Al-Ahram Weekly | Egypt

		22 - 28 August 2002 Issue No. 600 Home news	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

Israeli violations

EGYPT'S Armenian community, along with other Armenian communities and organisations around the world, released a statement this week demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Israeli army from plots of land in Bethlehem which belong to the Armenian Patriarchate in Jerusalem.
"The patriarchate in Jerusalem has contacted the Israeli government to withdraw its army from the church properties, but to no avail," the statement said. The patriarchate has also brought the matter to the attention of the Israeli Supreme Court, "which has also brought no positive result".
The Armenians are referring to lands and properties which have belonged to the Armenian Patriarchate in the Baron Der area -- north of the Ayidah refugee camp near Bethlehem and south of Al-Tantur -- for more than 400 years.
"The takeover of this sacred Armenian land represents a violation of the religious and legal rights of the Armenian church and poses a direct threat to the ancient Armenian community and the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem and of the holy land," the statement said.
Alamein commemoration

AN INTERNATIONAL ceremony is being organised to mark the 60th anniversary of the World War II battle of Al-Alamein. Set to take place on 20 October in Al-Alamein, a small town along Egypt's northern coast, the ceremony will include prayers and speeches, parachute jumping, an acrobatic display by the Italian air force, and an exhibition of weapons and military equipment used in the battle itself, which took place between 23 October and 4 November, 1942.
The battle pitted British, Commonwealth and Greek troops under the command of British General Bernard Law Montgomery, against German-Italian forces led by Germany's "desert fox", Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. It marked the first decisive defeat of Axis forces and a turning point in World War II since it allowed the Allied forces to march victoriously through North Africa on their way to Italy.
Britain, Germany, Greece and Italy have been organising the ceremony in rotation every year, but this year's commemoration will be the first to take place at the site of the battle itself.
Heads of states, royalty and officials will represent the nations which fought the battle. Among the non-Egyptians expected to attend are Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, the Duke of Kent, and New Zealand's Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Brawl on board

THE CAPTAIN and chief steward of a New York-bound EgyptAir flight got into a fist-fight in front of passengers on 15 August, causing a two-hour delay in the flight's takeoff. The fight broke out after the captain refused the steward's request to bring a doctor aboard the plane to treat a woman who was bleeding.
The captain's reasoning -- that there wasn't enough time to bring the doctor aboard -- angered the steward, and the two began fighting. At one point, the captain punched the steward and crew members had to step in to end the fight.
The captain ordered the chief steward off the plane, but a doctor was nevertheless brought in to give the bleeding passenger an injection that allowed her to remain safely on the plane.
The captain and steward have been suspended from their duties while an investigation into the incident -- ordered by EgyptAir Chairman Abdel-Fattah Kato -- is being conducted.
Alexandrine harem

A FURNITURE merchant was arrested on Sunday for allegedly marrying more than four women at the same time. Islamic tenets and Egyptian law permit men a maximum of four wives at one time.
Fawzi Mahmoud El-Bahawi, 58, a resident of Alexandria, was also charged with having falsified documents in order to marry 23 adolescent girls.
El-Bahawi allegedly took advantage of the young girls' poverty, luring them into marriage with promises of riches. He apparently also falsified documents, changing his birth date in order to appear younger.
In January, millionaire businessman Ragab El-Sweirki was found guilty of similar charges and sentenced to seven years hard labour.
Compiled by Shaden Shehab

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