Although the capital cities of most countries on the Athens 2004 Web site are listed, next to Israel an asterisk is shown under the heading of capital city instead of Jerusalem. A footnote at the bottom of the Web site refers the reader to the official United Nations Web site for further information regarding the capital of Israel. But according to the Jerusalem Post the link to the United Nations fact file doesn’t list the Jewish State’s capital. Following a dispute several months ago a compromise was reached by which both the Israeli and Palestinian capitals would be omitted from the register. But Israeli government official Aye Eldad, who first drew attention to the affair, says it wasn’t a compromise. He added that if diplomatic intervention fails Israel should consider boycotting the Games.
Private hotel employees threatened Thursday to strike during the Games if their wages are not increased for the duration of the Games. Union leaders said employees of many of Athens’ major hotels will strike if they do not get an eight per cent increase in wages and a two-month bonus for work during that period. The employees work at hotels where many Olympic officials plan to stay.
The route of the men’s and women’s marathons and one of the highlights of the Games is still in the process of being ripped out by builders who are repairing construction errors. Work on the road was delayed after one of the contractors ran into financial difficulties and was taken off the project early this year. A spokesman for the Public Works Ministry said that a stretch of the route has sunk in parts that the previous contractor had used shortcuts in construction. The new company had pledged the repairs would be done by the end of May.
