PEACE NOW URGES CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION OF SETTLER LEADER: The Israeli Peace Now movement and Knesset members have urged the Israeli Attorney General to launch a criminal investigation into comments made by settler leader Pinhas Wallerstein in which he called for public disobedience against the disengagement plan. Wallerstein told a meeting of the Settlers Council yesterday that the public should "disobey the 'transfer' law en masse, even at the price of a prison term." He charged that the soon-to-be established coalition government is "illegitimate," and "all the gaps between Likud and Labor are being bridged by one desire: to uproot settlements and expel Jews from their land." Peace Now called for a criminal investigation of Wallerstein, with its director general Yariv Oppenheimer saying, "After walking a tightrope, the heads of the Settlers Council decided to openly and declaratively violate the law and try to shake the democratic foundation upon which the State of Israel is based.The settler leaders were and remain a group of bullies that don't respect he law. Sitting quietly will allow the anarchy to continue and will encourage revolt." Knesset member Ophir Pines added, "The settler leaders led in the past to an atmosphere that gave birth to the Rabin assassination and the incitement is recurring once again. We're talking about sedition, and the attorney general has no choice but to instruct prosecuting Wallerstein." In response to these calls for action, the Israeli Justice Ministry began an investigation into Wallerstein and will determine if he should be investigated for incitement. (Ha'aretz & Yeditoh Ahronoth, 12/20/04)

THE AUXILURY AXIS OF EVIL: The Settlers Council met recently with activists associated with the extreme right-wing in Israel and expressed interest in intensifying and uniting their mutual fight against the disengagement plan. "Until now the council was considered the moderate voice among the different right-wing groups opposed to Sharon's plan," said one right-wing activist who participated in the series of meetings. "They have however realized that slogans such as 'We have love and it will win' are not achieving their goal." The meetings were attended by senior council members, Gush Katif settlers, and members of the far-right, including the outlawed Kach terrorist organization, Yitzhar settlers, and members of the Defensive Shield group, led by Education Minister Limor Livnat's brother, Noam Livnat. One activist associated with the extreme right-wing admitted he never thought he would sit at the same table with members of the Settlers Council. "In my wildest dreams I never thought I would sit down to talk with the Settlement Council," he said. "But they have realized that their campaign and their slogans are not working and the need to change their style." Another activist praised the unification of the various anti-disengagement groups. "If all of the organizations work together, we will have the ability to paralyze the country within a matter of days," he said. Head of Gush Katif anti-disengagement headquarters, Eran Sternberg, who attended some of the meetings, said concrete decisions were not made but that all of the participants did agree the time has come to intensify the struggle. "They [different right-wing groups] spoke with residents and came up with new ideas which would make the struggle more aggressive," he said. "We are unwilling to continue being well-behaved kids while Sharon brutally rapes us." Yehoshua Mor-Yosef, the council's spokesperson, denied council members met with right-wing extremists, calling reports of the meeting "one big lie." One far-right activist explained why Mor-Yosef is prevented from admitting he and others met with the extreme groups. "What can he say? That he joined Kach?" the activist asked cynically. "It is against everything he grew up on and everything he has led his public to believe." Zviki Bar-Hai of the Hebron Regional Council, said, "The deportation of Jews from their homes is against the law. We can fight it and will not agree to this plan. If Sharon will continue to proceed with his plan then there is a chance the council will come out with a call for turning the struggle into an aggressive one. When we are with our back to the wall with nowhere to go, then all options are available." (Jerusalem Post, 12/12 & 16/04)

