Just as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were reporting serious progress in the marathon Taba talks, a double murder of two Tel Aviv residents shopping in Tulkarm prompted Prime Minister Ehud Barak to suspend the intensifying effort for an election-eve peace deal. The move appears to be temporary, however, as the two sides are set to meet back in Taba on Thursday, once the terror victims are in the ground.
The gnawing debate inside Israel’s peace camp about whether arch-dove Shimon Peres should replace Ehud Barak as the Labor party’s candidate for prime minister seemed less relevant on Friday, as the latest polls showed Likud chairman Ariel Sharon now defeating either one come February 6.
Senior leaders of Israel’s peace camp refuse to call it quits – even during the throes of an election campaign they appear certain to lose – pressing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to enter marathon peace talks with the Palestinians in hopes of reaching a framework accord before the February 6 balloting for a new premier.
In a sign of spiraling mistrust and lawlessness in Palestinian areas over the past week, two Palestinians were summarily executed for alleged collaboration with Israel, three more were secretly murdered by militants, another two have been sentenced to death, and at least five others have been arrested as suspected informers. And in Gaza on Wednesday, the head of Palestinian TV was shot dead by masked gunmen in an unexplained hit.
Talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on security cooperation and final-status issues made little headway over the weekend, and were suspended on Monday when an Israeli citizen was found murdered in Gush Katif and the IDF renewed its tight closure on the Gaza Strip.
MEDAN, INDONESIA (November 7, 2000) — Dr. Benjamin Munthe, an Indonesian pastor who was involved in a September 17 brutal attempt on his life in which his driver Caleb was killed, has spoken about that fateful day.
“We have the holiday back again. These pagan calendars are imprinted in our genes. They cannot be taken away.”[1] Wiccan author Zsuzsanna Budapest
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (AgapePress) – David Ring mounted the stage slowly with a noticeable limp, paused at the podium, and looked out on the crowd of over 600. In painful moves and halting speech, he paced the stage and told the listeners at Friedburg Moravian Church to get off the sidelines and get involved in their local church.
Several weeks ago a disturbing secular news story grabbed my attention. Applied Digital Solutions (ADS) received patent rights to new technology named Digital Angel (TM). What’s bothersome is that Digital Angel is a miniature digital transceiver specifically designed for human implantation.
(AgapePress) – Proposals to be discussed at the upcoming United Nations Millennium Summit could have grave consequences for life, family, democracy, and the sovereignty of nations.
WASHINGTON, DC (AgapePress) – In 1994, the media was full of reports that a “gay gene” had been discovered and there was finally proof that homosexuality was a naturally occurring lifestyle. However, those reports have died out and research has ended, says Boston Herald columnist Don Feder.
(AgapePress) – It appears President Clinton is going to spend his final weeks in office pushing through regulations which do not need Congressional approval. Many of them are aimed at appeasing traditional Democratic support groups such as environmentalists and pro-abortionists.
The Clinton Administration yesterday released federal guidelines allowing research using human embryos. A leading pro-life advocate says the idea is unethical and immoral.
ASHEVILLE, NC (AgapePress) – Reynolds High School, scene of last week’s “We Still Pray” rally, might soon be seeing another religious gathering on its grounds. This time, a regional pagan group is asking to use the facilities.
ANHUI PROVINCE
“The most severe persecution happened to us on Sunday, October 17, 1999. They detained 150 Christians and prepared to send some of them to ‘reform through education’ camps for three years. They fined some of us 2,000 RMB. They didn’t even give me a receipt. (Society here is now so corrupt!) But we did not cease to meet.”
— Letter from Mr. Zhang dated March 28, 2000
LOS ANGELES (Compass) — If a recent poll of Americans is any indication, the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) has been effective in raising awareness of Christian persecution. But motivating people to help the persecuted church may prove much more difficult.
(AgapePress) – A new poll shows George W. Bush regaining the lead over Al Gore. The news comes amidst a flurry of media reports this week which have put Bush in a very negative light.
Borno becomes seventh Nigerian state to adopt Sharia 23 August 2000 (Newsroom) — Borno has become the seventh state in Nigeria’s mostly Muslim north to formally adopt Islamic law, or Sharia. Police in the state capital of Maiduguri stood guard as the move became official Saturday, fearing a possible backlash from non-Muslims. Earlier this year more than 1,000 people died in clashes between Christians and Muslims after Kaduna state announced it would adopt Sharia. Many Nigerian leaders fear the moves by northern states to implement Sharia, which began last October, could lead to the disintegration of the country. Seeking to … Read more
Pushing a key element in its alternate agenda for survival, the shrunken cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud decided to close the Religious Affairs Ministry by the end of the month. The move is a key plank in Barak’s “social revolution,” a second option to rebuild a secular/left coalition in case peace talks with the Palestinians collapse.
Chinese police detained 130 members of a Protestant house church movement in central Henan province on Wednesday, according to a Hong Kong-based human rights group. Among the arrested were three American citizens, the Information Centre for Human Rights and the Democratic Movement in China said.