“THIS WAS THE BUS YOU WOULD TARGET IF YOU WANTED TO KILL CHILDREN”

Children killed in Israel suicide bomb
By Justin Huggler and Eric Silver
The Independent
November 22, 2002

There were children's voices coming from the wreckage of the bus yesterday. As witnesses to the latest suicide bombing in Israel, in which 11 people died, rushed to the charred remains on Mexico Street, they heard the young crying for their mothers.

And there were children among the dead, four of them. An eight-year-old boy, Ilan Friedman, was on the bus with his grandmother, 67. Both were killed. Two children aged 13 died. So did Michael Sharansky, 16, and his mother. Half of the 49 people wounded were younger than 18, hospital officials said.

There were schoolbooks lying in the road beside the remains of the bus, as well as sandwiches the children were taking to school. This was the bus you would target if you wanted to kill children. Bus number 20 calls at four schools on its route.

And the time the suicide bomber struck was the time you would choose if you wanted to kill children: 7.15am local time, when they were on their way to school.

One of the young passengers was Maor Kimche, 15. "I was sitting at the back of the bus," he said from a hospital bed yesterday. "We were picking people up for about 10 minutes in the neighbourhood. Suddenly there was a very powerful explosion. Everything went black, lots of smoke." And then he said it – what he saw inside that bus full of children on their way to school. "People were burning," he said. "Their faces were red, yellow, white. I don't know how to explain it."

Another of the children on the bus was Hodaya Asaraf, 13. They buried her yesterday. They put a velvet cloth decorated with the Star of David over her at the funeral, but you could still see how terribly small she was.

The Israeli police said they believed the suicide bomber got on to bus number 20 a stop or two before he detonated an explosive belt strapped around him. They said they believed he may have waited for passengers to get on at a few more stops, until the bus was full.

Two militant Palestinian Islamist groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, claimed responsibility for the bombing. The atrocity was a message, a clear attack on any hope for a peace process.

Two weeks ago, Yasser Arafat's Fatah organisation sent delegates to try to persuade Hamas to call off attacks on civilians inside Israel – at least until after January's Israeli elections, so that violence would not help the election campaigns of hardliners such as the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. Hamas gave its answer yesterday.

Last night, the Palestinians of Bethlehem were nervously expecting to bear the brunt of Israel's response after Mr Sharon ordered a "wide and extensive" military operation. The suicide bomber was identified as a 23-year-old from Bethlehem, Nael Abu Hilail.

Bethlehem is the only West Bank city the Israeli army had withdrawn from for any length of time since it re-occupied the area in June. Last night, its residents were expecting the soldiers back.

“A STUNNING BLOW TO THE PEACE CAMP”

Children killed in suicide attack on bus: Hamas claims responsibility for Jerusalem blast that leaves eight dead while dealing stunning blow to peace camp
By Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
The Guardian
November 22, 2002

Nael Azmi Abu Hilail had more than enough time to see those he was about to kill after he boarded the number 20 bus at the bottom of Mexico Street.

The young Palestinian man cannot have failed to notice the two dozen or more children clutching their school books as he squeezed his way to the centre of the packed bus winding through the rush-hour traffic to the centre of Jerusalem yesterday morning.

But that did not discourage him.

Two stops later he detonated the explosive packed around his body, the first suicide bombing in Jerusalem in more than three months and a stunning blow to the peace camp in Israel's general election campaign.

Eight passengers were killed instantly. By the end of the day the death toll had risen to 11. About half were children.

The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, ordered the army to launch a "wide and extensive operation" in response to the bombing. He was not specific but, given that the bomber was from a village on the outskirts of Bethlehem, it seemed likely that the army would be ordered back into the city three months after it pulled out as a first step towards restoring Palestinian authority over West Bank towns. Within hours of the attack, the military had arrested the bomber's father and brother.

Among those who escaped with wounds was Tamar Ravivo, who was sitting at the back of the bus. "I never believed that this would happen in my neighbourhood," she said. "So I wasn't looking and just read my book of Psalms. Suddenly there was such an explosion ... and people flew in the air, on fire."

The victims included 13-year-old Hodaya Asraf, who had followed her killer on to the bus. Hodaya was buried eight hours later. Others who died included a mother and her 16-year-old son and an elderly woman and her eight-year-old grandson. A large proportion of the 50 or more wounded were also children.

The explosion tossed schoolbags and textbooks on to the road, and scattered shards of glass for hundreds of metres. Frantic mothers ran to the scene desperate to know if their children were all right. The police were not letting the distraught women near the bodies, so they started phoning hospitals in search of answers. But in the chaos of the moment there were none.

Two young girls stood weeping, hand in hand, on a grass slope overlooking the bus.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack and promised worse to come.

"We confirm the path of jihad and martyrdom is continuing in every part of our occupied land as long as there is occupation and there are crimes. What is coming is bigger and, God willing, greater," said Hamas's armed wing in a statement.

The bombing is the first during the campaign for Israel's general election in January and its political significance was quickly made clear. Security is the only issue that matters to most voters, and Mr Sharon is campaigning on the back of his crackdown in the Palestinian territories and his refusal to deal with Yasser Arafat.

Despite Hamas's admission of responsibility, the Israeli government directed its fire at Mr Arafat. "Undoubtedly [Mr Arafat] is the one who is responsible," said Uzi Landau, one of Mr Sharon's cabinet. "We see the Europeans are now pressing for the swift establishment of a Palestinian state. How can we allow that? That would simply be used as a base for more attacks.

"This is a world war. It's no different from what happened in Bali and at the theatre in Moscow. It all has its roots in radical Islam."

The company that owned the bus reinforced the point by filing a lawsuit against Mr Arafat and the Palestinian Authority a few hours after yesterday's bombing, claiming £6.7m in damages for the attacks on its vehicles over the past two years of the intifada.

The Palestinian Authority condemned the bombing as "terrorism" and said it had nothing to do with "resistance to occupation". But it did say that Israel's continued occupation of Palestinian territories and its brutal military crackdown in the West Bank and Gaza, which has left several Palestinian children dead over the past week, kept the suicide bombers coming.

Mr Arafat's Fatah movement spent last week in Cairo trying to persuade militant Hamas leaders that suicide bombings united Israelis behind Mr Sharon's militarist tactics.

But independent Palestinian leaders, such as Mustafa Barghouti, argue that neither Hamas nor the Israeli right are interested in peace. "Hamas has the same interest as Sharon – they don't want an agreement, they don't want to see progress, they feed off each other," he said.

“AN ACT OF EXECRABLE CRUELTY MATCHED ONLY BY ITS UNUTTERABLE STUPIDITY”

Slaughter of innocents
Israeli bus bombing is criminal stupidity
Leader
The Guardian
November 22, 2002

The latest Palestinian suicide bombing is an act of execrable cruelty matched only by its unutterable stupidity. This was not an attack on a military target. It did not take place inside Israeli army-occupied territories or even against illegal settlements, which might have been understandable, although not excusable.

It came in a Jerusalem suburb during the morning rush-hour. Its victims were not "oppressors"; they were ordinary people on their way to work, children going to school. Lunch-boxes and textbooks were left scattered near the devastated bus. Is it possible that Hamas's al-Qassam brigade views this pitiless barbarity as some kind of success? They say it was in revenge for Israel's July assassination in Gaza of their leader, Salah Shehada, in which several children also died. That attack was reckless butchery, too. Thus are the vicious and idiotic acts of both sides weighed with the corpses of innocents.

To commit such an atrocity in the very week when Israelis have at last been given a real electoral choice is sheerest folly. Or do Palestine's men of violence calculate, against all reason and experience, that they have a better chance of getting what they want if Ariel Sharon or Binyamin Netanyahu rather than Labour's new leader is in power? Amram Mitzna has offered unconditional talks and unilateral withdrawals if he wins in January. Likud offers Palestinians and Israelis alike nothing but pain, division and more pain – yet such bombings, by intensifying fear, will only aid its cause.

Yasser Arafat, his orders flouted and his poll ratings falling, is again left looking foolish. Perhaps this, too, is a cynical Hamas calculation. But any discussion of all-round stupidity cannot fairly exclude Mr Sharon and his blinkered patron, George Bush. Their ill-will and incompetence has combined to bring what was left of the peace process to a grinding halt. Do not prate on about two or three-year-long "roadmaps"! Talk about dead children now.

ISRAEL BECAME THE FIRST COUNTRY TO ENDURE 15,000 TERROR ATTACKS IN JUST OVER A TWO-YEAR PERIOD

15,000 and counting
By Michael Freund
The Jerusalem Post
November 21, 2002

Though hardly anyone seems to have noticed, Israel recently set a new world's record.

It is unclear when precisely it occurred, or what the exact circumstances were. But at some point earlier this month, Israel became the first country to endure its 15,000th terrorist attack in just over a two-year period.

That's right, you read that correctly. According to statistics compiled by the IDF, as of November 17, 2002, there had been a total of 15,298 Palestinian terror attacks against Israel since the intifada began in September 2000.

That works out, on average, to nearly 1 terror attack every hour of every day over 25 consecutive months.

But that is not what qualifies Israel for a place in the record books.

After all, many countries have experienced periods of civil unrest, subversive violence and lethal terrorism, albeit not nearly as intense or as prolonged as that which Israel has known of late.

What truly puts the Jewish state in a category all its own, however, is its willingness to tolerate this ongoing terror campaign, which should have been defeated long ago.

Everyone, it seems, knows what the answer is to the current predicament. Everyone, that is, except for the government, which has neither the courage nor the vision to move into Judea, Samaria and Gaza and topple the Palestinian Authority once and for all.

Instead, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prefers to play ping-pong with the terrorists, sending in the army only to withdraw it a few days later, bouncing back and forth with no long-term plan and certainly no clear-cut strategy.

Indeed, much of the military activity undertaken by the army seems purely reactive in nature, coming only after Jews have been killed, rather than before.

Take, for example, the recent IDF response to the terror attack on Kibbutz Metzer, in which a member of Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction murdered five Israelis.

Two hours later, Israeli helicopters fired four rockets into a car-repair shop in Gaza City that was being used as a clandestine weapons factory. Army spokesmen said that terrorists were using it to manufacture explosive devices and mortar shells.

If Israel knew that the place was a death factory, one in which the terrorists were actively producing tools to murder the innocent, then why did we wait until after the Metzer attack to knock it out? The minute the intelligence information regarding the garage's true nature was confirmed, why wasn't it taken out of commission forthwith?