RACISM WORMS ITS WAY INTO SETTLERS CAUCUS: The head of the Knesset settlers caucus, MK Yehiel Hazan, dragged the Knesset through the mud last week with a speech that managed to shock even those who thought they had become used to how Israeli politicians talk. Hazan compared Arabs to worms-sparking a furor. Hazan, who was up at the podium, referred to the terror attack in the Rafah crossing tunnel in which five IDF soldiers were killed, saying, "By any means, these Arabs are like worms, anywhere, like worms. Under the ground, over the ground, by any means. These worms have been attacking the Jewish people for 100 years, and we extend our hand in peace. As if nothing has happened. Mr. Speaker, as long as we do not realize that we are dealing with a nation of murderers, a nation of terrorists that does not want us here, there will be no quiet here." Hazan continued, "You Arabs who sit in this building-instead of looking out for the Arabs in the Land of Israel, for their rights, you look out for the Palestinians, for those terrorists who murder Muslims, Muslim soldiers, soldiers who were murdered yesterday, terrorists, like worms under the earth." Hazan reverted to his analogy, "Like worms. That is what you represent. A nation of worms that digs in the sand, not a nation that seeks peace. They make no distinctions for Muslim IDF soldiers. They make no distinctions, not for religion, not for a culture, not for a people. Nothing." MK Raleb Majadala replied to Hazan, saying, "Afterwards you complain that you are called a racist." The Anti-Defamation League condemned Hazan's comments as "derogatory, prejudicial and highly unbecoming for a Member of Israel's Knesset." (Ma'ariv & Jerusalem Post, 12/14/04)

NO JOY IN JAYYOUS: Two weeks ago, excavators and diggers arrived near the Palestinian village of Jayyous to lay the foundations for a new settlement near the existing settlement of Zufim. The bulldozers were preparing the ground for hundreds of new homes, despite the Israeli government's claim that it is not expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Like other construction along the route of the security barrier, it seems to be an attempt to ensure that the land between the fence and the Green Line remains in Israeli hands in any final agreement with the Palestinians. At least five other sites along the barrier have settlement work in progress. The Israeli Peace Now movement says the new land grab is an attempt to get a head start on the American team waiting for instructions to go out to the settlements and mark the limits of their expansion. Zufim, where about 200 families live, is built on 336 acres of land confiscated from Jayyous in 1986. The Defense Ministry said the initiators of the project, a company called Ge'ulat Haaretz, has had a license to develop the land for a decade. A representative of the contractor told Bamakom, an association of architects following the routing of the separation fence, that the company plans to build at least 2,100 housing units. Yehezkel Lein, a researcher with B'Tselem, said the military government in the occupied territories had issued permits for the work. He added, "In the plan for Zufim there is an extension to the north of the settlement that was already approved. There is also another expansion to the east. But there is no territorial contiguity between Zufim and the new construction, so it is really a new settlement." He said the government's intention became clear when it sited the barrier between Jayyous and Zufim so that most of the land was on the settlers' side. "The fence took an inconvenient route, not one that is best for security. If you ask why, it can only be to take the land," he observed. About 400 more houses are being built around the settlement of Alfei Menashe, at the heart of an enclave created by a loop in the barrier less than two miles south of Zufim. Trapped inside are five smaller Palestinian communities of about 1,000 people and their land. A short distance away, work has begun on about 50 houses at Nof Sharon on land confiscated from a Palestinian town. The first stage of the Road Map obliges Israel to freeze all settlement construction. But settlement expansion between the barrier and the Green Line has been encouraged by a letter from President George Bush to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in April promising that "population concentrations" in the occupied territories-taken to mean Jewish settlements-would remain in Israeli hands under any peace agreement with the Palestinians. (Guardian, 12/14/04 & Ha'aretz, 12/10/04)

NOT ONE SETTLEMENT MORE: A lead editorial in Ha'aretz commented on the recent efforts of the Sharon government to build new settlements, saying, "This, perhaps, is the primary reason the Labor Party must enter the government at any price: to keep a close watch on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon so that he does not follow the familiar yearnings of his heart from years gone by and fill the West Bank with new settlements while all the attention is focused on the evacuation of the Gaza Strip. These words are being written in the wake of the state's reply to the community of Nirit's petition to the High Court of Justice against the establishment of a new Jewish settlement with 1,200 housing units to be called Nof Hasaron, adjacent to Nirit but on the other side of the Green Line, in the West Bank. In his reply to the High Court of Justice, the representative of the State Prosecutor's office said the Road Map that has been approved by the government, whereby it has undertaken not to set up any new settlements in the territories, does not legally obligate the state. This amazing legal hairsplitting shows a trend of thought in Sharon's government that portends ill. It is untenable that it will demand of the Palestinians that they stick to their commitment under the Road Map to fight terror while ignoring its own commitment not to establish settlements.[The feeling that disengagement is being used to strengthen settlements in the West Bank] is reinforced upon reading the follow-up reports by Peace Now and other organizations to the effect that in Samaria, the Etzion bloc, and Maale Adumim, there is energetic ground-breaking work going on in an attempt to establish new facts on the ground. The suspicion is that the government is trying to draw up a new map strewn with Jewish settlement points before the Americans come to the region to draw their own map of the settlements. In addition to this, about 100 outposts that were slated to be evacuated long ago are thriving undisturbed, have already been hooked up to water and electricity infrastructures, and are continuing to expand..Anyone who has been following the settlement project since its inception knows that most of it has come about using the method of promises are one thing, winks are another thing, and construction is quite another, which is not unfamiliar to Sharon. The time has come to put an end to this. The Jewish settlements are the main obstacle today to an agreement with the Palestinians. To this historical injustice, not one further settlement should be added." (Ha'aretz, 12/17/04)

