JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Iran’s rial hits record-low of 100,000 to the dollar-With expected return of full US sanctions, the Islamic Republic's official currency has lost half its value in just four months-By AFP-JUL 31,18-TOI
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full US sanctions.The unofficial rate stood at 102,000 rials by midday, according to Bonbast, one of the most reliable sites for tracking the Iranian currency.The rate was confirmed by a trader who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP.The rial has lost half its value against the dollar in just four months, having broken through the 50,000-mark for the first time in March.The government attempted to fix the rate at 42,000 in April, and threatened to crackdown on black market traders.But the trade continued with Iranians worried about a prolonged economic downturn turning to dollars as a safe way to store their savings, or as an investment in the hope the rial will continue to drop.With banks often refusing to sell their dollars at the artificially low rate, the government was forced to soften its line in June, allowing more flexibility for certain groups of importers.The handling of the crisis was one of the reasons behind last week’s decision by President Hassan Rouhani to replace central bank chief, Valiollah Seif.The currency collapse was encouraged by the US announcement in May that it was pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal, that lifted certain sanctions in exchange for curbs to Iran’s atomic programme.The US is set to reimpose its full range of sanctions in two stages on August 6 and November 4, forcing many foreign firms to cut off business with Iran.
Newly released minutes show US pressure on Israel to leave West Bank in ’78-Marking 40 years to Camp David accords, the Center for Israel Education is rolling out memos detailing negotiations that led to Israel-Egypt peace treaty-By Eric Cortellessa-TOI-31 July 2018
WASHINGTON, DC — It has been almost 40 years since former president Jimmy Carter initiated the negotiations that led to Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt. To commemorate that historic accomplishment, the Center for Israel Education is incrementally releasing sensitive memoranda from the Carter administration archives detailing conversations during those negotiations.Most recently, the educational non-profit unveiled a March 1978 meeting in Washington, DC, between the Carter delegation and prime minister Menachem Begin and his top advisers, at a time when the US warned there was a risk of losing the momentum that was gained after Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat unexpectedly visited Jerusalem to address the Knesset.The conversation showed an American president intent on securing a broader peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world, one that would see Israel relinquish not just the Sinai, but most of the West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights, as well.The foreign minister at the time, Moshe Dayan, strenuously objected to that plan. He argued that the West Bank falling under Arab control would endanger Israel — and instead proposed that Israel not impose its sovereignty over the territory, but not extract its military forces from there either.“Israeli forces will stay there to defend Israel, but not to rule the Palestinians,” he said. “This is equivalent to withdrawal, not in a territorial sense, but in substance.”The memo showed how the Carter administration wanted that withdrawal to establish a Palestinian state, yet its diplomats also insisted that a complete and total pullout to all pre-1967 borders was not a requisite for a peace agreement.The Israelis asserted that such a withdrawal was not necessary to fulfill United Nations resolution 242, which was passed following the 1967 Six Day War with Israel’s support. The text called on Arab states to accept Israel’s right to “live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force” and for lasting peace.The Palestinians objected to the resolution because it made no explicit reference to them, a point Begin’s delegation emphasized in its meeting with Carter when it disapproved of their proposal.Begin himself said that Sadat had given up his early insistence that Israel relinquish other territories for a peace accord with this country.“The Egyptians initially gave us a proposal calling for withdrawal from Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza and Golan. We said this was impossible,” the right-wing prime minister said. “We said that 242 does not call for total withdrawal. Sadat agreed to drop this demand.”(Later in the memo, Begin also said that Sadat was demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from all areas captured in the war and the emergence of a Palestinian state.)-Yet it was Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser, who issued the most dire warning regarding the possibility of Israel maintaining its presence in the West Bank, characterizing it as a possible attempt for Israel to “perpetuate [its] control] of the area, rather than to merely protect its people.“If Israel were to speak of its forces being withdrawn from control of the West Bank and Gaza to agreed emplacements, and if authority were to devolve from Israel and Jordan, then your own plan could be the basis for a solution and could open the way to peace,” Brzezinski told the Israelis.“Alternatively, there could be strong suspicions that you intend to perpetuate your control, and that you intend to deal very differently with the Sinai and with the West Bank. We need a solution to make clear that your plan can be the basis for peace. Then Egypt, Jordan, and moderate Palestinians who want to coexist with Israel can move forward.”The meeting ended with Carter asking Begin to be “flexible” about potential paths forward in the negotiations, saying “we have reached the point of possible success. But we are on the verge of seeing that lost.”Carter insisted that Egypt and Jordan were not demanding total Israel withdrawal from captured territories. He also said that Saudi Arabia would accept a proposal that did not include the establishment of a Palestinian state. The biggest “question mark,” Carter said, was how Syria would respond.Begin closed by telling Carter he would think more about it — and that he would speak with him again later in the evening.The Center for Israel Education said the memo of that conversation was the fourth in a 10-part series that will highlight the Carter administration’s attempts to resolve the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.The Carter-brokered negotiations between Israel and Egypt resulted in the signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978, after 12 days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountain region in Thurmont, Maryland.The Israeli-Egypt peace treaty was later signed in March 1979. Begin and Sadat were ultimately awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for clinching the peace deal.
Sissi urges Israeli public to seize ‘a great opportunity for peace’-In direct appeal in Cairo conference, Egyptian president says solution to conflict won't harm Israel's security or stability-By Michael Bachner-TOI-31 July 2018
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday appealed directly to the Israeli public, calling on it to seize “a great opportunity” for peace.“We have a great opportunity to achieve peace in the region and solve the Palestinian issue,” Sissi said in an address at a conference for youth at Cairo university carried by the country’s media.“This solution will not take away from your security or stability,” he added, clarifying that he was directing his words at Israelis.On the other hand, Sissi added that Egypt cannot agree to any solution opposed by the Palestinian leadership.“Egypt’s policies are clear,” he added. “We support all UN decisions, the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and [an Israeli withdrawal] to pre-1967 borders.”“Egypt is seeking to lighten the burden on Gaza and that’s why the Rafah Crossing was open for the past two months,” he said. “Egypt is trying to be a positive factor and calmly undertake its role.”Earlier Sunday, Sissi met with US-based World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, and said he supports efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He added that a key step on the way to that goal was achieving internal Palestinian reconciliation in which the Palestinian Authority restores its rule over the Gaza Strip.In the meeting, Sissi also expressed keenness to strengthen Egypt’s strategic ties with the US, according to Egyptian media.US President Donald Trump has long promised to try and reach the so-called “deal of the century” to end the long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but his efforts have derailed since his decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem.The PA has castigated the move, declared the US no longer an honest broker in negotiations, and rejected any plan the White House may come out with. PA President Mahmoud Abbas called the embassy move the “slap of the century,” earlier this year.The Palestinians have refused to meet with the US to discuss peace overtures since December, when Trump announced the move and declared he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Adam Rasgon and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
As U.S. pushes for Mideast peace, Saudi king reassures allies-[Reuters]-By Stephen Kalin-YAHOONEWS-July 31, 2018
