlement with the
Palestinian  Authority. Baraq thus added a fifth condition for a
permanent settlement with the  Palestinians. He has so far
reiterated that Israel would not withdraw to  the 1967 lines;
Jerusalem would remain Israel's united capital; there  would be
no foreign army west of the Jordan river; and Israel would
continue to control settlement enclaves. King of Jordan 'Abdallah
II said yesterday during his meeting with  Lebanese president
Emil Lahud, "Jordan regards the right of return as  holy." The
king's comments, on the day marking the start of negotiations
over the permanent settlement, were apparently designed to
reinforce  Palestinians' demand to allow refugees to return to
their places of  residence before the War of Independence, and
compensate those who do  not. The precedent of the return of
Jewish assets in Europe has reinforced  expectations of receiving
compensation for Palestinian refugees'  property. It is in Jordan
and Lebanon's interest to assure the receipt of  compensation by
refugees living in their countries. Jordan has strengthened
commercial ties with Syria in recent months, and it  now appears
that it doing the same with Lebanon. Strengthened ties with
Syria include the extension of tax-exempted products to 200, and
the  renewed operation of the train service between Syria and
Jordan."


11. Maale Adumim is OK

ISRAEL RADIO 9/14/99: "Prime  Minister Ehud Baraq said that
Ma'ale Adumim will remain part of the State  of Israel in any
permanent arrangement, and that the government will  continue to
develop it and increase the size of its inhabitants. The  prime
minister spoke during a visit to Ma'ale Adumim. Our correspondent
Dani Zaqen reports that the prime minister reiterated his
commitments to  leave Lebanon within a year and to create 300,000
jobs."


12. No state for 1 year

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE 9/14/99: "The  Palestinians will not declare
an independent state for at least one year,  the time set out for
the completion of final status negotiations with  Israel,
Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Tuesday.
"We will not declare a state unless we have resolved all
outstanding  questions with Israel, including those of Jerusalem,
refugees,  settlements, borders and the distribution of water,"
he told AFP in an  interview. Abed Rabbo said the Palestinians
would wait the one year spelled out in  the Sharm el-Sheikh
agreement to finalise a peace deal with the Israelis  before
declaring an independent state, which he said was ultimately "not
a subject for negotiations or bargaining." Asked if the
Palestinians would declare a state if the final status talks
fail, Abed Rabbo said he "would not answer questions beginning
with if."  He also warned that Israel's settlement policy will
"kill" the  negotiations and said the Palestinians were planning
a referendum, to  include Palestinians in the diaspora, to
approve any final deal with the  Israelis..."


13. Arab league decisions

Cairo's MIDDLE EAST NEWS AGENCY 9/13/99: "The Arab League Council
has  expressed its deep concern over the US intention to continue
its annual  military aid to Israel, to increase this aid by one
third during the  coming decade to reach $2.4 billion, and to
provide Israel with  state-of-the-art weapons and planes.
The Council, which concluded its work today on the level of
foreign  Ministers, explained that such a decision would help
Israel cling to its  inflexible stances on the peace process and
push the Arab parties to  consolidate their defense capabilities
to face Israel's military  superiority, which would spread
atmospheres of tension and instability in  the region. The
Council called on the Arab Foreign Ministers to act jointly and
collectively with the international parties concerned,
particularly the  United States and the United Nations, to face
the ramifications of this  situation on the peace process in the
region. In its decisions and recommendations, the Council
affirmed support for  the peace process on the basis of the
International Legitimacy's  resolutions, rejected the Israeli
stances, which are trying to anticipate  the outcome of the
final-status negotiations with the Palestinians, and  supported
the Palestinian stance with all means in the face of the  Israeli
Government's maneuvers. The Council welcomed the US support for
the Palestinian people's right  to determine their future on
their land and called on the US  administration to put pressure
on Israel to establish a comprehensive and  just peace in the
region. The Council praised the EU's clear and frank stance
contained the Berlin  Summit statement, which reaffirmed the
Palestinian's permanent and  unconditional right to
self-determination, including the option of a  state. The Council
expressed full support for the Syrian stance calling  for the
resumption of the talks where they left off three years ago and
for the need for a full Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights
to the  4 June 1967 borders and from southern Lebanon and western
al-Biqa'.  The Council decided to support the Palestinian
people's struggle in all  its forms until they regain their
legitimate rights and establish their  independent state on their
national soil with Jerusalem as its capital.  The Council sent a
greeting of appreciation and pride to the  steadfastness of this
people on their land.

