RUSSIA FUELED ISRAEL-SYRIA TENTIONS

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Lost tribe of Israel arrives in Jewish state
Group in India descended from Joseph struggled to return home
Posted: August 30, 2007 - By Aaron Klein - 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

TEL AVIV – One-hundred-seventy-four people from a group of thousands in India that believes it is one of the 10 "lost tribes" of Israel landed here this week, fulfilling for many a life-long dream of returning to what they consider their homeland. Shavei Israel, a Jerusalem-based organization led by American Michael Freund, hopes to bring to the Jewish state the remaining 7,000 Indian citizens who believe they are the Bnei Menashe, the descendants of Manasseh, one of biblical patriarch Joseph's two sons and a grandson of Jacob. The tribe lives in the two Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur, to which they claim to have been exiled from Israel more than 2,700 years ago by the Assyrian empire. I truly believe this is a miracle of immense historical and even biblical significance, Freund told WND as the group of 174 arrived here earlier this week. Just as the prophets foretold so long ago, the lost tribes of Israel are being brought back from the exile, said Freund, who previously served as deputy communications director under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Another planeload of 57 Bnei Menashe is slated to touch down in Israel tomorrow. The group, which has preserved ancient Jewish customs and rituals, has been trying the past 50 years to return to Israel.

Over the last decade, Freund's Shavei Israel, at times working with other organizations, brought about 1,200 Bnei Menashe members to the Jewish state. Many settled in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. About 80 lived in Gaza's slate of Jewish communities, which were evacuated by the Israeli government in 2005. The original batches of Bnei Menashe to arrive here were brought to Israel as tourists in an agreement with Israel's Interior Ministry. Once here, the Bnei Menashe converted officially to Judaism and became citizens. But diplomatic wrangling halted the immigration process in 2003, with officials from some Israeli ministries refusing to grant the rest of the group still in India permission to travel here.

Bnei Menashe member arriving in Israel (Courtesy Shavei Israel)

To smooth the process, Freund enlisted the help of Israel's chief rabbinate, which flew to India in 2005 to meet with and consider converting members of the Bnei Menashe. Once legally Jewish, the tribe can apply for Israeli citizenship under the country's Law of Return, which guarantees sanctuary to Jews from around the world.
Six rabbis were sent by Israel's Sephardic chief rabbi, Shlomo Amar, to begin converting the Bnei Menashe. The rabbis met with hundreds of tribal members, testing their knowledge of Judaism and assessing their conviction, converting 216 individuals – over 90 percent of the members interviewed. The rabbis were incredibly impressed with the Bnei Menashe, said Freund. They saw for themselves that the group is very serious and should be integrated into the Jewish nation. That they are a blessing to the state of Israel. Last year, 218 converted members arrived in Israel. Freund hoped to repeat the process for 231 more Bnei Menashe who had been approved for conversion, but the Indian government, which heavily restricts conversions, put a halt on the plan.

Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)

Instead, the batch of Bnei Menashe that arrived this week were brought to Israel as tourists in coordination with the Israeli government. Once here, the tribe will be officially converted by the country's chief rabbinate and qualify for Israeli citizenship. The new immigrants will spend the next few months studying Hebrew and Judaism at a Shavei Israel absorption center in northern Israel. The Bnei Menashe that arrived here over the years have fully transited into Israeli society. Many attended college and rabbinic school, moved to major Israeli communities and even joined the Israel Defense Forces. Twelve Bnei Menashe served in the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon in 2006. One of them, Avi Hanshing, a 22-year old paratrooper, was injured during a clash with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hanshing's father was among those who arrived here earlier this week in an emotional reunion at Israel's international airport. As much as we might think that Israel is helping the Bnei Menashe, it is the reverse that is true. It is they who strengthen us – with their faith, with their commitment and with their undying love for Zion," said Freund.