Similarly, after last Friday's massacre in Hebron, when terrorists killed 12 Israelis near the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the IDF re-entered Palestinian-controlled portions of the city which it had evacuated just three weeks earlier, on October 25th. According to a statement issued by the IDF Spokesman's Office, the purpose behind retaking the city was "to continue the determined action against the Palestinian terror infrastructure."

That sounds good, except for one nagging question: if Hebron's terrorist infrastructure was still in place, then why did the army withdraw last month? Why did it leave the job only half-finished?

Israel's critics at home and abroad suggest that the government's response to Palestinian terror is immoral because it results in the needless deaths of innocent Arabs. Frankly, I think they have it all wrong. If the government's policy qualifies as immoral, it is because it results in the needless deaths of innocent Jews.

For, by allowing the intifada to continue, and by refraining from taking the necessary steps to dismantle the PA and defeat the terror organizations, the government has undermined Israel's security and that of its citizens, leaving the terrorist threat in place to regroup and fight another day.

But we, the public, must also acknowledge our share of the blame for the current situation. We have been too silent in expressing our outrage over Palestinian terror and the government's feeble response. There have been no demonstrations in the streets, no hunger strikes, no prayer vigils, no mass awakening of indignation or fury.

Histadrut workers went on strike recently over a 2.1% cost of living increase, which amounts to just 70 shekels per month, but many people are unwilling to protest when it comes to the 73 Israelis who have been killed by terrorists over the past three months.

It is incumbent upon us to wake up from this nightmare. With elections approaching, we have an opportunity to use all the democratic and legal tools at our disposal, and to send a clear signal to those running for office. We must let them know that the people of Israel have had enough, and that we will no longer tolerate a continuation of the current policy, which amounts to little more than a series of tired and half-hearted measures.

The time has come for Israel to sweep into the territories, reassert control, and eliminate the terrorist infrastructure and those who sponsor it. Yasser Arafat should be led away in handcuffs and put on trial, along with the rest of the Palestinian leadership. We must stop being afraid of what the world might say, and start being more concerned about what the terrorists are doing to us, day in and day out.

Israel has already passed the 15,000 mark when it comes to Palestinian terror. If the current trend continues, we will hit the "milestone" of 20,000 some time early next summer. That is one record we can not afford to break.

(The writer served as Deputy Director of Communications & Policy Planning in the Prime Minister's Office from 1996 to 1999.)

SUSPECTED HIJACKER OVERPOWERED ON TEL AVIV-ISTANBUL FLIGHT

El Al security guards overpower suspected hijacker on Tel Aviv-Istanbul flight
The Jerusalem Post
November 17, 2002

Airborne guards foiled an attempted hijack of an El Al flight from Tel Aviv to Istanbul, media reports said Sunday night. None of the 170 passengers on board was harmed and the plane landed safely, said Oktay Cakirlar, an official at Istanbul's Ataturk International Airport.

Guards on El Al flight 581 to Istanbul stopped one of the passengers, who media reports said was an Israeli Arab, from entering the plane's cockpit.

He reportedly first threatened a flight attendant with a knife and tried to approach the cockpit but he was overpowered by two security guards, one posing as a passenger. The suspect was being held at the airport police station.

"We heard people saying there was fighting and half a minute later it became clear that from row five or six a man ran amok toward the pilot's cabin, attacked a stewardess and tried to enter the cockpit," an Israeli passenger on the plane told Army Radio.

"We saw a stewardess running like crazy from the front of the place to the business section... She was terrified," said the passenger, identified only as Menachem.

Security guards "threw him to the floor with his legs spread and his face to the floor. The passengers were hysterical but the flight attendants were very cool, they calmed us down," he said.

An Istanbul airport official was quoted earlier as saying "one terrorist" was arrested upon the plane's landing. Upon landing the man was transferred to Turkish police.

Since the plane had to land far from the terminal, she said, the passengers were now being accompanied to it by Turkish police carrying M-16s.

Pini Shif, Airport Authority Deputy Director General, said it was unclear how the man managed to enter the plane with a knife. He said investigation was still under way to ascertain how this happened.

El Al is widely regarded as the best protected airline in the world, but also one of the most threatened. From the late 1960s into the 1980s, El Al planes and passengers were subjected to shooting attacks, hijacking and bombing attempts.

El Al's formidable security includes armed guards at check-in, on-board marshals and extensive searches of luggage. Passengers are told to arrive three hours ahead of flights to allow enough time for the security checks

UPDATE: Hijacker sought to crash plane into Tel Aviv building

The New York Times reports that the Arab Israeli man charged with trying to hijack an Israeli airliner on Sunday told Turkish police he had been inspired by the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. and intended to crash the plane into tall buildings in Tel Aviv.

POPE: HEBRON “A VILE ATTACK”

Pope condemns Hebron attack as 'vile'
The Associated Press
November 17, 2002

Pope John Paul II expressed distress Sunday at "a vile attack" by Palestinian militants in the West Bank town of Hebron that killed 12 Israeli security forces and guards as Jewish worshippers returned from prayers.

The pope has repeatedly urged an end to Mideast violence during the two-year-old Palestinian uprising. In his weekly remarks Sunday to pilgrims and tourists gathered below his window in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff prayed for all to pursue "the road of justice and peace."

"I want to express my emotional involvement in the pain of the families of those who last Friday were victims in Hebron in the Holy Land of a vile attack, just as people had finished praying at a few steps from the tomb of the man we recognize as the common father of our faith, the Patriarch Abraham," the pope said.

"While I invoke eternal rest for those who died, I pray to the Lord to instill in all the courage necessary to find anew the road of justice and peace."

ANNAN: A “DESPICABLE TERRORIST ATTACK”

Annan: Hebron was a "despicable terrorist attack"
Ha'aretz, and news agencies
November 17, 2002

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan also dennounced the killing in an extraordinarily harsh statement, calling it a "despicable terrorist attack" and urging Palestinian groups to halt the violence.

Annan has spoken out against Israeli military actions over the past 26 months of fighting, but Friday's statement was one of his toughest on Palestinian terrorism. Annan didn't describe any of the victims as Jewish settlers.

Annan said he was "horrified by the despicable terrorist attack in the West Bank... that killed Jewish worshippers on their way to the Sabbath eve prayers and left many injured."

He conveyed condolences to the families of victims and to the government of Israel and appealed to "all Palestinian groups to stop all such acts of senseless violence, which are extremely harmful to the Palestinian cause."

“AP SPINS HEBRON”

"AP spins Hebron"
HonestReporting
November 17, 2002

Kofi Annan called it a "despicable terrorist attack." The Pope called it a "vile attack." The U.S. State Department called it a "heinous crime."

The Associated Press was far less sympathetic. In a report that went out to 6,500 news agencies worldwide – and was reproduced in the Washington Post, MSNBC.com, and hundreds of other media – AP's Jason Keyser characterized the city of Hebron as follows:

"Hebron, to the south of Jerusalem, has long been a volatile place filled with religious and political tensions. Muslims here are among the most devout and the Jewish settlers among the most radical."

What is the source for Keyser's biased assertion?! Perhaps the city's Muslims – who had just massacred 12 Jews – are the most radical, and the Jews of Hebron – who are perpetuating a Jewish presence in Judaism's second holiest city – are the most devout.

AP's Keyser then comes up with this adaptation of history:

"In 1994, Jewish settler Baruch Goldstein shot dead 29 Muslim worshippers before being beaten to death. The massacre sparked riots that lasted for days and helped spawn the phenomenon of suicide bombings against Israelis."

Read closely. The blame for hundreds of Palestinian suicide bombings – termed by Human Rights Watch as a "crime against humanity" – lies with a Jew.

SUPPORTERS RUSHED INTO THE STREETS IN CELEBRATION…

Palestinians in Gaza celebrate Hebron massacre
The Associated Press
November15, 2002

In the Shati refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, dozens of Islamic Jihad supporters celebrated the news Friday of the Hebron attack that killed 12 Israelis and wounded at least 15.

The supporters rushed into the streets in celebration, some firing in the air.

"This is retaliation for the daily crimes and massacres committed by the Zionist occupation against our people," one armed man said over loudspeaker.

The Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to the Al Jazeera telivision station, saying that it was in response for the killing of an Islamic Jihad leader Iyad Sawalha in Jenin by IDF troops earlier in the week.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA REFUSES TO CONDEMN HEBRON TERROR ATTACK

Palestinian media refuses to condemn Hebron terror attack
(Communicated by the IDF Spokesman)
November 16, 2002

The Palestinian Authority has declined to condemn the brutal terrorist attack that took place in Hebron on November 15th 2002 in which 12 Israelis were murdered, and a further 30 were wounded, some critically. The Palestinian Minister of the Interior, Hani Al-Hasan, has reiterated over the past few weeks, that Israeli citizens residing in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem are "legitimate targets" in the "Palestinian armed struggle".

The view that Israelis living in the West Bank are "legitimate targets" was widely adopted by the Palestinian media covering the terrorist attack in Hebron. The attack was depicted by both the Palestinian Authority dailies Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and Alayam as "an armed attack", and not as a terrorist attack. The two terrorists who carried out the attack, members of the Islamic Jihad, were called "Warriors" by the papers, who also called the perpetrators "Youths who died following the path of Allah" ("Istshehad" in Arabic).

Following is a translation from the front page of the Palestinian Alayam newspaper about the attack in Hebron:

Headline: 12 soldiers and settlers killed and a further 30 injured in armed strike near settlement.

Sub-headline: Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for the operation. Two of its youths die following the path of Allah.

Content of the article: 12 soldiers and settlers met their death and a further 30 were injured in the armed strike carried out by Palestinian warriors yesterday evening in Hebron between the Cave of the Patriarchs and the settlement of Kiriat Arbah.

Translation from the Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper:

The attack occurred at 19:30 last night as the settlers marched from the settlement of Kiriyat Arba toward the Cave of the Patriarchs for the Sabbath prayers. As the procession came to Wadi "Hanotsrim" near the entrance to the settlement, massive fire was opened towards them bringing the deaths of 12 settlers and soldiers.