THE LONELY PLANET'S GUIDE TO OCCUPATION: The Knesset Finance Committee approved the transfer of NIS 2 million to various tourism projects in the occupied territories, including to Gaza settlements scheduled to be evacuated under the disengagement plan. The allocations to projects that have already been completed include NIS 176,000 for construction at the entrance of Gaza's Gush Katif settlement bloc (NIS 224,000 had already been spent on this project); NIS 90,000 for paving a road to Wadi Kelt in the Judean Desert (bringing the total tourism investment at this site to NIS 400,000); NIS 194,000 for a project around Rachel's Tomb; NIS 500,000 for the Herodion National Park, south of Jerusalem; and NIS 18,000 for a project near Mount Eival, near Nablus (NIS 25,000 total were squandered on this item). In addition, the government will allocate funds for projects that have not yet been finished, including NIS 106,000 to Rachel's Tomb; NIS 50,000 for the completion of a boardwalk in Kiryat Arba, near Hebron; NIS 500,000 to the Good Samaritan Center, near Hebron; NIS 450,000 for the preservation of an ancient synagogue in Susiya in the West Bank; and NIS 40,000 for the Alon Boardwalk in the West Bank. MK Haim Oron criticized the decision to allocate the funds, saying, "The list of tourism projects in the territories is delusional.there is no tourism in the territories. People don't travel there, and nevertheless millions are transferred. Why did we invest in a new gateway to Gush Katif? Again it has been proved that in the shadow of the disengagement plan, millions of shekels are allocated to the territories, despite the fact that most of the public understands that disengagement is not far away." A settler source admitted that Israeli visitors had abandoned the tourist sites in the occupied territories after the Intifada erupted. "In 1999, over one million tickets were sold to visitors at parks in Judea and Samaria, but now the numbers have dropped by dozens of percents. The main share of tourism in recent years is based on Christian friends of Israel and Jews from abroad who want to see first hand what a settlement looks like," said the source. In related news, the Knesset Finance Committee approved the transfer of NIS 90 million in state funds to build a road in the West Bank last week. The road is planned to run between the settlements of Anantot and Azria north of Jerusalem. (Ha'aretz, 12/14-15/04 & Yedioth Ahronoth, 12/15/04)

A CHANGE IN PLANS? As it appears now, the historic vote in the Israeli cabinet over the evacuation of settlements in the framework of the disengagement plan will not take place in mid-June (two weeks before evacuation) as previously planned, but next month. Moreover, instead of four separate votes on four groups of settlements, apparently one combined vote will take place about all the settlements. The new timeframe is a result of legal constraints. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon recently held closed talks in his bureau with Justice Ministry experts. The statements made were clear: holding a vote on the evacuation of 7,500 people from their homes only two weeks before evacuation will not stand up in the High Court of Justice, neither is it proper nor possible from a legal perspective. Disengagement Administration director Yonatan Basie added a reservation of his own: he cannot begin to work, cannot send out evacuation letters, and cannot advance the initiative until there is a cabinet decision. When Sharon asked how much time before the evacuation the vote must be held from a reasonable legal perspective, the jurists said several months, about half a year. This means that the vote must be held in January. And since it will be held next month, there is no point in dividing it into four different votes, as there will be no change in the situation on the ground between the different voting dates. The solution indicated as of now is one definitive, historical vote in January, with the possibility of an "escape hatch" in the form of an additional vote on the eve of evacuation, in the case of a special security situation. Now Sharon will have to sell this to Benjamin Netanyahu, Limor Livnat, Yisrael Katz, Silvan Shalom, and others. (Ma'ariv, 12/17/04)

