Compiled by Parker L. Payson

From the Jewish Press:

Fatah Remains Favorite:

The Israeli Defense Force admitted that if elections had been held in the occupied territories in December, Al Fatah, Yasser Arafat's mainstream faction of the PLO, would have won 65 percent of the vote. " Islamic extremist groups, such as Fatah's rival Hamas, would reportedly have won no more than 30 percent of the vote, although their support is expected to increase the longer Palestinians are forced to wait for elections, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Another Soldier Jailed for Civil Disobedience:

The 85th Israeli soldier refusing to serve in army patrols in the occupied territories was sentenced to 35 days in jail in November. According to the National Jewish Post Observer, the 24-year-old had previously been sentenced to 35 days in jail on the same charge.

Med-Dead Canal No Longer Dead:

Israeli officials are discussing the revival of the Med-Dead canal project to transfer water from the Mediterranean across Israel into the shrinking Dead Sea. The Jerusalem Post reported that Israeli Energy and Infrastructure Minister Moshe Shahal announced in October that a group of US investors expressed interest in financing the project, scrapped in 1981 after cost estimates grew from $800 million to $1.5 billion.

Kahane Sues USC:

Leader of Israel's Kach party, Rabbi Meir Kahane, who advocates violent expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories, has threatened to sue the University of Southern California for denying him speaking privileges in a university auditorium, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The November decision followed a six-minute speech by Kahane which degenerated into a shouting match with students, most of them Jewish. As Kahane was escorted off campus by police, he remarked, "Anytime I get Arabs upset, it's a success."

Israeli-Ethiopian Alliance Reached:

Ethiopia will allow Israel to maintain a naval base on its Red Sea coast and will allow Ethiopian Jews to leave for Israel in exchange for Israeli military support against secessionist movements in the Ethiopian provinces of Tigre and Eritrea, according to Sudanese reports in the Queens (NY) Jewish Week. Uri Gordon, head of Israel's Immigration and Absorption department, predicted that the process of accepting the estimated 18,000 Ethiopian Jews will be slow, primarily because of the difficulty settling new arrivals. According to Israeli government figures, more than 8,000 Falashas, or one-third of Israel's Ethiopian Jewish community, are without permanent housing.

Old City Turns Into Old West:

The number of gun owners in Jerusalem increased 350 percent in the last year, according to a survey published in the Jerusalem Post in November. " Demand for guns in this shop is up by close to 1,000 percent since the start of the intifada," said Jerusalem gun shop owner Itzhak Mizrahi.

Bus Attacker Faces 16 Consecutive Life Sentences:

A Palestinian from the Gaza Strip convicted of forcing a public bus off the road and killing 16 persons in July was sentenced in November to 16 life sentences in prison, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. The Jerusalem District Court meted out a life sentence for each person killed and an additional 20-year term for the attempted murders of those who survived the crash.

Poverty Level Doubles In 1988:

Nearly a half million people, or 13 percent of Israel's population, including 223,000 children, were living below the poverty line in 1988, according to Israeli government figures published in the Detroit Jewish News. Twice that number would have been under the poverty line, unable to pay for basic staples and routine utility bills, were it not for assistance by the National Insurance Institute, reported NII Director-General Mordechai Zipori. Some 448,00 Israelis lived in what he called "terrible poverty," surviving on less than $7.50 a day.

Shamir's Referendum Falls:

Israel's Labor Party commanded a larger than-expected margin of victory in November's national elections in the Histadrut labor federation. The strong Labor turnout signaled defeat for Prime Minister Yitzak Shamir's mandate on foreign policy because, throughout the campaign, Shamir called the vote "more a referendum on peace policy than on labor-related matters, " according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Israel's Cooperation with South Africa Criticized:

Representatives of the Israeli government met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and Jewish Congressional leaders to defuse complaints made by Congressmen to Israeli Prime Minister Shamir over reports that Israel and South Africa have been cooperating on the development of nuclear missiles. The Queens (NY) Jewish Week reported that the ad hoc congressional group called for the immediate termination of military cooperation between South Africa and the seven nations that still maintain military ties with the country. Although the Israeli government had pledged in 1987 not to renew any military contracts with South Africa, many congressmen were reportedly shaken by the breadth of existing contracts, which would allegedly carry joint production well into the 21st century.