Bnei Menashe member (Courtesy Shavei Israel)

According to Bnei Menashe oral tradition, the tribe was exiled from Israel and pushed to the east, eventually settling in the border regions of China and India, where most remain today. Most kept customs similar to Jewish tradition, including observing Shabbat, keeping the laws of Kosher, practicing circumcision on the eighth day of a baby boy's life and observing laws of family purity. In the 1950s, several thousand Bnei Menashe say they set out on foot to Israel but were quickly halted by Indian authorities. Undeterred, many began practicing Orthodox Judaism and pledged to make it to Israel. They now attend community centers established by Shavei Israel to teach the Bnei Menashe Jewish tradition and modern Hebrew. Freund said he hopes the arrival this week of more Bnei Menashe would jump-start the process of bringing back the rest of the 7,000 Bnei Menashe who are in India yearning to return home.

Moving the Middle East Peace Process Forward
Vatican Radio

(30 Aug 07 - RV) A two day conference on the Middle East peace process began today in the European parliament building in Brussels. Sponsored by the United Nations, the meeting brings together different organizations and experts from different parts of civil society to discuss how to move the peace process forward. Franciscan father David Maria Jaeger, expert on religion and politics in the holy land, says Europe can play an important role in bringing a just peace to the Holy Land.

Suspect Material Found in U.N. Office - By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press Writer - Toxic Chemical Found in U.N. Office

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- U.N. weapons inspectors discovered a potentially hazardous chemical warfare agent that was taken from an Iraqi chemical weapons facility 11 years ago and mistakenly stored in their offices in the heart of midtown Manhattan all that time, officials said Thursday.The material - identified in inventory files as phosgene, a chemical substance used in World War I weapons - was discovered Aug. 24. It was only identified on Wednesday because it was marked simply with an inventory number, and officials had to check the many records in their vast archives, said Ewen Buchanan, a spokesman for the U.N. inspection agency.U.N. and U.S. officials said the material posed no threat to anyone's health or safety.

A team of hazardous materials experts from the FBI and New York City police removed the substance from the office on Manhattan's east side, about a block north of U.N. headquarters, in three steel containers. The containers were flown to a military facility in Aberdeen, Md., for disposal, U.N. officials said.While the disposal team was in UNMOVIC's sixth-floor office, its small staff was evacuated along with other tenants from that floor, Buchanan said.When the material was discovered in a shipping container last week, Buchanan said U.N. experts followed their established procedure in dealing with unknown material - putting the material in double zip-locked plastic bags, and securing it in a safe in a room that is double-locked.

U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said the staff continued to work in the offices of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission, or UNMOVIC, which are in the process of being shut down.Tests conducted by U.N. personnel found no toxic vapors in the area where the material had been stored, police said. The materials had been in UNMOVIC and its predecessor inspection agency, UNSCOM, apparently since 1996 when they were inadvertently shipped to U.N. administrative offices instead of a chemical laboratory, police said.White House spokesman Tony Snow said the suspected chemical agent should have been transported to an appropriately equipped lab for analysis.I'm sure that there are going to be a lot of red-faced people over at the U.N. trying to figure out how they got there, Snow said.

Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the U.N. needs to be more careful because it's a target.The fact that a container of deadly poison from Iraq was found at the U.N. is a wake-up call that they better start living up to the higher safety standards of a post 9-11 New York, he said in a statement.Phosgene can be used as a chemical weapon, and was used extensively in World War I as a choking agent. Both phosgene gas and liquid can damage skin, eyes, nose, throat and lungs.Buchanan said the phosgene was in liquid form, suspended in oil, in a soda-can-sized container that was sealed in a plastic bag.Okabe said the chemical state of the phosgene was unknown but could be potentially hazardous.A U.N. chemical weapons expert, Svetlana Utkina, said phosgene is toxic and would cause a person's lungs to collapse if it was inhaled. She said a container the size of a soda can would likely not contain more than gram quantities of the substance.Still, if it was opened and did contain phosgene, she said probably about five people will get severe problems, (and a) couple of people will be dead.The inventory records indicated the material was from a 1996 excavation of the bombed-out research and development building at Iraq's main chemical weapons facility at Muthana, near Samarra. The entire facility was extensively bombed during the 1991 Gulf War, Buchanan said.

