28 August 2001
+++JORDAN TIMES 27 Aug.'01: "Palestinians use 'anti-Semitic' textbooks - German MEP"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "European Union funding for Palestinian education authorities should be frozen after the reported discovery of 'anti-Semitic' schoolbooks in Palestinian classrooms."
" 'Watch out for Jews because they are deceitful and and disloyal' "
"the persecution of the Jews in Germany was put down to their 'greed and religious fanaticism.' "
" 'Arafat confirtmed the passages but said they were from old Jordanian books and that the Palestinian Authority had no money to replace them.' " = FULL TEXT: BERLIN (R) - European Union funding for Palestinian education authorities should be frozen after the reported discovery of "anti-Semitic" schoolbooks in Palestinian classrooms, a German member of the European Parliament (GEP) said on Sunday.
"I am going to call for a freezing of EU funding to Palestinian education authorities until all anti-Israeli passages from Palestinian schoolbooks are removed," Armin Laschet, a member of Germany's opposition Christian Democrats, told Reuters.
Laschet was given English translations of what was termed as "anti-Semitic" passages from Palestinian schoolbooks while visiting Israel four weeks ago as part of a European Parliament delegation.
Laschet said one passage from a textbook called "Islamic Education," used by 15-year-old Palestinians, read "Watch out for Jews because they are deceitful and disloyal", a phrase that is similar to some passages in the Islamic Holy Book, the Koran.
In another book, used by 16-year-olds, whose title Laschet did not know, the persecution of the Jews in Germany was put down to their "greed and religious fanaticism."
Palestinian education officials could not immediately be contacted for comment.
Laschet said he confronted Palestinian President Yasser Arafat about the passages and Arafat confirmed they were in use in Palestinian classrooms.
"Arafat confirmed the passages but said they were from old Jordanian books and that the Palestinian authorities had no money to replace them," Laschet said, adding that lack of money was no excuse.
"The Palestinians get so much money from the EU they can certainly afford new books," he said.
Laschet also said he had seen newly-printed schoolbooks in which the word Israel does not appear on maps of the Middle East.
Laschet said the EU gave the Palestinians more than 300 million euros ($270 million) per year out of which education was one of the beneficiaries.
A report in Germany's Die Welt newspaper on Sunday said some Palestinian schoolbooks with "anti-Semitic" passages were financed by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which receives donations from the European Union and individual nations.
A spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry told Reuters Germany planned to look into the issue.
"We will check up these allegations and if needs be take it up with UNRWA and with the European Union," she said.
+++JORDAN TIMES 28 Aug.'01: "Saddam forges Arab ties, emerges as champion of Intifada" By Randa Habib Agence France-Presse
QUOTES FROM TEXT: " 'Saddam Hussein is stronger than ever today, and the American attempts to isolate him are nothing but a mirage,' a senior Jordanian official told AFP."
"Since the outbreak of the Intifada ... Baghdad has championed Arab support for the Palestinian people and says it has mobilised six million volunteers to 'liberate Palestine'."
" 'Saddam is playing Santa Claus with the Arab governments and populations, who are becoming more and more dependent on him,' "
"Meanwhile Saddam's intelligence services are providing the Iraqi leader with sensitive information on the internal developments in the Arab countries 'to help him know their weak points,' a Jordanian senator told AFP."
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EXCERPTS: AMMAN - Iraq is emerging as the champion of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and developing ties with Arab countries in moves that have strengthened Saddam Hussein's stature among his people, analysts and diplomats in Jordan said Monday.
They said Iraq is drawing its strength from its oil revenues and economic agreements with several Arab countries, many of which stood against Baghdad in the US-led 1991 war... .
"Saddam Hussein is stronger than ever today, and the American attempts to isolate him are nothing but a mirage," a senior Jordanian official told AFP.
"He is using the Intifada ... to rally the masses ... against Israel and the United States, and to break Iraq's isolation,"... . . . . Since the outbreak of the Intifada ... Baghdad has championed Arab support for the Palestinian people and says it has mobilised six million volunteers to "liberate Palestine"... .
Iraq has likewise pledged to allocate 1 billion euros ($915 million) from its UN-controlled oil revenues to the Palestinian uprising.
Baghdad also sends regularly financial aid to the families of suicide bombers and Palestinian martyrs of the Intifada.
Saddam, whose portraits are brandished during anti-Israeli protests in the Palestinian territories alongside Iraqi flags, has also ordered the construction in Baghdad of a monument to the Palestinian dead.
At the same time, he is building trade relations with several Arab countries who are facing deep economic crises and who see in the Iraqi market a gateway towards their own financial salvation.
"Saddam is playing Santa Claus with the Arab governments and populations, who are becoming more and more dependent on him," a Western diplomat in Amman told AFP.