“HUTU ISLAM, BENT ON THE PHYSICAL ERADICATION OF ITS ENEMIES AND THEIR SYMBOLS”

Hutu Islam
Editorial
The Jerusalem Post
November 17, 2002

Three weeks ago, after the IDF withdrew from most of Hebron on October 25, the city's Jewish community issued the following statement to the press. It read, in part, "We warn the prime minister and the defense minister: Spilled Jewish blood, be it in Hebron, or anywhere in Israel, as a result of this criminal act of abandonment, is your full responsibility. You will not be able to say, 'Our hands did not spill this blood.'"

On Friday, 12 Israelis were murdered, and 15 others wounded, by Palestinian terrorists in Hebron.

In a meticulously executed attack, Palestinians opened fire and tossed grenades at a crowd of Jewish worshipers and the soldiers guarding them as they made their way from the Machpela Cave to neighboring Kiryat Arba after Shabbat evening prayers. Among the victims was Hebron Brigade Commander Col. Dror Weinberg, 38, the most senior member of the IDF killed thus far in the current war. Five border policemen, three other soldiers, and three Israeli civilians also died.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the attack, as the organization's head, Ramadan Shalah, proudly declared in a telephone interview on al-Jazeera. In the wake of the attack, Israeli forces placed Hebron under curfew, and IDF troops took up positions throughout the city.

As army spokesman Lt.-Col. Olivier Rafowicz rightly pointed out, the incident was especially grave because it was carried out "on the eve of the Jewish Sabbath, close to the site of prayers." Put simply, not only were Jews being targeted, but Judaism itself.

Indeed, throughout the current conflict, the Palestinians have repeatedly targeted Jewish worshipers and Jewish holy sites. The destruction of Joseph's Tomb in Nablus, the arson attack on the Shalom al Yisrael synagogue in Jericho, and periodic gunfire at Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem, are just a few of the examples that come to mind.

Such assaults signify a major step backward for Islam. They are reminiscent of the Taliban version of Islam that gripped Afghanistan, which deemed anything un-Islamic, such as the Buddha statues at Bumiyan, worthy of being eradicated. Now it seems the same goes in Hebron. A critical mass of Palestinians rejects Jewish claims to any part of the territories; it rejects Jewish claims to pre-'67 Israel; and it appears to reject a Jewish presence in "Palestine," even without political sovereignty. Thus does Yasser Arafat speak of Jerusalem being a city holy to "Christians and Muslims" while failing to mention Jews, as if we had no claim even to this city.

This is not just Taliban Islam but Hutu Islam, bent on the physical eradication of its enemies and their symbols. Those who question what Jews are doing in Hebron in the first place would do well to remember this point, particularly since the ratio of Jews to Muslims in the city is not all that different from the ratio between Israelis and Arabs in the entire Middle East.

It is impossible to escape the conclusion that Friday's massacre might well have been avoided had the IDF not withdrawn from the area last month. Under pressure from the Bush Administration to ease up on the Palestinians, then defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, with the support of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, agreed to pull out the troops. Now they have been sent back in once again, presumably for a more protracted period of time.

It is not in Israel's long-term interests to remain in day-to-day control of Hebron or other Palestinian cities. But it is still less in Israel's interests to endure constant bloodletting every time it withdraws from those cities. And this dilemma can only be resolved by a Palestinian leadership genuinely intent on divorcing itself, permanently and unequivocally, from terrorism. As the current one plainly cannot, a change of leadership is required.

Since President George W. Bush's Mideast speech June 24, the US has followed a contradictory policy toward Arafat: insisting he must go, while forbidding Israel from easing the way for his departure. For the sake of Jews and Palestinians alike, it's time to take more forceful measures to install a Palestinian leadership capable of fulfilling the most basic obligations of responsible government. The alternative is the next Hebron massacre.

ABBA EBAN: AN OBITUARY

Abba Eban
Obituary
The Daily Telegraph (London)
November 18, 2002

Abba Eban, the Israeli statesman who died yesterday aged 87, represented his country at the United Nations from 1948 to 1959, in Washington as Ambassador from 1950 to 1959, and served as Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1966 to 1974; few Israelis brought greater talents to public life.

A highly skilful diplomat, he was also a considerable scholar, an elegant and successful writer and one of the foremost orators of his day. Yet in a strange way Abba Eban's many gifts impeded his advancement, and though he attained high office, he never rose quite to the heights for which he felt destined.

He was born Abba Solomon at Cape Town, South Africa, on February 2 1915, the child of Lithuanian immigrants. He lost his father when he was still an infant, and his mother took him to live in England. She remarried, and Abba, known in England as Aubrey, was brought up in south London, where his step-father, Isaac Eban, was a doctor.

As Aubrey Eban, the boy attended St Olave's school, near Tower Bridge, and from there won a scholarship to the Queens' College, Cambridge. He graduated with a Triple First in Classics and Oriental Languages, having won prizes in Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic along the way. His immersion in Arabic, he later wrote, made it impossible for him "to adopt the routine Zionist stereotype that regarded the Arab nation with intellectual condescension".

At Cambridge, he also found time to be active in the local synagogue and in the Zionist organisation. At the Cambridge Union, he came to be regarded as one of the most brilliant debaters of his generation.

He was elected a Research Fellow in Persian Studies at Pembroke College, Cambridge, but before he could settle down to the tranquil life of a Cambridge don the Second World War broke out. He immediately enlisted in the Army and was subsequently commissioned in the Intelligence Corps.

In December 1941 he was posted to the Middle East. The Germans were by then at the gates of Cairo, and Eban and other British officers were involved in training Jewish volunteers in Palestine to fight against a possible German invasion. In the course of the posting, he met Suzy Ambache, the daughter of a prosperous Jewish engineer. They were married in 1945, and Eban later introduced a fellow officer, Chaim Herzog, to Suzy's sister.

At Cambridge, Eban had joined the Labour Party, and as the war ended he was invited by the party chairman, Harold Laski, to stand in the General Election of 1945 as Labour candidate for Farnborough. But by then Eban had decided that his future lay with the Zionist movement in Palestine. He joined the Political Department of the Jewish Agency in 1946, and was appointed Liaison Officer with the UN Special Committee on Palestine in 1947.

Having won the UN General Assembly's approval for the partition of Palestine and the creation of a Jewish State, Eban became Israel's first Permanent Representative at the UN in 1949, and in 1950 was invited to couple the post with that of Ambassador in Washington.

Each job was demanding in its different ways, and the fact that Eban combined the two for more than eight years was a measure not only of his undoubted energies but also of the confidence he inspired in Israel and of the esteem he enjoyed in America.

His task was quite easy during the presidency of Harry Truman, who was warmly disposed towards Israel; but it became rather more difficult after Eisenhower became President in 1954. With America now anxious to strengthen its links with the Arab world, Eban sought to maintain what he called "a viable if not an affectionate" relationship with the new administration. He was not helped by the bellicose attitudes of Israel's Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion.

In December 1955 the Syrians shelled an Israeli fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee. There were no Jewish casualties, but Israel retaliated with an operation which left 73 Syrian dead. Eban protested to Ben Gurion privately, while defending the operation in public.

Ben Gurion replied that he, too, had doubts about the wisdom of the operation, but said: "When I read the full text of your brilliant defence of our action in the Security Council, all my doubts were set at rest."

Eban's job both at the UN and in Washington became even more arduous after Suez. He had been kept completely in the dark about the Suez campaign until it was launched, but when called upon to defend it at the UN made one of the best speeches of his career – though it made no difference to the outcome of the debate. Israel was roundly condemned and forced to withdraw.

Yet in spite of the atmosphere of rancour in which Eban had to work during his last years in Washington, he established the special relationship with America which was to become the cornerstone of Israeli foreign policy; and he engaged the loyalties of the American Jewish community which had previously not been particularly zionistic.

In 1959, he was elected to the Knesset and joined the Israeli Cabinet, first as Minister without Portfolio and then as Minister of Education and Culture. At the same time, he became president of the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel's premier seat of higher learning.

He took urgent steps to improve the level of schooling available in deprived areas of his country's cities and in the new development towns. He encouraged the creation of new universities in Ramat Gan and Tel Aviv and, as he put it, made education "a headline issue in Israel's national consciousness."

In 1963 Levi Eshkol became Prime Minister. Eban was appointed Deputy Prime Minister, a post without clearly defined duties or functions. He had to wait a further three years before he got an office he really wanted, that of Foreign Minister.

Ben Gurion had paid frequent tribute to Eban's powers as an "emissary" and a "spokesman"; to use the title of one of his most popular books, Eban had become "The Voice of Israel". Yet he hankered for an opportunity not only to defend Israeli policies but to formulate them.

When Nasser began to mass troops in Sinai in May 1967, Eban did not feel Nasser had any aggressive intent, and he sought to allay fears of war. But everything changed when the straits of Tiran were closed to Israeli shipping. France was then Israel's main arms supplier, and Eban was particularly mindful of General de Gaulle's warning not to take any precipitate action.

He flew to Paris, London and Washington in an attempt to organise an international stand against the blockade. He failed, as he was perhaps bound to fail, and on June 6 war broke out.

Eban's speech at the UN Security Council in defence of Israel's action was a tour de force, possibly the high-point of his career. He also handled the protracted negotiations on Resolution 242, which required Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, with consummate skill. Had he lived in 19th-century Britain, he would probably have returned to an Earldom. Twentieth century Israel was rather less appreciative.

Israel's foreign policy was now dominated by the fact that she was in occupation of Sinai, the West Bank and Gaza, which were almost the personal fief of Defence Minister Moshe Dayan. Moreover Levi Eshkol, who had the highest opinion of Eban, died in 1969. Golda Meir took his place and she preferred to act as her own Foreign Minister, at least where America was concerned.

Mrs Meir was a person of limited education, with strong likes and dislikes. Eban, with his polished urbanity and linguistic skills was not one of her favourites, and she would often go over his head to deal directly with her man in Washington.

Eban was also more of a "dove" than most of his Labor colleagues, especially Dayan. He preached a conciliatory attitude to the Arabs and advocated territorial concessions. But he received less support than Dayan who spoke of "a new state of Israel with broad frontiers, strong and solid with the authority of the Israel Government extending from the Jordan to the Suez Canal".

The Yom Kippur war brought an end to such complacency and when Mrs Meir retired in 1974 Eban believed that his track record made him her natural successor. But his name was not even seriously considered, and when Rabin became Prime Minister he was offered the Ministry of Information. Eban regarded the offer as derisory and retreated to the back-benches.

