perl/Gtk2 newbie; problem with utf8 Hebrew

["D.Edmons" <dedmons comcast net>]

Hi,

I'm trying to write a simple GUI app using Perl/Gtk2.  (I had previously 
tried under perl/Tk, but Tk's utf8 is broken, and a fix may not be 
forthcoming.)  There is a bug/feature in Gtk2 that is seriously 
annoying--I'm sure there's an easy fix/tweek.  This exists in the 
leafpad editor as well.

When not using wordwrap in a TextView, and though Hebrew characters 
begin every line, and/or comprise a majority of the text, when a new 
line is created, the scroll bar always changes and goes to the left-most 
side.  This is immensely annoying as one must usually stop typing, grab 
the mouse, move the bar over, then continue on.  When one is entering a 
large number of small lines with some rather long ones, this causes the 
text to always completely disappear (off screen to the right).

I've tried numerous ways to correct this, both as a user to leafpad and 
while trying to write my application, to no avail.

The following is a Hebrew snippet which is sufficient to cause the 
problem.  All text beginning in Hebrew (every line in this case) should 
start on the right side of the page/screen.  If you add a newline, the 
cursor should remain in place, not warp to the left side.  Selections 
are also a nighmare.  Using cut-n-paste there is a conflict between 
warping the cursor left and warping right.  This slows productivity down 
to almost nothing.

Any suggestions would be appreciated:

א וַיִּזְכֹּר אֶת-נֹחַ וְאֵת כָּל-הַחַיָּה וְאֶת-כָּל-הַבְּהֵמָה אֲשֶׁר אִתּוֹ בַּתֵּבָה וַיַּעֲבֵר רוּחַ עַל-הָאָרֶץ 
וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ הַמָּיִם.
        א       1
        וַיִּזְכֹּר     and He remembered
        אֶת-נֹחַ        Noach
        וְאֵת   and
        כָּל-הַחַיָּה   all the animals
        וְאֶת-כָּל-הַבְּהֵמָה   and all the beasts
        אֲשֶׁר  which
        אִתּוֹ  with him
        בַּתֵּבָה       in the ark
        וַיַּעֲבֵר      and He caused to pass?
        רוּחַ   soul/wind/his breath
        עַל-הָאָרֶץ     upon the earth
        וַיָּשֹׁכּוּ    and He subsided?
        הַמָּיִם        the water


Thank you,


Dale/El'ad