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Bush
Blames PA for Death of 3 Americans in Gaza
U.S. President George Bush yesterday
blamed the Palestinian Authority's failure to fight terrorism
for the deaths of three Americans in the bombing of a
diplomatic vehicle in Gaza, saying the PA's lack of a
terrorist-fighting security force "continues to cost
lives." Three American security guards were killed
and a diplomat was injured in the attack on the American
convoy in the northern Gaza Strip. Passengers in the three-car
U.S. convoy were en route to a meeting with Fulbright
scholarship candidates in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses said
the cars' diplomatic license plates, dark windows and
other security features, made them readily identifiable
as vehicles used by Americans.
(From Ha'aretz) more
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Jews
Flee before Palestinian Attack on Joseph's Tomb
A large group of Jewish worshipers
who visited Joseph's Tomb near Nablus yesterday was evacuated
by the Israel Defense Forces moments before a Palestinian
attack on the site. Yesterday, an unusually large group
- some 500 people - visited in honor of the Sukkot holiday.
In Jewish tradition, a different biblical figure is honored
on each day of the week-long holiday, and yesterday was
Joseph's day of honor. In the middle of the service, the
IDF received a warning of an impending attack and hastily
evacuated them. Not long afterward, Palestinians set the
site on fire with burning tires. (From Ha'aretz) more
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Poll:
75% of Palestinians Support Haifa Restaurant Attack
75% of Palestinians support the
suicide bombing of the Maxim restaurant in Haifa in which
23 people were killed. If the two sides agree on a mutual
cessation of violence, 59% (compared to 50% last June)
would support taking measures by the PA to prevent attacks
on Israelis. The center, headed by Khlail Shkaki, conducted
the poll between October 7th-14th October 2003 in the
Palestinian areas It has a 3% margin of error. (From Jerusalem
Post) more
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Shin
Bet Arrests PA Official for Smuggling Weapons into Gaza
The Shin Bet security service released
Thursday that it had arrested Palestinian Authority official
Akram Tubasi in September on suspicion of buying weapons
in Egypt and smuggling them into the Gaza Strip. Defense
sources also implicated former PA security affairs minister
Mohammed Dahlan in the weapons-smuggling. Tubasi, a Rafah
resident who served in the Palestinian coast guard, told
his questioners that he used tunnels in Rafah to smuggle
the weapons to Gaza, security officials were quoted as saying.
(From Ha'aretz) more
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Israel
Aircraft Industries Displays Airline Safety System
A system inside three small boxes
can protect civilian aircraft from terrorist missiles, an
Israeli company said Thursday, displaying its airborne protection
system for the first time. "Flight Guard" deflects
heat-seeking missiles by launching flares, a system in place
on military aircraft for a decade, adapted for civilian
aircraft by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI). In November
2002, terrorists fired two shoulder-mounted missiles at
an unprotected Israeli civilian airliner in Kenya. The missiles
narrowly missed. (From Jerusalem Post) more
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Using
Snouts to Sniff Out Landmines
A young Israeli may have found
an extremely low-tech - though extremely non-kosher - way
of detecting landmines. He's discovered that wild boars
excel at locating mines, explosives and gun powder. The
problem of landmines is a world-wide concern, Approximately
55 million landmines in nearly 60 countries cause over 10,000
casualties each year. Geva Zin, 26, a resident of Beersheva,
traveled to Croatia to train dogs to detect land mines for
a private de-mining firm. During the course of his work
in Croatia, Zin encountered dozens of wild boars who grazed
in the area. "I watched their behavior and reached
the conclusion that they could be better than dogs in finding
mines and explosives," Zin said. Zin's research back
in Israel proved that the pigs could be trained to discover
dummy mines, buried deep underground, quickly and efficiently
- without actually touching and detonating the mines. When
one of the pigs detected a mine it sat down next to it,
waved its snout in the air and waited for a food reward.
