USA TODAY
February 28, 2000
Matthew Kalman
JERUSALEM -- Israel, acting on a request from lawyers in a British libel case involving claims that the Holocaust never happened, agreed Sunday to hand over contents of unpublished memoirs by convicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann during his trial in 1962.
Lawyers for Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt, a scholar in modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, sought the journals of thoughts, jottings and philosophical essays.
Right-wing British historian David Irving is suing Lipstadt and Penguin Books. Irving contends that a book by Lipstadt, published in 1995, caused irreparable harm to his reputation by calling him "a dangerous spokesman for Holocaust denial."
The book examines claims that the Nazi campaign to exterminate Jews never took place.
Irving denies that millions of Jews were systematically slain by the Nazis.
He claims that Hitler didn't know about the genocide until the final stages of World War II.
Richard Rampton, defense counsel for Lipstadt, asked Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein last week to send a copy of the notes to London for use in the trial, as proof that the Holocaust did in fact occur.
The journals have been locked away in state archives since Eichmann was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in Israel in 1962.
Eichmann was snatched by an Israeli spy squad from his hideout in Argentina in 1960.
Scholars who have read the notes say they contain attempts by Eichmann to justify his role in the Nazi extermination policy in which as many as 6 million Jews and 4 million others were murdered, many in designated death camps.
In the notes, Eichmann repeats the blunt admission he made at his trial that the mass murder of Europe's Jews took place under the Nazis. However, he denied playing a major role.
In fact, historians say, Eichmann was the key Nazi official in charge of organizing the forced emigration of Jews from Germany, Austria and the Czech protectorate before the exterminations began.
Eichmann was put in charge of the mass transportation of Jews from western, central and southeastern Europe to the extermination camps after the mass murders began in 1941.
The Israeli authorities have refrained from publishing the notes because of questions about copyright. Eichmann's sons have demanded that the notes be returned to the family.
Yehuda Bauer of the Hebrew University, Israel's leading Holocaust scholar, was one of the experts called in to advise Rubinstein.
"The copyright issue has not yet been settled, but if there is a demand from the court in London, it has to be considered," he said. "Apart from the fact that he fully admits the murder of the Jews in all its details, which might be useful, there's nothing new in it. There is no historical significance to the notes, but they may be of significance in a trial at which somebody tries to show that there was no Holocaust. This is one of the major actors talking quite freely about the destruction of the Jews."
The Israeli Justice Department said Prime Minister Ehud Barak "agrees with the decision, which is in line with his policy of fighting Holocaust denial."
Monday, 28 February 2000
Wednesday, 9 February 2000
Cheated out of a fortune
The Guardian, Wednesday 9 February 2000
Jörg Haider, the far-right giant of Austrian politics, is the proud owner of a £10m country estate. But a Jewish professor is claiming the land was swindled from his family by the Nazis. Matthew Kalman reports
When Giorgio Roifer first set his eyes on the beautiful forest of Barental near Klagenfurt in the southern Austrian Tyrol, he thought he had found the perfect estate to expand his burgeoning timber business. The Russian-born Jewish entrepreneur, who had become a naturalised Italian, lived with his wife and three children in Pisa. They had servants, horses and two cars. He had timber and sawmill interests all over Italy and southern Austria, and when he acquired the 3,700-acre Barental estate at the age of 37, it seemed the ideal addition to his growing empire.
But his wife and children were destined never to see Barental. Less than a year after Roifer bought the estate in 1937, Hitler became the ruler of Austria under the Anschluss. When Roifer visited Barental in 1938, he found a sign on the door of the Moser Hotel where he used to stay in Klagenfurt. It said: "Dogs and Jews are not welcome."
The Nazis embarked on a ruthless policy of Aryanisation - forcing Jews to sell their property and leave the country. Roifer died that year, and soon after the land was sold to a man called Josef Webhofer, who left it to his son Wilhelm.
Today, it belongs to Jörg Haider, leader of the far-right Austrian Freedom party, who received it as a gift in 1986 from Webhofer, his great-uncle. Worth about £10m, the hunting, fishing, shooting and wood-logging estate is the basis of the vast fortune that has made Haider one of the wealthiest men in Austria. The original sale was, however, illegal. If Haider's family had not deceived Roifer's widow years after the war, the estate would still belong to her family.
Roifer's son, Alexander, who many believe is the rightful heir to Barental, lives today in a modest apartment in a middle-class Jerusalem suburb called French Hill, far removed from the grandeur of Pisa or the beauty of Barental. White-haired, bespectacled, a professor of Bible studies at the nearby Hebrew university, he seems bemused by the sudden interest in his family history and is reluctant to talk about Haider.
He tells the story of the estate in measured tones, despite the disturbing memories it stirs. Roifer says his mother, who died in 1995, was forced to sell the estate for a fraction of its real value, and never discovered that she had been tricked into giving it up until it was too late. "I am certainly not happy about what happened, but I do not wake up every morning angry about it," he says. "A man builds his life and fortunately I have found other things to keep me busy and interested. Of course I am sorry that the Roifer forest is now the Haider forest.
"The property was sold in October 1940 under duress. In the course of the sale an illegal act was committed, but the authorities in Karenten induced the sale in order to Aryanise the land. If you ask me, do we have a legal claim, the answer is no. If you ask if I think what has happened was morally right, I think it stinks.
"The acquisition was made in several stages and was completed in 1937. On August 26 1938 my father died of cancer."
Roifer was 38. His young widow, Matilde, and children Noemi, 10, Josef, 8 and Alexander, 6, fled to Palestine to escape the Nazis.
