Middle East briefs

By JTA

article created on:

Gore, Oz among Dan Prize winners

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Al Gore, Tom Stoppard and Amoz Oz are among the 2008 Dan David Prize winners. The winners in each category from three time periods—past, present and future—will be presented $1 million prizes in a ceremony in May at Tel Aviv University.

Oz, an Israeli author, and Stoppard, a British playwright, share the prize in the past category in the field of literature, theater and film with Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan. Gore, the former U.S. vice president and a Nobel Prize winner, won in the present category in the field of social responsibility with emphasis on the environment. Sharing the prize in the future category, in the field of geosciences, are American professors Ellen Moseley-Thompson and Lonnie Thompson of Ohio State University, and British scientist Geoffrey Eglinton. The Dan David Prize each year rewards achievements that have an outstanding scientific, technological, cultural or social impact on the world. Founded in 2001, the prize is named for international businessman and philanthropist Dan David and headquartered at Tel Aviv University.

Ethiopian lawmaker to be sworn in

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Knesset will swear in the second Ethiopian lawmaker in its history. Shlomo Molla will be sworn in this month as a member of the Kadima party, which leads the ruling coalition. Molla, a longtime community activist who currently heads the Jewish Agency’s department of Ethiopian absorption, replaces Avigdor Yitzhaki, who quit his seat to protest Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s refusal to resign in the wake of a damning report on Israel’s 2006 war in Lebanon.

Ethiopian absorption plan wins approval

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Israeli government authorized a five-year plan for improving the absorption of Ethiopian immigrants. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet approved an interministerial plan Feb. 10 earmarking some $250 million for the integration of marginalized Ethiopian immigrants by 2013.

Israel raids Palestinian terror funders

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli forces raided 14 Palestinian money-changing operations suspected of funding terror. In a joint operation Feb. 12, the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Police and the Shin Bet confiscated $826,600 that the military said was intended for Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank. The money, in shekels, dollars and dinars, was removed from 14 homes and offices in Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Ramallah and Hebron. The military also confiscated weapons and ammunition.

Earthquake hits Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A mild earthquake shook northern Israel. The earthquake, measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale, was felt in Israel the night of Feb. 11 from Kiryat Shemona to Jerusalem. The epicenter was in south Lebanon. Three earthquakes of the same magnitude hit Israel in November.

Palestinian numbers up

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem has grown 30 percent over the past decade, a census found. The Palestinian Authority’s Central Bureau of Statistics, having completed its first census in a decade, announced that the Palestinian population stands at 3.76 million, up from 2.89 million in 1997. The figures could bolster Palestinian Authority demands for Israel, which quit Gaza in 2005, to cede large parts of the West Bank and even east Jerusalem under peace talks that were revived in November. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, like his predecessor Ariel Sharon, argues that a growing Palestinian population in the territories, as well as a relatively high birth rate among Israel’s Arab citizens, poses a “demographic threat” to the Jewish state.

Their number up, Hamas leaders hide

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have gone into hiding for fear they could be targeted for assassination by Israel. Ismail Haniyeh, the top Hamas politician in Gaza, and the commander of the Islamist group’s terrorist operations, Ahmed Jaabari, disappeared from public view the week of Feb. 11, Palestinian sources said. The move appeared to be a response to Israel’s decision to step up airstrikes and other pinpoint military operations against Hamas following its cross-border rocket salvos.