JERUSALEM NEWS
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Events, happenings, and Opinions Concerning
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Jerusalem News-744
Jerusalem News-744
Date 14th March 2008, 7th Adar-2 5768
Contents:
1. 'Build homes in memory of students'
2. Guysen International News: Extracts
3. Norway: Royal tribute as Auschwitz survivor is laid to rest
1. ' Build homes in memory of students'
Matthew Wagner , THE JERUSALEM POST Mar. 11, 2008
www.jpost.com
/servlet/Satellite?cid=1205261308001&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Shas spiritual guide Rabbi Ovadia Yosef gave his blessing Tuesday to a
project to build 800 new residential units in east Jerusalem, 100 for each
student killed in the terrorist attack at the capital's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva
on Thursday.
Shas chairman Eli Yishai announced his party's intention to push ahead with
the project during a tour of a strip of land called Kidmat Zion that borders
on the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Abu Dis.
The plot also overlooks the Jebl Mukaber neighborhood of Ala Abu Dhaim, the
terrorist who gunned down the yeshiva students.
"We want to build 100 apartments for each of the righteous yeshiva students
who were killed," Yishai announced during the tour, which was organized by
Ateret Kohanim, an organization that encourages Jews to live in Jerusalem
across the Green Line and purchases land from Arabs.
"It is absurd that Arabs can continue to build as they please in Jerusalem
while Jews are forbidden to do so," Yishai said.
A Shas spokesman said Yishai had spoken with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on
several occasions about approving the Kidmat Zion project.
Senior government officials, meanwhile, said Yishai's announcement took the
Prime Minister's Office by surprise. and that they were not aware of any
concrete plans.
"Shas is very much interested in moving forward with the building of the
units," said the spokesman, though it was not being presented as a condition
for Shas remaining in the government coalition.
Kidmat Zion is less than a kilometer from the Temple Mount.
Despite the potentially incendiary political environment, a Shas spokesman
said Yishai and Yosef were not concerned.
"Do Arabs worry about Jewish reprisals?" asked the spokesman.
Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Eli Simhayof of Shas, who accompanied Yishai on the
tour of Kidmat Zion, said that during morning prayers at Yosef's home in the
city's Har Nof neighborhood the rabbi endorsed the construction project as a
fitting way to commemorate the eight slain students.
"The rabbi is distraught by that horrible incident," said Simhayof. "He gave
us his blessing and full support before we left. He told us that building
there was a mitzva because it strengthened our hold on the heart of
Jerusalem."
Six Jewish families currently live in Kidmat Zion, which, according to
Ateret Kohanim spokesman Daniel Luria, is situated on land that has belonged
to Jews since the 1920s and that is inside both Jerusalem's municipal
boundaries and the route of the security barrier.
"A total of 598 dunams [about 150 acres] in that area belongs to Jews," said
Luria. "Unfortunately, about 70 percent of the land has taken over by
illegal Arab construction. The remaining 30% is what is slated to be built
on."
Kidmat Zion is bordered on one side by the security barrier around Jerusalem
and on the other side by a valley.
Asked if he was concerned that building Kidmat Zion might result in Arab
violence, Luria said, "If we were concerned about every violent response
staged by the Arabs, Israel would never have been established in the first
place."
He said the Kidmat Zion project was not created as a response to the murder
of the eight yeshiva students, and had been in the offing for more than
three years. But he agreed that it was an appropriate response to the
attack.
"If we have the strength and conviction to build 100 new Jewish homes every
time they murder us, that will get that message across whose country this is
and whose city this is," Luria said.
Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer said, "We hope Shas is just making
empty declarations to score political points, even though that in itself is
bad."
Oppenheimer added that building Jewish neighborhoods in the midst of Arab
populations necessitated a military presence, which in turn created the
tensions and frustrations of living under occupation.
"Shas is trying to create a situation where negotiations with the
Palestinians over the division of Jerusalem will breakdown and it will be
impossible to reach a feasible agreement," he said
Prime Minister's Office spokesman Mark Regev had no immediate reaction.
But Meretz MK Haim Oron accused Yishai of "preventing any chance of moving
forward in a peace process."
Also Tuesday, Shas hailed the cabinet decision to build 750 housing units in
Givat Ze'ev, a northern suburb of Jerusalem in the West Bank.
A party spokesman said the decision was a Shas victory.
"The first stage is Givat Ze'ev, to be followed by Betar Ilit and Modi'in
Ilit [two haredi towns in the West Bank]."
Olmert agreed to allow construction after Shas threatened last week to
abstain in a no-confidence vote against the government on Monday.
Two weeks ago, Shas leaders Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Yishai and
Communications Minister Ariel Attias warned that the party would not support
the government in the no-confidence vote unless the construction was
authorized.
AP contributed to this article.
2.
Guysen
International News: Extracts
Wednesday 12 March 2008
23:08 Egypt: 15% of the Nile delta will suffer from the rising sea level by
2020. 75 million Egyptians are threatened by the increase of 50 centimeters. (Guysen.International.News)
18:43 Belgium: Brussels could have a Muslim majority in two decades. According
to a survey conducted for the daily, La Libre Belgique, the RTBF and the
Catholic University of Leuven, a third of the population of the capital is
Muslim. The high birth rate and intensity of religious practice should result in
a Muslim majority in 15 or 20 years, according to a Belgian university. (Guysen.International.News)
16:28 Belgium: the Belgian government and banks have agreed to pay $170 million
to Holocaust survivors, families of victims and to the Jewish community, as
compensation for losses suffered during the Second World War. (Guysen.International.News)
15:58 According to a study conducted by the BDI company, 40% of the income of
the Israeli market is in the hands of 19 families. Among them, the Ofer, Tshuva
and Dankner families. (Guysen.International.News)
13:45 During his visit to the Merkaz Harav yeshiva last night, Barak said that
the terrorist had not chosen the scene of the attack by chance, the yeshiva is
the seat of ''Jewish and Zionist courage''. The defense minister also said that
there should be no illusions about terrorist threats of all kinds hanging over
Israel. (Guysen.International.News)
07:29 The water crisis that is looming in Israel, might be the worst of the
last decade. Water levels are down, precipitation inadequate, and private
consumption is increasing. Faced with this equation, the Office of Water is
about to take cost-saving measures, but the water quality is already
threatened. (Guysen.International.News)
03:12 The British Home Office informed Moshe Feiglin, the leader of the right
wing of the Likud, by mail that he was forbidden to stay in Britain. According
to the letter, ''Moshe Feiglin incites others to commit criminal acts and
promotes hatred, which could lead to intercommunal violence in the United
Kingdom''. (Guysen.International.News)
3. Norway: Royal tribute as Auschwitz
survivor is laid to rest
|
Extract:
Julius Paltiel, one of the few Norwegian Jews to survive the Nazi
concentration camp at Auschwitz, was buried in Trondheim on Wednesday with the
king present to honour Paltiel's memory.
Concentration camp survivor Julius Paltiel devoted his life to educating people
about the dangers of extremism.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2309363.ece
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