"In October 1939, we left Italy for Israel. My father, who was a Zionist, told my mother on his deathbed to take the family to Israel. It was almost impossible to get visas, but my mother wrote a letter which eventually got to [Israeli statesman] David Ben-Gurion, who made sure we got a visa.
"My uncle in Italy decided to sell the forest. There was all sorts of virulent anti-semitic propaganda in the press. He was under a great deal of psychological and physical duress. If we had been Austrian citizens and therefore citizens of the expanded German Reich, it would have been very simple. They would have said, 'Here are 10 Reichmarks, the forest is now ours.' But we were Italians and the Italian government would not allow that to happen."
Instead of the estate being confiscated, the family were able to sell it, but the price of 300,000 Reichsmarks - about £750,000 at today's prices - was only about one-tenth of the actual value of the property.
"The buyer was Josef Webhofer from Brunich in Southern Tyrol," says Roifer. "Hitler and Mussolini had signed an agreement about the region where he lived, a German-speaking area of Italy. The Germans living in Tyrol could either stay in Italy and become Italians, changing their names and losing the autonomy they enjoyed, or they could emigrate to the Third Reich. Josef Webhofer bought this land in order to have some stake inside the Third Reich and move there."
Matilde had not wanted to sell the estate and didn't even know of the sale until her brother-in-law wrote to her at the end of the war. Worse was to come. When the money finally reached Italy, it was frozen until after the war, by which time inflation had reduced its value to almost nothing.
In 1953, Roifer's mother went back to Austria to try to get a fairer sum from Webhofer. To their surprise, he agreed to pay another $100,000. "When she received that money, my mother signed a paper foregoing all future claims," says Roifer. "The indemnity was given under restrictive conditions. We were not permitted access to the documentation in the land registry office in Klagenfurt."
It was only years later that the family discovered why Webhofer had insisted on that condition and why he had been so willing to pay the extra cash. In 1989 papers were discovered at the land registry office in Klagenfurt which amazed the Roifers.
"The document said that the power of attorney granted by my mother, Matilde Roifer Galichi, to her brother-in-law, Dr Naphtoli Emdin, was not valid. But because it was desirable to Aryanise the land, the local officials decided to approve the sale anyway. In other words, there was no sale. Until 1953 the forest was legally ours. That is why Webhofer agreed to pay, because he knew that if this became known, the deal would be void."
Jörg Haider, the far-right giant of Austrian politics, is the proud owner of a £10m country estate. But a Jewish professor is claiming the land was swindled from his family by the Nazis. Matthew Kalman reports
When Giorgio Roifer first set his eyes on the beautiful forest of Barental near Klagenfurt in the southern Austrian Tyrol, he thought he had found the perfect estate to expand his burgeoning timber business. The Russian-born Jewish entrepreneur, who had become a naturalised Italian, lived with his wife and three children in Pisa. They had servants, horses and two cars. He had timber and sawmill interests all over Italy and southern Austria, and when he acquired the 3,700-acre Barental estate at the age of 37, it seemed the ideal addition to his growing empire.
But his wife and children were destined never to see Barental. Less than a year after Roifer bought the estate in 1937, Hitler became the ruler of Austria under the Anschluss. When Roifer visited Barental in 1938, he found a sign on the door of the Moser Hotel where he used to stay in Klagenfurt. It said: "Dogs and Jews are not welcome."
The Nazis embarked on a ruthless policy of Aryanisation - forcing Jews to sell their property and leave the country. Roifer died that year, and soon after the land was sold to a man called Josef Webhofer, who left it to his son Wilhelm.
Today, it belongs to Jörg Haider, leader of the far-right Austrian Freedom party, who received it as a gift in 1986 from Webhofer, his great-uncle. Worth about £10m, the hunting, fishing, shooting and wood-logging estate is the basis of the vast fortune that has made Haider one of the wealthiest men in Austria. The original sale was, however, illegal. If Haider's family had not deceived Roifer's widow years after the war, the estate would still belong to her family.
Roifer's son, Alexander, who many believe is the rightful heir to Barental, lives today in a modest apartment in a middle-class Jerusalem suburb called French Hill, far removed from the grandeur of Pisa or the beauty of Barental. White-haired, bespectacled, a professor of Bible studies at the nearby Hebrew university, he seems bemused by the sudden interest in his family history and is reluctant to talk about Haider.
He tells the story of the estate in measured tones, despite the disturbing memories it stirs. Roifer says his mother, who died in 1995, was forced to sell the estate for a fraction of its real value, and never discovered that she had been tricked into giving it up until it was too late. "I am certainly not happy about what happened, but I do not wake up every morning angry about it," he says. "A man builds his life and fortunately I have found other things to keep me busy and interested. Of course I am sorry that the Roifer forest is now the Haider forest.
"The property was sold in October 1940 under duress. In the course of the sale an illegal act was committed, but the authorities in Karenten induced the sale in order to Aryanise the land. If you ask me, do we have a legal claim, the answer is no. If you ask if I think what has happened was morally right, I think it stinks.
"The acquisition was made in several stages and was completed in 1937. On August 26 1938 my father died of cancer."
Roifer was 38. His young widow, Matilde, and children Noemi, 10, Josef, 8 and Alexander, 6, fled to Palestine to escape the Nazis.
"In October 1939, we left Italy for Israel. My father, who was a Zionist, told my mother on his deathbed to take the family to Israel. It was almost impossible to get visas, but my mother wrote a letter which eventually got to [Israeli statesman] David Ben-Gurion, who made sure we got a visa.