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has reassured Arab allies it will not endorse any Middle East peace plan that fails to address Jerusalem's status or refugees' right of return, easing their concerns that the kingdom might back a nascent U.S. deal which aligns with Israel on key issues.King Salman's private guarantees to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his public defense of long-standing Arab positions in recent months have helped reverse perceptions that Saudi Arabia's stance was changing under his powerful young son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, diplomats and analysts said.This in turn has called into question whether Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines, can rally Arab support for a new push to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, with an eye to closing ranks against mutual enemy Iran."In Saudi Arabia, the king is the one who decides on this issue now, not the crown prince," said a senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "The U.S. mistake was they thought one country could pressure the rest to give in, but it's not about pressure. No Arab leader can concede on Jerusalem or Palestine."Palestinian officials told Reuters in December that Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, had pressed Abbas to support the U.S. plan despite concerns it offered the Palestinians limited self-government inside disconnected patches of the occupied West Bank, with no right of return for refugees displaced by the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967.Such a plan would diverge from the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up by Saudi Arabia in 2002 in which Arab nations offered Israel normal ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in 1967.Saudi officials have denied any difference between King Salman, who has vocally supported that initiative, and MbS, who has shaken up long-held policies on many issues and told a U.S. magazine in April that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land - a rare statement for an Arab leader.The Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh, Basem Al-Agha, told Reuters that King Salman had expressed support for Palestinians in a recent meeting with Abbas, saying: "We will not abandon you ... We accept what you accept and we reject what you reject."He said that King Salman naming the 2018 Arab League conference "The Jerusalem Summit" and announcing $200 million in aid for Palestinians were messages that Jerusalem and refugees were back on the table.The Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the current status of diplomatic efforts.RED LINES-Diplomats in the region say Washington's current thinking, conveyed during a tour last month by top White House officials, does not include Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, a right of return for refugees or a freeze of Israeli settlements in lands claimed by the Palestinians.Senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, has not provided concrete details of the U.S. strategy more than 18 months after he was tasked with forging peace.A diplomat in Riyadh briefed on Kushner's latest visit to the kingdom said King Salman and MbS had seen him together: "MbS did the talking while the king was in the background."Independent analyst Neil Partrick said King Salman appears to have reined in MbS' "politically reckless approach" because of Jerusalem's importance to Muslims."So MbS won't oppose Kushner's 'deal', but neither will he, any longer, do much to encourage its one-sided political simplicities," said Partrick, lead contributor and editor of "Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation".Kushner and fellow negotiator Jason Greenblatt have not presented a comprehensive proposal but rather disjointed elements, which one diplomat said "crossed too many red lines".Instead, they heavily focused on the idea of setting up an economic zone in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with the adjacent Gaza Strip possibly coming under the control of Cairo, which Arab diplomats described as unacceptable.In Qatar, Kushner asked Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to pressure the Islamist group Hamas to cede control of Gaza in return for development aid, the diplomats said.One diplomat briefed on the meeting said Sheikh Tamim just nodded silently. It was unclear if that signaled an agreement or whether Qatar was offered anything in return."The problem is there is no cohesive plan presented to all countries," said the senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "Nobody sees what everyone else is being offered."Kushner, a 37-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Israel in June. He did not meet Abbas, who has refused to see Trump's team after the U.S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem.In an interview at the end of his trip, Kushner said Washington would announce its Middle East peace plan soon, and press on with or without Abbas. Yet there has been little to suggest any significant progress towards ending the decades-old conflict, which Trump has said would be "the ultimate deal"."There is no new push. Nothing Kushner presented is acceptable to any of the Arab countries," the Arab diplomat said. "He thinks he is 'I Dream of Genie' with a magic wand to make a new solution to the problem."A White House official told reporters last week that Trump's envoys were working on the most detailed set of proposals to date for the long-awaited peace proposal, which would include what the administration is calling a robust economic plan, though there is thus far no release date.(Editing by Giles Elgood)
IDF defends failed attempt to down Syrian missiles-'Lessons learned,' army says after investigation into first operational use of David's Sling last week-By TOI staff-31 July 2018
The decision-making process that led to the first operational use of the David’s Sling anti-missile system last week was correct, the army said Sunday, even though technical issues led to the interceptor missiles missing their targets.“In the past few days, a complete operational inquiry was conducted by the Air Force, which found that the decision-making process of identifying the threat, considering the short amount of time, was correct,” the army said, following an investigation into Monday’s incident.However, the technical reasons for why the missiles failed to hit their targets, which were fired from Syria, could not be published due to security concerns. “The lessons learned from this investigation will be implemented in the air defense system,” the army said.The Syrian rockets, which were apparently fired as part of internal fighting in the country’s southwest, set off sirens throughout northern Israel on Monday morning.The projectiles fired from Syria were identified as Russian-made OTR-21 Tochka missiles (also known as SS-21 Scarab missiles) and were in the air for a minute and a half. The missiles can carry a 500 kilogram (half ton) warhead and have a range of 100 kilometers (60 miles).The army calculated that the missiles were heading for Israeli territory and waited until the last moment to fire the anti-missile interceptors. After David’s Sling was launched, a recalculation showed that one of the missiles was going to land in Syrian territory, so the interceptor was redirected so as not to hit it. The Syrian missile landed one kilometer (3,000 feet) short of the border. The army did not explain what happened with the second missile, which reportedly fell to ground in Syria.Air raid sirens blared in the Golan Heights due to concern that shrapnel from the intercepted missiles could fall into Israel.Fighter jets were also scrambled and flown to the north during the incident, according to open-source flight tracking information.A military spokesperson would not confirm that the aircraft had been called up, saying she “couldn’t comment on air force activities.”In addition to hearing explosions, residents of northern Israel reported seeing the trails left behind by the Israeli anti-aircraft missiles.It was the first known use of the David’s Sling system, which was declared operational last year.The day after last Monday’s incident, Israeli Air Force shot down a Syrian fighter jet that traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace. “Two Patriot missiles were fired at a Syrian Sukhoi-model fighter jet,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.On the Wednesday, two rockets from Syria apparently landed in the Sea of Galilee, in what the army said was spillover from the Syrian civil war, but some said was a deliberate effort by Islamic State to draw Israel into the Syrian conflict. In this incident, too, alarm sirens sounded, but Israel’s missile defenses did not fire.David’s Sling makes up the middle tier of Israel’s multi-layered anti-missile defense network.The lowest layer is the Iron Dome system, capable of intercepting short-range rockets, small unmanned aerial vehicles and mortar shells like those that have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip or from southern Lebanon. At the top are the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which are intended to engage long-range ballistic missiles.David’s Sling is aimed at filling the gap between those systems, against missiles like the Iranian Fateh 110 and its Syrian equivalent, the M600, both of which have seen extensive use in the Syrian civil war and are known to be in the Hezbollah terrorist group’s arsenal.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves-'There's fewer of us now than usually,' bishop says at Sunday prayer, after worst forest fire in Europe since 1900-By COSTAS KANTOURIS-TOI-31 July 2018
MATI, Greece (AP) — Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91, and reported that 25 people were missing on Sunday, six days after Europe’s deadliest forest fire in more than a century.Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities, it stood at 86, as hundreds of mourners attended a Sunday morning memorial service for the victims in the seaside village hardest hit by the blaze.The fire sped flames through the village of Mati without warning on July 23. A database maintained by the Centre for the Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels shows it as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since 1900.The vast majority of victims died in the fire itself, though a number drowned in the sea, while fleeing the flames. Prior to Sunday night, Greek officials had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.The senior local Greek Orthodox Church official, Bishop Kyrillos, presided over the memorial service at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church in Mati, a popular resort spot that was the place hardest-hit by the blaze.Kyrillos said the community was mourning the loss of family, neighbors, and friends.“There’s fewer of us now than usually,” the bishop said. “It is the victims of the recent fire that are missing — friends, relatives and acquaintances, next-door people that we saw every day in town and on the beach.”Local resident Angeliki Galiatsatou said she narrowly managed to escape the fire that killed others in their cars and homes.“I came to pray for the people who were lost and I pray that God blesses us all,” she said.Dozens of volunteer divers, some of them retired Navy Seals, kept searching the sea off Mati on Sunday looking for the bodies of more possible victims.Greek authorities have said they have reason to believe the fire resulted from arson, and turned so deadly because winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) buffeted the pine-forested seaside resorts at the time.The Greek government also has come under criticism for how buildings and roads were laid out in the area and an alleged lack of adequate preparation for fire season. More than 2,000 homes were damaged in the fire and roughly a quarter will have to be demolished, Greek officials said Friday.The Holy Synod made up of all Greek bishops said in a letter read out loud at Sunday’s memorial service that everyone bears responsibility for protecting the environment from haphazard development.“What words of comfort can you offer the person who has lost their father, their mother, the grandparents in whose arms their grandchildren were found?” Kyrillos said. “What words of solace can you offer a mother who has lost her baby and left a few flowers on the beach?”
