[Marxism] Most Bizarre NYT Headline of the Week

["M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

   Can you get any more obvious in revealing your bias? Taking a step
   closer...to taking a step further...from taking a tiny fake
   step....toward withdrawal.



   Israel Takes a Step Closer to a 3-Week Delay in Leaving Gaza


* By GREG MYRE
<http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=GREG%20MYRE&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=GREG%20MYRE&inline=nyt-per>
*

TEL AVIV, April 21 - Israel's defense minister, Shaul Mofaz, formally
called Thursday for a three-week delay, until Aug. 15, in the
government's plans to remove Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and
parts of the West Bank. The recommendation is widely expected to be
accepted by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Mr. Sharon and several cabinet members said they wanted input from
security officials before deciding on a postponement.

Yonatan Bassi, director of the government agency supervising the
withdrawal, suggested the postponement so the evacuation would not
overlap with a three-week Jewish mourning period, beginning July 24,
commemorating the destruction of the two ancient Jewish Temples in
Jerusalem. The evacuation is currently set to begin July 20 and last
about a month.

Until this week, Mr. Sharon had refused to consider delays, and some
opponents view the latest development as a crack in his resolve, and
hope to push for further postponements. But the delay will also give the
government and the security forces more time to work out unresolved issues.

Mr. Sharon told Israeli Army Radio: "Whoever thinks this will open the
way to delays, or not implementing the plan, or other pressures, is
simply wrong."

The vast majority of the nearly 9,000 Gaza settlers oppose the
evacuation and have not cooperated with government efforts to relocate
them. It is not clear where the settlers will live, and the government
is scrambling to find housing.

A senior army commander who briefed reporters on Thursday said his
assumption was that most Gaza settlers would remain in their homes and
would have to be removed by the security forces. The commander, who
spoke on condition he not be named, said he did not expect the settlers
to attack security forces. But he said the military would be prepared
for the possibility that supporters of the Gaza settlers might attack
soldiers to disrupt the evacuation.

Palestinian militants in Gaza are also carrying out almost daily attacks
against Israeli troops despite a truce, the military said.

Mr. Sharon has repeatedly described the pullout as a unilateral action,
but there are growing signs of coordination with Palestinian leaders.

Israel Radio reported that talks were under way to arrange a meeting
between Mr. Sharon and one leader, Mahmoud Abbas. On Thursday Israel's
deputy prime minister, Shimon Peres, held talks with the Palestinian
prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, at a Jerusalem hotel on economic aspects of
the pullout, including the large Erez industrial zone on the Israel-Gaza
border and the extensive greenhouses currently operated by the settlers,
said an official familiar with the discussions.

Mr. Sharon, in interviews in advance of Passover, said Thursday that
Israel was determined to hold on to large Jewish settlements in the West
Bank. "Large settlement blocs will remain part of the State of Israel,"
he told Israel Radio. "The Israeli government attributes great
importance to holding on to regions" in the West Bank.

He said Israel would continue building homes in West Bank settlements.
President Bush told Mr. Sharon last week that Israel should stop such
activity.

"I want to save as much of the settlement enterprise in the territories
as possible," Mr. Sharon told the daily Yediot Aharonot.

Also, Israel released nine Jordanian prisoners on Thursday in a move to
help rebuild relations that have been strained in recent years.

In another development, a report by the Israeli government, which says
it is the most comprehensive to date, estimates material damage to the
Jewish people during the Holocaust at $230 billion to $320 billion. The
report recommends that Israel work to help aging Holocaust survivors and
the relatives of those who were killed to reclaim Jewish property or
receive compensation for plundered real estate, bank accounts,
businesses, insurance policies, art work and jewelry.




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