"My uncle in Italy decided to sell the forest. There was all sorts of virulent anti-semitic propaganda in the press. He was under a great deal of psychological and physical duress. If we had been Austrian citizens and therefore citizens of the expanded German Reich, it would have been very simple. They would have said, 'Here are 10 Reichmarks, the forest is now ours.' But we were Italians and the Italian government would not allow that to happen."
Instead of the estate being confiscated, the family were able to sell it, but the price of 300,000 Reichsmarks - about £750,000 at today's prices - was only about one-tenth of the actual value of the property.
"The buyer was Josef Webhofer from Brunich in Southern Tyrol," says Roifer. "Hitler and Mussolini had signed an agreement about the region where he lived, a German-speaking area of Italy. The Germans living in Tyrol could either stay in Italy and become Italians, changing their names and losing the autonomy they enjoyed, or they could emigrate to the Third Reich. Josef Webhofer bought this land in order to have some stake inside the Third Reich and move there."
Matilde had not wanted to sell the estate and didn't even know of the sale until her brother-in-law wrote to her at the end of the war. Worse was to come. When the money finally reached Italy, it was frozen until after the war, by which time inflation had reduced its value to almost nothing.
In 1953, Roifer's mother went back to Austria to try to get a fairer sum from Webhofer. To their surprise, he agreed to pay another $100,000. "When she received that money, my mother signed a paper foregoing all future claims," says Roifer. "The indemnity was given under restrictive conditions. We were not permitted access to the documentation in the land registry office in Klagenfurt."
It was only years later that the family discovered why Webhofer had insisted on that condition and why he had been so willing to pay the extra cash. In 1989 papers were discovered at the land registry office in Klagenfurt which amazed the Roifers.
"The document said that the power of attorney granted by my mother, Matilde Roifer Galichi, to her brother-in-law, Dr Naphtoli Emdin, was not valid. But because it was desirable to Aryanise the land, the local officials decided to approve the sale anyway. In other words, there was no sale. Until 1953 the forest was legally ours. That is why Webhofer agreed to pay, because he knew that if this became known, the deal would be void."
Monday, 7 February 2000
Monday, 3 January 2000
Israel, Syria aim for peace
CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
January 3, 2000
MATTHEW KALMAN
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, leaving for today's opening of talks with Syria in West Virginia, said Sunday that he is prepared to pay "a heavy price" for peace with Syria but warned that he wouldn't pay "any price."
The talks between Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al- Sharaa will be held in Shepherdstown, W.Va. President Clinton will open the talks in the state's oldest town, about 75 miles from Washington.
Barak said the talks would be difficult and complex but that he was determined to reach an agreement that would strengthen Israel.
He said Sunday that he felt the "burden of responsibility" to achieve an agreement within the year. "We don't …
January 3, 2000
MATTHEW KALMAN
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, leaving for today's opening of talks with Syria in West Virginia, said Sunday that he is prepared to pay "a heavy price" for peace with Syria but warned that he wouldn't pay "any price."
The talks between Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al- Sharaa will be held in Shepherdstown, W.Va. President Clinton will open the talks in the state's oldest town, about 75 miles from Washington.
Barak said the talks would be difficult and complex but that he was determined to reach an agreement that would strengthen Israel.
He said Sunday that he felt the "burden of responsibility" to achieve an agreement within the year. "We don't …
Saturday, 6 November 1999
Archaeologist Draws Fire for Doubting Biblical Accounts
Salt Lake City Tribune,
6 Nov 1999
By Matthew Kalman
USA Today
JERUSALEM -- An Israeli archaeologist is drawing fire for claiming that the biblical history of the Jewish people is probably fiction.
In an article last week in Ha'aretz newspaper, Ze'ev Herzog, a professor at Tel Aviv University argued that the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt probably never happened, the Ten Commandments were not given on Mount Sinai, and Joshua never conquered the land of Israel. Herzog said that if there was a King David, he probably was no more than a tribal chieftain. The same holds for King Solomon, Herzog said.
"The many Egyptian documents known to us do not make any reference to the sojourn of the Children of Israel in Egypt or the events of the Exodus," Herzog said. "Generations of scholars tried to locate Mount Sinai and the stations of the tribes of Israel in the desert. Despite all this diligent research, not one site was identified that could correspond to the biblical picture."
Herzog said there is no evidence that Joshua led the children of Israel into the Holy Land or brought down the walls of Jericho.
"Repeated excavations by various expeditions... have only yielded disappointments," he said. "During the period when the conquest would have taken place, there were no cities there, and of course no walls to bring down."
To many people in Israel, such claims smack of blasphemy, even though many scientists agree with Herzog.
"What did they expect to find? The bones from Pharaoh's dreams?" scoffs Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, head of Maale Adumim Yeshiva and a former principal of Jews' College in London. "The fact of the matter is that details are very scant in the text. Frequently, we don't even really understand what it says. To say that archaeology can prove or disprove anything is ridiculous."
Not just religious leaders are angered. Many secular Israelis see the modern Jewish state as a revival of the biblical Hebrew kingdoms. To them, challenging the Bible means challenging the legitimacy of the modern Jewish claim to the land of Israel.
"I adhere to the view that the Bible is our basic starting point," said Tommy Lapid, leader of the avowedly secularist Shinui Party. "No other people in the world has a book like the Hebrew Bible, so why is Professor Herzog feeding us this nonsense?"
Herzog also has drawn fire from scholars. Adam Zertal, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa, has dedicated his life to mapping the biblical episodes in Samaria, including the entry of Joshua into the Holy Land.
"We found almost certain proof that the story of the entry into Israel is very believable," said Zertal, who has spent eight years excavating a site on Mount Ebol, where the Bible states Joshua set up his first altar to God. "The relevant materials are in the field. We only have to find them."