On the issue of Jerusalem, the Council decided to continue the
efforts  to consolidate the steadfastness of the Palestinian
people in Jerusalem,  intensify the contacts with the Vatican,
and strengthen the cooperation  with the Eastern churches to
preserve the Arab rights in Jerusalem, lift  the unfair blockade
on it, and put pressure on Israel to stop all illegal  practices
and measures against the holy city.

On the refugee issue, the Council decided to work to ensure the
continuation of the international stance in support of the
Palestinian  refugees' rights and their return to their lands.
The Council affirmed support for the reconstruction and
development  projects in Palestine and decided to rally
international and Arab support  for the Palestinian millennium
celebrations in Bethlehem, the birthplace  of Christ.
The Council rejected the Israeli settlement projects in the
Palestinian  territories, considered the settlements in them
illegal, and called for  the dismantling of existing settlements.
The Council condemned Israel's occupation of southern Lebanon and
western al-Biqa', called for adherence to international
legitimacy and to  withdrawal from these areas, and affirmed
Lebanon's right to compensation  for the human and material
losses its suffers as a result of the  continuing Israeli
attacks.

The Council also condemned Israel's continuing occupation of the
Syrian  Golan Heights, called for the need for ending this
occupation, and to  decided to work with all means to achieve
this.

In its resolutions and recommendations, the Arab League Council
condemned Israel's policy aimed at changing the natural and
demographic  character of the Golan Heights by building more
settlements and bringing  in more settlers. It denounced the
Israeli Government's policy aimed at  destroying the peace
process and continually escalating tension in the  region. It
also denounced Israel's attempts at perpetuating its  occupation
of the Syrian Golan Heights. The Council regarded these  attempts
as a defiance of the will of the international community and the
International Legitimacy's resolutions, especially Security
Council  Resolution 497 for the year 1981, which considered the
Israeli measures  in the Golan null and void...

The Council denounced Iran's perpetuation of its occupation of
the three  islands and its continued violation of the sovereignty
of the UAE in a  way that shakes security and stability in the
region and threatens world  security and peace. The Council
underlined its previous decisions in this  regard.

On reports that Israel is establishing a pavilion under the title
"Jerusalem, the Capital of Israel" in the fair that US company
Walt  Disney will organize in Florida, the Arab League Council
decided to set  up a committee to visit the fair before its
opening. The committee will  comprise the chief of the Arab
League mission in Washington, a  representative of the Arab and
Islamic organizations in the United  States, and a representative
of the state of Palestine. The Council decided that the committee
will hold the necessary contacts  with Walt Disney to ensure that
Israel will not take advantage of the  fair, which the company
plans to hold under the headline "the Millennium  Village", for
political purposes and to make sure that the Israeli film  on
Jerusalem does not harm the legal and historical Palestinian,
Arab,  Islamic, and Christian rights in the holy city..."


14. Jordanian journalists

Amman's JORDAN TIMES 9/13/99: "The Jordan Press Association on
Sunday  sent letters to three journalists demanding an
explanation for their  recent visit to Israel. The three
journalists returned last Thursday from a week-long visit to
Israel during which they had a firsthand look at the situation of
the  Arab people in Israel. The journalists are: Jordan Times
Chief Editor 'Abdallah Hasanat, Al  Ra'y columnist Sultan Hattab,
and Al-Dustur's Jihad al-Mumuni and also  Issa Shu'aybi, another
writer for Al-Dustur, but not a member of the  association. In
its letter, the JPA referred to a news item in Al-'Arab Al-Yawm
daily on Sept. 5, alleging the four were invited by the Israeli
Ministry  of Foreign Affairs and were scheduled to meet with
Israeli Prime Minister  Ehud Barak. The JPA letter referred to a
complaint filed by head of its public  freedoms committee, Nayif
Mahasnah, over the journalists' visit.  The association's bylaws
allow the association to question members if a  complaint is
filed against them, and that if these members are "found  guilty"
of the complaint, they should be referred to a disciplinary
council...The three journalists said they were invited by Haifa
University Centre  for Arab-Jewish Studies to learn about the
situation of Palestinian Arabs  in Israel. They said they will
respond to the JPA's letter..."


