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 NEWS REPORT FROM JERUSALEM
Dated April 10

1. SHARON: POWELL-ARAFAT MEETING A MISTAKE! Minister Ariel Sharon sounded defiant, despite mounting
pressure to continue withdrawing from Palestinian cities. the US is worrying about its regional considerations, said, Israel is burying its dead. "We understand the US problems in the region, and we are trying to assist to the of our ability," Sharon told a visiting United Jewish solidarity mission. "But while they have problems, have funerals."  Sharon termed US Secretary of State Colin Powell's intention to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat a "tragic mistake" that will only encourage more terrorism. A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office, referring to the US pressure to withdraw, said, "In those areas and issues where we can help and assist the US, we will be more than willing to do so, and where we can't, we won't." A high-ranking diplomatic official said Israel will try to find a way to balance its vital interest - the security of its citizens - with its interest of maintaining close coordination with the US. "But even small states have a difficult time conceding vital interests," he said. Nonetheless, the IDF - which pulled out of Tulkarm and Kalkilya - is expected to withdraw from a number of other Palestinian cities and towns before Powell's arrival. (Jerusalem Post)

2.  "IF WE FOUGHT LIKE AMERICANS..." With the news of the tragic death of 14 more soldiers in Jenin, news sources broadcasted interviews with various military experts - all using the same line: "if we fought like Americans this would not happen." The reference is to the American model of demolishing targets from the air, instead of endangering the lives of soldiers in an effort to avoid hurting civilians.  The experts charged that it was immoral to sacrifice Israeli lives in order to avoid killing noncombatants who knowingly provide cover for terrorists and who refuse to leave the area when afforded the opportunity to evacuate. Now, Israel Radio reported that hundreds of people have surrendered in the Jenin refugee camp after Israel today warned via loudspeakers that it would (following the American model) demolish buildings with aerial bombing using F-16's. The hundreds who surrendered included both many of the armed terrorists who had earlier vowed to fight to their deaths, as well as the Palestinian "noncombatants" who, until now, refused Israeli calls to leave the area for their own security. (IMRA)

3.  ATTACKS IN NORTHERN ISRAEL CONTINUE... Terrorists have kept up their steady drumbeat of attacks along
Israel's border with Lebanon, firing mortars and katyusha rockets into several Israeli villages and into the Israeli-ruled Golan heights. US Vice President Dick Cheney reportedly told Syrian president Hafez Assad that Syria, which controls much of thesecurity forces in Lebanon, had to act to stop the shelling or else Israel might respond even more strongly, perhaps touching off a general war. (IMRA)

4.  OIL IS A WEAPON: Iran is ready to stop oil exports to countries supporting Israel but such an embargo would be  effective only if other nations cooperate, the Iranian government said.  There was no direct reference to neighboring and former enemy Iraq's decision to suspend all oil exports for one month.  Iran's supreme religious leaders called for Arab states to launch a "symbolic" one month embargo on the West to pressure them to stop supporting Israel and its military offensives in the West Bank. (Jerusalem Post)

5.  EUROPEAN ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE RISE: Norway's largest supermarket chain has decided to boycott all Israeli goods, and called on all its Scandinavian competitors to do the same. A poll released in Oslo shows that only 9% of the public supports Israel. Meanwhile, Sweden is considering calling an economic boycott on Israel as well. In France, yet another synagogue was firebombed and caught fire, this time in Montpelier. In a separate incident, a bus belonging to a Jewish school in a Paris suburb was also set ablaze. In Finland, police evacuated three Jewish institutions - a synagogue, a home for the elderly, and a school - all in central Helsinki after a bomb threat was received. (VFZ)

6.  PRO AND ANTI-ISRAEL FORCES:  Around the globe, people are aligning themselves for or against Israel in marches, rallies and governmental decisions. Pro-Israel demonstrators called on their leaders to fight terrorism and support the Jewish state, while Arab and Muslim masses took to the streets demanding their governments cut ties with Israel, wield the oil weapon or supply the Palestinians with tanks. In America and France, tens of thousands demonstrated in support of the Jewish state and its efforts to protect its citizens, a welcome sight for Israelis after watching more than a week of angry anti-Israel street protests from New Zealand to Broadway. Rallies in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Cincinnati, Boston and Miami brought together pro-Israel supporters calling for an end to suicide bombings. In Paris, thousands of demonstrators protested waves of anti-Semitic attacks on Jewish institutions and called on their country to support Israel. The pro-Israel demonstrations come one day after a dozen or so pro-Palestinian marches in cities across France, the rest of Europe and several Middle Eastern nations. Pro-Palestinian marches, which also occurred in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland, have been almost weekly occurrences in Paris in recent months. The Jewish community has not staged a large rally in France since the early 1990s, following the desecration of a Jewish cemetery in Carpentras. (ICEJ)

7.  ISRAEL AGAINST THE WORLD:  (OP-ED by Stewart Weiss, Jerusalem Post) What a difference 18 months makes. Just a year and a half ago, it appeared that Israel was finally achieving its century-old dream of joining the community of nations as a fully-fledged, legitimate member. Having ceded large chunks of land, wheelbarrows full of money, and a formidable arsenal of weapons to the Palestinians - with virtually no reciprocal gestures - the walls of exclusion were seemingly tumbling down. Nations which had previously shunned the Jewish state, from Azerbaijan to Zaire, were again resuming diplomatic relations with us. Israel was invited to participate in international economic conferences, even when held in Arab venues. And in the UN, long the wellspring of anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic rhetoric, the infamous "Zionism is racism" resolution was a thing of the past, and diatribes against Jerusalem - while not completely eliminated - was drastically toned down. Alas, the dream has been shattered, blown to smithereens by Yasser Arafat's intifada, by maniacal suicide bombers, and by a concentrated campaign of terror which proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the Palestinians never wanted peace in the first place. Suddenly, from Beijing to Cairo, from Rome to Malaysia, the sounds of violent protest against Israel can again be heard in the streets, even as Israeli forces strike back against the murderers. In this topsy-turvy, irrational scenario, we might be tempted to lose faith in our cause. After all, can we be right and the whole world be wrong? And, even if we are convinced we are waging a just and justified battle, can we successfully take on virtually the entire international community? The answer, on both counts, is a resounding yes. First, we have a long tradition of standing our ground on moral and ethical issues, even if we stand alone. Indeed, Abraham, the father of our nation, was known as a Hebrew, from the word Ivri, which means, "he who comes from the other side." Abraham stood on his side of the spiritual divide, smashing the idols of polygamy and converting a reluctant world to the truth of one God. Later in our history, we rejected the pantheistic hegemony of the Greek empire, and rebelled against mighty Rome when it sought to crush our independence. And in this century alone, we heroically withstood the "War Against the Jews" fought by Hitler and his many accomplices, and established the State of Israel in the face of staggering odds. So we are no strangers to struggles. Second, this is a war that we can, and shall, win. Deep down, the world - including the Arab world - understands the existential threat that Palestinian terror poses to the entire planet. It knows there is no honor among thieves - or terrorists - and that Israel will not be the sole or final victim of their barbaric crimes. Even France, whose national policy of capitulation and appeasement inspires the cowardly posture of the European Union, will not forever be spared an honored place on terror's "hit list" when it suits the terrorists' purpose. In the final analysis, we must demolish the terrorist infrastructure, despite the odds and despite the opposition, for it is the right thing to do - for us and for the world at large. Perhaps, in truly messianic times, the Jewish people will be seen as a light unto the nations, a beacon of hope and justice that will be universally acknowledged by the diverse peoples of the world. But until that glorious day arrives, we will just have to battle on, even if we battle alone.