walls, and their stone was removed
immediately after the ceremony.
Despite that, Palestinian officials
and Israeli Arab lawmakers warned in
the days leading up to Tisha b'Av that
the ceremony indeed would take place
on the Temple Mount and was part of
an Israeli attempt to assert control
over the sacred complex. They called
on Muslims to protect the mount with
their bodies.
These warnings prompted angry
crowds of Palestinians to throng into
Jerusalem on Sunday, pelting Jews
praying at the Western Wall Plaza
below with rocks.
Given the number of people
involved and the hot tempers,
observers said it was a wonder that the
clashes with Israeli police did not take
a more deadly turn.
But that was only one in a series of
incidents in recent days that have put
Israelis on edge. Security forces went
on high alert this week following a
series of terrorist attacks in Jerusalem,
none of which caused serious injuries:
• On Monday, a small bomb
exploded in a supermarket in
Jerusalem.
• A day earlier, a car bomb exploded
in the underground garage of an
apartment building in the Jerusalem
neighborhood of Pisgat Ze'ev.
• On July 27, a bus driver found a
bomb hidden in a watermelon on his
bus, which was parked in a Jerusalem
shopping mall.
On Monday, after the series of
bombings, Israeli helicopters attacked
the main Palestinian police headquar-
ters in Gaza City. The army said it tar-
geted a building "used to manufacture
weapons and mortar bombs."
Tensions were further fueled
Monday after an explosion killed six
activists from Arafat's Fatah faction
near the West Bank city of Jenin.
Palestinian officials said Israel killed
the six, who were wanted by Israeli
officials for alleged involvement in ter-
THE ISSUE
Palestinians have claimed that
Israeli-built bypass roads in the
West Bank were established in
recent years to divide Arab popula-
tion centers from one another, and
also to block the future creation of
a contiguous Palestinian state.
BEHIND THE ISSUE
These roads, which skirt nearby
Palestinian towns and villages, were,
in fact, built in response to attacks
on Israeli travelers emanating from
those loc i les. This past week,
although efforts continue to make
the Tenet cease-fire plan workable, _
several stoning, shootings and
bomb placements have occurred on
roads in the West Bank.
— Allan Gale,
Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit
rorism. Israeli security officials denied
involvement, saying the blast may
have been a "work accident" while the
six were assembling a bomb.
On Tuesday, eight Palestinians —
including at least two senior Hamas
officials and two children — were
killed in an Israeli helicopter attack on
one of the terrorist group's offices in
the West Bank city of Nablus.
Israeli sources said the Hamas mem-
bers were planning attacks in the
Jerusalem area, according to the Israeli
daily Haaretz. The Israeli government
expressed regret for the death of the
two children. ❑
— JTA correspondent Naomi Segal in
Jerusalem contributed to this report.
For more Mideast coverage, please log on
to www.detroitjewishnews.com .
Detroit Joins National Rally
A public rally to express solidarity with Israel and its people is planned in New
York next month by United Jewish Communities, the umbrella organization for
Jewish federations around the country.
The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit expects to have a delegation of top
leaders attend this nationally organized event for the Jewish community. The rally
begins at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, on Second Avenue at 47th Street in Manhattan.
The Federation leaders will attend the UJC board meeting the following day.
Federation leaders encourage Detroiters to make plans to travel to New York
to be part of this national expression of unity with Israel.
For information, call Federation's Israel and Overseas Department, (248) 203-1456.
Feeling The Outcast
War crimes, racism, arrests?
Israel feels the diplomatic heat.
JESSICA STEINBERG
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Jerusalem
VIT
ith Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon facing a potential
war crimes lawsuit in
Belgium, and Denmark
calling for the arrest of Israel's ambassa-
dor-designate, Israel is beginning to feel
like the most unpopular kid on the block.
After years of improved internation-
al standing following the signing of
the Oslo peace accord with the PLO
in 1993, the Jewish state finds itself on
the diplomatic defensive once again as
the peace process unravels.
In addition to the charges against
Sharon and the uproar in Denmark,
Israel's Foreign Ministry is preparing a
list of countries where Israeli officials
could be put on trial for their roles in
defending Israel, and an international
conference on racism that will begin
Aug. 31 may become a forum for
some of the most intensely anti-Israel
resolutions in years.
The lawsuit in Belgium was filed in
June by several Palestinian survivors of
the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacre
in Lebanon. The massacre was carried
out by Lebanese Christian militiamen
who were allies of the Israeli army dur-
ing the Lebanon War.
An Israeli commission of inquiry
found Sharon indirectly responsible
for Sabra and Shatila because, as
defense minister overseeing the Israeli
invasion, he failed to foresee and pre-
vent the massacre. Sharon was forced
to resign from the Defense Ministry,
though he stayed in the Cabinet as a
minister without portfolio and served
in various posts in subsequent Likud
governments.
The lawsuit was brought in Belgium
because it has a 1993 law on "univer-
sal jurisdiction" — the authority to
prosecute foreigners for crimes against
humanity, torture or war crimes, even
if committed elsewhere.
The charges against Sharon are now
being investigated by a Belgian court,
which will decide whether to press for-
mal charges. In the meantime, the
Israeli government has hired a Belgian
lawyer for Sharon.
In Denmark, Israel's appointment of
Carmi Gillon — a former head of the
Shin Bet domestic security service, as
well as the Peres Center for Peace — as
ambassador has created a diplomatic
storm. The Danish justice minister,
Frank Jensen, last week threatened to
arrest Gillon if he sets foot in Denmark.
Israel's nomination of Gillon sparked
outrage in Denmark because he has
admitted authorizing the torture of
Palestinian suspects when he led Israel's
Shin Bet domestic security service
between 1994 and 1996. Gillon later
went on to become president of
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres' Tel
Aviv peace center, which fosters coop-
eration between Jews and Arabs.
Despite the threat, Israel said it
would send Gillon to Denmark.
Jensen later backtracked, saying
Gillon could not be arrested because
he would have diplomatic immunity
in Denmark.
Now, most Danish political parties
are calling for Gillon's resignation.
That includes two Danish politicians
— one of them Arne Melchior, a rela-
tive of Israel's deputy foreign minister,
Michael Melchior. The two politicians
are considered Israel's most loyal sup-
porters in Scandinavia.
It was an Israeli human rights organ-
ization, B'Tselem, that appealed initial-
ly to the Israeli and Danish foreign
ministries to cancel Gillon's appoint-
ment.
As Sharon and Gillon deal with
their respective troubles, Israel's
Foreign Ministry is drawing up a list
of countries that have universal juris-
diction laws on their books.
"The concept of universal jurisdic-
tion is a very noble, honorable con-
cept," said Alan Baker, a legal adviser
to the Foreign Ministry. "The danger is
in the fact that Arabs have decided to
abuse the concept and utilize the per-
haps naivete of European countries."
According to Foreign Ministry offi-
cials, Arab interests may lead to more
lawsuits against Israeli officials.
As the 10-month-old Palestinian
uprising continues, Arab nations are
trying to delegitimize Israel and "carry
out its warfare in a different field,"
attempting to gain favor among
European nations, Baker said. "We
support universal jurisdiction," he
said. "But this whole thing has been
blown out of proportion." ❑
8/3
2001
21