15. Arafat@Arab league

Cairo's MIDDLE EAST NEWS AGENCY 9/12/99: "Following is the text
of President 'Arafat's speech to the 112th session of  the Arab
League Council [ZINC has excerpted it for space]: "...It gives me
pleasure to address all my thanks and appreciation from the
podium of our Arab League to the brothers, the leaders of the
fraternal  Arab countries, for their support and assistance to
the Palestinian  people in their just and unrelenting struggle to
restore their occupied  territory, attain liberty and
independence, and embody the declaration of  independence by
establishing an independent state that has Jerusalem as  its
capital. The Arab nation--its individual peoples, countries, and
league--has made  sacrifices and remained steadfast to prevent
the eternal loss of  Palestine and the holy city of Jerusalem.
Since its establishment, the  Arab League has been the faithful
guardian of the Palestinian cause,  embodying the firm Arab
belief that the Palestinian issue is the Arabs'  primary cause.
I feel it is necessary for me here to affirm that Arab
solidarity, our  Palestinian people's steadfastness and struggle,
and the resolutions  passed by the Arab summits have been the
basic instrument in this global  movement, both within and
outside the United Nations, toward recognizing  our people's
existence and their inalienable national rights, notably  their
right to return to their homeland, exercise self-determination,
and  establish a state...

Our Palestinian people, who continue to suffer from the Israeli
occupation, persecution, and dispersal, look with hope, as they
have  always done, to their brothers in the glorious Arab nation
for the sake  of continuing our march of struggle on both the
pan-Arab and national  levels to attain our dream and legitimate
aspirations in regaining the  territory of our homeland and
exercising our inalienable rights, notably  our people's right to
return, exercise self-determination, and establish  an
independent state like all other nations...

We cling to the need to implement, faithfully and accurately, UN
Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 425 on all fronts
because the  Arab nation will never abandon its lands and rights
as spelled out by the  UN resolutions nor will it ever accept
less than what is provided for in  the text of the binding UN
resolutions. Let me emphasize here in front of you, dear
brothers, that we are  determined to cling obstinately to the
provisions of the UN resolutions  and the necessity to implement
them, and to the withdrawal of the Israeli  forces from
Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories to the 4 June  1967
borders. I call on the venerable Arab League Council to reaffirm
this united Arab stance, as it did in the past, to put things in
the  proper perspective before all the parties concerned with the
peace  process.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen.
The essence of the Palestinian cause is the issue of a usurped
land and  the Palestinian refugees, who were unrightfully driven
from their land by  the unjust Israeli aggression, which occurred
and continues to occur on  our land and against our people. As a
result, millions of Palestinians  were left without land, homes,
and country. In our struggle to regain the  land, we have never
forgotten and will never forget our kinfolk and sons  who are
dispersed in various parts of the world without a homeland,
future, or identity.

Sinful and vicious attempts are now being made to cast despair
and  frustration in the hearts of the Palestinian refugees, to
undermine their  splendid patriotic steadfastness, which has
protected the Palestinian  cause from being wasted and forgotten.
This is the outcome of a  tremendous colonialist conspiracy
against our people. Some tendentious  voices are speaking about
resettlement in one Arab country or another, or  the dispersing
of the Palestinians in far-flung lands.

In the name of the Palestinian people and on behalf of the PLO
and the  Palestinian Authority, let me declare it loud and clear:
There can be no  homeland for the Palestinian people except their
homeland, Palestine, the  homeland of their fathers and
grandfathers, and of their children and  grandchildren. It is the
homeland of the past, the present, and the  future, no matter how
much time is needed to achieve this and regardless  of the
magnitude of the conspiracies against these people and the Arab
nation. Our belief in the refugees' right to return to their
homeland is  unshakeable. Our resolve in this matter is
relentless. As much as faith,  the clinging to the land, and
steadfastness have served this cause, the  UN resolutions have
also preserved the Palestinian right and the right of  the
Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland. UN Resolution
194, which spells out the full rights of the refugees, is  the
one to which we cling to protect the rights of the Palestinian
refugees. There can be no solution to the problem of the
Palestinian  refugees other than the implementation of Resolution
194.  For this reason, I call on our nation, its countries and
people, to  cling to this resolution and defend it at
international conferences and  forums as well as in the current
negotiations. Our people, who made many, many sacrifices in the
homeland and the camps  to regain their land and establish a
state, will not accept resettlement  and dispersion, but will
continue their just and legitimate struggle  until the sons of
the Palestinian homeland return to the country,  Palestine..."