He was only 59, and comforted himself with the thought that Israel in her hour of need might yet call him back to high, perhaps even the highest, office. The call, though, never came and in 1988 he retired from politics altogether. He was inundated with invitations for lectureships and professorships at the best universities; but they were no compensation for the loss of office and in his last years Eban was an unhappy man.

Although he had spent less than a third of his life in England, Abba Eban was very English in manner, dress and speech; but where an Englishman of Eban's generation might have felt the need to hide his cleverness under a facade of frivolity, Eban tended to flaunt it – and as he was surrounded by people who were rather less intelligent, this did not add to his popularity.

His instincts were perhaps too old-fashioned: he was disinclined to elbow for position, or even to raise his voice, and he made no effort to build up a personal following. Nor did he belong to any "mafia": he had never served in the Israeli army, had never lived on a kibbutz, and was never active in the Labor movement. He was a lonely intellectual who expected to rise inexorably upwards on the strength of his natural attainments, which were actually something of a handicap.

Although the Israeli Labor movement had, even by the 1960s, discarded most of its egalitarian principles, Eban's wealth and earning capacity continued to excite envy. He wrote some dozen books, most of which became best-sellers in America; he was in great demand on the American lecture circuit; and he was paid handsomely for his television appearances. Political office, to many Israel politicians, meant a livelihood; to Eban it seemed an optional extra.

He was always readily accessible to foreign corespondents, especially as he could address most of them in their own language and would express himself in memorable phrases. As a result, no Israeli politician was more widely quoted in the overseas press, and Eban made the mistake of taking his international standing as the measure of his standing at home. In that sense, Abba Eban was a prophet in every country but his own.

He is survived by his wife, and by their son and daughter.

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JORDAN FM CALLS ON PALESTINIANS TO STOP SUICIDE ATTACKS (ONLY DURING ISRAELI ELECTION PERIOD)

Jordan FM calls Palestinians to stop suicide attacks
Albawaba.com
November 8, 2002

The Jordanian foreign minister has called on Palestinians to halt suicide bombing attacks during the upcoming Israeli election period.

Marwan Muasher warned Palestinians that suicide attacks during the election period could contribute to the election of a far right-wing government in Israel.

Speaking to the London-based A-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, the Jordanian minister stressed that the collapse of Sharon's government was a result of domestic issues and not of the peace process.

SGT.-MAJ. MADIN GRIFAT: A BEDOUIN KILLED BY PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS

Sgt.-Maj. Madin Grifat

Nov 9, 2002 – Sgt.-Maj. Madin Grifat, 23, of Beit Zarzir was killed when a mine exploded during a routine patrol northeast of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip.

Grifat, a tracker, was leading the unit when the mine was detonated, and died of his wounds shortly afterward. A Givati Brigade company commander who was following just meters behind was wounded. Madin had been at home on leave on Friday, due to return to the his unit on Monday. He returned early, however, when asked to take another soldier's place. The Islamic Jihad's Jerusalem Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack.

Madin Grifat was the 28th soldier from the Bedouin village of Beit Zarzir in the Galilee to die in combat. His close friend and relative, Lt. Malik Grifat, was killed on Sept 5, 2002 when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire towards an IDF patrol near Nisanit in the northern Gaza Strip.

Madin's father Salah Grifat related, "My son served in Gaza since the beginning of his army service, and after he completed his mandatory stint in the army, he signed up for career service. He was a quiet, good person – the best of my five sons." Madin had begun building his home in the village and planned to marry. His cousin Mansur added that Madin "loved the army and was proud to serve in the army."

Sgt.-Maj. Madin Grifat was buried in the military section of the Beit Zarzir cemetery. He is survived by his parents, Salah and Fatma, four brothers – one a twin – and five sisters.

“MORTAR BOMBS ARE BEING FIRED FROM DENSELY POPULATED AREAS”

Palestinians admit: "Mortar bombs are being fired from densely populated areas"
IDF website
November 12, 2002

The official Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al Jadida published (November 7, 2002) that Palestinians in the Gaza strip are asking for the Nationalist and Islamic forces to stop firing mortar bombs from within densely populated areas.

This is not the first time that these kinds of complaints have been voiced. However, despite previous calls on the forces to halt their policy of using highly populated areas as cover, the firing from these areas has not ceased.

"Palestinian residents of Al Barka and areas close to the community of Kfar Darom have called on the Nationalist and Islamic forces to stop firing, and especially from firing mortar bombs, from areas close to inhabited houses. Firing from densely populated areas just brings damage and destruction to the residents and their property."

"The residents presented their case during a meeting which took place in the offices of the Nationalist forces in Dir El Balach to which a number of Islamic armed faction members participated. The residents stated that most of the mortar bombs fired actually fell short of their targets, landing instead on Palestinian buildings and land. This, they said, poses a danger to the lives and security of the residents."

"The residents call upon you to take into account the well being of the population and to ensure their security before carrying out any kind of militant action"

TERROR AMBULANCES

Cases of abuse: Terror ambulances
November 6, 2002

Examples of the use of medical services for the purpose of promoting terrorist activity by Palestinian groups in contravention of international law:

* In August, Israel complained that Palestinian terrorist organizations were making use of medical services for the purpose of disguising their terrorist activity. The statement said: "Many of their members travel in ambulances, transporting arms in them as well, thus taking cynical advantage of the fact that ambulances are not subject to strict security checks."

* In July, members of the Tanzim were traveling in ambulances throughout the cities of the Gaza Strip. On July 1, for example, Tanzim members traveled in ambulances in the city of Nablus.

* On June 30, ambulances from the Sheikh Zaid Hospital in Ramallah transported wanted terrorists to and from the hospital and to various other places inside the city while it was under curfews.

* On July 1, two wanted terrorists were brought to the hospital by ambulance from the area known as Sarait Ramallah.

* In March 2002, armed and wanted terrorists in Ramallah used ambulances in order to move about the city. They wore doctors' gowns and often hid in various wards in the city's hospitals.

* One of the documents seized during Operation Defensive Shield mentions a Palestinian ambulance in which arms were concealed in the floor. Another captured document reveals that the Palestinian General Intelligence used an ambulance to transport an arrested suspect from Husan to Bethlehem.

* The most prominent example of this phenomenon is the apparent use of a medical vehicle or medical accreditation to help carry out the suicide terror attack on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem on January 27. The woman suicide bomber, Wafa Idris, worked as a medical secretary for the Palestinian Red Crescent. Investigation indicates that Idris was sent to commit this suicide attack by Mohammed Hababa, a Tanzim operative and ambulance driver for the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Among the group that planned the attack was Munzar Noor, who also works for the Red Crescent in Ramallah. Israel security officials do not yet have a clear picture of how Idris made her way from Ramallah to Jerusalem. However, investigators believe that the Red Crescent documentation held by the suicide bomber and her accomplices, and perhaps even a Red Crescent vehicle, helped them through IDF roadblocks and eased the checks they had to undergo.

* Last October, Israeli security forces arrested Nidal Nizal, a Hamas operative from Kalkilya, brother of Natzar Nazal, one of the leaders of the Hamas in the city. Nazal worked as an ambulance driver for the Palestinian Red Crescent, and there is information indicating that he exploited his relatively easy movement around the West Bank to serve as a messenger among Hamas headquarters in the various towns.

SUICIDE TERRORIST CAPTURED NEAR BEN-GURION AIRPORT

Ma'ariv, November 6, 2002, reports that a suicide-terrorist has been captured near Ben-Gurion airport. Following pursuit that continued for long hours, during which Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway was closed, terrorist was captured near midnight at El Al junction.

***

Palestinians near airport said to have planned suicide bombing
By Margot Dudkevich
The Jerusalem Post
November 6, 2002

A Gaza Strip resident believed to have been planning a suicide bombing was arrested shortly after midnight on Tuesday at a roadblock set up at the El Al intersection near Ben-Gurion Airport.

His arrest came just hours after security forces beefed up their presence on main highways in the Negev and the Ramle and Lod areas after receiving a warning that a terrorist was believed to have entered the country from Gaza.

Roadblocks were set up on main highways and at the entrances to cities and towns, and helicopters were deployed to assist in the search.

Two other suspects who were also detained were later released.

Hours later police raided an apartment in Lod and arrested four Palestinians suspected of being involved in terrorist activities. All five suspects were handed over to the Shin Bet for questioning.

Meanwhile in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, security forces continued to crack down on suspects involved in terrorist activities.

In the Balata refugee camp, five fugitives affiliated with the Hamas and Tanzim were arrested. Four fugitives were arrested in Silat a-Daher, Jiba'a, and Sebastiya, while three were arrested in El Bireh. One of the three was later identified as Ahmed Anabi, responsible for a number of shooting attacks at Psagot. Three fugitives were arrested in the al-Amari refugee camp.

Security forces arrested one Palestinian fugitive in the central Gaza Strip and another near the Rafah crossing.

Elsewhere in the Gaza Strip prior to the shooting attack in which two Israelis were murdered in Peat Sadeh, three mortar shells were fired at an Israeli community in Gush Katif, landing near the hothouses but causing no casualties. Shots were fired at soldiers in Gush Katif and at IDF posts near the communities Neveh Dekalim and Gadid and also at soldiers posted near Rafah. No one was wounded in the attacks and no damage reported.

RUSSIA NOW COPYING ISRAELI TACTIC OF DESTROYING TERRORISTS’ HOMES

Masked men blow up home of Moscow hostage-taker
Reuters
November 8, 2002

Masked men in military fatigues blew up the family home of one of 50 Chechen rebels killed after they seized a Moscow theater and held hundreds of people hostage last month, Russian media said on Friday.

The group of heavily-armed men arrived late on Thursday at the home of one of several young female guerrillas who took part in the theater siege. They evacuated two women and two children from the house before the blast.

There was no acknowledgement from Russian army that it was involved in the demolition in the village of Achkoi-Martan, southwest of Grozny, capital of the turbulent Caucasus republic of Chechnya.

But the incident recalled tactics employed by Israel, which has demolished homes of families of militants who have carried out suicide bombings against the Jewish state.

"Whoever did this – Russian troops or rebels – this is first and foremost a crime against the unfortunate people who live there," said Aslanbek Aslakhanov, the deputy who represents Chechnya in the Russian parliament.