Sharon Voices Frustration:

On Nov. 25, Israeli Defense Forces arrested 72 Palestinians in the Tulkarim refugee camp suspected of committing violence in the occupied territories, according to the Jerusalem Post. There were no casualties. Israeli Minister of Industry and Trade Ariel Sharon criticized the arrests and told Deputy Chief of General Staff Ehud Barak, "Don't catch them; wipe them out."

Polls Indicate Divergent Attitudes:

More than 52 percent of the Israeli population favors the transfer of Arabs from the occupied territories, up 14 percent over 1988, according to a poll taken by the Hanoch Smith Research Institute in November. More Americans, however, favor the establishment of a Palestinian state if Israel's security can be guaranteed. Some 45 percent of those surveyed favored a Palestinian state, 34 percent were opposed, and 31 percent had no opinion, according to the results of an October Gallup poll published in the Israeli newspaper Davar.

Humanitarian Gesture not Immune to Politics:

The American-born wife of an Israeli soldier fatally shot by Palestinians in Gaza in November donated her husband's heart to save the life of an East Jerusalem Arab. The heart transfer, performed at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, sparked bitter debate. Professor Avraham Abramov, chief of pediatrics at the orthodox Bikur Holim Hospital in Jerusalem, quoted in the Jerusalem Post, questioned the propriety of transplanting the heart of a Jewish soldier killed by Arabs to another Arab, saying the act was "tasteless and tactless. There is a limit to democracy. " Habonim Dror North America, a Labor Zionist youth group to which the soldier belonged, however, "saluted its graduate... who gave his life in defense of Israel and donated his heart to save the life of a Palestinian Arab."

From the Middle East Press:

Peace Talks Advance:

After intense negotiations with UN envoy Jan Eliasson, Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni dropped a demand that Iraq withdraw from all Iranian territory occupied during the Gulf War in order to secure the release of political prisoners. Iran retained its demand that Iraq "register" all of an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 Iranians captured by Iraq. This is an apparent Iranian attempt to obtain names of Iranians who defected to join opposition groups. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, between 22,000 and 27,000 unregistered prisoners are in Iraq. Iran holds an estimated 60,000 to 70,000 Iraqi prisoners of war.

Opium Harvest Mellows Fighters:

Fighting between rebels and the Soviet backed government in Afghanistan has slowed to correspond with the beginning of the harvest of an opium crop expected to reach 825 tons. According to reports from Kabul appearing in the Saudi Gazette, army officers have joined mojahedin commanders in harvesting a crop with a street value of over $449 million in Kabul. Kuwait's Security Assured: The reduction of US warships in the Persian Gulf has not diminished the US commitment to defend Kuwait from foreign attack. Speaking at a news conference in November, US General H. Norman Schwarzkopf said that although there is no formal alliance between the US and Kuwait, "If Kuwait came to the United States and asked for our help ... the United States would help ... just as when Kuwait came to us and asked us for help with the tankers. "

AMU and ACC Set Moderate Goals for 1990:

Two regional economic alliances founded in 1989, the Arab Cooperative Council of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and North Yemen, and the Arab Maghreb Union, comprising Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania, have renewed emphasis on achieving greater economic unity in 1990 but, according to a report from the Arab Banking Corporation, are cautious because "of the existing low levels of economic integration between them [and] of the poor track record of previous attempts at Arab economic cooperation," reported Bahrain's Gulf Mirror.

UN Blasts Iran For Public Executions:

The United Nations charged in November that many of Iran's 900 officially announced executions in the first five months of 1989 did not involve drug traffickers, as Iran claims, but were politically motivated. Such executions of political opponents are "incompatible with international human rights instruments that are binding on the Iranian government," according to UN Human Rights Commission Representative Reynaldo Galindo Pohl. Iran's largest opposition group, the Peoples' Mojahedin, reports that Iran executed at least 1,300 men and women from January to mid-October, included a group hanging of 31 persons on Oct. 7.