(From Israel21c) more
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US
House of Representatives Passes Syria Sanctions Act
The US House of Representatives
approved a bill late Wednesday that would impose new sanctions
on Syria. The vote was 398-4. It now awaits consideration
by the Senate. The White House, frustrated by Syria's non-cooperation
in preventing the flow of jihadists into Iraq and by its
refusal to shut down Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad
operations in Damascus, withdrew its opposition to the bill
last week, and backed Israel's strike on a Palestinian terrorist
group's training camp near Damascus. The Syria Accountability
and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act would ban US sales
of dual-use items to Syria and would require the president
- unless he invokes a national security waiver - to select
two sanctions from a menu of six. (From Jerusalem Post)
more
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US
Vetos UN Anti-Fence Resolution
The United States vetoed a UN Security
Council resolution Tuesday night that would have condemned
Israel's security fence as illegal and demanded that it
be taken down. The US, which holds one of five vetoes in
the 15-member council, voted against the resolution after
Syria, which introduced the draft last Friday, refused to
consider an alternative US text that called for the dismantling
of terrorist groups. Israel's Ambassador Dan Gillerman argued
that the fence, when completed, will benefit Palestinians
by enabling the IDF to reduce its presence in the West Bank.
(From Jerusalem Post) more
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Malaysia
Defends PM's Claim that 'Jews Rule the World,' Apologizes
for Offense
Malaysia on Friday defended Prime
Minister Mahathir Mohamad's assertion that Jews rule the
world, but apologized for any misunderstandings or offense
caused, as outrage poured in from the United States and
Europe condemning the remarks as outrageous. Mahathir said
the world's "1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated
by a few million Jews," but suggested the use of political
and economic tactics, not violence, to achieve a "final
victory." "The prime minister used expressions
that were gravely offensive, very strongly anti-Semitic
and ... strongly counter to principles of tolerance, dialogue
and understanding between the Western world and the Islamic
world," Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. (From
Ha'aretz) more
Click
here for response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Israel
Objects to Advanced Weapons Sales to Saudis and Egyptians
Army radio said that Israel is
interested in blocking specifically the sale of JADAM (joint
direct attack munitions) to Egypt. These would allow Egyptian
bombers to have greater all-weather accuracy with the fire
and forget guidance kits. Israel already has these weapons.
According to published notifications to Congress of pending
US arms transfer, Egypt is seeking 414 AIM-9 Sidewinder
air-to-air missiles, 459 Hellfire missiles, 53 RGM 84-L-4
Harpoon Block II antiship missiles, 26 extended range-multiple
launch rocket systems, Apache Longbow attack helicopters,
AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles and electronic intelligence
systems for C-130 aircraft. (From Jerusalem Post) more
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Singer
Achinoam Nini to Join Fight Against World Hunger
Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, better
known to her fans as Noa, was appointed Thursday as a UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Ambassador, and
will work with other international celebrities to fight
world hunger. The main purpose of the program is to attract
public and media attention to the unacceptable situation
that almost 800 million people continue to suffer from chronic
hunger and malnutrition in a time of unprecedented plenty,
the organization says. (From Israel Insider) more
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Israeli
Research Behind New Cancer-Fighting Drug
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
has approved a new drug to fight cancer, which is the result
of 30 years of research by Israeli scientists. Velcade,
developed by Millennium Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, Massachusetts,
is the result of work headed by Prof. Avram Hershko of the
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa on ubiquitin
- a small protein involved in protein degradation. Velcade
"shows a significant effect on patients with multiple
myeloma that have not responded to other treatments,"
said FDA Commissioner Dr. Mark McClellan. Velcade was in
the FDA's accelerated approval program that speeds up approval
of promising drugs for life-threatening diseases. Multiple
myeloma is the second most prevalent blood cancer after
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, according to the FDA. Some 45,000
people in the U.S. alone have multiple myeloma, and an estimated
14,600 new cases are diagnosed each year. (From Israel21c)
more
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Christians'
Sukkot Visit is Morale Booster for Israel
Thousands of Christians from around
the world arrived in Israel in time for the Sukkot holiday
and to show their support for Israel. An estimated 4,000
Christians from some 70 nations, including approximately
1,000 local participants, gathered in Jerusalem this week
for the annual Feast of Tabernacles Celebration, organized
by the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem (ICEJ).
Officials at Israel's Ministry of Tourism say the festivities
are Israel's largest annual tourist event, netting the country
some $15 to $18 million a year. (From Israel Insider) more
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Ram
and Erlich Avenge Israeli Honor on the Tennis Courts
Andy Ram and Yoni (Jonathan) Erlich
became the men’s doubles tennis champions at the Grand
Prix de Tennis de Lyon in France this past Sunday (October
12). The Israelis defeated Julien Benneteau and Nicolas
Mahut of France, 6-1, 6-3. Ram and Erlich are now ranked
16th in the world for men’s tennis doubles. Each of
them was awarded 21,000 euros for their victory. (From Arutz
Sheva) more
This Week in Review was
prepared by Joy Powers at The Consulate General of Israel in San
Francisco.
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