16. Zionism & revisionism

HA'ARETZ 9/16/99--Commentary by Dan Margalit: "We are now in the
period of the High Holy Days, a time for soul-searching. It is
interesting that, during this very period, a stormy debate has
become even stormier: the dispute between Zionists and
post-Zionists concerning the interpretation of modern Jewish
history and the transmission of that interpretation to the
younger generation.In this debate the post-Zionists seem to have
the upper hand, because they have managed to depict the defenders
of the mythological presentation of Zionist history as persons
who are distorting the facts of history, while the post-Zionists
are being perceived as the champions of objective, levelheaded
truth. When the two sides are presented in such a fashion, who
would not prefer the truth to the myth?

The dilemma presented by the post-Zionists has nothing to do with
historical events, however. What they are doing, in effect, is
systematically downscaling the entire Zionist enterprise in any
area connected with the Arab-Jewish conflict. The latest example
of this is the post-Zionist attempt to undermine the argument
that the Israeli War of Independence was a war of the few against
the many. Apparently, they are trying to restore to the Arab
armies their lost sense of honor. How are they doing so? By
giving prominence to the claim that the number of warriors on
either side was equal. Let us, for the moment, assume that this
claim is correct. So what? The ratio in artillery pieces was 154
to 52 in favor of the Arabs, while the ration in warplanes was 54
to 2 in their favor. At the time of the war, by the way, the
civilian population in the Jewish home front numbered 660,000, as
opposed to 50 million Arabs. If this is not a case of the few
against the many, then I don't know what is.

The distortion is particularly glaring when it comes to the issue
of the Arab refugees, which the post-Zionists are trying to
depict as victims of a giant, planned population transfer. (Had
there been no attack by the Arab armies on the nascent Jewish
state, the refugees would have remained in their homes.) It must
be admitted that a portion of the refugees were, in fact,
banished, but it was official Israeli policy to call upon the
Arabs to stay where they were (the poster in Haifa, for example).
Most of the Arab refugees chose to leave because they believed
their leaders, who said that they would return within a short
while to loot the homes of their Jewish neighbors, or because
they thought the Jews would act the same way they would if
victorious. In other words, according to the second line of
reasoning, the Arabs knew that, in the event of their emerging
the victors, they would massacre the Jews and, thus, the refugees
were afraid that, in the event of a Jewish victory, the Jews
would massacre them; for that reason, the Arabs fled.

Even today, more than half a century after the War of
Independence, the post-Zionists are still trying to bring in the
descendants of the 1948 refugees into Israel, believing that this
is the magic wand that will solve all our problems. These
post-Zionists are not content to be historians interested in
enriching human knowledge. They are pragmatically oriented. The
presentation of the Jews as bearing responsibility for the plight
of the Arab refugees will increase world pressure to allow these
refugees to reenter Israel and destroy our demographic shield.

We are not taking about a dispute over a certain limited issue in
history, but rather about a plan to tarnish the image of Zionism.
The entire world knows that the Zionists liberated this land from
British rule, despite resistance from both the Arabs and Britain.
In his book, "The Days of the Red Berets," Tom Segev writes that
the British left Palestine in 1948 because of the Arab revolt in
the 1930s. The end of British rule here was brought about not by
Hanita or the Jewish underground fighter Dov Gruner, who was
executed by the British, or the "illegal" immigrant ship Exodus,
but rather by the gangs led by Az a-Din al-Kassam in the 1930s.
The offensive against the truths of Zionism is being launched
along the entire war front of history. The legend of Yosef
Trumpeldor is drawn from reality - not because he was killed but
because, as he was dying, he told the physician summoned from
Metulla that, if he had to die anyway, he might as well do it for
the Land of Israel. The post-Zionists refuse to accept the idea
of Jewish heroism and therefore cast doubt on a statement made in
real time. Menachem Begin was a noble freedom fighter who forbade
the Irgun, the underground force under his command, to be lured
into personal terrorist activity. But that does not stop a
post-Zionist from presenting him as a "terrorist." Hannah Senesh
personified the Zionist ideal - the common fate of the Jewish
people in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora - yet she is
absurdly depicted as someone who betrayed her colleagues. If
Senesh's name is not besmirched, however, how can one support the
disgusting argument that David Ben-Gurion cared nothing about the
fate of the Jews in the Holocaust?

