Archaeologists have discovered underground chambers and tunnels used during a Jewish revolt against the Romans nearly 2,000 years ago in northern Israel. Experts say Jews laid in supplies and were preparing to hide from the Romans during their revolt in AD 66-70. The pits, which are linked by short tunnels, would have served as a concealed subterranean home. A spokeswoman for the Israel Antiquities Authority says the find shows the ancient Jews planned and prepared for the uprising, contrary to the common perception that the revolt began spontaneously. The underground chambers at an Israeli Arab village north of Nazareth were built from housing materials common at the time and hidden directly beneath the floors of aboveground homes — giving families direct access to the hideouts. Other refuges found from the time of the revolt are hewn out of rock. The Jewish revolt against Roman rule ended in AD 70, when the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple.

Now that arrests have been made in the Alabama church burnings, investigators are looking for links to other instances of arson there. Federal, local and state authorities involved in the investigation believe the three college students arrested in the case are responsible for at least nine of the ten fires that damaged or destroyed rural Alabama churches last month. But Christian activist Pat Mahoney of the Christian Defense Coalition believes more incidents may need to be probed. “We don’t know if they’re linked,” he says, “but a Christian business was burned in Tuscaloosa; a Methodist chapel [at] the University of Alabama was burned, and there was a copycat [church burning] in Eastern Alabama.” The three arson suspects in custody claim their crime spree began as a joke; but Mahoney wonders if there might be something more behind these fires. “When a church building is attacked, it isn’t just a building,” he insists, “but it’s what that building represents, the core values. So when a church is attacked, Christianity is attacked.” The Christian Defense Coalition spokesman has made several requests of the White House to issue a statement condemning these acts; but so far, President Bush has remained silent on the matter.

- Bill Fancher

Three young men were arrested Wednesday in an investigation of serial arsons targeting rural Alabama churches last month. Federal agents say the suspects claim the initial fires were set as “a joke” that “got out of hand” and the latter burnings were a deliberate diversion, designed to “throw investigators off.” The FBI has identified the three suspects as 19-year-olds Benjamin Moseley and Russell Debusk and 20-year-old Matthew Cloyd. According to a FreeInternetPress.com report, Moseley confessed after his arrest, and Cloyd has admitted his involvement as well. Moseley and Debusk, students at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in federal court Wednesday and were ordered held on church arson charges pending a Friday hearing. Cloyd, a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was arrested later on Wednesday. In a statement released yesterday, Alabama Attorney General Troy King said the arrest of the three college students means “a reign of terror that had gripped rural Alabama and riveted the attention of the nation has ended.” Now that “law enforcement has, once again, done what they do,” King stated, “arrests have been made, communities have been secured,” and justice is forthcoming. “As I have said all along,” the Attorney General observed, “a man’s evil deeds will always find him out.” In an Associated Press report, Volunteer Fire Chief Lesslie Edwards, who battled a blaze at his own church, was quoted as commenting, “We’ll be praying for the boys. Maybe they’ll figure out what they’ve done wrong.”

- Jenni Parker