Strong quake kills 14, injures scores, on Indonesia holiday island-[AFP]-Aulia Ahmad-YAHOONEWS-July 29, 2018
Lombok (Indonesia) (AFP) - A powerful earthquake which struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday killed at least 14 people, injured scores and damaged thousands of homes, officials said.Five children were among those killed by the shallow 6.4-magnitude early-morning quake, which sent people running outside in panic and triggered landslides on popular mountain hiking routes.Scores of aftershocks sparked fear among survivors. More than 120 were recorded, the biggest with a magnitude of 5.7, Indonesia's meteorology agency said.Local officials have declared a three-day state of emergency. President Joko Widodo is due to visit the island Monday morning, his spokesman said."Based on reports, 14 people died, 162 were injured and thousands of homes were damaged," Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement, adding that five of the dead were children.One Malaysian was killed and six injured, the Malaysian foreign ministry said."All of them were at the foot of Mount Rinjani when the incident happened," it said, referencing the spectacular volcano that dominates the island.The 30-year-old victim was inside a restroom when the entire building collapsed and crushed her, the New Straits Times quoted another Malaysian climber, Khairul Azim, as saying.Khairul said his own group was unable to leave the Sembalun area because many roads including the main one had been damaged.The constant aftershocks sparked terrified shouts among scores of people made homeless in the eastern village of Sembalun in the district of the same name, an AFP reporter said.Some 200 people from 35 families whose house were damaged or destroyed had pitched tents there. The roof of a health clinic had collapsed and its walls had cracked."People are traumatised and too scared to return home for fear the aftershocks could destroy their homes completely," the reporter said."Everytime there is an aftershock they cry out in fear and tremors can still be felt constantly."Evacuees told AFP they badly needed blankets and instant food because there was no time to bring anything when they fled their homes.Popular trekking trails on Mount Rinjani were closed because of landslides, according to the disaster agency.One local trek organiser described how rocks rained down on two Spanish hikers and their guide as they were caught on a mountain trail."My trekking guide who was accompanying two tourists from Spain suffered from minor injuries during the jolt. They were hiking from Segara Anak Lake to Plawangan and rocks were falling on them during the quake," said Karyadi, the owner of a guesthouse where the pair were staying.The two Spaniards were also slightly hurt."Our guests were in shock because of the incident," said Karyadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.The epicentre of the earthquake struck 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok's main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island.USGS said two of the aftershocks measured more than 5-magnitude.The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away in the bustling holiday island of Bali, although there were no immediate reports of damage there.- 'We ran outside' -"The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside," said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok near the epicentre."All my neighbours also ran outside and the electricity was suddenly cut off," Zulkifli told AFP.No tsunami alert was issued."People in East Lombok and Mataram felt the strong quake for 10 seconds, residents were panicking and running outside of their homes," Nugroho said earlier, adding people had run for open spaces such as football fields.At the holiday island's hotels, tourists raced outside as the quake struck.At the Katamaran Hotel and Resort in Senggigi beach, some 30 guests gathered in the lobby for around half an hour before venturing back to their rooms."They calmed down and returned to their rooms once we explained the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. Everything is back to normal now," receptionist Ni Nyoman Suwarningsih told AFP.The quake also rocked the tiny Gili islands off northeast Lombok, which are popular with honeymooners, divers and partygoers."Fortunately there was no panic during the earthquake even though it was quite strong," said Lilis Letisha, receptionist at the Ombak Paradise Hotel on Gili Air island.Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot.In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.
Myanmar floods kill at least five, displace 54,000 people-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-July 29, 2018
Bago (Myanmar) (AFP) - Rising floodwaters have killed at least five people and forced tens of thousands from their homes across swathes of Myanmar, a government official told AFP on Sunday, as heavy monsoon rains continue to batter the Mekong region.Dramatic images showed vast areas of farmland completely submerged in muddy waters stretching to the horizon, with only the rooftops of some houses visible.Some stranded people were plucked from the churning inundations by rescuers in boats, while others waded through waist-deep water to escape, carrying children on their shoulders while trying to keep precious belongings out of the water."There are more than 54,000 displaced people affected by the flooding around the country," a Ministry of Social Welfare official told AFP.The official confirmed that five people had been killed but said this figure was expected to rise.Evacuation orders had been issued in several areas, while some 163 camps have been set up for displaced people in southern, eastern and central parts country.The floods in Myanmar come as a particularly heavy monsoon continues to pummel the region, bringing downpours that contributed to the collapse of a dam last week in Laos, which left scores dead or missing.Myanmar is hit by severe flooding every year and climate scientists in 2015 ranked it top of a global list of nations hardest hit by extreme weather.That year more than 100 people died in floods that also displaced hundreds of thousands across the country.Myanmar's worst natural disaster of recent times was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed huges stretches of the country's coast, leaving at least 138,000 dead or missing in May 2008.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Head of UN probe into Gaza clashes vows to keep an ‘open mind’-David Crane, leading commission to investigate Israeli 'assaults on the large-scale civilian protests,' says he has 'no preconceived positions or perspectives'-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-31 July 2018
The head of the UN Human Rights Council’s probe into the clashes at the Gaza border this summer vowed Sunday to approach the topic fairly and without bias.“As Chair of the Commission of Inquiry for Gaza and East Jerusalem I can assure all parties and constituents that the Commission will conduct its investigation fairly and with an open mind with no preconceived positions or perspectives,” David Crane told The Times of Israel in an email.Currently a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, Crane was appointed last week to preside over the three-member “Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”The other members are Sara Hossain, a Bangladeshi lawyer educated in the UK, and Kaari Betty Murungi, a lawyer and human rights activist from Kenya.Officials in Jerusalem are unlikely to cooperate with the probe, which they have rejected from its very inception.In the 1980s, Crane was a legal adviser to the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. From 2002 to 2005, he was the founding chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an international war crimes tribunal, according to his website at Syracuse University.Crane served over 30 years in the US federal government. Appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States in 1997, Crane has held numerous key managerial positions during his three decades of public service and was a professor of international law at the US Army Judge Advocate General’s School.On May 18, the UN Human Rights Council voted in favor of creating an “independent, international commission of inquiry” that will be asked to produce a final report on the events at the Gaza border by March 2019.According to its mandate, the panel will “investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military assaults on the large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018.”In voting overwhelmingly in favor of Resolution S-28/1, the 47-member body mandated the panel “to establish the facts and circumstances, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedure mandate holders, of the alleged violations and abuses, including those that may amount to war crimes” and “to identify those responsible.”At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote — 29 countries voted in favor, two against, with 14 abstaining — as “irrelevant.”“The organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council again proved it is a hypocritical and biased body whose purpose is to harm Israel and back terror, but mostly it proved it is irrelevant,” he said. “The State of Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers.”According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, 157 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the mass “March of Return” protests on March 30. Israel has accused Hamas of using the clashes to attempt to breach the border fence and carry out attacks, and the terror group has acknowledged dozens of those killed were its members.Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction, has fought three wars with the Jewish state since it violently took over Gaza in 2007.In June, the US quit the The Hague-based body, citing among other things its preoccupation with Israel.Israel welcomed the US’s move. “For years, the UNHRC has proven to be a biased, hostile, anti-Israel organization that has betrayed its mission of protecting human rights,” the Prime Minister’s Office said at the time.