The post-Zionist offensive is intended to present the Jewish
state to the members of the younger generation as a product of
infamy and sin. This offensive should be repelled not in order to
allow the Zionist enterprise to defend a false mythology, but
rather to enable Zionism to enjoy its right to an objective
depiction in the history books of the world."


17. Maintain presence

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "Settlers from Kedumim, Karnei
Shomron, and Shavei Shomron have begun a campaign to prevent
state-owned land between Kedumim and Karnei Shomron from falling
into Palestinian hands in the withdrawals stipulated in the Sharm
e-Sheikh Memorandum. On Tuesday night, settlers from the three
northern Samaria communities began implementing plans to maintain
a physical presence in the 5,000-dunam (1,250-acre) area,
including building hilltop encampments and patrolling the roads.
"We are talking about protecting 3000 dunams of state land and
2000 dunams of private land that has already been purchased and
paid for," said Kedumim Local Council head Daniella Weiss. The
Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza said it
did not support these actions. Spokeswoman Yehudit Tayar said:
"We have a policy not to shake the consensus; the steps were not
coordinated with us." Beit El Local Council head Uri Ariel said
that such actions should be carried out in the framework of
council activities..."


18. Epcot entreaty

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "Likud leader Ariel Sharon yesterday
called on US President Bill Clinton to help thwart a possible
Arab boycott of Walt Disney Co. because of the depiction of
Jerusalem as Israel's capital at the Israeli stall at Disney's
Florida theme park. The Foreign Ministry said director-general
Eytan Bentsur sent a letter this week to Disney chairman Michael
Eisner stating Israel's confidence the exhibit at the EPCOT
Center's "millennium village" would be presented in its entirety.
"The threat of an Arab boycott today shows that animosity and
hatred toward Israel has not dissipated after all these years,
despite the peace process," Sharon wrote..."


19. COL up a bit

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/16/99: "The consumer price index rose last
month by 0.5 percent - the low end of analysts' expectations -
the Central Bureau of Statistics reported yesterday.The figure
means that inflation has risen 0.4% so far this year, the lowest
figure for the first eight months of any year since 1967. It is
also the first time in 1999 that the inflation total is above
zero. The index has risen 6.3% for the 12 months ended in August.
The inflation number is unlikely to prompt the Bank of Israel to
reduce interest rates at the end of the month, because the
central bank is concerned about a weakening of the shekel,
analysts said..."


20. Israel/Syria in Virginia

HA'ARETZ 9/16/99: "The influential London Arabic daily Al Hayat
yesterday quoted U.S. sources as saying that Israeli-Syrian
negotiations would take place "somewhere in Virginia."  The
newspaper's sources also said that Syria's delegation will be
headed by Riad Daoudi, one of Damascus's most senior and
experienced diplomats.  They are quoted as saying that they
expect the Israeli delegation to be headed by General (ret.) Uri
Saguy, a former commander-in-chief of the IDF's Intelligence
Corps. Saguy was a senior member of the Israeli delegation that
conducted the previous round of talks with the Syrians at the Wye
River Plantation. The newspaper also quoted other Washington
sources as saying that Walid Mualem, Syria's ambassador to
Washington, is slated to replace Foreign Minister Farouk al
Shara, who is expected to be Syria's next prime minister..."


21. PA list

HA'ARETZ 9/16/99: "The PA yesterday handed over to Israel a list
of all personnel serving in the Palestinian police force. The
list of 30,000 names was supposed to be handed over as part of
the Wye accords. The PA reaffirmed its commitment to hand over
the list in the Sharm accord. Israeli sources say the list is
important, to make sure that the PA police force does not exceed
the number agreed upon at Oslo, and to make sure that it does not
contain negative elements. Israel has to be able to ensure that
Arafat's police force does not somehow end up becoming an armyÓ,
one source said...."


22. NAM resolutions

ISRAEL LINE 9/13/99: "The Non-Aligned Movement at the United
Nations, which consists of over 100 states mostly in Africa and
the Middle East, has formulated a set of guidelines for Middle
Eastern issues that reflect a harsh policy towards Israel,
HA'ARETZ reported. The Group intends to implement this policy in
the upcoming UN General Assembly. The leaders of the Group intend
to introduce a draft resolution providing that Israel's
membership credentials in the UN be subject to geographical
constraints. Should this resolution be accepted, the West Bank
and Gaza Strip would be removed from Israeli jurisdiction..."


