Compiled by Parker L. Payson

From the Jewish Press:

Levinger Returns to Prison:

Rabbi Moshe Levinger, leader of the anti-Arab Gush Emunim Jewish settler group in the occupied West Bank, was sentenced in January to four months in prison for breaking in and entering a Palestinian home and assaulting a woman and her two children. Levinger, released from prison in August after serving a four-month sentence for the random killing of a Palestinian merchant, claimed that his daughter had been teased by the woman's seven-year-old daughter. His sentence was extended 10 days for contempt of court after he accused the judge of "bowing to pressure from the left." It was the eighth conviction in four years for Levinger, who told the court that "by beating an Arab I honored my family, Israel, Jewish education, and the community, " New York's Forward newspaper reported.

Boschwitz Joins Israel Lobbying Group:

Former Senator Rudy Boschwitz (R-MN), who was the ranking Republican member of the Near East and South Asian Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the only senator defeated in the 1990 elections, was elected president of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA), a Washington-based organization which seeks to maintain "communication with government and military leaders to stress the strategic importance of Israel, " the Detroit Jewish News reported. In the late 1970s, the FBI investigated a charge that a founder and former director of JINSA, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Stephen Bryen, had offered to pass classified military information to Israeli officials when Bryen was a staff member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

New Cabinet Member Sparks Protest:

After rancorous debate, Israel's Knesset voted 61-54 in January to approve Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir's appointment of Rehavam Ze'evi, leader of the two-man Moledet, or "Homeland, " party, to the Israeli Cabinet. Although the move widened Shamir's Likud coalition majority to 12 votes in the 120-seat Knesset, several members of Likud, including Defense Minister Moshe Arens, Foreign Minister David Levy, Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai, Justice Minister Dan Meridor and Health Minister Ehud Olmert, opposed the appointment of Ze'evi, who advocates expelling the 1.7 million Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza. Arens described Ze'evi's platform as "totally abhorrent to the vast majority of Israelis. " Following the vote, two Knesset opposition members, Tamar Godzansky and Mohammed Nafa, wore Star of David arm patches to the Knesset to symbolize the similarities between the Nazis and Moledet, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported.

Jewish Groups Reject Discrimination:

The American Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Committee issued statements in January deploring unjustified FBI probes and general harassment of Arab Americans resulting from the Gulf war ' the Indiana Jewish Post and Opinion reported. Since the beginning of the Gulf crisis, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) has reported 72 incidents of racist attacks on Arab Americans. "I think it's important for everyone concerned with pluralism and what it means to live in a multicultural society to speak out about this, " Kenneth Stem of the American Jewish Congress told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, "because when one minority group is picked on, it's a danger to all groups. "

IDF Ordered to Provide Gas Masks:

Israel's Supreme Court accused the Israeli Defense Ministry of "scandalous discrimination" in January for not providing gas masks to Palestinians in the occupied territories, the Forward reported. The Defense Ministry, which provided free gas masks to Jewish residents in Israel and Jewish settlers living in the occupied territories, argued that Palestinians in the territories, who often live next to Israeli settlers, faced little threat of attack. Following the ruling, the IDF announced it would distribute 170,000 gas masks to the 1.7 million Palestinians in the occupied territories for, according to Palestinian sources, approximately $20 each.

Israeli Aid Requests:

Israeli Ambassador to the US Zalman Shoval in January rejected reports that Israeli Finance Minister Yitzhak Modai requested $13 billion in additional US aid to Israel. According to Shoval, Modai, who met with US Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger in Israel two days earlier, was merely outlining Israel's estimated war costs and the expense of resettling Soviet Jews. Modai's statement "was an incredible blunder," a congressional aide told the Jewish News of Queens, NY. "Even though it wasn't the position of the entire Israeli government, it had the appearance of taking advantage of the current crisis—something the Israelis need like they need another Saddam Hussain, " he said. Nehemiah Stressler, economics editor of Israel's Haaretz newspaper, disagreed: "This is pure politics. It's a matter of how much America wants to keep us out of the war ... In a situation like this, it is the right time to solve many problems, " he said. President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal year 1992 (beginning on Oct. 1, 1991), which was submitted to Congress in early February, however, did not contain any additional aid for Israel. Israel currently receives $3 billion a year from the US, exclusive of the $400 million housing loan guarantee approved by Congress in May. The latter will not be released until Israel provides evidence that the funds will not result in Jewish settlement construction in the occupied territories, including East Jerusalem.