Turkey’s Erdogan calls, praises soldier-slapper Ahed Tamimi-Lebanon's Hariri tweets congratulations to the teen, who was released Sunday after serving 7-plus months in Israeli prison-By Adam Rasgon and TOI staff-31 July 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday phoned Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi on her release from Israeli prison for slapping and kicking a soldier, and praised her “bravery and determination to fight,” Turkish media reported.Erdogan also vowed to continue to support the “just struggle” of the Palestinian people, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported.Tamimi, 17, and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, who was also jailed over the incident, were freed Sunday morning after over seven months in jail, returning to celebrations in their hometown of Nabi Saleh in the central West Bank.Six years ago Erdogan met Tamimi when she visited Istanbul to receive the Hanzala Courage Prize.Palestinian girl "Ahed Tamimi" awarded the "Hanzala Courage" prize by the Başakşehir Municipality in Istanbul,Turkey. pic.twitter.com/0aSR5B0t— Lisa Lee Dark (@LisaLeeDark) December 28, 2012-Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri tweeted his support for Tamimi.“Congratulation to the brave girl Ahed Tamimi, being released to freedom,” he posted. “And greetings to all Palestinian militants in the Israeli occupation prisons and to all the heroic Palestinian people.”Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, praised Tamimi as a “symbol of Palestinian pride and dignity,” adding that she represents the “resilience and resistance” of the Palestinian people. He also criticized the “so-called American peace envoys” who he said never condemn Israel’s “crimes.”Dr. Saeb Erekat: #AhedTamimi is a symbol of Palestinian pride and dignity, a reminder of the corruption and crimes of the Israeli occupation, and a chapter of shame to those who never condemn any of Israel’s crimes, like the so-called American peace envoys. ???????? pic.twitter.com/zbWLnPwkfN— Palestine PLO-NAD (@nadplo) July 29, 2018-Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt and other White House officials have been effectively blackballed by Ramallah, which was angered by Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decision to move the US embassy there in May.On Thursday, Greenblatt slammed the Palestinian leadership for failing to condemn a deadly terror attack in the Israeli settlement of Adam.Tamimi met on Sunday at the Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters in Ramallah with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who called the teenager “a model for the Palestinian struggle.”Tamimi’s incarceration had drawn attention from around the globe, highlighting the teen’s image as a Palestinian icon. She had become a cause célèbre for Palestinian supporters, and rallies were held in several locations calling for her release after her arrest in December.Many Palestinians saw her as bravely standing up to military control over the West Bank, while Israelis accused her family of using her as a pawn.Following her release release on Sunday, Tamimi was greeted by hundreds of supporters and journalists in Nabi Saleh.In her first public comments since being released, she thanked her supporters and declared that “the resistance is ongoing.”Ahed’s father, Bassem, said Saturday that after her release from prison “we expect her to lead and we will support her to lead” in the fight to end occupation. He did not say what that would entail.Bassem Tamimi said that his daughter completed her high school exams in prison with the help of other prisoners who taught the required material. He said she hoped initially to attend a West Bank university but has also received scholarship offers abroad.Under the terms of a plea bargain, Ahed was sentenced to eight months in prison and admitted to aggravated assault of an IDF soldier, incitement to violence and disrupting soldiers on two other occasions.The teen’s cousin Nour was also indicted for her involvement in the quarrel, but she was released in January.Jacob Magid and AFP contributed to this report.
A self-declared leftist wages war on the Palestinian ‘right of return’-In new book, ex-Labor MK Einat Wilf says the refugee ethos is the biggest obstacle to peace. She blames the international community, the Israeli government and the IDF-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-JUL 31,18
Former Labor MK Einat Wilf believes the Palestinians are not ready for peace. They are, in fact, miles away from accepting the idea of dividing the land and are still hoping Israel will soon disappear, she asserts in a new book.And yet, she insists she’s a leftist.But the peace camp must sober up, she says, and start realizing that peace will not come as long as the Palestinians cling to their demand to “return” to areas now belonging to Israel.“If you truly want peace, rather than just feel good about wanting peace — and there are a lot of those — and if you actually understand that at the end of the day they [the Palestinians] are the ones with whom we have to live and share the country, you need to be realistic about where they’re coming from,” she told The Times of Israel during a recent interview in a Jerusalem cafe.“The War of Return,” which she co-authored with former Haaretz journalist Adi Schwartz, provides an in-depth analysis of the Palestinian refugee problem. It notes that immediately after the 1948 War of Independence, Arab leaders were opposed to the return of those who had left their homes in what had become the State of Israel, as this was considered a tacit recognition of Israeli sovereignty.But a short while later, Arab leaders changed their strategy and demanded that the “refugees” return to their old homes, Wilf and Schwartz write, citing countless historical documents to prove their point.The “right of return” was thus formulated clearly “as the continuation of war by other means,” Wilf said.The War of Independence has never ended, Wilf and Schwartz maintain. Officials at the Palestinian Authority today pay lip service to a two-state solution, but in reality are convinced that masses of “refugees” will soon “return” to their homes in Jaffa and Haifa, ultimately destroying the Jewish state, the book argues.“The book really comes from the understanding that we were blind — maybe willfully blind — to what they wanted. You can’t make peace with blindness,” Wilf said.While the issue of refugees is often dismissed as one of the more solvable of the outstanding core issues — Israel could easily admit a “symbolic” number of refugees as a “humanitarian gesture” — Wilf and Schwartz claim that it is actually the hardest nut to crack.Security arrangements, the status of Jerusalem and the exact delineation of borders are all practical matters to which a solution can be found at the negotiating table. But as long as the Palestinians don’t relinquish the “right of return,” ending the ethos of Palestinians being refugees, peace will remain elusive, they insist.“This is the core of the conflict,” Wilf said. “Because no other issue reflects more deeply the continued Palestinian, and more broadly Arab, view that Israel is temporary, and that the Jewish presence is not legitimate.”“The War of Return” was written in Hebrew, but its main target group is foreign diplomats. The international community’s longstanding position on the refugee question — including the support for UNRWA, the UN’s agency for refugees from Palestine — is among the main reasons the Palestinians continue to foster the ethos of return, according to Wilf.UNRWA, the book contends, perpetuates the notion that the people who left their homes in 1948 and their descendants are refugees, implying that they will “come back” one day.Palestinians “refugees” are the only ones whose status is handed down to future generations. In 1950, when the agency started, it recognized 750,000 “Palestine refugees,” a number that has grown to over five million.Until 1998, the Palestinians, backed by the Arab world and the Soviet bloc, were very clear about their intentions: they demanded that all refugees return to what is now Israel and vowed to liberate all of Palestine, Wilf said.After the fall of the Iron Curtain and their subsequent need for support from the US, the Palestinians changed their rhetoric and made what they call a painful compromise in forgoing the majority of historical Palestine, now merely demanding a state on the territory Israel captured in 1967.“But what we show in the book is that never ever have they given up the ‘right of return’,” Wilf said. “When you want to have a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, but the ‘right of return’ is holy and non-negotiable, then the only two states you are rooting for are an Arab state in the West Bank and Gaza, and an Arab state to replace Israel.”Ironically, many people think Israel has destroyed the two-state solution by continuing to build settlements in the West Bank.“What we’re showing is that the Palestinians have actually never, not for a single moment, accepted the two-state solution. There was never a moment where they said: We’re done, we understand that the other state will never be Arab or Palestinian and that it will belong to the Jewish people.”Some in the peace camp may agree that the “right of return” is incompatible with the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, but argue that Palestinians are clinging to it merely as a bargaining chip for negotiations, fully aware that no Israeli leader will ever agree to let masses of refugees flood the country.But Wilf, who served in the Knesset between 2010 and 2013, first with Labor and later with Ehud Barak’s breakaway Independence faction, does not buy this argument.Coddled by a world that vehemently opposes Israeli settlement expansion but never criticizes the demand for return, the Palestinians really believe that hundreds of thousand of “refugees” will soon flood Israeli cities.“Push came to shove several times. And again and again, ‘return’ was not something to give up when everything else was acceptable,” she said, referring to previous rounds of Israel-Palestinians peace negotiations.