This Week
Five Iranian Jews
Remain In Jail
Tehren/JTA — The last five Iranian
Jewish prisoners accused of spying
for Israel remain in jail, contradicting
earlier reports that they had been
freed.
Three others were released last
week, raising hopes among their fam-
ilies and American advocates that the
remaining five would soon be freed.
But official reports that the five had
been furloughed Monday were an act
of "disinformation," according to
Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice
chairman of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations.
That's "why we urged people not
to comment on this, because it's hap-
pened before," Hoenlein said. He
added, however, that he was "still
hopeful" that the five would be
released soon.
Labor To Leave
Israel's Government
Jerusalem/JTA — The Labor Party
decided to leave Israel's unity govern-
ment after efforts to reach a compro-
mise on Israel's 2003 budget failed.
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-
Eliezer submitted his resignation
after negotiations to resolve the
budget dispute ended Wednesday in
a shouting match with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon, according to
the Israeli daily Ha'aretz. Because
Ben-Eliezer's
resignation did not go into effect for
another 48 hours, there was still
room for further negotiations. If
Ben-Eliezer's Labor Party does indeed
leave the government, Sharon will be
forced to rely on right-wing parties
to pass the budget or call early elec-
tions. The coalition crisis was initial-
ly fueled by Labor's demand that
Sharon cut spending on settlements
in favor of social programs.
According to earlier reports, an
11th-hour compromise was reached,
but it later broke down.
Rights Group Rips
Suicide Attacks
6659 ORCHARD LAKE ROAD
OLD ORCHARD MALL
S.E. CORNER OF ORCHARD LAKE ROAD & MAPLE ROAD
11/1
2002
12
248.626.4484
Jerusalen4TA — The people who
plan Palestinian suicide attacks are
guilty of war crimes and should be
brought to justice, according to a
News Digest
human rights group.
Human Rights Watch issued a
report this week that examines who
should be held responsible for the
attacks. "The people who carry out
suicide bombings are not martyrs,
they're war criminals, and so are the
people who help to plan such
attacks," said Kenneth Roth, the
-
group's executive director.
The report recommends that crim-
inal charges be brought against offi-
cials of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the
Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine and the Al-Aksa Brigade.
The Palestinian Authority and its
leader, Yasser Arafat, also "bear a
high degree of political responsibility
for the atrocities," Roth said.
P.A. Textbooks
Still Anti-Israel
Jerusalem/JTA — Palestinian
Authority textbooks still present
Israel as a usurper of Arab lands and
fail to convey a message of reconcili-
ation with Israel, a recent study says.
But the review by the Center for
Monitoring the Impact of Peace said
that since its previous study a year
ago, one encouraging change was
noted: A guide for second-grade art
teachers suggests that children be
asked to illustrate Jerusalem's impor-
tance for Judaism, Christianity and
Islam.
Jewish Film
Archive Online
New York/JTA — More than 100
films from Hebrew University's
Steven Spielberg Jewish Film Archive
are now available Online.
Project officials describe the
archive as the world's largest collec-
tion of Jewish documentary films.
The films deal with the Holocaust,
Israeli history, Jewish life in pre-war
Europe and many other topics: More
information is available at
www.spielbergfilmarchive.org.il
Church Affirms
Interfaith Ties
New York/JTA — The Catholic
Church is more committed than ever
to improving relations with Jews, a top
Vatican official said.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican
official in charge of relations with Jews,