National News

Arafat to Appear at Washington Prayer Breakfast, Jewish Leaders Prepare

02/05/1999 | James Besser | Washington correspondent

They Doth Protest Too Much?

Israeli officials were working overtime this week to preempt Yasir Arafat’s scheduled appearance at a Washington prayer breakfast, and to shift the focus of his meeting with President Bill Clinton to the question of Palestinian compliance.
But the strong Israeli counteroffensive, which included visits this week by emissaries of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, may have turned a minor event into a major international platform for the head of the Palestinian Authority.

German Bank Helped Nazis Steal

02/05/1999 | James Besser | Washington correspondent

German Bank Helped Nazis Steal

Austria’s two largest private banks have agreed to turn over mounds of documents alleging that Germany’s Deutsche Bank helped the Nazis steal money from Jewish Holocaust victims in Poland and the Balkans following the Anschluss in 1938, the German annexation of Austria, according to a source close to the deal.

Indigestion At Prayer Breakfast

01/29/1999 | James Besser | Washington Correspondent

Indigestion At Prayer Breakfast

Falwell's 'Jewish Villain'

01/22/1999 | James Besser | Washington Correspondent

The Rev. Jerry Falwell may be good friends with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but he also believes that an apocalyptic whirlwind is about to descend on the world — and that the ultimate villain in these events will be a Jew.
He also believes the Jewish state he supports will be taken over, lock, stock and Temple, by Jesus Christ, who will then reign from Jerusalem.

Going Through Hoops

01/22/1999 | by Steve Lipman  | Staff Writer

Even by Tamir Goodman’s standards it has been an unusual two weeks. There’s the all-day studies at a Baltimore yeshiva, some basketball after school, homework and Gemara review — and the interviews with CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ESPN and all the local TV stations.
Goodman, a 17-year-old bochur, is becoming a basketball star.

Humor Gives People Hope

01/21/1999 | by Steve Lipman  | Staff Writer

Allen Klein, a former silk screen designer, became an author and speaker about the therapeutic affects of humor — he calls himself a “jollyologist” — after his wife died 20 years ago from a terminal illness. His latest book, “The Courage to Laugh: Humor, Hope and Healing in the Face of Death and Dying” (Jeremy P. Tarcher), advises that “laughter and tears are both valid in the dying and grieving process.”