“They have never agreed to anything. Even if it came very close, they have never agreed to any formulation that will close the door on the possibility of return.”Does Wilf truly believe the Palestinians stick to the right of return because they see it is their doomsday weapon to destroy Israel? Haven’t the Palestinians realized that Israel will never agree to accept a large number of refugees, certainly not enough to end its character as a Jewish state? “If the Palestinians truly want a state, they don’t sit on their asses and say: No, we’re going to continue suffering many years of statelessness [rather than] to give up something we already know is not going to happen,” she replied. “This makes zero sense, in any context, if that’s what they really want.”In the 1940s, the Zionists’ drive for sovereignty led them to accept the UN Partition Plan — which meant the creation of a Jewish state, albeit without Judea and Samaria (the proposed state did not include the West Bank) and without Zion (Jerusalem was meant to be a separate entity).“But there’s not a single Palestinian leader who says: We want sovereignty and we understand that the price of that sovereignty will be that we will not return,” the lawmaker-turned-author said.Some leftists say the Oslo Agreement proved that the Palestinians were ready to compromise and would now accept a state based on the 1967 lines living in peace with Israel. Not this one.“I find it incredibly hard to believe that a people who changed course in 1988 [with Yasser Arafat’s “Declaration of Independence“], 30 years afterwards doesn’t have a state,” said Wilf, who has a degree in government and fine arts from Harvard and a PhD in political science from Cambridge University. “Because they had several opportunities. If they had really changed course, why not take it?”Do the Palestinians really believe they can eradicate Israel? Israel is considered one of the most powerful nations in the world, economically and militarily. The Palestinians can’t really think that they will eradicate Israel, can they?“Well, that’s the thing. They actually do,” Wilf said resolutely.Palestinians view the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and discussions about the legitimacy of Zionism as clear indications of Israel’s imminent demise, she posited.The Romans, the Ottomans, the British — foreign invaders come and go, she said, describing Palestinian thinking about Israel living on borrowed time. The Crusaders lasted only 88 years in Jerusalem, she added, saying Israel had only 17 years left on the Palestinian clock.“They genuinely believe that,” she insisted.If a people is constantly strengthened in the belief that they have a “right to return” that is sacrosanct and cannot be renounced, their leaders will never be able to make the compromises needed for peace, she went on.It’s a book of people who want to get to peace and who realized that technicalities are not the problem. The problem is that the Palestinians have never been prepared for the idea of partition-A national ethos can be changed, but only if leaders prepare their people for it. Former prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2003 shocked his political base when he uttered the word “occupation.” Two years later, Israel left Gaza.“It’s not that the words end the process. But they create an environment where actions can take place,” Wilf said.Peace, she continued, will only come when a Palestinian leader faces his people and tells them: Enough. The Jewish people have a historical right here. It’s not superior to ours, it’s not exclusive. But we’re done denying that they have a historical connection to this land. They will not have everything, and we will not have everything. No, we will not have the homes. We can visit them, but they won’t be ours.“You never heard that speech,” she lamented.That speech, if it is ever given, won’t mean that peace negotiations are over, she went on. “But at least then you know the Palestinians have reasonable expectations.”So far, no Palestinian leader has said or written or anything to indicate that they are ready to relinquish their refugee ethos.“That’s why I said this is a book written by left-wingers. It’s a book of people who want to get to peace and who realized that technicalities are not the problem. The problem is that the Palestinians have never been prepared — not even for a moment — for the idea of partition.”And yet, as opposed to Yossi Klein Halevi’s “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor,” her 300-page book is not addressed at the Palestinians.Rather, it is geared to the international community, which Wilf accuses of perpetuating the Palestinian narrative of being refugees who have a legitimate demand of “return.” (Wilf and Schwartz are currently looking for a publisher for the English translation of the book, by journalist Eylon A. Levy.)“The Palestinians will dream of Jaffa. You will never get into their heads and take that away — just as nothing will ever make the Jews stop longing for Judea,” she said.“But just as the international community makes it clear on a daily basis that the Jews cannot have Judea, it should start saying now that the Palestinians will not have a state ranging from the river to the sea.”The world, which condemns every single announcement of new housing units in the West Bank, never asks the Palestinians to relinquish their demand for return, Wilf charged. “You literally have no problem telling the Jews that they won’t have it all. Why not tell the Palestinians?”But doesn’t it go without saying that the Palestinians won’t have everything? After all, no one in the international community (except Iran) today disputes that the Western side of the 1967 line belongs to Israel?Once again, Wilf disagreed.“When Western governments fund a UN agency with more than a billion dollars every year, feeding the delusion of return, it doesn’t go without saying.”In fact, Wilf believes the Palestinians interpret the West’s support for UNRWA as support for the right of return. And they are right to do, she insisted: “When 70 percent of people who live in Gaza believe that they are refugees, and are stamped by the UN as such, you cannot fault them for thinking that their right of return is internationally sanctioned.”Foreign diplomats believe that UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which in 1948 said that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,” unambiguously affirms the Palestinians’ right of return.It doesn’t, Wilf and Schwartz argue at great length in their book.If the international community were fair it would treat Israeli settlements and Palestinian demands of return in exactly the same manner, Wilf submitted. “Because both of them reflect the maximalist vision. Both of them reflect the idea that a specific people should be in every single inch.”But the world only cries foul when Israel builds settlements, at the same time as it actively encourages the Palestinian refugee ethos by supporting UNRWA, she said.Diplomats would counter such arguments by saying that settlement expansion creates facts on the ground that physically impede the implementation of a two-state solution, while the demand of return is intangible.Wilf doesn’t buy it.“I believe that the idea of return is more powerful than any house built in the settlements. Because houses are easily demolished,” she offered.“Israel builds the houses and then demolishes them. Granted, I think it’s stupid to build them in the first place. But the idea [of return] is almost unmovable. The actions taken because of the idea are dramatic. Because of this idea the Palestinians repeatedly reject compromise.”It is the lingering refugee ethos that causes Palestinians to consider Gaza a temporary place of residence, one they will leave when they are allowed to “return” to Haifa, Jaffa and Beersheba.“The people dying at the fences [at the Gaza border] demanding return are the consequence of the people who refuse to say that the limit of their political ambition is at the 1967 border,” according to Wilf.“I’m not in favor of building houses [in the settlements]. But Israel has demonstrated that it can uproot the houses. The Palestinians are yet to show that they take one refugee off the roster.”In her frequent meetings with foreign diplomats, Wilf argues that the refugee issue is “more destructive to peace than the settlements ever were and ever will be,” she said.“How are we going to get to partition and compromise if the Palestinians seriously think — and they seriously think — that Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea?”So what should be done? As a first step, “UNRWA should be dismantled,” Wilf said. The services it provides, mainly in the fields of health care and education, should be transferred to other countries, agencies or providers “that do not tie the provision of the service to the perpetuation of the idea of being a refugee and the illusion of return.”UNRWA, by virtue of its very mandate, perpetuates the idea that the Palestinians are refugees from Palestine, she said.“So what we’re saying is: provide the services differently so that the facade is taken away. And then you’re just left with this crazy idea that a middle-class lawyer who was born in Ramallah and lives in Ramallah is a refugee from Palestine. Then you really expose it as the nonsensical notion that it is.”Once the letters “UN” are removed from the refugee ethos, the Palestinians will sooner or later have to realize that the world does not share this view.“Change takes place when you begin to realize your true power. Right now, they have no sense of their true power because they think that the world is with them,” she said.UNRWA’s top lobbyist? The Israeli government-Leading Israeli politicians rarely have a good word for UNRWA, but it is no secret that the defense establishment is very much in favor of the agency’s survival, arguing that its services are necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster that would ultimately end in violence against Israel.Indeed, Israel is “the number one lobbyist for this organization,” Wilf charged, arguing that both the army and the political leadership are satisfied with the status quo.One might think that UNRWA and the IDF have a secret treaty to support each other, she joked.“The military doesn’t care about five years from now. It says, right now UNRWA doesn’t fight me. What it doesn’t understand is that UNRWA is making sure that the Palestinians will have recruits forever to fight Israel,” she said.“My argument is that militaries don’t understand narratives. Militaries don’t understand that consciousness and words determine action.”Given her views, foreign diplomats are surprised to hear that Wilf considers herself a leftist, she said.“I say to them, it’s seriously very simple. East of the Green Line: not us. West of the Green Line: not them.”