"Archaeology does not have the power to disprove the written record," said Avraham Malamat, a Jewish history expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "If you ask a good archaeologist, he will say that he cannot find out the entire truth."
Herzog is surprised at the criticism. "I don't think it is right to guess at motives, based on the results of scientific inquiry," he said.
"Archaeology has always been used in this society and used to point in one direction," he said. "Now I'm suggesting that perhaps it should be used to point in another direction."
Palestinian and European archaeologists accuse their Israeli colleagues of politicizing archaeology to bolster Jewish claims.
Palestinian archaeologist Hamdan Taha has been excavating Tel Es-Sultan, the ancient site of Jericho. "There is no proof of any wall from the assumed time of Joshua's invasion," Taha said. "Nothing has been uncovered here in the last 100 years of excavation. ... Archaeology must be viewed as a scientific enterprise and no more as an ideological means to prove or disprove modern political claims."
Many contemporary biblical archaeologists support most of Herzog's views.
It is a different story, however, for the Israeli public, which idolizes biblical heroes such as King David.
While conceding that the Bible probably glorified David and Solomon, Avraham Biran, head of archaeology at Jerusalem's Hebrew Union College, said an inscription he discovered at Tel Dan in northern Israel proves their prominence at the time. The Aramaic inscription, attributed to a king of Damascus, refers to a "House of David" and is believed to date from the ninth century B.C. -- 100 years after David.
"If an Aramaean king from the middle of the 9th century knew about the existence of David, why should an archaeologist say that he doesn't?"
6 Nov 1999
By Matthew Kalman
USA Today
JERUSALEM -- An Israeli archaeologist is drawing fire for claiming that the biblical history of the Jewish people is probably fiction.
In an article last week in Ha'aretz newspaper, Ze'ev Herzog, a professor at Tel Aviv University argued that the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt probably never happened, the Ten Commandments were not given on Mount Sinai, and Joshua never conquered the land of Israel. Herzog said that if there was a King David, he probably was no more than a tribal chieftain. The same holds for King Solomon, Herzog said.
"The many Egyptian documents known to us do not make any reference to the sojourn of the Children of Israel in Egypt or the events of the Exodus," Herzog said. "Generations of scholars tried to locate Mount Sinai and the stations of the tribes of Israel in the desert. Despite all this diligent research, not one site was identified that could correspond to the biblical picture."
Herzog said there is no evidence that Joshua led the children of Israel into the Holy Land or brought down the walls of Jericho.
"Repeated excavations by various expeditions... have only yielded disappointments," he said. "During the period when the conquest would have taken place, there were no cities there, and of course no walls to bring down."
To many people in Israel, such claims smack of blasphemy, even though many scientists agree with Herzog.
"What did they expect to find? The bones from Pharaoh's dreams?" scoffs Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, head of Maale Adumim Yeshiva and a former principal of Jews' College in London. "The fact of the matter is that details are very scant in the text. Frequently, we don't even really understand what it says. To say that archaeology can prove or disprove anything is ridiculous."
Not just religious leaders are angered. Many secular Israelis see the modern Jewish state as a revival of the biblical Hebrew kingdoms. To them, challenging the Bible means challenging the legitimacy of the modern Jewish claim to the land of Israel.
"I adhere to the view that the Bible is our basic starting point," said Tommy Lapid, leader of the avowedly secularist Shinui Party. "No other people in the world has a book like the Hebrew Bible, so why is Professor Herzog feeding us this nonsense?"
Herzog also has drawn fire from scholars. Adam Zertal, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa, has dedicated his life to mapping the biblical episodes in Samaria, including the entry of Joshua into the Holy Land.
"We found almost certain proof that the story of the entry into Israel is very believable," said Zertal, who has spent eight years excavating a site on Mount Ebol, where the Bible states Joshua set up his first altar to God. "The relevant materials are in the field. We only have to find them."
"Archaeology does not have the power to disprove the written record," said Avraham Malamat, a Jewish history expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "If you ask a good archaeologist, he will say that he cannot find out the entire truth."
Herzog is surprised at the criticism. "I don't think it is right to guess at motives, based on the results of scientific inquiry," he said.
"Archaeology has always been used in this society and used to point in one direction," he said. "Now I'm suggesting that perhaps it should be used to point in another direction."
Palestinian and European archaeologists accuse their Israeli colleagues of politicizing archaeology to bolster Jewish claims.
Palestinian archaeologist Hamdan Taha has been excavating Tel Es-Sultan, the ancient site of Jericho. "There is no proof of any wall from the assumed time of Joshua's invasion," Taha said. "Nothing has been uncovered here in the last 100 years of excavation. ... Archaeology must be viewed as a scientific enterprise and no more as an ideological means to prove or disprove modern political claims."
Many contemporary biblical archaeologists support most of Herzog's views.
It is a different story, however, for the Israeli public, which idolizes biblical heroes such as King David.
While conceding that the Bible probably glorified David and Solomon, Avraham Biran, head of archaeology at Jerusalem's Hebrew Union College, said an inscription he discovered at Tel Dan in northern Israel proves their prominence at the time. The Aramaic inscription, attributed to a king of Damascus, refers to a "House of David" and is believed to date from the ninth century B.C. -- 100 years after David.
"If an Aramaean king from the middle of the 9th century knew about the existence of David, why should an archaeologist say that he doesn't?"
Sunday, 4 July 1999
Israeli dig finds traces of lost city of Abraham
Matthew Kalman,
The Sunday Times
July 4, 1999
The Sunday Times
July 4, 1999
ARCHEOLOGISTS believe they have found the heart of the ancient city of Hebron, where Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, lived 3,700 years ago.
