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Friday, November 25, 2005
Some headlines and summaries from JTA
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Presbyterians meet with Hezbollah
Representatives of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. met once again with Hezbollah officials.
The Middle East Media Research Institute cited Oct. 20 Lebanese media reports that Presbyterian officials met with Nabil Qawuk, the terrorist group’s commander in southern Lebanon.
“The Americans hear in the Western media that Hezbollah is a terrorist organization, and they do not hear any other opinion,” the Lebanese reports quoted Presbyterian spokesman Robert Worley as saying. “They know nothing about the party´s concern for the people of the south.” Worley was also quoted as saying that the church “suffered” because of Jewish organizational pressure after it decided to divest from Israel.
A similar meeting in October 2004 led to the firing of two delegation members from the Presbyterian church.
MEMRI said that a delegation of families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks also met with Hezbollah officials.
Although Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 to U.N.-certified lines, the organization continues to refuse to recognize the Jewish state.
Agreement on neutral ´red crystal´
Magen David Adom and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society have reached agreement on the adoption of a new neutral symbol.
The understanding between the two aid societies on the “red crystal” emblem is expected to be signed Monday in Geneva, according to a report by The Associated Press citing the Swiss Foreign Ministry.
The agreement could help smooth the way for Geneva Convention signatory nations to accept the emblem, a red square perched on one of its corners.
Opposition from Arab and Muslim nations to the MDA’s use of the Star of David as its symbol has been among the major stumbling blocks to MDA´s acceptance in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Passage of the red crystal by the signatory nations is expected to lead the way to Israel’s acceptance after decades of exclusion.
U.S.: Elections shouldn’t hinder progress
Forthcoming elections in Israel and the Palestinian areas should not hinder Palestinian-Israeli cooperation, the U.S. State Department said.
“What this requires really is, at this point, a lot of hard work at the working level,” said spokesman Sean McCormack. “There really aren’t at this point any political decisions that need to be taken at, sort of, the leadership level.”
One example he gave was the purchase and installment of scanners in order to facilitate the movement of Palestinians in and out of the Palestinian areas. Israel and the Palestinians achieved a breakthrough agreement to cooperate on transiting Palestinian people and goods after Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. secretary of state, intensified U.S. pressure.
Palestinians go to legislative elections in January and Israel goes to general elections on March 28.
Aoun: no Palestinian refugees
Palestinian refugees can never become permanent citizens of Lebanon, that country’s opposition leader said, and their fate must be decided as part of an agreement with Israel.
Michel Aoun was in Washington this week to meet with top U.S. officials, including Condoleezza Rice, the U.S. Secretary of State. Aoun, a Christian who recently returned from 15 years in exile, leads the opposition to the Syria-allied president, Emile Lahoud.
Speaking Tuesday at the National Press Club in Washington, Aoun said he favored repatriating the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees to their original homes, a solution Israel flatly rejects and that Palestinian officials have backed away from in recent years.
“The Palestinians did not integrate,” Aoun said. He said that a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must include the repatriation of Palestinians living in Lebanon, some of whom are third or fourth generation. “The international community, which has helped the establishment of the state of Israel, can assist also in the absorption of those people.”
Human rights groups have criticized Lebanon for not even attempting to absorb its Palestinian refugees, unlike Syria and Jordan, which also have large Palestinian refugee populations.
“Honor killings” in Israeli Arab sector
“Honor killings” have taken the lives of some nine Israeli Arab women so far this year.
According to the Women Against Violence organization, the murders — in which women who are believed to have broken certain social norms thereby shaming their families are killed — are only “the tip of the iceberg” as far as violence against women in the Israeli Arab sector is concerned, Ha’aretz reported.
Most recently, 23-year-old Samar Hasan was allegedly killed by her Christian father and uncles because she was living with a Muslim man.
Israeli held as Hezbollah spy
An Israeli Arab is on trial on charges of spying for Hezbollah.
The 38-year-old Nazareth man was charged in the city´s District Court on Thursday with espionage. According to prosecutors, he was recruited for cash by a member of the Lebanese militia while visiting relatives in South Africa over the summer. At Hezbollah´s behest, the defendant planned to set up a restaurant in Haifa to attract Israeli security officials, who could later be tapped for information on military installations, prosecutors said. It was not clear how the defendant would plead to the charges.
http://jta.org/
posted by Somebody @ 10:20 PM Permanent Link
 
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