In a cautious statement, Kremlin human rights commissioner Oleg Mironov said: "The blasting of a house...leaves a problematic impression and clearly has a political message.

"Such a terrible response to a terrorist act tells us that people have lost patience and want a peaceful life," Mironov said in the statement quoted by Interfax news agency.

The theater siege brought Chechnya back onto the Russian political agenda. It ended when Russian forces stormed the building, but some 128 hostages died, most of them from gas used by the troops to immobilize the guerrillas.

President Vladimir Putin has since called for "new approaches" to deal with security challenges and Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has announced tough new measures to rein in rebels in Chechnya.

But Putin warned last week that all operations in the region should be "well-directed and targeted," a clear condemnation of the massive use of force and brutal sweep operations condemned by Western governments and human rights monitors.

Rights group Amnesty International urged the European Union on Friday to confront Putin over the issue at a Brussels summit scheduled for November 11.

Moscow, which has been fighting separatists in the Caucasus for the best part of a decade, says it controls Chechnya after a second military onslaught launched in October 1999. But troops and pro-Moscow officials are targeted by rebels almost daily.

A Russian servicemen was killed and three were injured late on Thursday when their car hit a mine in the Achkoi-Martan region, Interfax said.

ARAFAT BLOCKED REFORM EFFORTS, EX-MINISTER SAYS

Arafat blocked reform efforts, ex-minister says
By Paul Adams
The Globe and Mail (Canada)
November 12, 2002

When a leading reformer and outspoken critic of suicide bombings left Yasser Arafat's government this fall, he told the Palestinian leader he was fed up with the corruption and militancy of security forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, Abdel Razak Yehiyeh said that during his term as Palestinian interior minister, he was prevented from demilitarizing the police forces and overruled when he tried to remove several commanders who had participated in attacks on Israelis.

He said he found the task of reforming the police impossible. "The ones I did succeed in moving are now back in their jobs."

Although also deeply critical of Israeli policy, Mr. Yehiyeh's complaints, which he is making public for the first time, confirm some of Israel's criticisms of Mr. Arafat: That while he may mouth a commitment to reform and an end to military confrontation with Israel, he often opposes it in practice.

Mr. Yehiyeh, who left cabinet last month, was appointed interior minister in June, at a time when Mr. Arafat was under intense international pressure to demonstrate his willingness to reform.

Mr. Yehiyeh quickly launched an ambitious plan to "demilitarize" the conflict with Israel and streamline the web of Palestinian police and security forces.

"I was against any kind of armed struggle," said Mr. Yehiyeh, who is a former general of both the Syrian army and the Palestinian Liberation Army. "I was in disagreement with the concept."

Mr. Yehiyeh shocked some Palestinians with his frank denunciations of suicide attacks on Israelis, which he described as both tactically and morally misguided. He said that the suicide-bombing campaign "contradicts our religious, moral and cultural beliefs." He argued for replacing armed resistance to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories with civil resistance.

Although he was careful to avoid criticizing Mr. Arafat directly during the interview, it was clear that he became exasperated with the obstacles the Palestinian leader put in his way.

"The issue of commanders in the police sector was a big issue," he said. "It was difficult to convince the leadership to make changes."

Mr. Yehiyeh hinted that Mr. Arafat was shocked at demonstrations that erupted after he ousted the Palestinian security chief on the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub. For a time, Mr. Rajoub waged a defiant public campaign to retain his job. "At the end of the day, I am a soldier," Mr. Yehiyeh said, "and I would not tolerate anyone staying in place beyond his time."

Mr. Yehiyeh said his efforts to dampen the conflict with Israel, although they enjoyed broad international support, were also deliberately undermined by militant organizations such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade.

When he negotiated a scheme for Israel to hand over security control of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank city of Bethlehem, the militants launched attacks on settlements and Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip.

"The factions in the Gaza Strip that were opposed to my strategy launched attacks that provoked the Israeli defense minister [then Binyamin Ben-Eliezer] to cancel negotiations," he said.

In frustration, Mr. Yehiyeh sent a letter to Mr. Arafat on Sept. 9, saying that he was "suspending" his work as interior minister. Mr. Arafat tried unsuccessfully to persuade him to change his mind. However, that drama was obscured by a political earthquake two days later when the Palestinian parliament forced the entire cabinet to resign in protest over the cronyism and corruption of Mr. Arafat's government.

By the time Mr. Arafat appointed a new cabinet last month, he had recuperated some of his political strength as a result of an Israeli siege of his home and office in Ramallah. He replaced the independent Mr. Yehiyeh with Hani al-Hassan, a long-time associate.

Mr. Arafat's aides suggested at the time that Mr. Yehiyeh did not want to return to government because of the illness of his wife, which he flatly denied. He had no intention of returning to the government, he insisted, once it was evident that he could not achieve real reform.

Mr. Yehiyeh is critical of his successor, Mr. al-Hassan, who has said that he opposes Palestinian attacks inside Israel but sees nothing wrong with attacks on Israeli soldiers or Jewish settlers in the Palestinian territories.

"From a legal and theoretical point of view that may be correct," he said. "But I look at it in terms of profit and loss. This won't do us any good and we should stop it."

Remarkably, despite the frustrations he faced, Mr. Yehiyeh believes that the idea of replacing armed struggle with civil resistance is gaining ground with the Palestinian public, for whom the two-year-old uprising has brought a life of daily misery.

"I believe that future events and situations will eventually impose [themselves] on the Palestinian government," he said, "and it will have no choice but to undertake reform."

FULL ITEMS

“THE ROAD TO AUSCHWITZ WAS MAPPED IN LARGE PART BY THE ‘PROTOCOLS’”

Vile
Editorial
The Times Dispatch, Richmond (VA)
October 31, 2002

Egypt's state television will celebrate Ramadan – Islam's holiest month – by broadcasting a series based on "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion." The "Protocols" – which of course are bogus – long have played a crucial role in fomenting anti-Semitism.

The forgeries blame just about everything on Jews. They promote ancient lies and have been cited by modern dictators and tyrants. The road to Auschwitz was mapped in large part by the "Protocols."

Egypt supposedly ranks among the "moderate" Arab and Islamic states. Cairo considers itself a leader of the Arab bloc. The Egyptian tube will be dispensing such filth.

This is not a question of freedom of speech (Egypt, like all Islamic countries, doesn't have a First Amendment worthy of the name). The series is slated for official television. It will carry the regime's imprimatur.

The disgrace comes as no surprise.

The Arab and Islamic worlds daily spout anti-Semitic poison. At the Durban conference on "human rights," its delegates regaled participants with anti-Semitic drawings and tracts Goebbels would have rejected as too crude. After Yasser Arafat agreed to the Clinton-brokered Wye Accords with Israel, a newspaper associated with the Palestinian Authority said: "Corruption is part of the nature of the Jews. So much so that it is only on rare occasions that one finds corruption in which Jews were not behind it." Palestine TV broadcast a show that said, "There is not light or teaching in their Torah." The mufti of Jerusalem and countless imams routinely thunder against Jews and demand Jewish blood. Phony Islamic scholars claim there is no Jewish connection to Jerusalem. The list goes on.

Will authoritative voices from within the "religion of peace" not only demand that Egypt spike the show but call for an end to the libels and slanders – and to the enormities encouraged by hatred of Jews?

“AN IMMATURE UNINTELLIGENT ATTITUDE”

Egyptian government spokesman defends TV series based on Protocols of Elders of Zion
The Associated Press
November 5, 2002

Government spokesman Nabil Osman Tuesday criticized as "an immature unintelligent attitude" those whom he said prejudged as anti-Semitic a television series based on the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an infamous fictional anti-Semitic tract .

Egyptian state television is scheduled to broadcast the 40-episode "Horseman Without a Horse" from Wednesday, the first day of Ramadan, Islam's holiest month during which Muslims refrain from food, water, smoking and sex from dawn to dusk.

"Prejudging a work of art, a dramatic series, before seeing the actual production is simply an immature unintelligent attitude," Osman said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.

Israeli media and Jewish groups have criticized the series and the United States requested that Egypt cancels its broadcast. Well-known Egyptian actor Mohammed Sobhi is the producer and star of the series.

Sobhi on Monday said he agreed with historians who have long dismissed the Protocols as a forgery concocted by Russian Czar Nicholas II's secret police to blame the country's problems on Jews. But he told some 200 artists gathered to show their support for him that Israelis liked the Protocols' ideas and implemented them.

Osman, also chairman of the State Information Service, said any nation should not put "restrictions on artistic creativity or freedom of expression and opinion whether based on facts or fiction as both are basic for human rights."

"Egyptian media, art and culture, over history, have never adopted any hostile attitude toward any religion or creed."

“THE ISRAELIS WANT SUBMISSION”

Editorial by Galal Dowidar
Al Akhbar
November 3, 2002

On the controversy taking place at present over the Egyptian television series "Knight without a Horse", due to be shown in Ramadan, which both Israel and the Jewish lobby in the US brand as racist and anti-Semitic:

The heated campaign now launched by the Israeli and the American media against Egyptian art is liable to be subsumed only as a blackmail attempt, one of many Israel has been prone to stage against the international community in general and the Arab world in particular. It is an attempt made to cover up on Tel Aviv's crimes in the occupied territories. The Israelis want submission, indeed to have the world endorse their crimes; crimes that leave dead behind them helpless children, women and old people, whom Israel will force to relinquish their lands, let alone their dignity and freedom. To Israel and to the Jewish lobby in the US, I have only this to say: "Neither Egyptian nor Arab art need to be led along; art will have no guardians. Freedom and Democracy must be divorced from oppression, nor will they have denied them the principles upon which are based human rights and International Law."

“CONTROVERSY IS NOT UNUSUAL FOR TV SOAPS AIRED DURING RAMADAN”

By Ramadan Abdel Kader
The Egyptian Gazette
November 3, 2002

Controversy is not unusual for local TV soaps aired during the lunar Muslim month of Ramadan, which starts this year on Tuesday or Wednesday. Last year, the family drama "Family of Haj Metwalli" ignited a huge controversy allegedly for prompting polygamy. A similar uproar was stirred the year before on "The Blossom of Roses", a TV series which broke ground in addressing Muslim-Coptic relations.