UNMOVIC has 1,400 linear feet of paper files - 125 five-drawer cabinets - and it took until Wednesday to find the inventory matching the number on the package with the suspected phosgene, Buchanan said.The agency and its archives - including the suspect material - had been in an office at U.N. headquarters until moving to its current site about three years ago, he said.Also found at the UNMOVIC office was a second sealed package containing tiny samples of chemical agents in sealed glass tubes shaped like pens, Buchanan said. Each of these tubes contained less than a gram of the material, he added.Okabe said the U.N. has launched an investigation to determine how and why the material was in UNMOVIC files. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon notified the Security Council, she added.The State Department said it had learned of the discovery late Wednesday and had immediately contacted the FBI to deal with the disposal.Deputy spokesman Tom Casey also said a joint U.S.-U.N. investigation would be conducted into why the samples had been stored in the office but stressed that the chemicals had been there for at least a decade and did not pose any health risk.

One of the things we want to do is make sure that the U.N., working with the FBI, does conduct a full investigation of this, so we're absolutely certain how they in fact got there, how long they were there, and the kind of exact nature of how this came about, he told reporters.There is no threat that these items currently or in the past have posed to public health and safety in the area, Casey said.U.N. inspectors pulled out of Iraq just before the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion and were barred by the U.S. from returning. The U.S. and Britain said they were taking over responsibility for Iraq's disarmament. In June 2003, the Security Council voted to shut down UNMOVIC and the U.N. nuclear inspection operation in Iraq.Brian Mullady, a senior UNMOVIC official, told reporters that the staff did an immediate sweep of the rest of its archives to see if there were any more surprises, but there was none.
Associated Press Writer Tom Hays contributed to this story from New York.

EU resumes treaty wrangling as political issues remain
29.08.2007 - 17:36 CET | By Honor Mahony and Mark Beunderman

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - As the deadline for political agreement on the new European treaty draws closer, EU officials believe that while the treaty outline is relatively tight, up to seven remaining issues are political rather than purely technical.The initial sweep of the treaty by legal experts is due to be completed by next Thursday (6 September) the day before foreign ministers meet for the first political discussion since EU leaders agreed the treaty outline in June.The main task for the experts is to translate the EU leaders' mandate – including a messy array of opt-outs, out-ins, declarations and protocols – into an unambiguous a whole as possible.The European Parliament and the Commission are also involved, with commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso meeting the three parliament representatives on the treaty on Tuesday evening (28 August).

They are keeping a wary eye on the secretariat of the EU council - the member states' decision-making body - which drew up the reform treaty. Both the parliament and the commission want to make sure it has not slipped in any legalese that might undermine their positions in the EU hierarchy.Portugal, as EU presidency, has set a strict timetable. It wants political agreement by mid October and the treaty signed-off by the end of the year. It has made it clear it wants the talks to be a technical as possible – something it reiterated in its letter inviting the European Parliament's three representatives to the foreign ministers' talks next Friday.
But not every question will be at a purely technical level. Centre-right German MEP and parliament representative Elmar Brok believes there are between five and seven issues that could become political.

Political issues

These include Britain's opt outs from the Charter of Fundamental Rights as well as from legislation in the criminal justice area.On the charter, some fear that London's exemption may affect the EU legal system as a whole through decisions by the European Court of Justice.It could legally contaminate the whole system, says UK liberal MEP Andrew Duff and co-representative at the talks.Mr Duff also points to concerns about London's criminal law and justice opt-out, under which it can still decide to participate in individual justice-related laws. The problem is that the UK can opt in at the start of negotiations [on a proposal], seek to reduce the force and value [of the proposal] and then still opt out at the end.Meanwhile the new provisions on the bloc's common foreign and security policy is causing the commission concern that its powers in trade and development may be encroached upon.