23. Barak hid later

HA'ARETZ 9/14/99: "Barak hid the Labor party from the public
during the past national elections and because of this, the party
lost eight seats in the Knesset, a report prepared by the Labor
claimed. The report,  prepared by former government minister
Moshe Shahal after a request from General Secretary Ra'anan
Cohen, states that the public were only exposed to Labor's ballot
label letters "Aleph-Mem-Tav" (spelling the Hebrew word emet, or
truth) one week before the elections. Before that, they claim,
there was no mention of the party whatsoever. In a party meeting
held yesterday, suggestions were made for a possible new name.
Shahal suggestion, "The New Labor Party - for the sake of one
Israel," was rejected by General Secretary Cohen since he wants
no link whatsoever to the "One Israel" party. The suggestion of
"The Renewing Labor Party" was eventually chosen. United Kibbutz
Movement representative Amos Gershoni said that the movement is
furious at Barak for not appointing a Kibbutz Movement member to
the government and warned that the Labor party is losing their
support..."


24. Extradition discussions


HA"ARETZ 9/15/99: "A senior U.S. Justice Department delegation
arrived yesterday in Israel and had its first meeting with its
Israeli counterparts to discuss changes to the policy on
extradition treaties between the two countries following the
Sheinbein affair. U.S. law enforcement officials are furious over
the plea bargain struck between Israeli prosecution authorities
and American teenager Samuel Sheinbein, who fled to Israel after
being charged with murder in Maryland and was not extradited to
the U.S. because he was able to claim Israeli citizenship.
Following prolonged negotiations with U.S. authorities, it was
agreed that Sheinbein would be tried in Israel. In a plea
bargain, he agreed to be sentenced to 24 years in jail, which was
seen as a severe sentence by local standards but which outraged
U.S. authorities, since under Maryland law Sheinbein could have
received the death penalty.

Israeli officials also have grievances against U.S. law
enforcement authorities. Over the past two years only five of the
27 extradition requests made by Israel were approved. Until
recently, Israeli citizens wanted overseas were not extradited,
and instead were tried and served their sentences in Israel for
crimes committed overseas.  The Begin amendment (1978) forbade
the extradition of Israeli citizens. It was recently amended to
allow extradition of Israeli nationals, but at the time Sheinbein
entered the country it was still in force."


25. Histadrut scandals

HA'ARETZ 9/15/99: "While the power of the Histadrut Labor Union
is shrinking, the number of scandalous affairs perpetrated within
its walls just keeps on growing. This week it came to light that
there is indeed a basis for the suspicion that six months ago,
during Menahem Cohen's term as secretary-general, the civil
servants' union used funds from a bank account belonging to the
Association for the Professional Advancement of Civil Servants,
which is a totally separate body. About NIS 350 thousand was
withdrawn from the account for purposes which are hopelessly
unconnected to realizing the purpose for which the association
was founded - to finance the three-day civil servants' strike
last March. The funds were withdrawn right under the noses of the
association's management. In fact, the whole matter seems to be
an offense which warrants a thorough police investigation.Two
other affairs have recently developed in connection with the
pension funds of the Histadrut in Mivtachim: last July the
Chairman of the Trade Unions Branch of the Histadrut, Shlomo
Shani, and the secretaries general of most of the trade unions,
allowed themselves to be wined and dined at one of Mivtachim's
hotels together with their wives for three full days, with all
the perks, for a pittance. This week it turned out that Histadrut
Chair Amir Peretz and Mivtachim CEO Doron Shorer concluded a
dubious transaction two weeks ago, under which Mivtachim will
lend NIS 700,000 to the cash-starved Histadrut. Transactions of
the like, namely between a pension fund and a body on the brink
of collapse, endanger the savings of the fund's members.These
ignominies are joined by the questions surrounding events
revealed two years ago, and which have again come to the fore,
regarding irregular sales in 1996 by Housing & Construction
Holding Company, the giant Histadrut real estate company, to
businessman Ted Arison..."


26. Terrorist policeman

ZOA PRESS RELASE 9/15/99: "Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority
has recruited into its security forces all of the 199 terrorist
prisoners released by Israel last week.  The Oslo accords [Cairo
Agreement, May 1994, Annex I, Article 3, par.4-b) require Arafat
to submit lists of potential police officers to Israel for
approval before hiring them, so that Israel can screen out any
>known terrorists. Arafat has repeatedly ignored this Oslo
requirement.  According to Middle East Newsline correspondent
Mohammed Najib (Sept. 14, 1999), "Palestinian sources said all of
the 199 released Palestinian prisoners on Thursday were absorbed
in PA security forces and were handed weapons 'in order to
protect themselves', a PA source said.  On Tuesday, PA Radio
confirmed the report."  Morton A. Klein, National President of
the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) urged the Clinton
administration to demand that Arafat "stop rewarding murderers
with positions in the Palestinian Authority security forces."