When Baghdad threatened in June to close its market to Arab countries who agree to implement US-British so-called "smart sanctions" against Baghdad, the Arab countries formed an unprecedented alliance to foil the project.
This was followed by the most spectacular Iraqi-Arab rapprochement in recent months when Syria, a historically arch-foe of Saddam's government, decided to upgrade its ties with Baghdad. Diplomatic relations are broken since 1980. . . . Iraqi officials, who since 1990 have been using Jordan as an exit route for their travels abroad, have been instructed to transit through Syria, the Jordanian official said.
Meanwhile, Saddam's intelligence services are providing the Iraqi leader with sensitive information on the internal developments in the Arab countries "to help him know their weak points," a Jordanian senator told AFP.
This is the case in Jordan, "where Saddam is trying to reinforce (pro-Iraqi) bases, and that is very dangerous," the senator said on condition of anonymity.
Former prime ministers Taher Masri and Ahmad Obeidat were recently received in Baghdad with a strident "welcome to the old guard" by Saddam. That was a reference to officials who thrived under the reign of the late King Hussein and who have lost power under King Abdullah.
"He wanted to prove to us that he is aware of the Jordanian political scene," Masri told AFP.
Masri, who had not seen Saddam since 1988, said the Iraqi leader "has not changed.
"He seems very confident and in full form," said Masri, who met Saddam in May ... .
+++JORDAN TIMES 28 Aug.'01: "Jordanian newspapers now available in Syria"
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "Jordanian newspapers are now in circulation in Syria, but will have to be cleared by censors."
"It is the first time in 20 years that Jordanian newspapers are being circulated in Syria."
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EXCERPTS: AMMAN (JT) - Jordanian newspapers are now in circulation in Syria, but will have to be cleared by censors ... The decision was approved by Syrian Information Minister Adnan Imran, and came in response to an official request made by the Jordan Press Association (JPA) last June.
It is the first time in 20 years that Jordanian newspapers are being circulated in Syria.... Jordanian charge d'affaires in Damascus Ahmad Mufleh described the decision as a pioneering step, saying that it reflects strong Jordanian-Syrian relations. JPA President Saif Sherif said the move would further bolster bilateral relations and the exchange of news and information.
"Although it may look like a small step, I believe it is great and significant given the fact that Syrian newspapers have always been in circulation in Jordan and have never been denied access," Sharif said. The Syrian information ministry's decision limited the distribution of Jordanian newspapers in Syria to the Syrian Agency for Distribution of Press and Publications. Approvals for the distribution of other Jordanian newspapers in Syria have been obtained, Sharif said.
+++JORDAN TIMES 28 Aug'01: "Israel assassinates PFLP leader" Agencies
QUOTES FROM TEXT: "Zibri had reseived a phone call just beffore the attack, implying the call was made to check he was there."
" 'His liquidation is part of our action against people who are actively involved in terrorism.' "
"Palestinian Information Minister Abed Rabbo called it 'one of the most hideous crimes that the Israeli government has committed.'"
"The PFLP called Monday for Arab nations 'to hit American interests.' "
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EXCRRPTS: The shock assassination in Ramallah of Abu Ali Mustafa Zibri, the 63-year-old head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was quickly followed by the killing of a Jewish settler in a revenge attack. . . . Zibri was sitting at his desk in his econd-floor Ramallah apartment which doubled as PFLP headquarters. Rockets came through two windows of his corner office, decapitating Zibri ... . . . . Aides said Zibri had received a phone call just before the attack, implying the call was made to check he was there.
Three American-Palestinian families live in the building, including the Al Qaddumis, who lived directly beneath Zibri's office and moved to the West Bank three years ago from Manassas, Virginia. . . . Zibri returned to the West Bank from exile in 1999, and became leader of the PFLP last year, taking over after the retirement of the group's founder, George Habash, who lives in Damascus, Syria.
"His liquidation was part of our action against people who are actively involved in terrorism," said Ari Pazner, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Three other people were wounded ... .
He said Zibri was responsible for a spate of shootings and car bombings of Israelis during the Palestinian uprising ... . . . . Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called it "one of the most hideous crimes that the Israeli government has committed." . . . Palestinians in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, the area where Mustafa came from, waved their fists in the air and chanted: "Abu Ali, rest in peace as we follow your path and blow up Tel Aviv!" . . . The PFLP called Monday for Arab nations "to hit American interests." . . . In Amman, resistance leader George Habash, who stepped down as PFLP head last year to pave the way for Zibri, said the murder "reaffirms anew the Zionist enemy's determination to liquidate the leaders of the struggle." . . . The Palestinian National Authority ... said Mustafa's assassination "opens the door to all-out war."
Dr. Joseph Lerner, Co-Director IMRA
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
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