ISRAEL ROLLS OUT REFUGEE REQUEST: Israel has reportedly created a new diplomatic program to find a solution for the Palestinian refugee issue in the occupied territories and in Arab states. It intends to request countries that support the Palestinian Authority financially to invest capital in finding permanent housing for Palestinians living in refugee camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Syria, and Lebanon. Israel will also ask those nations to absorb some of the refugees in their own countries. One-third of the registered Palestinian refugees, about 1.3 million, live in 59 recognized refugee camps in the areas of UNRWA operations in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had a negative reaction to the Israeli initiative, saying, "Any proposal regarding the resettlement of the refugees is completely rejected." (Jerusalem Post, 12/14-15/04)

PALESTINIAN DIRECTOR HARVESTS ISRAELI COOPERATION: Controversial Palestinian director Hanna Elias, who made a movie with an Israeli crew, wants to promote non-violence as a way to end settlements and prove the two sides can live together in peace. "It's the only film on which I worked with an Israeli crew," he said. "I wanted to make that move as a Palestinian, to show we can work together, open borders and all be one country." "The Olive Harvest," filmed in the Ramallah and Jenin regions of the West Bank, is a complex Palestinian love story and one of 13 movies that made their Gulf premiere during the Dubai International Film Festival. Elias, who said he was ambushed in Dubai by Arab reporters who criticized him for working with an Israeli crew, argues that his film is strictly a love story and portrays the experience of women. The film's two leading male characters fight over the same woman, representing Israelis and Palestinians fighting over the same land. "There are complex universal issues in the film, but people don't concentrate on that. Because I had an Israeli crew, it created a hoopla," he said. When screened at the festival to a full house, the public reacted positively during a subsequent question-and-answer session. "There was no aggressiveness, even though they were aware I'd worked with Israelis.and when I said I would do it again, that I would work with Israelis and build bridges, there was wide applause," he said. The festival organizers said, "We salute the makers of 'The Olive Harvest,' who have shown that two peoples can work together and produce excellent cinema." Elias says he wants to establish a "non-violent movement in Palestine." As a start, he is dubbing Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi" into Arabic and plans to release it in February. "I'm doing this as a way to get the settlers and the Israeli Army out of the West Bank. Engaging my people with that I think will bring a change from within," Elias said. "The biggest hurdle in the peace process is the settlements.That's what will kill us if it isn't solved." Elias is involved in a $7 million enterprise of building a Palestinian-Israeli film school in Jerusalem in collaboration with Israeli-American producer Natan Zahavi and another three founders. The school, to be opened in 2007, will accommodate 20 Palestinian students, 20 Israelis, and 10 foreigners, all of who will live together. (AFP, 12/13/04)

PEACE UP, CONFIDENCE IN U.S. DOWN IN PALESTINIAN POLL: In a survey of Palestinian public opinion released by Bir Zeit University last week, support for negotiations with Israel increased from 45% last July to 69% in December, with Gazans more supportive (73%) than their West Bank counterparts (66%). In addition, 64% of respondents support a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on UN resolutions. On the other hand, 72% of respondents believe that the re-election of President George Bush will result in increased pressure on the Palestinian leadership to make concessions to the Israelis, and only 16% view his re-election as a positive push to the peace process. 75% of respondents think that the U.S. is not serious about its calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state. (IMRA, 12/15/04)

QIZ BIZ: Lord Stone of Blackheath, a former chair of Marks and Spencer, will serve as chair for a $100 million investment fund that will invest in the new Egyptian qualified industrial zones (QIZs). Israeli, Egyptian, British, and U.S. businesspeople are partners in the new fund. Adv. Gideon Fisher represents the Israeli investors in the fund, including New Jerusalem Fund general manager Zvi Raviv and former Carmel Mortgage Bank CEO Israel Erlich. The Egyptian investors in the fund are Dr. Ibrahim Kamal, the CEO of a large holding company and someone considered to be a confident of President Hosni Mubarak, and Lazard Asset Management Egypt managing director Dina Khayat, the niece of former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali. Fisher said the fund planned to raise $100 million from private and public bodies in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and Egypt to invest in ventures to be founded in the QIZs. The fund's partners hope that it will provide normalization between Israel and Egypt. (Globes, 12/14/04)