On the site of an Israeli settlement, in territory claimed by both Arabs and Jews, excavations have uncovered a 9ft-thick city wall and fortified tower that have been dated to the middle bronze period, circa 1700BC.
Scholars say this is about the time when, according to the biblical story, Abraham - who was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of faith - came to the city.
Between the tower and the city wall, researchers have unearthed two stone-walled rooms that they believe also date back to the period of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose 12 sons became the founders of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. Artefacts found in the rooms include silver jewellery, bronze axeheads, two scarabs and the handle of a dagger.
"You usually find such things in tombs because people were buried with their belongings, but to find them here on the floor gives us a more precise date," said Emanuel Eisenberg, in charge of the work. Royal seals from the period of the kings of Israel several hundred years later were found in another layer, clearly identifying the location as biblical Hebron. "This is the ancient city of Hebron - no doubt about it," said Eisenberg.
The archeological site is on the edge of Tel Rumeida, a mound across which scholars believe the city once stretched eight acres. By digging down through the tel, archeologists have been able to sift nearly 4,000 years of history.
Modern Hebron, however, has an uncertain future. Seven Israeli families have lived in temporary housing on Tel Rumeida since 1984. The enclave is one of three islands of Israeli settlement left in Hebron after Israel handed over control of most of the city, with its population of 120,000, to the Palestinians in 1996.
The archeological work was licensed two weeks before the Israeli general election in May as a "rescue excavation" to research the site before permanent homes are built there for the settlers. The Palestinians want all of Hebron to be handed over. They believe the city's 550 Israelis should leave.
Dr Hamdan Taha, director-general of the Palestinian ministry for archeology, said the excavation had been politically motivated. "We think the site should be protected as an archeological site without any ideological attempt to threaten and endanger a cultural heritage that represents the ancient history of Hebron," he said.
Officials at the Israeli antiquities authority privately agree. "If such a significant site were inside Israel proper, the law would prohibit anything being built on it," a senior Israeli archeologist said.
Persuading the settlers to go, however, will be difficult. David Wilder, spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, said the excavation proved their right to live there.
"We always knew this was the site of the ancient city; now these excavations have found positive proof of Jewish presence from the time of the patriarchs," said Wilder. "In terms of Jewish roots and heritage, what more do you need?"
Monday, 24 May 1999
Arafat, Barak in accord on Jerusalem - Pact relies on concessions
By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY
MAY 23, 1999
JERUSALEM - Israeli prime minister-elect Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have reached an outline of an historic agreement on the future of Jerusalem, senior Israeli and Palestinian officials told USA TODAY Sunday.
If a final text can be adopted by legislatures on both sides, it would remove one of the thorniest impediments to a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Arafat has declared his intention to establish a state with Jerusalem as its capital. Barak has vowed never to re-divide the city. The compromise means that each side could claim it has achieved its aim.
Under terms of the agreement, Arafat is prepared to give up his claim to large parts of Arab East Jerusalem in exchange for control of the 150,000 Palestinians living in the city, as well as several religious sites, the officials said.
Israel's new Labor government also would not oppose Arafat's intention to declare a Palestinian state by the end of this year with its capital in Abu Dis, a village two miles east of the Old City, the officials said. The area was handed over to the Palestinians in 1996.
Abu Dis lies just outside the municipal boundary of Jerusalem as defined by Israel since it captured the eastern half of the city from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.
But the Palestinians can also claim that Abu Dis is within the city of Jerusalem because it falls within administrative boundaries recognized by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1917. Israel would agree not to challenge that interpretation.
But the deal is far from done. Barak still needs to form a coalition government that would present the plan to a new Israeli parliament, or Knesset. Only then, will the Knesset begin debating the plan.
Talks will begin Monday on forming a form a coalition from among the record 15 political parties who won seats in the Knesset.
The question of Jerusalem, with its holy sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, has always been the most problematic issue in any potential peace agreement. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have vowed to have Jerusalem as their capital.
Senior Palestinian officials said the outline of the agreement means that they are closer than ever to fulfilling Arafat's goal to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The new Palestinian parliament building under construction now in Abu Dis includes an office for Arafat with a view to the Old City and the al Aqsa mosque.
Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed that the two sides had agreed in principle that no land in East Jerusalem would be handed over to the Palestinians.
"Jerusalem shall remain the eternal and undivided capital of Israel," Barak said. "On this question there is no room for doubt, nor any political haggling. Jerusalem was, is, and will remain the united capital of our nation."
The White House Sunday refused comment on the report.
Under the plan, Israeli and Palestinian officials said that the Palestinian flag will be allowed to fly over several of Jerusalem's holy sites, which will effectively have the same legal status as foreign embassies.
It would also establish a safe passage corridor from Abu Dis through East Jerusalem so that Palestinians from the West Bank of the Jordan River can travel to the Old City of Jerusalem without having to pass through Israeli security checkpoints.
Palestinian and Labor party leaders worked out the agreement in secret meetings held in European capitals.
MAY 23, 1999
JERUSALEM - Israeli prime minister-elect Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have reached an outline of an historic agreement on the future of Jerusalem, senior Israeli and Palestinian officials told USA TODAY Sunday.
If a final text can be adopted by legislatures on both sides, it would remove one of the thorniest impediments to a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
Arafat has declared his intention to establish a state with Jerusalem as its capital. Barak has vowed never to re-divide the city. The compromise means that each side could claim it has achieved its aim.
Under terms of the agreement, Arafat is prepared to give up his claim to large parts of Arab East Jerusalem in exchange for control of the 150,000 Palestinians living in the city, as well as several religious sites, the officials said.