Two Members of Congress Meet Aoun In Lebanon:

Congresswoman Mary Rose Oakar (D-OH) and Congressman Nick Rahall (D-WV) disregarded US State Department safety warnings and met with Lebanese Christian militia leader General Michel Aoun in East Beirut to discuss conditions for implementation of the Taif peace proposal which was rejected by Aoun in October. Rahall stressed the US role in pressuring foreign parties directly involved in Lebanon as well as those supporting surrogate armed forces, including Israel, Iraq and Syria. "Our trip was important to demonstrate US commitment to peace in Lebanon," he said.

Iraq Settles Egyptian Grievances:

Iraq agreed in November to pay $42 million in back wages to Egyptians working in Iraq following expatriate complaints of restrictions on money sent home. According to the Middle East Times, journalists were welcomed into Baghdad to quell reports from Egyptians leaving the country of alleged harassment of foreign workers who had entered Iraq during the Gulf War to take the jobs of Iraqis called to serve in the armed forces.

Bank Fraud Investigated:

Police froze the assets of 38 Jordanian companies and arrested the former chairman of Jordan's Petra Bank, Ahmed Chalabi, and 22 of his business associates in October, following a government probe into fraud allegations against Jordan's second largest bank. Government Finance Minister Basel Jardaneh said that unaccounted bank funds exceeded $68 million.

Turkish-Bulgarian Talks:

Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister Georgi Yordanov and Turkish Foreign Minister Mesut Yilmaz met in Kuwait in November for the first round of talks between the two countries since more than 300,000 ethnic Turks fled Bulgaria last summer. Yilmaz described the talks, which dealt exclusively with the problems of Bulgaria's 1.5 million ethnic Turkish minority, as "positive but insufficient," according to the Middle East Times.

Glasnost in South Yemen:

Officials in Marxist South Yemen announced in November that nationals will be allowed to travel abroad, lifting restrictions first imposed in 1968.

Bhutto Sacks Deputy Minister:

Pakistan's Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto accused opposition groups of bribing government deputies to overthrow her 14-month-old government. An official government statement announced that the deputy minister for labor and manpower, Tariq Magsi, was fired in October after demanding a promotion to full minister, $1 million in cash, and a jeep in exchange for not supporting the opposition.

Foreign Investment In Turkey Soars:

Turkey reported a record $900 million in new foreign investment for the first 10 months of 1989 and announced that its goal of reaching $1.25 billion would probably be realized upon completion of a plan to finance an Ankara subway system and power plant. State Planning Organization chief Ali Tigreal announced in November that more than 300 foreign companies have registered in Turkey in 1989, bringing the total to 1,400 foreign companies. Of these, 216 are West German, 161 Iranian, and 120 US-based.

Aoun in Financial Squeeze:

Lebanon's Central Bank rejected a loan request by Christian strongman General Michel Aoun to buy fuel for power plants in East Beirut. The Central Bank also curtailed payments to banks operating within areas controlled by Aoun in order to pressure him to recognize the government established by Lebanese parliamentarians in Taif in October. According to the Middle East Times, banks in East Beirut, which rely on the Central Bank for funds, have been rationing customer withdrawals because of the shortage.

Commonwealth Calls For United Cyprus:

Commonwealth nations, representing countries from over one-third of the world, unanimously called on Turkey to withdraw its troops from northern Cyprus, according to the Cyprus Weekly. The leader of the Turkish Cypriot community, Rauf Denktash, dismissed the idea, stressing that Turkish troops are needed to protect Turkish Cypriots, who are outnumbered on the Mediterranean island four-to-one. Denktash wrote a letter to UN Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar in November proposing resumption of stalled UN peace talks on condition that Greek Cypriots accept their Turkish counterparts as political equals. Greek Cypriots have argued that such a precondition to talks would legitimize the Turkish breakaway state.