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
Iran’s rial hits record-low of 100,000 to the dollar-With expected return of full US sanctions, the Islamic Republic's official currency has lost half its value in just four months-By AFP-JUL 31,18-TOI
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s currency hit a record low on Sunday of 100,000 rials to the dollar amid a deepening economic crisis and the imminent return of full US sanctions.The unofficial rate stood at 102,000 rials by midday, according to Bonbast, one of the most reliable sites for tracking the Iranian currency.The rate was confirmed by a trader who spoke on condition of anonymity to AFP.The rial has lost half its value against the dollar in just four months, having broken through the 50,000-mark for the first time in March.The government attempted to fix the rate at 42,000 in April, and threatened to crackdown on black market traders.But the trade continued with Iranians worried about a prolonged economic downturn turning to dollars as a safe way to store their savings, or as an investment in the hope the rial will continue to drop.With banks often refusing to sell their dollars at the artificially low rate, the government was forced to soften its line in June, allowing more flexibility for certain groups of importers.The handling of the crisis was one of the reasons behind last week’s decision by President Hassan Rouhani to replace central bank chief, Valiollah Seif.The currency collapse was encouraged by the US announcement in May that it was pulling out of the 2015 nuclear deal, that lifted certain sanctions in exchange for curbs to Iran’s atomic programme.The US is set to reimpose its full range of sanctions in two stages on August 6 and November 4, forcing many foreign firms to cut off business with Iran.
Newly released minutes show US pressure on Israel to leave West Bank in ’78-Marking 40 years to Camp David accords, the Center for Israel Education is rolling out memos detailing negotiations that led to Israel-Egypt peace treaty-By Eric Cortellessa-TOI-31 July 2018
WASHINGTON, DC — It has been almost 40 years since former president Jimmy Carter initiated the negotiations that led to Israel’s peace treaty with Egypt. To commemorate that historic accomplishment, the Center for Israel Education is incrementally releasing sensitive memoranda from the Carter administration archives detailing conversations during those negotiations.Most recently, the educational non-profit unveiled a March 1978 meeting in Washington, DC, between the Carter delegation and prime minister Menachem Begin and his top advisers, at a time when the US warned there was a risk of losing the momentum that was gained after Egyptian leader Anwar Sadat unexpectedly visited Jerusalem to address the Knesset.The conversation showed an American president intent on securing a broader peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world, one that would see Israel relinquish not just the Sinai, but most of the West Bank, Gaza and Golan Heights, as well.The foreign minister at the time, Moshe Dayan, strenuously objected to that plan. He argued that the West Bank falling under Arab control would endanger Israel — and instead proposed that Israel not impose its sovereignty over the territory, but not extract its military forces from there either.“Israeli forces will stay there to defend Israel, but not to rule the Palestinians,” he said. “This is equivalent to withdrawal, not in a territorial sense, but in substance.”The memo showed how the Carter administration wanted that withdrawal to establish a Palestinian state, yet its diplomats also insisted that a complete and total pullout to all pre-1967 borders was not a requisite for a peace agreement.The Israelis asserted that such a withdrawal was not necessary to fulfill United Nations resolution 242, which was passed following the 1967 Six Day War with Israel’s support. The text called on Arab states to accept Israel’s right to “live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force” and for lasting peace.The Palestinians objected to the resolution because it made no explicit reference to them, a point Begin’s delegation emphasized in its meeting with Carter when it disapproved of their proposal.Begin himself said that Sadat had given up his early insistence that Israel relinquish other territories for a peace accord with this country.“The Egyptians initially gave us a proposal calling for withdrawal from Sinai, the West Bank, Gaza and Golan. We said this was impossible,” the right-wing prime minister said. “We said that 242 does not call for total withdrawal. Sadat agreed to drop this demand.”(Later in the memo, Begin also said that Sadat was demanding complete Israeli withdrawal from all areas captured in the war and the emergence of a Palestinian state.)-Yet it was Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser, who issued the most dire warning regarding the possibility of Israel maintaining its presence in the West Bank, characterizing it as a possible attempt for Israel to “perpetuate [its] control] of the area, rather than to merely protect its people.“If Israel were to speak of its forces being withdrawn from control of the West Bank and Gaza to agreed emplacements, and if authority were to devolve from Israel and Jordan, then your own plan could be the basis for a solution and could open the way to peace,” Brzezinski told the Israelis.“Alternatively, there could be strong suspicions that you intend to perpetuate your control, and that you intend to deal very differently with the Sinai and with the West Bank. We need a solution to make clear that your plan can be the basis for peace. Then Egypt, Jordan, and moderate Palestinians who want to coexist with Israel can move forward.”The meeting ended with Carter asking Begin to be “flexible” about potential paths forward in the negotiations, saying “we have reached the point of possible success. But we are on the verge of seeing that lost.”Carter insisted that Egypt and Jordan were not demanding total Israel withdrawal from captured territories. He also said that Saudi Arabia would accept a proposal that did not include the establishment of a Palestinian state. The biggest “question mark,” Carter said, was how Syria would respond.Begin closed by telling Carter he would think more about it — and that he would speak with him again later in the evening.The Center for Israel Education said the memo of that conversation was the fourth in a 10-part series that will highlight the Carter administration’s attempts to resolve the broader Arab-Israeli conflict.The Carter-brokered negotiations between Israel and Egypt resulted in the signing of the Camp David Accords in September 1978, after 12 days of secret negotiations at Camp David, the presidential retreat in the Catoctin Mountain region in Thurmont, Maryland.The Israeli-Egypt peace treaty was later signed in March 1979. Begin and Sadat were ultimately awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for clinching the peace deal.
Sissi urges Israeli public to seize ‘a great opportunity for peace’-In direct appeal in Cairo conference, Egyptian president says solution to conflict won't harm Israel's security or stability-By Michael Bachner-TOI-31 July 2018
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi on Sunday appealed directly to the Israeli public, calling on it to seize “a great opportunity” for peace.“We have a great opportunity to achieve peace in the region and solve the Palestinian issue,” Sissi said in an address at a conference for youth at Cairo university carried by the country’s media.“This solution will not take away from your security or stability,” he added, clarifying that he was directing his words at Israelis.On the other hand, Sissi added that Egypt cannot agree to any solution opposed by the Palestinian leadership.“Egypt’s policies are clear,” he added. “We support all UN decisions, the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital and [an Israeli withdrawal] to pre-1967 borders.”“Egypt is seeking to lighten the burden on Gaza and that’s why the Rafah Crossing was open for the past two months,” he said. “Egypt is trying to be a positive factor and calmly undertake its role.”Earlier Sunday, Sissi met with US-based World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, and said he supports efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. He added that a key step on the way to that goal was achieving internal Palestinian reconciliation in which the Palestinian Authority restores its rule over the Gaza Strip.In the meeting, Sissi also expressed keenness to strengthen Egypt’s strategic ties with the US, according to Egyptian media.US President Donald Trump has long promised to try and reach the so-called “deal of the century” to end the long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but his efforts have derailed since his decision to transfer the US embassy to Jerusalem.The PA has castigated the move, declared the US no longer an honest broker in negotiations, and rejected any plan the White House may come out with. PA President Mahmoud Abbas called the embassy move the “slap of the century,” earlier this year.The Palestinians have refused to meet with the US to discuss peace overtures since December, when Trump announced the move and declared he would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.Adam Rasgon and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
As U.S. pushes for Mideast peace, Saudi king reassures allies-[Reuters]-By Stephen Kalin-YAHOONEWS-July 31, 2018
RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has reassured Arab allies it will not endorse any Middle East peace plan that fails to address Jerusalem's status or refugees' right of return, easing their concerns that the kingdom might back a nascent U.S. deal which aligns with Israel on key issues.King Salman's private guarantees to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his public defense of long-standing Arab positions in recent months have helped reverse perceptions that Saudi Arabia's stance was changing under his powerful young son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, diplomats and analysts said.This in turn has called into question whether Saudi Arabia, birthplace of Islam and site of its holiest shrines, can rally Arab support for a new push to end the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, with an eye to closing ranks against mutual enemy Iran."In Saudi Arabia, the king is the one who decides on this issue now, not the crown prince," said a senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "The U.S. mistake was they thought one country could pressure the rest to give in, but it's not about pressure. No Arab leader can concede on Jerusalem or Palestine."Palestinian officials told Reuters in December that Prince Mohammed, known as MbS, had pressed Abbas to support the U.S. plan despite concerns it offered the Palestinians limited self-government inside disconnected patches of the occupied West Bank, with no right of return for refugees displaced by the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967.Such a plan would diverge from the Arab Peace Initiative drawn up by Saudi Arabia in 2002 in which Arab nations offered Israel normal ties in return for a statehood deal with the Palestinians and full Israeli withdrawal from territory captured in 1967.Saudi officials have denied any difference between King Salman, who has vocally supported that initiative, and MbS, who has shaken up long-held policies on many issues and told a U.S. magazine in April that Israelis are entitled to live peacefully on their own land - a rare statement for an Arab leader.The Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh, Basem Al-Agha, told Reuters that King Salman had expressed support for Palestinians in a recent meeting with Abbas, saying: "We will not abandon you ... We accept what you accept and we reject what you reject."He said that King Salman naming the 2018 Arab League conference "The Jerusalem Summit" and announcing $200 million in aid for Palestinians were messages that Jerusalem and refugees were back on the table.The Saudi authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the current status of diplomatic efforts.RED LINES-Diplomats in the region say Washington's current thinking, conveyed during a tour last month by top White House officials, does not include Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state, a right of return for refugees or a freeze of Israeli settlements in lands claimed by the Palestinians.Senior adviser Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law, has not provided concrete details of the U.S. strategy more than 18 months after he was tasked with forging peace.A diplomat in Riyadh briefed on Kushner's latest visit to the kingdom said King Salman and MbS had seen him together: "MbS did the talking while the king was in the background."Independent analyst Neil Partrick said King Salman appears to have reined in MbS' "politically reckless approach" because of Jerusalem's importance to Muslims."So MbS won't oppose Kushner's 'deal', but neither will he, any longer, do much to encourage its one-sided political simplicities," said Partrick, lead contributor and editor of "Saudi Arabian Foreign Policy: Conflict and Cooperation".Kushner and fellow negotiator Jason Greenblatt have not presented a comprehensive proposal but rather disjointed elements, which one diplomat said "crossed too many red lines".Instead, they heavily focused on the idea of setting up an economic zone in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula with the adjacent Gaza Strip possibly coming under the control of Cairo, which Arab diplomats described as unacceptable.In Qatar, Kushner asked Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to pressure the Islamist group Hamas to cede control of Gaza in return for development aid, the diplomats said.One diplomat briefed on the meeting said Sheikh Tamim just nodded silently. It was unclear if that signaled an agreement or whether Qatar was offered anything in return."The problem is there is no cohesive plan presented to all countries," said the senior Arab diplomat in Riyadh. "Nobody sees what everyone else is being offered."Kushner, a 37-year-old real estate developer with little experience of international diplomacy or political negotiation, visited Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Israel in June. He did not meet Abbas, who has refused to see Trump's team after the U.S. embassy was moved to Jerusalem.In an interview at the end of his trip, Kushner said Washington would announce its Middle East peace plan soon, and press on with or without Abbas. Yet there has been little to suggest any significant progress towards ending the decades-old conflict, which Trump has said would be "the ultimate deal"."There is no new push. Nothing Kushner presented is acceptable to any of the Arab countries," the Arab diplomat said. "He thinks he is 'I Dream of Genie' with a magic wand to make a new solution to the problem."A White House official told reporters last week that Trump's envoys were working on the most detailed set of proposals to date for the long-awaited peace proposal, which would include what the administration is calling a robust economic plan, though there is thus far no release date.(Editing by Giles Elgood)
IDF defends failed attempt to down Syrian missiles-'Lessons learned,' army says after investigation into first operational use of David's Sling last week-By TOI staff-31 July 2018
The decision-making process that led to the first operational use of the David’s Sling anti-missile system last week was correct, the army said Sunday, even though technical issues led to the interceptor missiles missing their targets.“In the past few days, a complete operational inquiry was conducted by the Air Force, which found that the decision-making process of identifying the threat, considering the short amount of time, was correct,” the army said, following an investigation into Monday’s incident.However, the technical reasons for why the missiles failed to hit their targets, which were fired from Syria, could not be published due to security concerns. “The lessons learned from this investigation will be implemented in the air defense system,” the army said.The Syrian rockets, which were apparently fired as part of internal fighting in the country’s southwest, set off sirens throughout northern Israel on Monday morning.The projectiles fired from Syria were identified as Russian-made OTR-21 Tochka missiles (also known as SS-21 Scarab missiles) and were in the air for a minute and a half. The missiles can carry a 500 kilogram (half ton) warhead and have a range of 100 kilometers (60 miles).The army calculated that the missiles were heading for Israeli territory and waited until the last moment to fire the anti-missile interceptors. After David’s Sling was launched, a recalculation showed that one of the missiles was going to land in Syrian territory, so the interceptor was redirected so as not to hit it. The Syrian missile landed one kilometer (3,000 feet) short of the border. The army did not explain what happened with the second missile, which reportedly fell to ground in Syria.Air raid sirens blared in the Golan Heights due to concern that shrapnel from the intercepted missiles could fall into Israel.Fighter jets were also scrambled and flown to the north during the incident, according to open-source flight tracking information.A military spokesperson would not confirm that the aircraft had been called up, saying she “couldn’t comment on air force activities.”In addition to hearing explosions, residents of northern Israel reported seeing the trails left behind by the Israeli anti-aircraft missiles.It was the first known use of the David’s Sling system, which was declared operational last year.The day after last Monday’s incident, Israeli Air Force shot down a Syrian fighter jet that traveled two kilometers into Israeli airspace. “Two Patriot missiles were fired at a Syrian Sukhoi-model fighter jet,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.On the Wednesday, two rockets from Syria apparently landed in the Sea of Galilee, in what the army said was spillover from the Syrian civil war, but some said was a deliberate effort by Islamic State to draw Israel into the Syrian conflict. In this incident, too, alarm sirens sounded, but Israel’s missile defenses did not fire.David’s Sling makes up the middle tier of Israel’s multi-layered anti-missile defense network.The lowest layer is the Iron Dome system, capable of intercepting short-range rockets, small unmanned aerial vehicles and mortar shells like those that have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip or from southern Lebanon. At the top are the Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which are intended to engage long-range ballistic missiles.David’s Sling is aimed at filling the gap between those systems, against missiles like the Iranian Fateh 110 and its Syrian equivalent, the M600, both of which have seen extensive use in the Syrian civil war and are known to be in the Hezbollah terrorist group’s arsenal.Judah Ari Gross contributed to this report.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3 Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING
GENESIS 7:6-12
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.