Israel's new Labor government also would not oppose Arafat's intention to declare a Palestinian state by the end of this year with its capital in Abu Dis, a village two miles east of the Old City, the officials said. The area was handed over to the Palestinians in 1996.
Abu Dis lies just outside the municipal boundary of Jerusalem as defined by Israel since it captured the eastern half of the city from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.
But the Palestinians can also claim that Abu Dis is within the city of Jerusalem because it falls within administrative boundaries recognized by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1917. Israel would agree not to challenge that interpretation.
But the deal is far from done. Barak still needs to form a coalition government that would present the plan to a new Israeli parliament, or Knesset. Only then, will the Knesset begin debating the plan.
Talks will begin Monday on forming a form a coalition from among the record 15 political parties who won seats in the Knesset.
The question of Jerusalem, with its holy sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, has always been the most problematic issue in any potential peace agreement. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have vowed to have Jerusalem as their capital.
Senior Palestinian officials said the outline of the agreement means that they are closer than ever to fulfilling Arafat's goal to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.
The new Palestinian parliament building under construction now in Abu Dis includes an office for Arafat with a view to the Old City and the al Aqsa mosque.
Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed that the two sides had agreed in principle that no land in East Jerusalem would be handed over to the Palestinians.
"Jerusalem shall remain the eternal and undivided capital of Israel," Barak said. "On this question there is no room for doubt, nor any political haggling. Jerusalem was, is, and will remain the united capital of our nation."
The White House Sunday refused comment on the report.
Under the plan, Israeli and Palestinian officials said that the Palestinian flag will be allowed to fly over several of Jerusalem's holy sites, which will effectively have the same legal status as foreign embassies.
It would also establish a safe passage corridor from Abu Dis through East Jerusalem so that Palestinians from the West Bank of the Jordan River can travel to the Old City of Jerusalem without having to pass through Israeli security checkpoints.
Palestinian and Labor party leaders worked out the agreement in secret meetings held in European capitals.
Monday, 17 May 1999
In marked shift, Hamas leader talks of a cease-fire
USA TODAY
May 17, 1999
By Matthew Kalman
(ABSTRACT)
In an interview, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, called last week for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognize Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there's no movement.
In a major departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said Thursday that the conflict could be ended if Israel withdrew from Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six-Day War. Yassin offered an immediate end to Hamas attacks on Israeli targets following such a withdrawal and said relations with Israel should be left to future generations to decide.
"We have to be realistic," he said. "We are talking about a homeland that was stolen a long time ago in 1948 and again in 1967.
"My generation today is telling the Israelis let´s solve this problem now on the basis of the 1967 borders. Let's end this conflict by declaring a temporary cease-fire. Let's leave the bigger issue for future generations to decide."
Until now, Yassin has vowed to continue the armed struggle until a Palestinian state was established in all of Palestine, effectively wiping the Jewish state off the map. Only last week, he told the Al-Ahram weekly in Cairo, Egypt, that the notion of Israel living in peace next to an independent Palestine was "a false idea."
May 17, 1999
By Matthew Kalman
(ABSTRACT)
In an interview, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, called last week for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognize Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there's no movement.
In a major departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said Thursday that the conflict could be ended if Israel withdrew from Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six-Day War. Yassin offered an immediate end to Hamas attacks on Israeli targets following such a withdrawal and said relations with Israel should be left to future generations to decide.
"We have to be realistic," he said. "We are talking about a homeland that was stolen a long time ago in 1948 and again in 1967.
"My generation today is telling the Israelis let´s solve this problem now on the basis of the 1967 borders. Let's end this conflict by declaring a temporary cease-fire. Let's leave the bigger issue for future generations to decide."
Until now, Yassin has vowed to continue the armed struggle until a Palestinian state was established in all of Palestine, effectively wiping the Jewish state off the map. Only last week, he told the Al-Ahram weekly in Cairo, Egypt, that the notion of Israel living in peace next to an independent Palestine was "a false idea."
Deadly Arab enemy offers hope of peace
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
May 17, 1999
Matthew Kalman
AS Israelis prepare to vote today in an election that may decide the fate of the Middle East peace process, a sworn enemy of the Jewish state has made an overture toward peace.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, has called for an end to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognise Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there is no movement.
In a radical departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said the conflict could end if Israel withdrew from the West Bank and Gaza. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six- Day War. In …
May 17, 1999
Matthew Kalman
AS Israelis prepare to vote today in an election that may decide the fate of the Middle East peace process, a sworn enemy of the Jewish state has made an overture toward peace.
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, has called for an end to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognise Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there is no movement.
In a radical departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said the conflict could end if Israel withdrew from the West Bank and Gaza. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six- Day War. In …
Monday, 10 May 1999
CONTROVERSY OVER SIGNING
Najwan won't make a stand
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
May 10, 1999
NAJWAN GRAYEB, Tottenham's £1million new signing, has been the subject of considerable controversy in Israel, Matthew Kalman reports from Jerusalem.
A Muslim arab from Nazareth, Grayeb, who joined Tottenham from Hapoel Haifa last week, is one of the few non-Jews to have represented Israel.
And if that was not enough to make him controversial, defender Grayeb admitted last month to a reporter that he did not know the words to the Israeli national anthem, that Israeli Independence Day was just for Jews and that he did not stand and observe the two minutes' silence on Israel's Memorial Day (on which the nation commemorates its fallen soldiers) unless he was in …
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
May 10, 1999
NAJWAN GRAYEB, Tottenham's £1million new signing, has been the subject of considerable controversy in Israel, Matthew Kalman reports from Jerusalem.
A Muslim arab from Nazareth, Grayeb, who joined Tottenham from Hapoel Haifa last week, is one of the few non-Jews to have represented Israel.
