Monday,
April 28
Israeli
Technology Powers FBI's Counter-Terrorism Data System
A system developed in Israel is powering
a new counter-terrorism database within the United States' Federal
Bureau of Investigation, enhancing the government's ability to thwart
terrorist attacks. The system will ensure knowledge and sharing
of all terrorism-related information within the FBI and with the
CIA, Department of Homeland Security, and other federal agencies.
The tool created by the ClearForest company, will allow bureau analysts
to more easily pore through the more than 1 billion documents that
make up the FBI repository and share information with other intelligence
agencies. ClearResearch provides a single-screen diagram of relationships
between people or places, and agents can receive a brief narrative
outlining the nature of the relationship by clicking on the link
between people. This tool has a powerful recognition system with
logic which the bureau can customize to its needs. (From Israel
21c) more
Editorial:
UN Sactions Suicide Bombings Against Israelis
The U.N. Commission on Human Rights,
the primary U.N. organ responsible for human rights protection,
is currently chaired by Libya. Three of the State Department's list
of state sponsors of terrorism are current members--Cuba, Sudan
and Syria. On April 15, the commission adopted a resolution sanctioning
the use of "all available means including armed struggle"--which
includes suicide bombing--as a legitimate tactic against Israelis.
Only five countries, including the U.S., voted against. The U.K.
and France abstained, and Russia approved. More than a quarter of
the commission's resolutions condemning a state's human rights violations
passed over the last 30 years have been directed at Israel. There
has never been a single resolution on China, Syria or Saudi Arabia.
(From Wall Street Journal) more
IDF
Nabs Palestinian Youth Planning Attack on Settlement
IDF troops on Saturday apprehended
an 18-year-old Palestinian near the West Bank settlement of Itamar,
armed with a knife, who planned to carry out a terror attack in
the settlement. The soldiers were tipped off by the youth's father,
who arrived at an IDF checkpost near Nablus and requested that the
soldiers prevent the attack. Soldiers posted near the settlement
spotted the youth as he approached and captured him. The IDF said
that by notifying the troops, the father had saved his son's life.
(From Ha'aretz) more
Tuesday,
April 29
Palestinian
Parliament Approves Abu Mazen Cabinet
The Palestinian parliament on Tuesday
approved a new Cabinet, installing Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) the
first Palestinian prime minister and clearing the way for presentation
of a new international peace plan for the Mideast. After a daylong
debate, the parliament voted confidence in the new Cabinet by a
vote of 51 to 18 with three abstentions.
Abbas spoke as he presented his new cabinet for ratification by
lawmakers. Abbas' remarks were the toughest by a Palestinian leader
in years against terrorism. He said: "We denounce terrorism
by any party and in all its forms both because of our religious
and moral traditions and because we are convinced that such methods
do not lend support to a just cause like ours, but rather destroy
it." "There is no military solution to our conflict...
There is no alternative to a just and comprehensive political solution...,"
Abbas continued. (From Jerusalem Post) more
Israeli,
Polish Presidents Join Youths Retracing Footsteps of Holocaust Victims
Israeli President Moshe Katzav called Auschwitz
"the utmost symbol of cruelty, lifelessness and evil"
after leading 3,000 Jews from around the world on a march Tuesday
from the former Nazi death camp to the gas chambers where more than
a million Jews perished. Some 2,000 Israeli students carrying the
Israeli flag and wearing blue and white joined Jews from across
Europe and the United States on the silent two-mile March of the
Living from the Auschwitz barracks to the remains of the Birkenau
crematoria. The route is retraced every year by young Jews and elderly
survivors to remember the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust
and also to celebrate Jewish survival. "The Jewish nation was
reborn from ashes scattered over the site of many extermination
camps. We returned to our fatherland, founded a sovereign state,
a developed, modern democratic Jewish state," Katzav said during
solemn commemorations at the end of the hour-long march. Polish
President Aleksander Kwasniweski said Poland was obliged to keep
alive the memory of the Holocaust. "We know very well how big
a duty we are bearing, to pass the knowledge about it as a warning
for the future generations," he said. (From Jerusalem Post)
more
Schools,
Clinics, Airport to be Shut Down as General Strike Takes Effect
A general strike planned by Israel's
largest labor union, the Histadrut, for Wednesday morning in protest
of the government's emergency economic plan. The economic plan encompasses
budget cuts to the tune of NIS 11.4 billion shekels ($2.3 b.). The
Treasury decided to put the cut to a Knesset vote on Wednesday without
having reached an agreement with the union about steep wage cuts
and thousands of layoffs envisaged once the policy goes into effect.
