Jan. 5


ISRAEL:

Bill would create pan-Jewish Holocaust committee


The Knesset has approved the first reading of a private bill proposed by
Finance Committee chairman MK Avraham Hirchson to create a pan-Jewish
committee for managing Holocaust monies and representing Holocaust
survivors around the world.

The bill was approved with the support of 19 MKs, with no objections.

Currently, the most important player in the field is the Claims
Conference, an umbrella organization based in the United States that
represents Holocaust survivors and heirs to stolen Jewish property.

Since the 1990s, the Claims Conference has accumulated a great deal of
property in Germany because of a clause in German law that allows the
conference ownership over Jewish property that has no heirs.

The money, amounting to more than $1 billion, was divided between all the
organizations devoted to assisting survivors and commemorating the
Holocaust. Israeli organizations have only benefited from part of the
money, which has engendered criticism from local politicians and
organizations. The organization discriminates against Israel in financing,
they say.

Hirchson's proposal would have the Claims Conference sign a convention
with the Israeli government to create a joint committee to manage all
relevant activities. Hirchson said the purpose of the bill was to increase
coordination between Israel and the conference to assist Holocaust
survivors.

As a Jewish state and home to most living survivors, Hirchson said Israel
should have a more central role in these matters. Claims Conference
officials object to the initiative, saying it is an attempt by Israeli
politicians to take over Holocaust monies.

(source: Haaretz)




NETHERLANDS:

Netherlands issues first fines to spammers


Dutch authorities have issued their first fines for spam originating in
the country.

Telecommunications regulator OPTA, which is responsible for regulating
spam in the Netherlands, issued three separate fines on in December, the
first since the Dutch government agreed in May 2004 to a ban on
unsolicited e-mail to consumers.

"We have been collecting complaints about spam on a special spam Web site
since May," said an OPTA spokesman in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
"Now we're going after major spammers in this country, and these are the
first results."

The largest fine, 42,500 (US$58,000), was slapped on an individual who was
involved in four spam runs, according to the spokesman.

A second fine, amounting 25,000, was issued to a one-man printing company,
called Gorenendaal, which was soliciting orders for the book Mein Kampf,
written by Adolf Hitler. "Apart from the fact that the company was sending
spam, this publication is banned," the spokesman said.

(source: IDG News Serivce)