There is also the contentious issue of the new voting system. Poland wants to see included in the treaty text a mechanism whereby it can block an EU decision if its vital interests are at stake. But most member states only want to have the mechanism mentioned in a separate declaration which has less legal status. Citizenship is another topic that MEPs believe need to be discussed. It was mentioned high up in the original constitution but has since been regulated to a lesser place in the new text.This has no legal importance, admits Mr Brok but stresses that it is of symbolic importance.According to Mr Duff, it's kind of odd that we are trying to appeal to citizens and we are not speaking about citizenship [when the text starts].

Post-treaty trouble

Critical though MEPs are of the way the treaty now looks – they say it remains as unreadable as previous EU treaties, they welcome some of the June additions on language, energy supply, solidarity and combating climate change.But even if the timetable goes to plan, this is not likely to be an end to problems.According to Mr Brok, one of big political discussions after the text is agree will be to do with the EU's planned diplomatic service.A balance of power question, it raises all sorts of political hot potatoes but who should control it, where it should be situated, who is part of it and what its scope should be.

Barroso Says EU Commission Will Learn From Subprime Crisis AUG 30,07

PARIS -(Dow Jones)- The European Union Commission will take a close look at the subprime lending crisis and related market turmoil, the head of the commission said Thursday. The E.U. will draw the lessons from the recent events very carefully, commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told a business conference in Paris.We can do this on the basis of an economy that is sound, with solid fundamentals, he added, without saying what fresh steps could be taken to handle the crisis or to avoid recurrences in the future.Barroso's comments follow assurances from the commission Wednesday that economic fundamentals in Europe are sound, and there is no immediate concern that growth and economic development might be affected by the subprime crisis.The commission's assessment is that, despite the problems that have existed, the situation has shown the systems of control and intervention work, commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger said Wednesday.Thursday, Barroso seemed content with the European Central Bank's and the U.S. Federal Reserve's handling of the crisis. The ECB respected its role by intervening in the markets, as did the Fed.
-By Gabriele Parussini, Dow Jones Newswires, +33 1 4017 1740; gabriele.parussini@dowjones.com (Carolyn Henson in Brussels contributed to this article.) (END) Dow Jones Newswires.

Barroso against EU borders debate
30.08.2007 - 09:22 CET | By Honor Mahony

European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has said he is against having a debate on the geographic borders of the EU.His comments, made in an interview with French daily Le Figaro, come in response to Monday's proposal by French president Nicolas Sarkozy to have a fundamental reflection on the future of the EU, including its borders, its future and its message.The idea of Mr Sarkozy is not to have a debate on the geographical borders of the Europe. This is something that we do not want - such a discussion would lead to the limits of the EU being fixed, said Mr Barroso.He reiterated Brussels' position that a decision on Turkey becoming a full member of the EU should not be taken now, with Mr Sarkozy making a debate on the future of Europe a condition for Paris not blocking Brussels' EU negotiations with Ankara.

But he went on to add that having a debate on the political objective of Europe is a good idea.He noted that a discussion on the future of Europe in the globalised world had already begun in October 2005 at an informal meeting of leaders in the UK.If member states want a more structured form for these exchanges, that is all well and good.Mr Barroso said an external contribution, possibly from universities, to the debate would be positive but pointed out that democratic decisions will always have to be taken by the institutions.The commission president, who will meet Mr Sarkozy in Paris today, praised the commission president for his European commitment.He noted that they are not necessarily in agreement on everything but added I prefer a political leader who proves their energy rather than a leader just satisfied by a bureaucratic and routine Europe.

Since France's energetic new leader came to power in June, the EU has seen a revival in its political dynamic, starting off with an agreement on a new treaty after two years of stagnation.But Mr Sarkozy's presence on the European stage has also ruffled a few feathers. He is strongly opposed to Turkey's membership of the EU – the debate of the future of Europe that he is pushing for is part of an overall idea to get people talking about membership alternatives for Ankara.He has also caused tension with other member states such as Germany by appearing to want curb to the independence of the European Central Bank.

