CORRIE

Mideast briefs

By JTA

Rachel Corrie memorialized in Nablus

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Rachel Corrie’s parents dedicated a memorial to her in the West Bank city of Nablus. The ceremony March 20 marked five years since the U.S. pro-Palestinian activist was killed attempting to block an Israeli bulldozer razing a Palestinian house in the Gaza Strip. She was 23.

At the event her mother, Cindy, said her daughter believed that Palestine could become a “source of hope for people struggling all over the world,” The Associated Press reported. Corrie’s parents have led a campaign to prevent Caterpillar from selling its bulldozers to Israel. Israel says it uses the bulldozers to raze dwellings that harbor terrorists or their weapons-smuggling operations.

Israel seeks super-rich immigrants

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s Finance Ministry is putting together tax incentives for potential billionaire immigrants. Under a plan championed by Finance Minister Roni Bar-On, major Jewish magnates who agree to move to Israel would receive sweeping income tax exemptions for 10 years, Channel 10 television reported. The perks could be extended if the billionaires invest in Israel’s underprivileged peripheral communities. Israel has been alert to a potential dollar drain since diamond tycoon Lev Leviev relocated to London in January, though he denied the move was a response to economic conditions in the Jewish state.

Jewish Agency wins Israel Prize

NEW YORK (JTA)—The Jewish Agency for Israel was awarded the Israel Prize, the country’s highest honor. Israel’s Ministry of Education announced the recognition March 25. The Israel Prize is given each year in the humanities, science, arts and culture, and lifetime achievement on Israel’s Independence Day. Founded in 1929 as a prestate, quasi-governmental organization, the agency won the award for its Zionist efforts.

“In granting the Israel Prize, the state of Israel expresses its recognition to the organization which brought to realization the vision of the return to Zion, and established a political sovereignty for the Jewish people in their homeland,” the education ministry said in a statement. “It continues today along with the Jewish people and along with the government of Israel to contribute on a daily basis in shaping the face of Israeli society, in settling the land, in absorbing immigrants, in education, in revitalizing neighborhoods and in creating the groundwork for the state.”

Indyk Hussein target

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A former U.S. ambassador to Israel was targeted for assassination by the Saddam Hussein regime, according to top-secret Iraqi documents. Martin Indyk, an Australian-bred Jew, was listed in a U.S. Institute for Defense Analyses report released last month by the Pentagon on the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The Pentagon said the paper provides “strong evidence” of the links between Saddam’s regime and global terrorism. Indyk, who served two separate diplomatic terms in Tel Aviv, is mentioned in a letter to Baghdad from terrorist leaders in the Gaza Strip. The suggestion to “eliminate” Indyk was based on his apparent involvement in cooperative activities between Israelis and Palestinians. An Australian newspaper reported that Indyk, a native of Britain, was unaware of the plot but said the letter was written on June 30, 2001—his last day as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Israeli airliners to get missile defenses

WASHINGTON (JTA)—Israel will equip commercial airliners with missile repellent devices in the coming weeks. Plans for the system were launched in 2002 after missiles launched by Al-Qaida terrorists in Kenya barely missed an airliner. The devices, which fire flares that interfere with missiles’ heat detection devices, should be installed within weeks, Ha’aretz reported.

Peres: No Golan deal

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel will not give up the Golan Heights as long as Syria is aligned with Iran, Shimon Peres said. “Israel will never agree to return the Golan Heights, only to get, in return, Iranian-Syrian control over Lebanon,” the Israeli president was quoted as telling visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. “Syria is an Iranian satellite, and there is no way of getting peace talks going while Syria is transferring weapons to Lebanon.”

IDF drills for Gaza

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s armed forces held a war game to simulate a takeover of the Gaza Strip. Combined units from various Israeli military corps held a four-day drill in the southern desert in March aimed at anticipating the challenges of a large-scale Gaza invasion. In addition to crushing Hamas, Israeli forces would be called upon in such a situation to stop cross-border rocket fire by Palestinian terrorists while ensuring that humanitarian supplies continue to reach the civilian population. According to military officials, Israel could assume control over Gaza within a relatively short time, though the operation would mean dozens of soldiers killed and approximately a 10-fold death toll on the Palestinian side. The military described the war game as a routine drill, and Defense Ministry sources said no sweep of Gaza is believed to be imminent.