Congressional Black Caucus Protests:

The 21 -member Congressional Black Caucus in December criticized Israel's decision to import housing from four South African firms. The group told Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir that Israel's decision not to support international sanctions on South Africa was "premature, at best, and counterproductive to our mutually stated goals of ensuring that apartheid is abolished once and for all, " the Indiana Jewish Post and Opinion reported.

Snipers Approved:

The Israeli army in December authorized the deployment of sharpshooters against Palestinian stone throwers, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Israeli snipers shot four Palestinian youths throwing stones at cars on the first day after the deployment, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot reported. Also in December, the Israeli Justice Minister announced that stone throwers would face a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Germany Sends Arms to Israel, UK Does Not:

Germany announced plans to supply Israel with more than $700 million in military equipment and over $165 million in humanitarian aid, following German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher's visit to Jerusalem in January. The deal came after revelations that several German companies had supplied Iraq with large shipments of armaments, including equipment that could be used for the development of chemical weapons, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. Israeli efforts to secure a similar deal with Great Britain, however, were rebuffed when Britain announced that its nine-year arms embargo on Israel, first imposed after Israel's invasion of Lebanon in 1982, would remain until Israel ends its occupation of southern Lebanon.

From the Middle East Press:

Religious Freedoms in Albania:

Muslims in Albania, who comprise an estimated 70 percent of Albania's 3.2 million citizens, were allowed in January to pray for the first time in over 20 years, the Albanian state news agency ATA reported. Some 10,000 worshippers gathered in Tirana's Ethem-Bej mosque for the first Friday prayers since 1967, when former Stalinist-style dictator Enver Hoxa outlawed religion.

Strikes in Turkey:

Nearly two million Turkish workers, an estimated 74 percent of Turkey's organized labor force, went on strike in January to protest economic conditions. The strike was called by Turkey's largest labor organization, Turk-Is, in support of 48,000 coal miners who have been on strike since Nov. 30 demanding pay raises of over 400 percent. The Turkish government threatened to prosecute workers who participated in the strikes, stating that they are illegal under Turkish laws outlawing "politically motivated " strikes. Ugur Mumcu, writing in the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet, denied the government charge. "The motive here is hunger, " he said. According to Mumcu, the average Turk-Is worker earns only $105 per month, while the average family of four spends over $214 per month on food alone.

Egypt Restores Visa Requirements:

Following widespread pro-Saddam demonstrations in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya, Egypt imposed visa requirements on all North Africans visiting the country, the Egyptian edition of the Middle East Times reported in February. Egypt lifted visa controls with the countries in 1987 and 1988 after they restored full diplomatic ties with Egypt, severed when Egypt signed the Camp David Accords with Israel in 1979.

Few Iraqi Refugees:

Although Jordan and Syria prepared to absorb an estimated 860,000 refugees from Iraq following the outbreak of war on Jan. 16, only several hundred refugees have crossed the Iraqi border in the first four weeks after fighting began, the Saudi Gazette reported. Officials have attributed the unexpectedly small number of refugees to an Iraqi ban on civilian gasoline sales and strict Iraqi border restrictions. Prior to the US-led attack on Iraq and occupied Kuwait, an estimated 900,000 refugees flooded into Jordan and Syria, overwhelming refugee camps, exhausting food and medical supplies, and severely straining sanitary facilities.

Oman Passes Bankruptcy Law:

Oman passed its first bankruptcy law in January, the Saudi Gazette reported. Previously, debtors unable to pay creditors' bills were sent to prison. According to Middle East Executive Reports, Oman passed the legislation to prevent businesses from fleeing the country following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, when many businesses moved their bank accounts to Europe and many companies that relied on business with either Iraq or Kuwait went broke. Business flight from the United Arab Emirates, where there are no bankruptcy laws, was so severe that "in Dubai, a haven for discounted electronics goods, the drop in sales ... put one major electronics dealer out of business and led four others to abscond, leaving behind huge unsettled bills."