Philanthropic foundations push for EU statute
29.08.2007 - 17:34 CET | By Helena Spongenberg

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS – Foundations are cropping up across Europe in numbers like never before. In Spain alone, at least one new foundation is created every day.
But differences in national regulation make it hard for the foundations to work across EU member states.According to the head of the European Foundation Centre (EFC), Gerry Salole, increasing wealth in Europe is part of the rise in philanthropic foundations, which have been around on the continent since the 13th century.People are also seeing that using private wealth for public resources has an impact, Mr Salole told the EUobserver in an interview. But he would like to see foundations able to be pan-European.The Brussels-based centre is pushing for a European statute for foundations, which would be a legal instrument easing legal, financial and administrative burdens foundations currently face when transferring tax-exempted charitable donations across intra-EU borders.

If we are serious about Europe, then we need a European foundation statute that will allow foundations to work across the border, Mr Salole said, adding that there is no internal market for foundations.Currently tax-exemption for cross-border charity donations in Europe is only possible to a limited extent, through the Trans-Europe Giving (TEG) Network.There are an estimated 80,000 foundations across the EU – a number that grows by 15 percent each year - and the EFC suggests that 25,000 of these foundations have combined assets of €174 billion at their disposal. Money that Mr Salole argues has an impact on the European economy.Most foundations invest their assets, for example in the stock market or in the real estate market, and spend a certain amount of their assets on philanthropic projects or charitable causes each year. Others include family trusts.The European Commission has a study on the likelihood of a European foundation statute in the pipeline and is also exploring possible initiatives to develop the role of philanthropic organisations as means to raise additional funds for research and innovation – part of the EU's so-called Lisbon Strategy to improve Europe's economy.

Europeans support greater cooperation with neighbouring countires
by Valerie Fenech, di-ve news

BRUSSLES / Malta (di-ve news) -- August 30, 2007 -- 1900CEST -- A survey conducted by Eurobarometer for the European Commission has concluded that a significant majority of people in EU Member States support efforts to intensify cooperation with the Union's neighbouring countries. The overwhelming majority of those polled believe that working with neighbours on fighting organised crime and terrorism, environment and energy, economic development, immigration, democracy, education and training is important. Most Europeans believe that EU assistance to its neighbours can serve to extend peace and democracy beyond the borders of the Union, and around half believe that neighbouring countries are indeed willing to cooperate with the EU to introduce internal reforms.

Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP), Benita Ferrero-Waldner said that the survey confirms that awareness of the ENP is rising inside the EU, and that Europeans will understand the benefits of forging closer relations with the countries with whom we share land and sea borders. The ENP is a win-win policy: helping our closest neighbours to achieve prosperity and stability makes Europe a better place to live in.The ENP was developed with the objective of increasing the mutual prosperity, stability, and security in the EU and its neighbouring countries. It offers privileged political and economic relations to 16 countries neighbouring the EU, and builds upon existing relationships.

Report: Russia fueled Israel-Syria tension
Published: Aug. 30, 2007 at 12:51 PM

JERUSALEM, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- Russia was partly to blame for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria earlier this summer, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
During an interview with Army Radio, head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Israeli Gen. Amos Gilad, said Israel sent messages to Moscow pressuring the Russians to stop fueling hostility between the two countries. At a certain time, the Russians caused the Syrians to believe that Israel was preparing for war, Gilad said. I think that they have stopped this. Syria is not planning on attacking Israel and Israel is definitely not planning on attacking Syria.A report published in the Israeli daily, Ma'ariv, said diplomatic and security officials in the Kremlin purposely deceived Syria in hopes of maximizing their profits from the sale of military equipment. We explained to the Russians that they had to avoid incitement. We explained the truth, that we aren’t interested in attacking the Syrians. We also took the opportunity to express our concern over their involvement in the region, including the sale of weapons to Damascus, some of which reach other sources, like Hezbollah, Gilad told Ynet.United Press International.