And if that was not enough to make him controversial, defender Grayeb admitted last month to a reporter that he did not know the words to the Israeli national anthem, that Israeli Independence Day was just for Jews and that he did not stand and observe the two minutes' silence on Israel's Memorial Day (on which the nation commemorates its fallen soldiers) unless he was in …
Monday, 15 March 1999
Jordan rejects Israeli plan for less water, cites '94 peace treaty
USA TODAY, Mar 15, 1999
Matthew Kalman
AMMAN -- Jordanian-Israeli relations were in crisis Sunday night after Israel said it would have to cut the amount of water supplied to Jordan this year because of a severe drought in the region.
Ben Meir says the Yarmouk, which flows into the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main reservoir, was at its lowest level since 1908. Water supplies for agricultural use inside Israel already have been cut by 25%, and further reductions will be announced in the coming days.
But Jordanian officials who met Ben Meir in Jerusalem Sunday rejected the proposal. Increased water supplies are one of the few concrete benefits Jordan has seen from its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
(...)
Matthew Kalman
AMMAN -- Jordanian-Israeli relations were in crisis Sunday night after Israel said it would have to cut the amount of water supplied to Jordan this year because of a severe drought in the region.
Ben Meir says the Yarmouk, which flows into the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main reservoir, was at its lowest level since 1908. Water supplies for agricultural use inside Israel already have been cut by 25%, and further reductions will be announced in the coming days.
But Jordanian officials who met Ben Meir in Jerusalem Sunday rejected the proposal. Increased water supplies are one of the few concrete benefits Jordan has seen from its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.
(...)
Arab pop star: Foes barking up wrong tree
USA TODAY, Mar 15, 1999
Matthew Kalman
JERUSALEM -- A Lebanese pop star is struggling to save her life and career after Muslim fundamentalists decreed she should be put to death for reportedly naming her pet dog after the prophet Mohammed (Jamal).
Najwa Karam, 32, a Christian from the town of Zahlée in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, is one of the most popular singers in the Arab world. Her CDs, tapes and videos sell by the million and Arabic satellite TV has made hers a household name.
In Jordan, a leader of the country's Islamic Party called for the singer to be killed. Sheikh Abdel Munem Abu Zanet, a former member of the Jordanian parliament and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, says she has defamed Islam and, if the story is true, she should be put to death.
(...)
Matthew Kalman
JERUSALEM -- A Lebanese pop star is struggling to save her life and career after Muslim fundamentalists decreed she should be put to death for reportedly naming her pet dog after the prophet Mohammed (Jamal).
Najwa Karam, 32, a Christian from the town of Zahlée in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, is one of the most popular singers in the Arab world. Her CDs, tapes and videos sell by the million and Arabic satellite TV has made hers a household name.
In Jordan, a leader of the country's Islamic Party called for the singer to be killed. Sheikh Abdel Munem Abu Zanet, a former member of the Jordanian parliament and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, says she has defamed Islam and, if the story is true, she should be put to death.
(...)
Friday, 12 March 1999
Pope is expected to visit the Holy Land next spring
Pope is expected to visit the Holy Land next spring
USA TODAY, Mar 12, 1999
Matthew Kalman
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Excitement is building among Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Pope John Paul II will visit the Holy Land next year.
The Vatican has not issued a formal announcement, but both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have issued invitations to the pope to visit Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Officials said his visit would be seen as the highlight of the millennium celebrations.
"The pope is very eager to come; it is his dream," Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said. "The Vatican is studying the ways and means (of) how to make this visit possible. The Holy See himself is very, very interested in coming."
(...)
USA TODAY, Mar 12, 1999
Matthew Kalman
BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Excitement is building among Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Pope John Paul II will visit the Holy Land next year.
The Vatican has not issued a formal announcement, but both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have issued invitations to the pope to visit Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Officials said his visit would be seen as the highlight of the millennium celebrations.
"The pope is very eager to come; it is his dream," Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said. "The Vatican is studying the ways and means (of) how to make this visit possible. The Holy See himself is very, very interested in coming."
(...)
Wednesday, 10 March 1999
Arab beauty is crowned Miss Israel
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
March 10, 1999
Matthew Kalman
A 21-YEAR-OLD legal secretary from Haifa was crowned last night as Miss Israel - the first Arab to hold the title.
Rana Raslan said she was "extremely proud" to take over the title from Linor Abergil, who went on to become Miss World …
March 10, 1999
Matthew Kalman
A 21-YEAR-OLD legal secretary from Haifa was crowned last night as Miss Israel - the first Arab to hold the title.
Rana Raslan said she was "extremely proud" to take over the title from Linor Abergil, who went on to become Miss World …
Tuesday, 9 March 1999
Britain 'ignoring Bethlehem appeal'
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
March 9, 1999
Matthew Kalman
BRITAIN stands accused today of ignoring a massive international fundraising drive to renovate Bethlehem in time for the millennium.
Christian countries have contributed millions towards making the town fit to receive an expected four million visitors and pilgrims, plus heads of state, for the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth.
But Britain, despite promises, is said to have given only moral support. The Mayor of Bethlehem spoke today of his sadness and frustration at Britain's failure to contribute a penny to the celebrations. Mayor Hanna Nasser said he was doubly baffled by British tardiness, because Tony Blair has accepted an invitation to join the international …
March 9, 1999
Matthew Kalman
BRITAIN stands accused today of ignoring a massive international fundraising drive to renovate Bethlehem in time for the millennium.
Christian countries have contributed millions towards making the town fit to receive an expected four million visitors and pilgrims, plus heads of state, for the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth.
