European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 2, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 14 stars and stripes monday april 2 Pope dedicates Palm sunday to the Young by Nicole Winfield the associated press Vatican Bene dict Xvi in his Palm sunday mass opened the roman Catho Lic Church most solemn week by urging Young people to live pure innocent lives this year holy week also includes the second anniversary of the april 2 2005 death of Pope John Paul n on monday the Catholic Church will close one phase of its investigation into John Pauls saintliness As it keeps up the momentum to have the be loved Pope beatified holding an intricately Woven Palm Frond Benedict opened the Palm sunday Celebration by processing through the unfilled St Peters Square and up the Steps of the Basilica he was preceded by dozens of priests Bishops and cardinals who clutched Palms and Olive branches As their red Vest ments fluttered in the Breeze Palm sunday commemorates israeli army seals West Bank for passover Jerusalem the israeli army sealed off the West Bank Early sunday ahead of the week Long passover Holiday restricting the movement of palestinians into Israel palestinians will not be Able to enter Israel until the end of the Holiday which begins monday according to an army announce ment though exceptions will be made for humanitarian cases and for palestinian christians visiting family inside Israel Over the easter Holiday the army said British resident freed from Guantanamo Bay London a British resident released from Guantanamo Bay after nearly five years in Captivity said sunday his detention at the us prison Camp was profoundly difficult to endure his first comments since his release bisher Aqrawi an iraqi nation Al had been held at the us base in Cuba since it opened in 2002 but was reunited with his family in South London this weekend British officials have Long re fused to represent resident for Eigners held at Guantanamo but took up Alrais Case after it was disclosed he had provided Assis Tance to mis Britain domes tic spy Agency clan Deai reached with ethiopian troops Mogadishu Awishus dominant clan said Sun Day it has brokered a truce with ethiopian military officials who Are supporting Somalia govern ment even As mortar shells continued slamming into the capital for a fourth Day Ahmed Diriye the Hatiye clan spokesman said fighting in Mogadishu should end within hours ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment from the associated press Jesus Chris s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and is the Start of the Church holy week which includes the Good Friday reenact ment of Chris s crucifixion and death and his resurrection on easter sunday Benedict continued the tradition started by John Paul and dedicated Palm sunday to the Young who were out in Force in St Peters he told them that to follow god they should have innocent hands and pure hearts innocent hands Are hands that Are not used for acts of violence he told them they Are hands that Are not sullied by corruption and bribes hearts Are pure when they Are not stained by lies and hypocrisy he said Benedict has an unusually Busy schedule this week in addition to the traditional holy week Cere monies he will preside Over a mass on monday afternoon in Honor of John Paul to Mark the second anniversary of the Pon pier Paolo Pope Benedict Xvi receives a curled Palm Frond from Bishop Piero Marini right at the beginning of the open air Palm sunday mass celebrated in St Peters Square at the Vatican on sunday tiffs death he is not expected to attend the ceremony earlier in the Day Clos ing the Church probe into John Pauls life and Virtues that Cere Mony will be headed by officials of the Rome diocese which completed the investigation that will be turned Over to the Vatican to decide whether John Paul can be beatified the last formal step be fore possible sainthood Chavez bans alcohol sales for easter Caracas Venezuela it will be a dry easter this year for Beer and Whiske Loving venezuelans president Hugo Chavez has taken his country by Surprise imposing a ban on alcohol sales during holy week that has prompted a run on liquor stores by an alarmed Public aimed at reducing the Spike in alcohol linked accidents and crimes during the Holiday period Chavez government has prohibited the Sale of Alco Holic beverages on holy thurs Day Good Friday and easter sunday this week a More limited ban restricting sales to Between 10 am and 5 pin including at restaurants and bars went into effect Friday that will last through apr 9 from the associated press jewish life thriving again in Germany by Kirsten Grieshaber the associated press Berlin every Friday evening Conny Jarosch and