Just today Israeli Prime Minister Sharon has announced building of a few Jewish-only "bridges" in Gaza -- the latest wrinkle in the "by-pass roads" phenomena which Sharon masterminded in the first place and which has accompanied the "peace process". And this afternoon the Israeli Army is announcing "military closure" of new areas of the "Green Line" as this Jerusalem Post article highlights - IDF DECLARES GREEN LINE CLOSED MILITARY ZONE by Arieh O'Sullivan: Jerusalem Post - Jerusalem - 9/5/01]: The IDF is to declare sections of the 1967 Green Line border "closed military zones" in an effort to seal the country from unwanted Palestinian terrorists. The move will go into effect today at 3 p.m. IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ron Kitrey said it was "another step to reduce the area of operations and freedom of movement by terrorists to enter into Israel." He said that most of the closed sections would be in the Sharon area, the narrow coastal plain bordering the densely populated Palestinian cities of Tulkarem and Kalkilya. The army will also vastly increase its deployment around Jerusalem to seal the city off from terrorists, Kitrey said. Kitrey told Army Radio travel would be permitted in the closed military zones only with proper permits. The IDF Spokesman said the residents of Israeli communities in areas declared closed military zones and the roads to them were not to be affected by the new operations. "It is clear that we don't plan to restrict their lives. We plan on restricting the movement of those who move in open areas is their door to get in and carry out attacks," Kitrey said. The IDF had already set up two brigades to patrol the so-called "seam line" from infiltration, but their effectiveness has been questioned since many bombers and illegal Palestinian laborers have easily slipped through the boundary. Kitrey said none of the closed military zones would be in Israel's sovereign territory. However, conflicting reports suggest that at least some of the zones will lie within the Green Line.

[BBC - 4 Sept]: Delegations to the UN racism conference in South Africa are battling to save it after a walkout by the US and Israel over moves to brand Israel as racist. The Americans, followed by Israel, pulled out on Monday after failing to have "hateful" language about the Jewish state removed from meeting documents.

Senior Palestinian officials reacted by claiming victory over Israel and accusing the Americans of backing what they termed Israeli aggression. Human rights groups and the host nation, South Africa, have accused the US of leaving Durban without really tackling racism. uropean delegates - who like Canada expressed sympathy for the US stance but did not follow their lead - are working to draft a "completely new text" on the Middle East conflict.

"But that does not mean that we are necessarily going to have anything approaching an agreed text on Tuesday," an EU spokesman said.

The conference in the South African port city of Durban reached deadlock on Monday when paragraphs criticising Israel's treatment of the Palestinian people came up for discussion.

But some have also linked the Americans' departure to issues on the agenda such as slavery - a question which has already divided the Europe's former colonial powers. One South African minister, Essop Pahad, suggested the Middle East was a "red herring" used by the US to escape "the real issues posed by racism in the US and globally". "I think it is unfortunate that the two countries left, and I think that in the long run they will be the losers," South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said.

Human rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said they were disappointed by the US and Israeli decision. "By walking out in the middle of the conference, the US is letting down the victims of racism on all sides," Amnesty spokeswoman Maya Catsanis said.

On Sunday, a human rights forum coinciding with the conference equated Zionism - the movement which led to the establishment of a Jewish state in 1948 - with racism and called for international sanctions against Israel. The forum's declaration - which will be presented to the summit organisers for consideration - branded Israel "a racist apartheid state" and called for an end to its "systematic perpetration of racist crimes, including war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing."

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said there was an "unbelievable attempt to smear Israel" afoot at the South African conference. A conference meant to defend human rights had, he said in Jerusalem, become "a source of hatred".

At the conference itself, Israeli delegate Mordechai Yedid said before leaving that Arab and Islamic states were guilty of racism themselves. "The outrageous and manic accusations we have heard here are attempts to turn a political issue into a racial one, with almost no hope of resolution," said Mr Yedid.

The Palestinian cabinet secretary-general, Ahmad Abd-al-Rahman, described Israel's withdrawal as a "triumph" for his people. The conference had, he said, delivered a "slap in the face of a government that does not believe in peace or political solutions, but depends on military force". An unnamed "top Palestinian official" was quoted by Palestinian radio that the US decision to quit showed it was "joining Israel in its aggression".

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/9/376.htm