The government claims that the cut is necessary to curtail a widening
deficit, which some analysts claim could reach six percent of Gross
Domestic Product in the current fiscal year. (From Jerusalem Post)
more
Powell
to Visit Jerusalem, Ramallah in Trip Starting May 8
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
will visit Jerusalem, Ramallah and other Middle Eastern cities starting
May 8, following a separate trip this week that will include stops
in Syria and Lebanon, a State Department official said on Tuesday.
The second trip will include meetings on the Middle East peace plan
or "road map" with the Israelis and the new Palestinian
cabinet. (From Ha'aretz) more
Wednesday,
April 30
British
Suicide Bomber Kills 4, Wounds 50 in Tel Aviv
A terror attack took place early Wednesday
morning in Tel Aviv killing at least 4 people and injuring 50. Magen
David Adom emergency medical services has stated that 10 people
are in serious to critical condition. An American male tourist and
a French female tourist were among the wounded, according to Israel
police. Israel radio reports that a suicide bomber attempted to
enter Mike's Place, a seafront coffee house near the US Embassy
in Tel Aviv. Intial reports state the security guard at the restaurant
tried to wrestle the terrorist to the ground when the terrorist
detonated his explosives. The security guard survived the attack
and is presently fighting for his life in hospital, according to
the Israel police. Gil Kleiman, spokesperson of the Israel police,
said "Again we have witnessed yet another terror attack on
innocent civilians." Tel Aviv hospital official Gabi Barabash,
said the victims were young. (From Jerusalem Post) more
Road
Map Plan Presented to Israel and Palestinians
United States Ambassador to Israel
Dan Kurtzer presented Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with the 'road
map' to Middle East peace, drafted by a quartet of international
mediators, on Wednesday, and United Nations envoy to the Middle
East Terje Roed-Larsen presented the plan to to Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). The road map, backed by the
Quartet (comprised of the U.S., European Union, Russia, and the
United Nations) was released hours after the swearing-in ceremony
of reformist Abu Mazen and his cabinet. The U.S. had identified
Abu Mazen's taking office as a key step to be implemented before
releasing the peacemaking plan.
The leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas on Wednesday rejected
the U.S.-backed "roadmap" for Palestinian-Israeli peace
and vowed no respite in attacks on Israel. (From Ha'aretz) more
Sharp
Drop Reported in Islamic Terror Funding
There has been a drastic drop over
the past few months in the amount of financial aid channeled from
Islamic charitable organizations abroad to Islamic terror groups
in the territories. Israeli officials believe this is due to restrictions
imposed by the United States and other countries on charity groups
in their respective countries. At the same time, the sums of money
reaching the Palestinian Authority have grown. Since the start of
the intifada, hundreds of millions of dollars have poured into the
territories. Israeli security officials say the lion's share of
the funding has gone to terrorist organization. (From Ha'aretz)
more
Thursday,
May 1
General
Strike to End
The general strike is set to end, after
President Moshe Katsav summoned Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu
and Histadrut chairman MK Amir Perez to a meeting today, to ask
them to resume negotiations. After the official Histadrut (General
Federation of Labor in Israel) announcement is made tonight, ending
the public sector strike, unions will switch to labor sanctions.