ISRAELI-EU RELATIONS 2.0: Israel and the EU signed a new agreement to upgrade and enhance their relations in a wide sphere of matters, providing for increased political, economic, legal, infrastructure and environmental cooperation. The accord will facilitate cooperation in such fields as combating organized crime, especially the narcotics and white slavery trades. Educational links will be improved, enhancing mobility of students, academic faculty, and researchers. Cooperation will improve in combating anti-Semitism, increasing awareness of the Holocaust, and preserving Yiddish and Ladino. (Ma'ariv, 12/13/04)

MADISON WADI, PART I: The Peres Center for Peace and the Palestinian Economic Forum enlisted Israeli and Palestinian advertising agencies to design multicultural advertising campaigns together that would broaden the basis of support for the peace process on both sides. In other words, to prepare the target population to receive a new product, in this case-peace. It's true that the image of the "product" has been severely damaged in recent years, but the assumption is that professionals in this field have already coped with severe cases of this sort. At the first stage, 36 ad executives and PR personnel met in Jordan, where they divided into four teams and prepared the infrastructure for the joint work, which continued in Tel Aviv. The conference room for the joint team of Euro-Tel Aviv and a Palestinian advertising agency from Ramallah looked like any office at the height of working on a campaign-lots of clutter, paper, sketches, and junk food scattered around. "I can't remember the last time when I saw people in our office working on a campaign with such enthusiasm," said Zamir Dahbash, CEO of Euro-Tel Aviv. "They see this as a kind of mission. Our concept is a call for civil activism: For people to begin to take action, without waiting for the solution to come from the leaders." But slogans and reality can be two different things. While the Israeli ad executives started the day comfortably in the office with their morning coffee, the Palestinian ad executives had to stand at roadblocks for hours in order to come to the meeting, and the ad executives from Gaza barely managed to exit the Strip. "On a human and professional level, we are completely equal, but it was hard to grasp that the guys from the territories had to apply each time for a one-time permit in order to come to the work meetings and leave early because the permit is only valid until 7:00 p.m.," said Sharon Tal, senior budget director of the firm. "When Muna from Ramallah said she hadn't seen the ocean for the past seven years, I was in shock. We are the same age and work in the same profession, but there are great differences in the way we live. I feel guilty for what they have to go through." Muna said, "Our target is the young people. We want to channel negative energy into something more positive. Instead of throwing stones-to create street paintings. We are not aiming for political solutions, but rather conveying the message that it is possible to live together. We don't know how, but we know what we feel-that we are sick and tired of living this way." (Yedioth Ahronoth, 12/15/04)

MADISON WADI, PART II: Some of the Palestinian participants preferred not to reveal their names because of fears about how their activities would be received back home. According to Shadi, a budget director from Ramallah, "On the Israeli side there is already a population of convinced people, while on the Palestinian side there is a population that is tired of war. But in order to work in this direction, it requires a strategic change, a new way of thinking. There are many opponents on our side, so we are trying to create a more indirect campaign, which will rise up from several places at once, from street activity, graffiti, the Internet, products that bear the message of peace. We are trying to create something that does not belong to any party or organization, but rather to the people." Over the past two months, members of the groups have worked together, eaten together, laughed together, and played pool together. At the end of this time, they made their campaign presentations. One group focused on the price of war. One of their proposals includes a series of posters with the message, "Soon there won't be children left to play." The pictures show adults playing with toys in a playground, with the slogan, "No winners in the game." Another group presented a broad business plan, ranging from a sketch of a web site to a proposal for competitions of Palestinian and Israeli teens on the topic of promoting peace., including stickers, graffiti, stick-on tattoos, ring tones and animations for cell phones, rock performances, fashion shows, joint tree plantings, and more. The third group felt that the word "peace" had different interpretations on both sides, so another word must be used, and the supporters of peace should be united under a non-political symbol. The fourth group proposed a 30-second advertisement aimed at both sides. The ad depicts two children fighting in a sandbox. The screen goes dark and shows the caption: "20 years later," and on the screen, the same sandbox, with the two children who have grown into adults and are still fighting. The caption, "Let's start to talk" appears on the screen-in the sandbox are already two old men fighting-"before it's too late." A Peres Center official called the process exceptional, and said that the ideas it generated will form the basis of an actual campaign. (Yedioth Ahronoth, 12/15/04)