her 6yearold daughter Alisa each Light two candles raise then hands to their closed eyes and re cite an ancient hebrew prayer to Welcome the Sabbath Conns husband Siegfried 42 blesses the wine and bread while his father Gerhard a 94yearold holocaust survivor sings from his prayer Book at the head of the table an Ordinary Sabbath but celebrated in an unexpectedly vibrant jewish Community the fast est growing in the world Accord ing to the world jewish con Gress Germany this passover German jews like the Jaro Sches Are displaying new Sel Confidence about their future in the country in living memory perpetrated the holocaust Twenty years ago this would have been impossible in Berlin said Siegfried Jarosch a real estate agent born and raised in the German capital but today we have an amazing jewish Infra Structure with Kosher butchers Bakers jewish schools and sever Al synagogues the Jaro Sches generations of German jews living under one roof Are immersed in berlins jewish Community life Siegfried is on the Board of the Pestalozzi Strasse synagogue in berlins Western Charlottenburg District his daughter and son Joshua 4 go to the jewish Kinder Garten and elementary school and his wife Conny 42 keeps a Kosher Kitchen at Home since the German government relaxed immigration Laws for jews following reunification in 1990 tens of thousands of jewish migrants have come Here mostly from the former soviet Union according to the Central coun cil of jews in Germany an Esti mated 250000 jews now live in the country with some 110000 of them registered religious Community members before 1990 there were Only 23000 jewish Community Mem Bers in Germany according to the Central Council in 2005 More jewish Immi Grants came to Germany than to Israel said Stephan Kramer the general Secretary of the Central Council without immigration most of the jewish communities would not exist anymore he said Berlin has the biggest jewish Community with 12000 registered members and eight synagogues followed by Munich with 9200 members and a recently opened synagogue Community Center and jewish museum but the numbers Are still a far cry from Germany flourishing jewish Community of 560000 and its cultural and intellectual prominence before the third Reich while there were 600 jewish schools in Germany before the holocaust there Are Only seven now and in 1933 berlins jewish Community had 120000 Mem Bers 10 times bigger than today still says rabbi Chaim Rowas m if s a Miracle that the jewish people Are coming Back to reset the in Germany Darfur conflict spreads bringing hatred distrust the associated press Goz Beida Chad the Sultan of Sofia looked worried Ara african violence spill ing Over from Darfur is threatening this part of Chad too in what is quickly growing into a regional conflict he pleaded with the visiting in humanitarian chief to help Stop it the picture is so Bleak Sultan said Bra him told John Holmes the in unde Secre tar general for humanitarian affairs and emergency Relief during Holmes visit Here last week i cant even Tell you How bad things Are get Ting As ruler of a vast Chad Region that Borders Darfur in Sudan where Arab government forces and their Allied militias have killed Afri can villagers by the thousands Brahim told Holmes he is witnessing the violence spread ing rapidly into his own society refugee Camps have popped up across his lands raiders from Sudan have swept Down on chadian villagers killing some and Chas ing thousands of others away Alfred of John Holmes the uns new humanitarian chief left listens to women refugees describe the insecurity and Lack of food at the Tourouk Oum Camp Eastern Chad on wednesday most pernicious cohabitation and Friendship Between arabs and africans Here has Given Way to distrust and thinly veiled hatred Brahim an african from the dominant Dado tribe pointed to one of his most trusted underlings an Arab Sheik called Sheik Almahdi Asamani to whom Brahim is connected by marriage he is being rejected people Are wary of him because he is an Arab Brahim said Are politics going to destroy centuries of Friendship for his part Asamani said at least 10 of his tribes villages had emptied in the past two months with whole clans packing up and mov ing away he said he had Given his men or Ders to shoot sudanese militiamen who Cross Over into his territory looking for recruits we Are fighting to Stop the fighting he said the government of Chad has also gotten involved arming africans to try to fend off at tacks from Arab militias in Darfur both Alsa Mani and Brahim said privately when Chadi an government officials had stepped away that this policy was part of the problem and blamed much of the increase in attacks on the newly formed african militias