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FREEMAN CENTER BROADCAST- FEB 26, 2009 FREEMAN CENTER FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES P.O. Box 35661 * Houston, Texas 77235-5661 Phone or Fax: 713-723-6016 * E-mail: bernards@sbcglobal.net OUR WEB SITE (URL): http://www.freeman.org THE MACCABEAN ONLINE: URL:http://www.freeman.org/online.htm Freeman Center Blog http://www.freeman.org/serendipity/ ============= ==================== They deem him their worst enemy who tells them the truth. - Plato "The hardest thing to explain is the glaringly evident which everybody had decided not to see." -- Ayn Rand ##########  Ignorance Is Weakness - Know The Truth Self-Inflicted Ignorance Is Suicide The Freeman Center Is A Defense Against Ignorance ====== To Make a tax deductible contribution to the Freeman Center's important educational work, mail check to address above or go to our website www.freeman.org to pay by credit card or paypal.  =================== THE FREEMANLIST MAY BE FORCED TO CLOSE BY PASSOVER 2009 UNLESS WE RECIEVE CONTRIBUTIONS FROM OUR READERS $$$$$$$$$$$$$$ IS THIS A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING? ============ MAY ISRAEL AVOID PREEMPTIVE SURRENDER IN 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Thursday, February 26, 2009 Jerusalemites chafe as Russians resume control of Sergei Courtyard By Nir Hasson Haaretz Last update - 05:37 26/02/2009 www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1067040.html   After more than 100 years, the Russians have returned to Sergei Courtyard. Senior members of the Russian parliament and Eastern Orthodox Church have begun arriving at the site to begin renovation work as the structure reverts from Israeli to Russian control. The renovations have been fiercely criticized by organizations whose offices are located in the building, as well as by the Jerusalem Municipality. The site was constructed in 1890 for the benefit of pilgrims from czarist Russia, and for years was one of the city's most lavish lodgings for pilgrims and aristocrats. Following World War I, it passed to the hands of British Mandate authorities, and then to Israel. In recent years the Kremlin has demanded its return, claiming it was acquired illegally. In October Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced it would be returned as a goodwill gesture, following Knesset approval of the move and a High Court rejection of a petition against the transfer. The first stage of the handover involves Russia's receiving full authority over one wing of the courtyard, the area where renovation began this week, and talks will eventually be held over the future of the site as a whole. Organizations that currently have offices in the building - the Agriculture Ministry, Parks and Nature Authority and Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel - fear they will be forced to leave. "Our principal concern is that the courtyard remains open to the public despite coming under Russian ownership. It's not only our offices there - the courtyard was used as the center of a wide array of activities for Jerusalem residents," says Pazit Shavid, manager of the SPNI branch in the capital. Meanwhile, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat wrote to Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni calling for maintaining the status quo over public access to the site. "Tens of thousands of visitors come to the site annually, due to the efforts of the SPNI, a situation that must be protected at all costs," he wrote. Barkat also expressed concern that other countries with links to property in Jerusalem might seek to assert control over them. He also requested that a representative from his office participate in talks with Russian authorities over the courtyard.