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The Management and Staff of The Media Line wish a happy Passover to all of
our Jewish readers, listeners and viewers.
AMERICA'S
MIDDLE EAST ECONOMY
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HEAR TODAY'S EDITION OF 'THE
INTERNATIONAL NEWS HOUR' RADIO PROGRAM
The Media Line Daily News
Focus 12 April 2006
1. TOURISTS FLOCK TO THE REGION FOR PASSOVER,
EASTER... Jerusalem is abuzz with tourists arriving to celebrate Easter and
Passover. The seven-day Jewish festival that commemorates the exodus from Egypt
begins at sunset. With Easter following on Sunday, tourists of all denominations
are seen around and about. Many will retrace the events of historical Easter,
traveling between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
2.
ISRAELI CHIEF-OF-STAFF RESPONDS TO IRANIAN NUCLEAR
ANNOUNCEMENT... Israel’s military chief-of-staff responded to
Tuesday’s announcement that Iran is “in the nuclear club” with caution rather
than bluster. Although Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz told Israel Army Radio that “a
nuclear Iran is a threat not only to Israel but to the entire free, democratic
world,” he also tempered his remarks by saying that “Iran is not there yet” and
that he believes the time until it is can make workable nuclear weapons “is an
essential medium in the dialogue with Iran and I believe things will change
during this process.” Military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told the newspaper
Haaretz that the Iranian announcement was a “trap” set to “accelerate the
process to the next point ? the extent of enrichment.”
3. ISLAMIC JIHAD
EXPLOSIVES FACTORY DISCOVERED NEAR JENIN... Israeli forces discovered an
explosives lab belonging to Islamic Jihad in a village near Jenin in the West
Bank early Wednesday morning. Four explosive devices, more than 60 pounds of
explosives and equipment needed to prepare bombs were found. Army sappers blew
up the explosives. Twelve Palestinians were arrested in a sweep in Nablus during
the early hours of Wednesday morning.
4. ISRAELI
MINISTERS DEFIANT AS INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY ASKS FOR MODERATION OF BOMBING
POLICY... Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Tuesday
that the army will continue to shell residential areas of the Gaza Strip and
intensify operations if Palestinian rockets continue to be aimed at Israeli
communities. Foreign Minister Tzipi took a similar tone, telling Israel Radio
that, “The role of the Israeli army is to defend Israeli civilians, combat
terrorism and prevent rocket attacks. As long as Palestinians fire at
residential areas, the army must reply.” Sixteen civilians were killed
by Israeli shelling over the weekend intended to put an end to the firing of
Qassam rockets at Israeli targets. Isma’il Hanniya, the Palestinian prime
minister, said that the Israeli operation is “part of a political and economic
siege of the Palestinian people.” On Wednesday, five human rights
organizations issued a plea for Israel to reverse its announced decision to
reduce the artillery safety zone to a range equal to that of the shells’
fragmentation range, calling it a “disproportionate responsive
measure.”
5. ARAB LEAGUE CALLS E.U. ACTION AGAINST P.A.
“REPREHENSIBLE”... A spokesman for the Arab League speaking to reporters in
Cairo, says that the European Union’s decision to cut direct aid to the
now-Hamas-led Palestinian Authority is “reprehensible.” Mohammad Sobieh, the
League’s assistant secretary general for Palestinian affairs, called the
decision “totally unacceptable. He said it was “strange and reprehensible ...
that the Palestinian people are punished for being undemocratic and also
punished for exercising democracy.”
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