The cabinet will simultaneously continue the economic plan legislative
procedures. The Knesset Finance Committee will convene on Sunday
to prepare the plan for the second and third Knesset readings. In
effect, negotiations will resume without prior conditions. (From
Globes) more
Hamas
Leader Killed in Gaza Incursion
Israeli
troops surrounded and attacked the home of a Hamas military leader
Thursday in Gaza, killing him and his two brothers, Palestinian
security sources said. Israeli military officials said the battle
was intended to target Yusef Abu Ghin and his brothers Iman and
Mahmoud. The Israel Defense Forces said the brothers were involved
in Wednesday's Qassam rocket attacks from Gaza and in planning and
conducting other attacks. At
least 10 other Palestinians died in the gun battle. Israeli
military sources said eight soldiers were wounded, with two in serious
condition. (From
CNN) more
Troops
Thwart Bombers Near Nablus
Soldiers on Thursday thwarted an
attack by arresting two Palestinians carrying a 10 kg. bomb in a
taxi outside of the West Bank city of Nablus, military sources said.
The men were stopped by IDF reservists apparently at a roadblock
near the village of Akraba. (From Jerusalem Post) more
Israel
Offers Turkey Quake Rescue Help
Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz offered
his Turkish counterpart relief assistance to help dig out survivors
of an earthquake that killed at least 84 people in the southeastern
part of the country. Turkish Defense Minister Vedgi Gonul thanked
Mofaz for the offer and said he would keep in touch in the coming
days. Israel has sent the IDF rescue unit to assist in relief efforts
after earthquakes in the past in Turkey and other countries. (From
Jerusalem Post) more
Friday,
May 2
Arafat
Undermines U.S. Roadmap
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat
ordered today the establishment of a national security council to
oversee all the PA's security mechanisms, an action that violates
the US Middle East roadmap. According to the roadmap, "all
Palestinian security organizations [are to be] consolidated into
three services reporting to an empowered Interior Minister,"
which falls under Minister of Interior Mohammed Dahlan. The move
empties the new structure of the Palestinian security services of
its content and thwarts the ability of PA Prime Minister Abu Mazen
and Dahlan to implement security reforms. (From Ha'aretz) more
NYU
Establishes Center for Israel Studies
New York University opened its
Taub Center for Israel Studies Thursday by hosting a lecture by
Michael Oren, distinguished academician and author of the best-selling
Six Days of War. The Center, which cost $3.5 million to establish,
joins Emory University in Atlanta, University of California at Berkeley,
Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and the University of Toronto
in adding Israel studies offerings in recent years. Israel studies
usually fit within Jewish studies programs, which has created a
serious academic gap. "Imagine during the Soviet period no
one studying about the Soviet Union," the chair of NYU's Skirball
Department, Lawrence Schiffman. The Forward, a NYC-based Jewish
newspaper suggests two reasons for the void: Middle Eastern studies
programs that are either hostile to Israel or narrowly focused on
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and Holocaust- and religion-heavy
Jewish studies departments that give little attention to modern
Israel. (From Jerusalem Post) more
Israel
Helping Asia Countries In Its Battle With SARS
The Ministry of Industry and Trade
and the Israel Export Institute jointly launched a program on Thursday
to send specialized products to Asia to fight the SARS. Products
such as Oridion Systems respiratory patient monitoring and breath
testing systems and Orex Computed Radiography X-ray digital scanner
will help in detecting and preventing the spread of the disease.
Israeli commercial attaches in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore,
Taiwan, and Thailand are coordinating the program. (From Globes)
more
Maccabi
Tel Aviv Wins Its 33rd State Cup Final
Basketball Team Maccabi Tel Aviv won the
State Cup for the 33rd time in the competition's history - and for
the third year in a row - scoring a 96-83 victory over Givat Shmuel
at Yad Eliahu on Thursday night. President Moshe Katsav presented
the State Cup to Maccabi captain Gur Shelef, while Derrick Sharp
was voted MVP of the game. (From Ha'aretz) more
9
Israeli Wines Win Medals at Bordeaux
Nine Israeli wineries won medallions at
the Challenge International du Vin at Bordeaux, France, where wineries
from 31 countries submitted some 5000 wines, Israel Radio reports.
Ramat Hagolan won a gold for its 1999 Cabernet Sauvignon and three
other medallions; Barkan won a gold for its Merlot 2001 Reserve
and one other medallion. (From Jerusalem
Post)
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