Such furor was limited to the local or regional boundaries. But even before going on the air, "A Knight Without a Horse", slated for broadcast during the upcoming Ramadan, is greeted with scathing criticism – from the US. The series, starring top comic Mohammed Sobhi, tells the tale of an Egyptian struggling against the British occupation of the homeland in the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The soap has already raised the hackles in Israel and the US. They have slammed the work as anti-Semitic and an agitation of anti-Jewish feeling, accusations vehemently denied by its makers.

The premature controversy spilled over into the US State Department whose spokesman Richard Boucher the other day urged Arab governments to refrain from broadcasting the show and other programmes "we consider racist and untrue". At the center of the storm is a reference made in the show to "Protocols of the Elders of Zion", a document allegedly outlining a Jewish scheme to dominate the world. Workers on the drama say that their aim is not to prove or disprove the controversial document. Their affirmation has, however, failed to allay the detractors in Israel and the US, which demand the soap be taken off airwaves purportedly for inciting hatred and anti-peace sentiment. The audience has yet to see "A Knight Without a Horse" and make their own judgments.

“THE LATEST VICTIM OF JEWISH LOBBYISTS”

By Mohsen Arishie
The Egyptian Gazette
November 3, 2002

Egyptian comedian Mohammed Sobhi is the latest victim of Jewish lobbyists. He has received serious threats if he goes ahead with plans to broadcast Knight without a Horse' in the holy month of Ramadan. The lobbyists, who broadened their campaign by complaining officially to the US State Department, believe that the series damages the image of Jews.

Perhaps, the anxieties of the US-based Jewish lobbyists, represented by Anti-Defamation League, ADL, a Jewish rights group, are based on allegations that 'Horsemen Without a Horse' draws heavily from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which was said to have inspired the Nazis' anti-Semitic policy Sobhi, a popular comedian in Egypt, dismissed the anxieties of ADL as unfounded.

Despite Sobhi's denial, the Jewish lobbyists increased pressure on the administration of US President George W. Bush to intervene in the controversy.

In a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, the outraged ADL connected Sobhi's series to what they claimed to be 'latest manifestation of an ongoing pattern of anti-Semitic incitement in the Egyptian media."

US State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, admitted that his government had complained to Egypt and other countries in the Middle East about plans to broadcast the series. Washington, moreover, admitted that it was unhappy with the programme, which it believed to have been "drawn from racist and untrue" sources.

ADL's worries about 'latest manifestation of an ongoing incitement in the Egyptian media' should arouse curiosity. The ADL cannot be referring to pictures in the Egyptian press of the systematic brutal massacres committed by Israelis against the Palestinian people who are prisoners in their own homes. If so, Egyptian press should not be totally to blame in this respect. ADL should widen its attack to reach the world media, which also published front-page pictures about Palestinian children killed under the rubble of homes demolished by Israeli tanks and helicopter missiles.

The absurdity of this furor lies in ADL's warning that "the series could have a broader impact beyond Egypt. ADL should mean that 'Horsemen Without a Horse' would be broadcast around the Middle East and therefore millions of viewers would watch it during Ramadan. Does ADL suggest that selected viewers should watch the series and others should be denied this piece of television drama? If so, what criteria or standards would be enforced to abort attempts by unfortunate viewers to protest against the violation of their freedom of expression, which naturally includes what they believe is appealing to their tastes, especially when 'the appealing drama' in question implies no attack on the religions of others. Egypt's Minister of Information Safwat el-Sherif emphasized that the media policy in Egypt rejects a dramatic work, a documentary or a programme that contains any references that harm sacred religious values." These plain words strongly assert that 'Knight Without a Horse' is not an anti-Semitic drama by any stretch of the imagination.

“MUBARAK, COULD, IF HE WANTED TO, PREVENT THE DOCUMENTARY FROM BEING AIRED”

Editorial
Yediot Ahronot
October 30, 2002

The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a provocative publication by Tsarist Russia's secret police, were abandoned after the Holocaust in most countries on both sides of the iron curtain. However, this is not the case in the Arab world. There the Protocols of Zion are distributed as scientific material – many Arab leaders believe in their truth... Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, could, if he wanted to, prevent the documentary from being aired... That Mubarak isn't doing so is because He sees in this horrific anti-Semitic propaganda a legitimate expression of fundamentalist Islam, growing in the Egyptian street. Mubarak is mistaken. Encouraging anti-Semitism has never saved any regime. The Protocols of Zion were part of a Tsarist incitement project whose slogan was 'Strike the Jews, and save Russia'. The Jews were indeed struck with pogrom after pogrom until they began to make their way to the Land of Israel. However, Tsarist Russia did not survive; this hatred is "contravenes – in spirit and content – not only the peace agreement with Israel, but all human values as well.

LATEST MANIFESTATION OF ANTI-SEMITIC INCITEMENT IN THE EGYPTIAN MEDIA

U.S. objects to 'Protocols' on Egyptian TV
By Steven R. Weisman
The New York Times
November 1, 2002

The United States has expressed concern to Egypt and other Arab governments about their plans to broadcast a television series in November that an American official said draws on "racist and untrue" sources contained in the anti-Semitic tract "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."

The series, "Horse Without a Horseman," purports to tell the history of the Middle East from 1855 to 1917 through the eyes of an Egyptian who fought against the British and the Zionist movement. Its producers acknowledge that the series draws from "The Protocols," which portrays Jews as engaged in a long conspiracy to achieve world domination.

Officials at the State Department said Ambassador C. David Welch had raised concerns about the series with Safwat el-Sherif, minister of information in Egypt. The series has 41 parts and is to air during the month of Ramadan, the Muslim holiday of fasting, beginning next week.

Mr. Sherif has asserted that the series "contains nothing that can be considered anti-Semitic."

State Department officials declined to say specifically what Mr. Welch said, but one official said he expressed unhappiness about the airing of a program based on "racist and untrue" sources.

After reports in the United States about the series, the Anti-Defamation League, a group that combats anti-Semitism and other forms of racism and discrimination, called on Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to protest the airing of what it called the "latest manifestation of an ongoing pattern of anti-Semitic incitement in the Egyptian media."

“INTELLECTUAL TERRORISM”

Campaign against Egyptian TV series is intellectual terrorism – daily
The Jordan Times
Agence France Presse AFP
November 4, 2002

An Egyptian government daily on Sunday denounced a US-Israeli campaign against a television series accused of being "anti-Semitic" as an attack on freedom of expression amounting to intellectual terrorism.

"Freedom of expression and artistic creation is a pillar of democracy which the United States and Western countries boast of and to submit an artistic or literary production to intellectual terrorism is a violation of the basic rules of democracy," Al Akhbar editor in chief Jalal Dweidar wrote.

"We reject this savage campaign ... led by the spokesmen of Zionist propaganda in Israel and in countries that support it, against a television series," the editorial said.

The campaign "seeks to remove our right to express our opinions," it added.

The US government and Jewish groups are objecting to plans by Arab television stations, including an Egyptian state-run channel, to broadcast the Egyptian production, "Horseman without a Horse," starting Wednesday, the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The screenwriters admit the series draws from the 19th century tract, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion," but deny charges that their production is "anti-Semitic."

The series tells the story of an Egyptian who leads the struggle against the British until he finds a book written in Russian that turns out to be the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," which provides proof that the true enemy is not the British, but the "Elders of Zion," the screenwriters said.

"This campaign orchestrated by Israeli newspapers and the American media which are close to them is part of Israel's and its allies provocative practices against the world and against the Arabs," Dweidar wrote.

"They are trying to camouflage the crimes against humanity which are committed in the occupied Palestinian territories, whose daily victims are women, children and old people."

Egyptian government newspapers have for the last several days run editorials or government statements denouncing the campaign against the planned broadcast.

Egyptian Information Minister Safwat Al Sherif said last week that the series contained nothing which could be considered "anti-Semitic" and that his government embraced a policy rejecting attacks on religion.

“NO PIECE OF MODERN LIERATURE HAS EVEN APPROXIMATED THE CIRCULATION OF ‘THE PROTOCOLS’”

The Paterson 'Protocols'
By Daniel Pipes
The New York Post
November 5, 2002

Arab Voice, an Arabic-language newspaper published weekly since 1993 from Main Street in Paterson, N.J., appears to be just another one of America's many ethnic publications.

Its news pages are replete with items about Palestinian travails and possible war with Iraq. Its featured columnist is James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. Its publisher, Walid Rabah, modestly describes himself as "an activist with the Palestinian Writer's Guild in the United States." Its pages are filled with ads hawking Arab-owned restaurants, travel agencies, real-estate offices, retail stores and doctors' offices.

It all appears achingly ordinary. But it is not.

For some weeks now, the Arab Voice has been serializing an Arabic-language version of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" in its pages (but not – revealingly – on www.arabvoice.com, its Web site).

And "The Protocols" is no ordinary book.

It purports to be the secret transcription of a Zionist Congress that met in Switzerland in 1897, as taken down by a tsarist spy and first published in St. Petersburg in 1903.

At the meeting, Jewish leaders allegedly discussed their plans to establish Jewish "sovereignty over all the world." "The Protocols" includes their boasts of being "invincible" and plans to establish a "Super-Government Administration" that will "subdue all the nations."

In fact, "The Protocols" is a fabrication forged by the tsarist secret police, the Okhrana, in about 1898-99. This pseudo-document had limited impact until 20 years later, after World War I and the Russian Revolution, when a receptivity had developed for its message about a Jewish conspiracy to dominate the world.

"The Protocols" quickly became a best-seller on appearing in German translation in January 1920. The former German royal family helped defray publication costs, and deposed Kaiser Wilhelm II had portions of the book read out loud to dinner guests. Translations into other languages quickly followed. Henry Ford endorsed the book, as did The London Times.

Although the book's forged nature was established by 1921, somewhat reducing its appeal and reach (the Times and Ford both retracted their endorsements), it remained a powerful force. A 1926 study found that "no piece of modern literature has even approximated the circulation of 'The Protocols.'"

The historic importance of "The Protocols" lies in permitting anti-Semites to reach beyond their traditional circles and find a huge international audience. Its vagueness – almost no names, dates or issues are specified – was one key to this success. The purportedly Jewish authorship also helped to make the book more convincing.

Its facile embrace of contradiction – Jews supposedly use all tools available, including capitalism and communism, philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism, democracy and tyranny – made it possible for "The Protocols" to extend its insidious ideas to both rich and poor, Right and Left, Christian and Muslim, American and Japanese.

