Roitman and students who support a
Christmas-tree display say the new
display is not much of a change.
JTS Library
Gets $1 Million
Iran To Allow
Nuclear Access
New York/JTA — The Conservative
Movement's Jewish Theological
Seminary received a $1 million grant
for its library.
The New York-based rabbinical
seminary will use the money from the
Horace W Goldsmith Foundation to
renovate part of its stack area and
process rare and unique books, some
of which were damaged in a 1966 fire.
The stack area will house archives of
the Conservative Movement and rare
books from the 19th century.
New York/JTA — Iran said it will
allow inspectors unfettered access to
its nuclear facilities.
Iran will sign an additional proto-
col to the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty that will allow U.N. inspec-
tors access to all its facilities, Iran's
vice president, Gholamreza
Aghazadeh, said.
Iran had allowed inspectors access
only to some sites, leading to threats
of sanctions from Western countries.
Iranian conservatives had resisted
signing the protocol.
Israel's Shin Bet security chief reit-
erated this week that Iran represents
the greatest global terrorist threat.
Western Wall
Prayer Controversy
Jerusalem/JTA — The Conservative
Movement is calling for a halt to the
expansion of the prayer area at the
Western Wall.
The movement's Israeli branch is
calling on Israel's Religious Affairs
Ministry to halt the expansion,
which it says would expand separate-
sex prayer areas and turn the
Western Wall Plaza into an
Orthodox synagogue.
The Western Wall's rabbi, Shmuel
Rabinovitch, said the expansion is
necessary because the existing prayer
area is too small.
Tourism To Israel
On The Rise
Jerusalem/JTA — Tourism to Israel
rose 46 percent in November com-
pared to November 2002.
The rise is being attributed to the
United Jewish Communities' General
Assembly, increased efforts by the U.S.
Jewish community to market tourism
to Israel and the U.S.-led war in Iraq,
which reduced fears of a possible Iraqi
attack on Israel.
Israeli officials are predicting that
1.2 million tourists will visit the
Jewish state in 2003.
Recalcitrant
Terrorists
Jerusalem/JTA — Palestinian terrorist
groups refused a cease-fire despite
assurances that Washington would
pressure Israel to reciprocate.
On their second day of meetings
with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Fatah
in Gaza City on Dec. 17, Egyptian
mediators renewed a unilateral cease-
fire proposal that they had made at a
previous round of Cairo talks two
weeks ago. This time, the Egyptians
came bearing a U.S. pledge to pressure
Israel to withdraw forces from
Palestinian cities if a cease-fire went
forward, but the terrorist groups
demurred.
"We have reiterated the same posi-
tion we adopted in Cairo," Hamas
leader Abdel Aziz Rantissi said. Hamas
wants any cease-fire to bar only attacks
on civilians inside Israel proper, not on
Israeli soldiers or Jewish civilians in
the West Bank and Gaza.
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Don't Ignore
Syria, Peace
New York/JTA — Israel should heed
remarks made by Syria's president
about peace talks, Israel's foreign
minister said.
Silvan Shalom said that Bashar
Assad's recent comments to the New
York Times on opportunities for
peace with Israel may be an attempt
to curry favor with the United
States, but still should not be
ignored. "We must not brush aside a
hand outstretched in peace, even if
for the wrong reasons."
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