Junta Leaders Still in Prison:

In response to protests from Greek opposition parties and the Greek-Cypriot government in Cyprus, the Greek government reversed its decision to free leaders of a military coup in Athens linked to the 1974 overthrow of the Greek-Cypriot government, the Cyprus Weekly reported. Fighting during the 1974 coup by pro-Greek hard-liners in Nicosia, and the subsequent Turkish invasion of northern Cyprus to protect the Turkish-Cypriot minority, left an estimated 4,000 people dead. In related news, Greek Foreign Minister Antonis Samaras in February requested Patriot missiles for Greece and additional US military aid, following reports of a NATO military buildup and the deployment of US Patriot missile teams along Turkey's southern border with Iraq. According to Samaras, such a buildup violates a US pledge to provide Greece with $7 of military aid for every $10 given to Turkey.

Post-War Reconstruction:

US diplomats in Jiddah, Riyadh and Dhahran met with US businessmen and members of the Kuwaiti government in January to launch the "Kuwait Restored Initiative" to prepare for the reconstruction of Kuwait, which one US official called "the largest major project of all time. " Kuwaiti officials have recognized that US firms will play a major role in the reconstruction of Kuwait. They have announced, however, that Western companies can expect to encounter significant competition from Kuwaiti suppliers and contractors in bidding for the contracts. The cost to rebuild Kuwait has been estimated at over $45 billion, the Saudi Gazette reported.

Shrine Dispute Under Study:

A tribunal of Hindu and Muslim leaders agreed to examine more than 1,000 pages of archeological, historical and religious documents to settle the dispute over the 400-year-old Ayodhya temple. The dispute has provoked bloody fighting between India's Hindus and Muslims, the imposition of a state of emergency in northern India, and the downfall of two Indian governments in the last two years, the Saudi Gazette reported.

New Government in Somalia:

After 21 years in power, Somali dictator Mohammed Siad Barre was overthrown by a coalition made up of the United Somali Congress, the Somali National Movement, and the Somali Patriot Movement, who nominated Ali Mahdi Mohammed in January to lead an interim government and establish the framework for multi-party elections, the Saudi Gazette reported. Tens of thousands of Somalis who fled to Ethiopia during Siad Barre's rule are expected to return to the country, which, according to the London based human-rights group Africa Watch, "has been utterly devastated politically, economically and socially" during Siad Barre's rule.

Early Challenge to Lebanon's Government:

Druze militia leader Walid Jumblatt in January withdrew from the Lebanese Cabinet, where he served seven consecutive years at Syrian request, to protest his designation as minister of state, a position which he considered a "figurehead." Jumblatt's defection weakened President Elias Hrawi's one-month old unity government, which had been boycotted by three Christian militia leaders, including Phalangist leader Georges Saadeh and Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea, who contend that the government is under Syrian control, the Middle East Times reported. With Syrian backing, however, the Lebanese army announced plans in February to extend government control into southern Lebanon, where Palestinian troops and members of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah have agreed to negotiations and a cease-fire.

No Deal With Abu Nidal?:

Three Belgian diplomats resigned in January following a Belgian parliamentary probe over the decision to allow Walid Khaled, an aide to Palestinian guerrilla Abu Nidal, to enter the country. Belgian Prime Minister Wilfried Martens, who was unable to deny reports that Abu Nidal had undergone medical treatment in Brussels, told parliament that the decision to accept Khaled was "an error in judgment." Also in January, Belgian officials released on parole Abu Nidal aide Said Nasser, sentenced to life in prison for launching a grenade attack outside an Israeli government office in Antwerp, killing one bystander. Nasser's parole coincided with the release of a Belgian family kidnapped by Abu Nidal operatives off the coast of Libya in 1987. Martens denied, however, that his government's actions were connected to the hostages' release.