Its hold on the extreme right prompted a hitherto cautious Adolf Hitler to endorse the book, refer often to it and make it a centerpiece of Nazi Jew-hatred and a key argument in justifying his murder of 6 million Jews. In the words of historian Norman Cohn, "The Protocols" served as the Nazis' "warrant for genocide."

The forgery has since polluted public life wherever it appeared; as Italian novelist Umberto Eco explains, it was "self-generating; a blueprint that migrated from one conspiracy to another."

The process continues; this week, an Egyptian television station begins airing a 41-part blockbuster Ramadan special, "Knight Without a Horse" spreading "The Protocols' " defamation to a vast new audience and creating new legions of anti-Semites.

That a forgery that helped cause the Holocaust is now openly published in New Jersey points to two important realities:

* Arab and Muslim institutional life in the United States remains as radicalized after 9/11 as it was before.

* Arab and Muslim institutions are now the primary advocates of anti-Semitism worldwide, including in the West.

To prevent "The Protocols" from making further inroads in the United States, advertisers, James Zogby and the newspaper's printer must immediately and completely disassociate themselves from the Arab Voice.

In addition, Arab and Muslim groups in the United States must explicitly denounce "The Protocols" and condemn all those who forward it, whether the Arab Voice or Egyptian television.

Not to do so makes them complicit in the prejudice and villainy of this foul tract.

“THE PROTOCOLS OF THE ELDERS OF ZION” – IN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY IDEOLOGY

"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" – in Palestinian Authority ideology
By Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin
November 5, 2002

The new Egyptian 40 part TV series connecting the State of Israel's founding to the principles of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion has sparked worldwide interest and outrage. This series may be one of the most widely watched Arab productions, as it will be broadcast every evening during the month of Ramadan "...on 22 Arab stations, among them Egypt 2, Syria, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq, Lebanon and other Arab states.
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 1, 2002]

Scenes from the Egyptian film can be viewed on our website by clicking the following link:

www. pmw.org.il/video/egyptprotocols.asx

(These pictures are the depictions of Jews – "The Elders of Zion" at their conspiratory meetings.)

This depiction of the infamous libel as a true Jewish conspiracy is not new to the residents of the Palestinian Authority [PA], where the "Protocols" has been presented as the reason for the creation of the State of Israel and the guide for Israeli policy. The Egyptian production likewise depicts the "Protocols" as the Zionist guide creating the State of Israel, as stage in ruling the world. The production describes how an Arab fighting the British discovered "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and realizes "that the true enemy is not the British. Zionist groups in Egypt learn that the book is in his possession and attempt to murder him in order to retrieve the book and prevent its distribution."
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 1, 2002]

The following are examples of the use of the "Protocols" in PA media and education over recent years. It should be noted how the Palestinians, including academics, present the forgery as a truthful plot upon which Zionism is based. The final article below is from this week's official PA daily presenting its views about the TV series and the historical truth of the "Protocols".

1. The official PA daily in its "Political National Education" page, cited precise quotes from Protocols 2 and 12 to explain Israeli policy:

"Morale and psychological manipulation has a significant place in the minds of Jews, and formed a very important source of strength in the "Hebrew State" ... Dis-information has been one of the bases of morale and psychological manipulation among the Israelis ... The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" did not ignore the importance of using propaganda to promote the Zionist goals.

"The second protocol reads: 'Through the newspapers we will have the means to propel and to influence'.

"In the twelfth protocol: 'Our governments will hold the reins of most of the newspapers, and through this plan we will possess the primary power to turn to public opinion.'
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, January 25, 2001]

2. In this article as well the "Protocols" are presented as the Jews' road map in building Israel:
"Remember the history, oh Arabs!
"...I focused on important dates in the world of the Zionism and the Arabs:
"1. In 1897 the first Zionist Congress was held in Basel...
"2. In 1907 the actual immigration operation began...
"3. In 1917 the woeful declaration of Balfour was made...
"9. In 1977 the visit which shocked the Arab Nation occurred, the President of Egypt visited Israel...
"Every ten years, a vital aim is achieved. These are the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, of a century, from 1897 till 1997. They have planned and accomplished. Every ten years, another aim was achieved, proving their continuity and their power."
[Al Quds, July 10, 2001]

3. In this article in the official PA daily, America as well is following the dictates of the "Protocols"
"The hero of this movie, which concluded last Saturday, was the former American President Bill Clinton, and the theater of events, as we said, was the entire world including the Middle East ... out of prejudice in favor of a racist state that is foreign to it, that is the State of Israel, which, from the outset, could not have held its own if not for the continuous American efforts which incessantly implemented the Protocols of Zion ..."
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, February 18, 2001]

4. Israeli military action is defined as following the script of the "Protocols"
"The purpose of the military policy is to impose this situation on the residents and force them to leave their homes, and this is done in the framework of the Protocols of Zion..."
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 18, 2001]

5. The Jews changed the Bible, wrote the Talmud and concluded with the Protocols:
Sheikh Attiyeh Sahar, Chairman of the Department of Islamic Research in The Al-Zahar University:

"It must be known that this nation, the Jews, are willing of mind soul to alter their religion in order to attain their demands. This is rooted deep in their history.

"We know that after our master, Moses, delivered them from the hands of Pharaoh and took them through the sea; then they found a nation of idol-worshippers, and they said to Moses: 'make us a God like theirs'. They alienated the God that saved them and willed to worship idols... These things show us that these people, in order to attain their goals, are willing to turn away from their God and His Singularity, which was introduced to the world by their prophets. We also know that they changed the Bible and replaced it, because It does not serve their purposes, and they drafted the Talmud, as it is known, and came up, finally, with the Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
[Palestinian Authority TV, September 10, 2000]

6. PA academics and historians refer to the Protocols as a truthful Jewish plot on PA educational television.

Dr. Issam Sissalem, History professor at the Islamic University and host of an history program on PA educational TV:

A viewer, Dr., Attallah Abu Al-Farah, calling in: "Can there be, in practice, co-existence on Palestinian land between ourselves and the Jews, in light of their mentality which stems from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Dr. Issam?"
Sissalem: "This question comes from 'My Beloved Friend'. I say: Dr. Attallah, who is a learned expert..."

[Palestinian Authority TV, May 14, 1999]

7. The following is the recent article in the PA press referring to the circumstances of the discovery of the "Protocols" and the new Egyptian TV series.
"The Egyptian actor said to the France Press news agency that the series does not answer the question of truth or lie in the book "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and said 'What Israel is doing on the land of Palestine is more severe than the book... There are contradictory claims as to the truth of the book 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' and the widespread supposition is that in 1870 Russian intelligence uncovered a book of Jewish elders' plots to take control of the world. In Jewish circles, however, this is vehemently denied and they accuse the security apparatus of Czar Alexander II of having written the book in order to inflame anti-Semitism, which was prominent then in Russia...

"Subhi [main actor] added: 'I attach no importance to all that was said and will be said by the Americans and the Israelis, nor to the accusations directed at the series, and I am proud of the Egyptian government whose Minister of Information, Saffwat Al-Sharif, defends the freedom of artistic expression and thought.'

"Subhi said that the Minister of Information stressed that our society does not attack other religions. He clarified that the Egyptian Censorship Committee previewed the series and found nothing that counters our values or other religions.

"He added: 'We know that the book around which this storm rages was prohibited for a hundred years, because they were operating under cover, and now they are operating openly. However, we do not pass judgment on this book; whether it is truth or forgery. We direct our interest at the Zionist movement, which cast its net to rob a land from its people...

"Baghdadi [the writer] summarizes his position saying: 'we have no problem with the Jews, but we are against the Racism of the Zionists..."
[Official PA daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, November 1, 2002]

“WHAT WERE THE ISRAELIS BUSY WITH IN NOVEMBER 2002?”

November 5, 2002, Yediot Ahronot, reprimands Israeli politicians for their behavior over the last week. "Historians who, in 50 or 100 or 150 years, search archives on Israel's history will rip their eyes out in amazement: What were the Jews busy with, the Israelis, in November 2002, when they are up to their necks with security, political, economic and social problems? What did they do... Unbelievable: At this difficult time the two people aiming for the crown of leadership are dealing with the subject who manipulated who... For God's sake, what are they dealing with up there? Terror attacks continue... The report on the number of people living below the poverty line should shock the nation, the credit rating is on its way down – and in Jerusalem they are reveling in comfort." The editors assert that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon does not have a choice and will have to call elections, in which "it is a foregone conclusion that Sharon will win, because he is perceived, justifiably, as a natural leader."

SHARON: I BELIEVE THAT JEWS AND ARABS CAN LIVE TOGETHER

Ariel Sharon was interviewed in today's Times of London, November 5, 2002. The following are some extracts:

Ariel Sharon: "I know I have been portrayed as a general looking for war. Many other headlines speak of that. That's what people say. But I understand the importance of peace because I saw the horrors of war. That's how I see it. I lost my best friends in battles – and I had to make decisions of life and death, of others and myself."

"Iran makes every effort to possess weapons of mass destruction on the one hand and ballistic missiles. That is a danger to the Middle East, to Israel, and a danger to Europe."

"I believe that Jews and Arabs can live together. It's not an easy thing but I believe we can reach an agreement. I don't want to pretend about talking to Arabs because I meet Arabs, here and on our farm at home. I would like to very careful not to pretend but I think I am one of the only ones here at the present time that will have the power and the strength to tell the citizens of Israel what they have to do and to make compromises and painful compromises, to look into their eyes and say that."

"I told them many times that I would like to see Europe more involved. I don't expect that they will be fully supporting us, but what I do expect is a balanced approach. I should say regretfully that there is no balanced approach."

"I don't want to deal with what will be the function of Mr Arafat but he must be disconnected completely from the security/terror organisation and of course he should be fully disconnected from the control of the financial side because as long as he controls the financial side and the security organisation controlling terror it's very hard to expect that there will be reforms."

"You ask me if we are going to hold the sword all our lives. If we have to do it, we will do it, but I hope that it won't be necessary. There are those among the Palestinians who understand that they will not be able to achieve anything by force. Those that are ready to speak peace, I am ready to talk and negotiate with, as a matter of fact I am in contact with them now."

“PAINFUL COMPROMISES”

The following is extracted from the editorial in today's Times of London (not from Sharon's interview):

The Times (November 5, 2002): "The Prime Minister implies that only a man of his personal and partisan background could negotiate a secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Many of his opponents privately concede that this may be true, but doubt whether Mr Sharon really wishes to introduce the 'painful compromises' that he has mentioned.