General Security Services [Shin Bet] chief Ami Ayalon told the
Israeli Cabinet on June 6, 1999, that "many fugitives had been
given posts in the PA police and security forces," and that "some
of these posts include senior commands."


27. Bibi queried

ARUTZ7 9/16/99: "The interrogations of former Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah last night, each of which
lasted seven-hours, have left the police with no clear evidence
that the Netanyahus bribed a Jerusalem contractor or that they
misused public funds. Netanyahu's attorney Yaakov Weinrot is
expected to publicize the couple's version of the events this
evening.  The media storm surrounding the Netanyahus began with a
Yediot Acharonot article on Tuesday of this week and preoccupied
the radio and television news on Wednesday. On last night's
prime-time news broadcasts,  reporters on Channel One and
privately-owned Channel Two TV gave minute-by-minute reports of
the interrogations while they were being conducted. Opposition
MKs today issued harsh criticism of the police behavior in the
affair, citing the steady flow of detailed leaks by police to
reporters. Likud MK Uzi Landau, for instance, blasted the police
department, calling it "a rotten organization that is undermining
justice" in Israel. Referring to the fact that the police
investigation began less than a day after Yediot Acharonot's
"scoop," Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said that there was
"something fishy" about  the relationship between the police and
two main journalists associated with the affair. An Israel police
spokesman rebuffed allegations of police-media coordination,
insisting that "the investigators faithfully carried out their
responsibilities."  Justice Minister Yossi Beilin labeled the
criticism of police "a deliberate attempt to undermine the
state's legal and law enforcement agencies."...


28. Shas schools

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/17/99: "Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia
Yosef will remove Ma'ayan Hahinuch Hatorani school system
director-general Ya'acov Hemed immediately after Yom Kippur,
Channel 2 reported last night. He accused Hemed of disobeying him
by convening the system's board of directors against his express
orders. Yosef personally intervened in the meeting and accused
those in attendance of working behind his back, the report said.
However, a spokesman for the school system denied the report and
said, "Rabbi Yosef never said such a thing." Hemed's dismissal
would be in keeping with the demand by Attorney-General Elyakim
Rubinstein Wednesday night that Hemed must be replaced or resign
before the government could transfer any more funds to the Shas
school system and would likely pave the way toward a quick
resolution of the impasse, which has kept teachers in the system
from receiving advances on their salaries. Hemed became the focus
of a power struggle within the party yesterday, with Yosef saying
it doesn't matter who heads the system, so long as the world of
Torah is strengthened...

Yosef also took time at the meeting to defend the new party
chief, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Eli Yishai, accused by
some in the party of having a hand in Rubinstein's move.</P>
"Anyone who attacks Eli Yishai attacks me. I appointed Eli
Yishai, and whoever isn't happy can leave," Yosef told a
gathering of party officials, according to radio reports. "When
Aryeh Deri is cleared, we will return him to the post of party
chief."...


29. Investigation insights

HA'ARETZ 9/17/99: "Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is
ready to show the public everything - receipts, bills and demands
for payment - submitted by contractor Avner Amedi for the work
Amedi did for the Netanyahus. Netanyahu agreed to do this in a
conversation with the legal adviser to the Prime Minister's
Office, Shimon Stein (a Netanyahu appointee). Stein told Ha'aretz
that the law protecting individual privacy prevents him from
making the documents public without Amedi's consent. Stein has
told Amedi that if he hears no objections from him within 21 days
he will release the documents. Stein also said that he was the
one who told reporters from Yedioth Ahronoth - who broke the
story about Netanyahu's alleged bribe-taking - to hand over their
findings to the police. "Some time ago," Stein related,
"reporters from Yedi-oth Ahronoth met with me while they were
conducting their investigation and they asked me why I had not
conveyed the material to the police. I told them that in my view
there was no suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. They thought
otherwise. I told them, 'If so, go to the police.'" According to
Stein, the reporters gave their findings to the police of their
own volition. Mordechai Gilat, the chief Yedioth reporter in the
investigation, declined to comment on Stein's remarks..."