But Britain, despite promises, is said to have given only moral support. The Mayor of Bethlehem spoke today of his sadness and frustration at Britain's failure to contribute a penny to the celebrations. Mayor Hanna Nasser said he was doubly baffled by British tardiness, because Tony Blair has accepted an invitation to join the international …
Tuesday, 2 March 1999
Israeli court urged to rethink ruling on teen
USA TODAY, Mar 2, 1999
Matthew Kalman
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Ministry of Justice has asked the Israeli Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to extradite an American Jewish teen-ager accused of a grisly murder in Maryland in 1997.
In a 3-2 decision last week, a panel of judges ruled that Samuel Sheinbein, 18, could not be extradited to stand trial in the United States because he is an Israeli citizen.
Irit Kohn, director of the international department of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, said that Sheinbein would be held without bail for 10 days while the Supreme Court considered the request for a new hearing.
(...)
Matthew Kalman
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Ministry of Justice has asked the Israeli Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to extradite an American Jewish teen-ager accused of a grisly murder in Maryland in 1997.
In a 3-2 decision last week, a panel of judges ruled that Samuel Sheinbein, 18, could not be extradited to stand trial in the United States because he is an Israeli citizen.
Irit Kohn, director of the international department of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, said that Sheinbein would be held without bail for 10 days while the Supreme Court considered the request for a new hearing.
(...)
Monday, 1 March 1999
Israel strikes after general slain
USA TODAY, Mar 1, 1999
Matthew Kalman
Israel launched fierce air, land and sea attacks on suspected guerrilla hideouts in southern Lebanon late Sunday hours after two bombs in the region killed an Israeli brigadier general and three others.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the retaliatory raids against Hezbollah after the Muslim militia group claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the most serious against Israelis in southern Lebanon in years.
(...)
Matthew Kalman
Israel launched fierce air, land and sea attacks on suspected guerrilla hideouts in southern Lebanon late Sunday hours after two bombs in the region killed an Israeli brigadier general and three others.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the retaliatory raids against Hezbollah after the Muslim militia group claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the most serious against Israelis in southern Lebanon in years.
(...)
Israelis take to bomb shelters ahead of Lebanon attacks
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
March 1, 1999
Matthew Kalman
ISRAEL is in a deepening crisis after a day of bombings and air attacks on Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon.
Israeli troops are moving across the border into southern Lebanon as the Israeli cabinet convened this morning to discuss plans for a major military operation against Hezbollah guerrilla positions.
Israeli residents in the north spent the night in bomb shelters and were instructed to remain there during the day. Schools and businesses stayed closed and police vehicles patrolled the streets of Kiryat Shemona near the border with Lebanon, reminding residents through loud-hailers to stay in their shelters. The commander of Israel's forces in southern …
March 1, 1999
Matthew Kalman
ISRAEL is in a deepening crisis after a day of bombings and air attacks on Hezbollah guerrilla positions in southern Lebanon.
Israeli troops are moving across the border into southern Lebanon as the Israeli cabinet convened this morning to discuss plans for a major military operation against Hezbollah guerrilla positions.
Israeli residents in the north spent the night in bomb shelters and were instructed to remain there during the day. Schools and businesses stayed closed and police vehicles patrolled the streets of Kiryat Shemona near the border with Lebanon, reminding residents through loud-hailers to stay in their shelters. The commander of Israel's forces in southern …
Wednesday, 24 February 1999
Israeli commander, 2 lieutenants killed in south Lebanon
USA TODAY, Feb 24, 1999
Matthew Kalman
The commander of Israel's elite paratroop unit and two of his lieutenants were killed and five soldiers were wounded Tuesday in an ambush by Islamic guerrillas in south Lebanon.
Maj. Eitan Balahsan, 30, commander of the Sayeret Salhanim paratroopers, was one of the most senior Israeli officers killed in the 8-mile-wide buffer zone that Israel has occupied in south Lebanon since 1985.
The ambush occurred near the village of Birkit Jabbur in a no-man's-land separating the eastern sector of Israel's self-declared "security zone" from the southern Bekaa plain, which is a Hezbollah stronghold under Syrian control.
(...)
Matthew Kalman
The commander of Israel's elite paratroop unit and two of his lieutenants were killed and five soldiers were wounded Tuesday in an ambush by Islamic guerrillas in south Lebanon.
Maj. Eitan Balahsan, 30, commander of the Sayeret Salhanim paratroopers, was one of the most senior Israeli officers killed in the 8-mile-wide buffer zone that Israel has occupied in south Lebanon since 1985.
The ambush occurred near the village of Birkit Jabbur in a no-man's-land separating the eastern sector of Israel's self-declared "security zone" from the southern Bekaa plain, which is a Hezbollah stronghold under Syrian control.
(...)
Monday, 22 February 1999
Depressed? Blame your parents for divorcing
LONDON EVENING STANDARD
February 22, 1999
Matthew Kalman
CHILDREN of divorced parents are up to seven times more likely to suffer depression in adult life than people whose parents did not separate, a new study has found.
The loss of a parent through divorce is more likely to cause depression than loss through death, and separation from a mother or both parents is more likely to cause depression than separation only from a father, says a report to be published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Children who were under nine when their parents divorced were found to be seven times …
February 22, 1999
Matthew Kalman
CHILDREN of divorced parents are up to seven times more likely to suffer depression in adult life than people whose parents did not separate, a new study has found.
The loss of a parent through divorce is more likely to cause depression than loss through death, and separation from a mother or both parents is more likely to cause depression than separation only from a father, says a report to be published in Molecular Psychiatry.
Children who were under nine when their parents divorced were found to be seven times …
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