His sincerity and capacity in this regard will be properly tested only when a meaningful opening for negotiations emerges again. That could take place if sweeping reforms are adopted by the Palestinian Authority and, realistically, once the Israeli electorate has spoken. Mr Sharon may then, despite the present understandable pessimism, have the chance to make serious progress. He would, though, require some reliable allies around the Cabinet table who shared that objective."

MUSLIM AMERICANS USE THEIR VOTING POWER

Muslim Americans use their voting power
By Barbara Ferguson
Arab News
November 5, 2002

Americans go to the polls today in a crucial mid-term election to decide 34 Senate seats, 435 House seats and 36 governorships.

Today's elections will determine which party will control both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

To regain the Senate, Republicans – who lost the majority control in 2001, when Vermont Sen. James Jeffords left them to become an Independent – now must pick up one seat. In the House of Representatives, Democrats must win six seats to regain the control they lost in 1994.

Tufain Ahmad, a trustee of the US-Pakistan Association of the Washington metropolitan area, said the Muslim American community has been active, as never before, in this year's elections.

"Bush's doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, a unilateralism in the Bush foreign policy and the administration's onslaught on civil liberties affecting the Muslim community at large," is why Muslim Americans have felt the need to become active and vocal, he said.

Asked how this will be reflected in Muslim American votes, Ahmad said: "In the last election, Muslims voted for Bush, because they thought that during the debates he appeared more concerned about the situation for Muslims, and he said he was against Arab profiling; that gave some hope the Muslim community that he would be fair and reasonable to our community.

"Unfortunately, after 9/11, the situation has completely changed and Muslims feel discriminated against, whether they are US citizens or US immigrants, students, or on visit visas in this country," said Ahmad, a businessman who has lived in Potomac, Maryland for 30 years.

"It appears there will be a shift in the voting pattern of Muslims, and a substantial number of Muslim votes will be cast for the Democratic candidates, as opposed to the Republicans," said Ahmed.

He said Muslims, for the first time ever, have become active in political rallies and fund-raising. They have even started holding political rallies at their homes.

"Muslims are really becoming very active now," said Ahmad.

"There is a growing realization amongst Muslims that they cannot live in isolation, and they must participate in all the local civic activities, and local charitable activities – as Muslims."

Another first, according to Ahmad, is that Muslim Americans are working with other minorities, including African-Americans, Latinos, and other Asian communities.

Khaled Mahmoud, a resident of Rockville, Maryland, for 27 years, said this year Muslim Americans have made a concerted effort to get involved in local and national politics, because "basically, since 9/11, things are getting hotter for us.

When asked which party would win the majority today, Mahmoud was uncertain.

"I don't think Muslim Americans have a clear choice. Last time they voted for Republicans, and they were disappointed."

“MOFAZ IS NOT A ‘PREDATORY HAWK’”

Yediot Ahronot editorial (November 5, 2002): "Shaul Mofaz is not nearly as rightwing as most people seem to think... In contrast to the image he has outside Israel, and sometimes in Israel proper, Mofaz is not a 'predatory hawk'. He is more of a centrist, with moderate political views, and by no means an ally of the settler extremists. On the contrary, he has deep reservations about them, and in just a slightly different political constellation, he could have been defense minister in a Labor government... It is reasonable to assume that in a narrow Sharon government, he will be the level-headed, dovish marker. And in that way, Lieutenant General (Reserves) Mofaz's appointment as defense minister will strengthen Israel's security."

EARLY EVENING TRIP TO THE LOCAL MALL TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARE

A nightmare trip to the mall
By Daniel Ben-Tal
The Jerusalem Post
November 5, 2002

An early evening trip to the local mall turned into a nightmare for hundreds of shoppers in Kfar Saba on Monday.

"There was a huge blast and my mother and I were thrown to the ground," Dana Siton, 10, told reporters from her bed in the city's Meir Hospital.

"All sorts of things flew at us. I was covered in glass and horrible bits of dirt. My mother and I managed to get into a nearby shop, where people helped us until the ambulances arrived and brought us here. I'm OK – I've lots of scratches but I'll get over it."

Casualties began arriving at the hospital within minutes of the explosion. The emergency room became a hive of activity, as rapidly-mobilized teams of doctors, nurses, and social workers huddled in consultation around patients' beds.

"Most were injured by flying glass and other shrapnel," hospital director Dr. Ehud Davidson told reporters. "We saw no indications of nails or similar objects in the bomb, as with previous ones."

The hospital's staff quickly set up a trauma department manned by doctors, psychiatrists, and social workers to deal with the expected influx of patients. Throughout the evening, dozens of eyewitnesses arrived complaining of shock symptoms. Most arrived by car, shaking with fear as they were helped into the trauma room.

"On the advice of our head psychiatrist, Dr. Ilan Kutz, no patient from such an incident is released before being seen by a psychiatrist," explained hospital spokeswoman Hagit Sharon. "To our sorrow, we have accumulated experience of such events and have learned that immediate treatment of trauma symptoms significantly reduces the lasting effects."

By 10 p.m., the hospital registered 75 patients from the attack, of which about two-thirds were trauma patients, according to Sharon. One is in moderate-to-serious condition in the hospital's intensive care unit, three have moderate wounds, and the others are lightly wound.

Hila Formosa, 17, sat with her mother in the trauma room.

"I was watching television in my friend's third-floor apartment across the street from the mall when there was this tremendous explosion and all the windows blew in," she said. "At first, I thought it was an earthquake and hid under a bed, but then I saw smoke rising and began to panic.

The smoke was everywhere it was like a movie.

"I can't tell you – it was terrible. For some reason, we thought there was a terrorist in the building. We didn't know where was safe. We all ran down to the building's underground air raid shelter, but it was flooded.

"My friend's 11-year-old brother, who was sitting at his computer by the window, was showered in glass. He's now in Beilinson Hospital with shock. I have pain and ringing in my right ear, and I'm feeling shaky.

"I'm scared. A year ago, a friend of mine almost died in a terrorist attack. She was shot twice, and her friend was killed. She didn't leave the house at all for six months from fear. She was on anti-depressants. I keep thinking of her."

South African-born Diana Katz and her mother Anne Reiff, both of Ra'anana, were walking toward their car within 20 meters of the explosion. Both escaped with light wounds.

"I rushed to the hospital on instinct, and found them here," said Diana's husband, Alan. "It was very worrying. I'm just happy that they're both well. My wife's glasses were shattered and she has problems with her eye, while her mother has only external injuries."

“ONCE THE CRAZIES TAKE OVER, WE WILL ALL FEEL THE CONSEQUENCES”

Israeli liberalism may not be dead. But it needs a lot of help
By Ian Buruma
The Guardian
November 5, 2002

Aqraba is an Arab village on the west bank of the Jordan River. These stony hills formed the heartland of the Jewish tribes in biblical times. Here they picked their olives, just as the Palestinians would today, if they could. But they cannot, because modern Jews, settled in the hills around them, won't let them. These Jews, from the US, Russia, or Israel, won't let them because they claim the Old Testament as their deed of ownership to the land. They are followers of the fanatical rabbi from Brooklyn, Meir Kahane, who advocated the expulsion ("transfer") of Palestinian Arabs from the West Bank.

The Kahanite settlers are armed, 15-year-old thugs from Brooklyn or Odessa who run riot in these parts. The Kahanites are so wild that even the other settlers regard them with disgust. When a Jewish academic came to Aqraba not long ago to offer help to the Arabs, he was shot.

I was there last week with a group of Israelis who wished to express their solidarity with the Arabs by helping them to pick olives. It was a gesture, a photo opportunity, if you like, aimed at the evening news, to show that some Israelis still cared. The event had been financed by a businessman and organized by Peace Now. Many of the participants were regulars on such occasions. Among them were the writers Amos Oz and David Grossman. But there were others too, less to be expected, such as Shlomo Gazit, former head of army intelligence. And there was Rabbi Foreman, himself a settler, who read passages from the Talmud to demonstrate that stealing from the goyim was not permissible. Foreman with his long white hair, looked vaguely biblical, and at the same time strangely out of place: more at home perhaps in a yeshiva in Cracow 100 years ago.

But then, in a way, all of us, except the Arabs, looked dislocated; a group of European academics, businessmen, writers and journalists, in trainers, trespassing on tribal lands. The gulf separating the Palestinians and their Israeli visitors looked huge. Hardly a word passed between them. The Kahanist gunslingers kept out of sight of the TV cameras, but the gulf between us and them would have been just as great.

The way the Palestinians are treated is indefensible, but there was something sad, even tragic about their well-meaning sympathisers too. For they are the remnants of the old liberal-left elite, the Labour-voting Ashkenazi intellectuals who had hoped to build a decent, democratic, secular society in the Middle East. Some were born in Israel, others came later. But all had fought for the survival of their country and lost friends in several wars. And now, stuck between the fanatical settlers, Palestinian suicide bombers, and a rightwing government supported by poor Oriental Jews and hard-nosed Russians, it was as if they lived in a strange country.

The harshness of Israel's confrontation with the Palestianians has coarsened Israel itself. Old liberals feel isolated and abandoned in an increasingly brutal society. Several people in Jerusalem voiced surprise that I still dared to come under the present circumstances. Others told me how painful it was to be citizens of the world's most hated nation. They said they lived in fear of what their government might do in the case of further conflict in the Middle East. Grossman spoke about the betrayal of Jewish idealism; the ideals that brought generations of Jews to Israel. And yet he could not see himself living anywhere else. This was, after all, his country too.

To declare that liberalism in Israel is dead would be foolish. Despite the loose talk of some swaggering politicians (and their supporters abroad), most Israelis are not ready to embrace fascism or ethnic cleansing. They just want to feel safe. Right now, Sharon's hard line makes them feel safer than more moderate alternatives.

This could still change. But the liberals in Israel do need our support. The hard right gets plenty of help from Jewish chauvinists, neo-conservative dreamers of pax Americana, and religious fanatics, both Jewish and Christian.

The left gets almost none, because liberals in the worldwide diaspora regard the Zionist enterprise as an embarrassment, a nightmare that gives Jews a bad name. To wash one's hands of Israel might seem like the enlightened thing to do, but once the crazies take over, we will all feel the consequences.