7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth,
9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
Death toll from Greek wildfire reaches 91 as village grieves-'There's fewer of us now than usually,' bishop says at Sunday prayer, after worst forest fire in Europe since 1900-By COSTAS KANTOURIS-TOI-31 July 2018
MATI, Greece (AP) — Fire officials in Greece raised the death toll from a wildfire that raged through a coastal area east of Athens to 91, and reported that 25 people were missing on Sunday, six days after Europe’s deadliest forest fire in more than a century.Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities, it stood at 86, as hundreds of mourners attended a Sunday morning memorial service for the victims in the seaside village hardest hit by the blaze.The fire sped flames through the village of Mati without warning on July 23. A database maintained by the Centre for the Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels shows it as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since 1900.The vast majority of victims died in the fire itself, though a number drowned in the sea, while fleeing the flames. Prior to Sunday night, Greek officials had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.The senior local Greek Orthodox Church official, Bishop Kyrillos, presided over the memorial service at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Church in Mati, a popular resort spot that was the place hardest-hit by the blaze.Kyrillos said the community was mourning the loss of family, neighbors, and friends.“There’s fewer of us now than usually,” the bishop said. “It is the victims of the recent fire that are missing — friends, relatives and acquaintances, next-door people that we saw every day in town and on the beach.”Local resident Angeliki Galiatsatou said she narrowly managed to escape the fire that killed others in their cars and homes.“I came to pray for the people who were lost and I pray that God blesses us all,” she said.Dozens of volunteer divers, some of them retired Navy Seals, kept searching the sea off Mati on Sunday looking for the bodies of more possible victims.Greek authorities have said they have reason to believe the fire resulted from arson, and turned so deadly because winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph) buffeted the pine-forested seaside resorts at the time.The Greek government also has come under criticism for how buildings and roads were laid out in the area and an alleged lack of adequate preparation for fire season. More than 2,000 homes were damaged in the fire and roughly a quarter will have to be demolished, Greek officials said Friday.The Holy Synod made up of all Greek bishops said in a letter read out loud at Sunday’s memorial service that everyone bears responsibility for protecting the environment from haphazard development.“What words of comfort can you offer the person who has lost their father, their mother, the grandparents in whose arms their grandchildren were found?” Kyrillos said. “What words of solace can you offer a mother who has lost her baby and left a few flowers on the beach?”
Strong quake kills 14, injures scores, on Indonesia holiday island-[AFP]-Aulia Ahmad-YAHOONEWS-July 29, 2018
Lombok (Indonesia) (AFP) - A powerful earthquake which struck the Indonesian tourist island of Lombok on Sunday killed at least 14 people, injured scores and damaged thousands of homes, officials said.Five children were among those killed by the shallow 6.4-magnitude early-morning quake, which sent people running outside in panic and triggered landslides on popular mountain hiking routes.Scores of aftershocks sparked fear among survivors. More than 120 were recorded, the biggest with a magnitude of 5.7, Indonesia's meteorology agency said.Local officials have declared a three-day state of emergency. President Joko Widodo is due to visit the island Monday morning, his spokesman said."Based on reports, 14 people died, 162 were injured and thousands of homes were damaged," Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement, adding that five of the dead were children.One Malaysian was killed and six injured, the Malaysian foreign ministry said."All of them were at the foot of Mount Rinjani when the incident happened," it said, referencing the spectacular volcano that dominates the island.The 30-year-old victim was inside a restroom when the entire building collapsed and crushed her, the New Straits Times quoted another Malaysian climber, Khairul Azim, as saying.Khairul said his own group was unable to leave the Sembalun area because many roads including the main one had been damaged.The constant aftershocks sparked terrified shouts among scores of people made homeless in the eastern village of Sembalun in the district of the same name, an AFP reporter said.Some 200 people from 35 families whose house were damaged or destroyed had pitched tents there. The roof of a health clinic had collapsed and its walls had cracked."People are traumatised and too scared to return home for fear the aftershocks could destroy their homes completely," the reporter said."Everytime there is an aftershock they cry out in fear and tremors can still be felt constantly."Evacuees told AFP they badly needed blankets and instant food because there was no time to bring anything when they fled their homes.Popular trekking trails on Mount Rinjani were closed because of landslides, according to the disaster agency.One local trek organiser described how rocks rained down on two Spanish hikers and their guide as they were caught on a mountain trail."My trekking guide who was accompanying two tourists from Spain suffered from minor injuries during the jolt. They were hiking from Segara Anak Lake to Plawangan and rocks were falling on them during the quake," said Karyadi, the owner of a guesthouse where the pair were staying.The two Spaniards were also slightly hurt."Our guests were in shock because of the incident," said Karyadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.The epicentre of the earthquake struck 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok's main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island.USGS said two of the aftershocks measured more than 5-magnitude.The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away in the bustling holiday island of Bali, although there were no immediate reports of damage there.- 'We ran outside' -"The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside," said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok near the epicentre."All my neighbours also ran outside and the electricity was suddenly cut off," Zulkifli told AFP.No tsunami alert was issued."People in East Lombok and Mataram felt the strong quake for 10 seconds, residents were panicking and running outside of their homes," Nugroho said earlier, adding people had run for open spaces such as football fields.At the holiday island's hotels, tourists raced outside as the quake struck.At the Katamaran Hotel and Resort in Senggigi beach, some 30 guests gathered in the lobby for around half an hour before venturing back to their rooms."They calmed down and returned to their rooms once we explained the earthquake did not trigger a tsunami. Everything is back to normal now," receptionist Ni Nyoman Suwarningsih told AFP.The quake also rocked the tiny Gili islands off northeast Lombok, which are popular with honeymooners, divers and partygoers."Fortunately there was no panic during the earthquake even though it was quite strong," said Lilis Letisha, receptionist at the Ombak Paradise Hotel on Gili Air island.Indonesia, an archipelago of thousands of islands, sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a seismic activity hotspot.In 2004 a tsunami triggered by a magnitude 9.3 undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra in western Indonesia killed 220,000 people in countries around the Indian Ocean, including 168,000 in Indonesia.
Myanmar floods kill at least five, displace 54,000 people-[AFP]-YAHOONEWS-July 29, 2018
Bago (Myanmar) (AFP) - Rising floodwaters have killed at least five people and forced tens of thousands from their homes across swathes of Myanmar, a government official told AFP on Sunday, as heavy monsoon rains continue to batter the Mekong region.Dramatic images showed vast areas of farmland completely submerged in muddy waters stretching to the horizon, with only the rooftops of some houses visible.Some stranded people were plucked from the churning inundations by rescuers in boats, while others waded through waist-deep water to escape, carrying children on their shoulders while trying to keep precious belongings out of the water."There are more than 54,000 displaced people affected by the flooding around the country," a Ministry of Social Welfare official told AFP.The official confirmed that five people had been killed but said this figure was expected to rise.Evacuation orders had been issued in several areas, while some 163 camps have been set up for displaced people in southern, eastern and central parts country.The floods in Myanmar come as a particularly heavy monsoon continues to pummel the region, bringing downpours that contributed to the collapse of a dam last week in Laos, which left scores dead or missing.Myanmar is hit by severe flooding every year and climate scientists in 2015 ranked it top of a global list of nations hardest hit by extreme weather.That year more than 100 people died in floods that also displaced hundreds of thousands across the country.Myanmar's worst natural disaster of recent times was Cyclone Nargis, which lashed huges stretches of the country's coast, leaving at least 138,000 dead or missing in May 2008.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Head of UN probe into Gaza clashes vows to keep an ‘open mind’-David Crane, leading commission to investigate Israeli 'assaults on the large-scale civilian protests,' says he has 'no preconceived positions or perspectives'-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-31 July 2018
The head of the UN Human Rights Council’s probe into the clashes at the Gaza border this summer vowed Sunday to approach the topic fairly and without bias.“As Chair of the Commission of Inquiry for Gaza and East Jerusalem I can assure all parties and constituents that the Commission will conduct its investigation fairly and with an open mind with no preconceived positions or perspectives,” David Crane told The Times of Israel in an email.Currently a professor at Syracuse University College of Law, Crane was appointed last week to preside over the three-member “Commission of Inquiry on the 2018 protests in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”The other members are Sara Hossain, a Bangladeshi lawyer educated in the UK, and Kaari Betty Murungi, a lawyer and human rights activist from Kenya.Officials in Jerusalem are unlikely to cooperate with the probe, which they have rejected from its very inception.In the 1980s, Crane was a legal adviser to the Multinational Force and Observers in the Sinai. From 2002 to 2005, he was the founding chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, an international war crimes tribunal, according to his website at Syracuse University.Crane served over 30 years in the US federal government. Appointed to the Senior Executive Service of the United States in 1997, Crane has held numerous key managerial positions during his three decades of public service and was a professor of international law at the US Army Judge Advocate General’s School.On May 18, the UN Human Rights Council voted in favor of creating an “independent, international commission of inquiry” that will be asked to produce a final report on the events at the Gaza border by March 2019.According to its mandate, the panel will “investigate all alleged violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip, in the context of the military assaults on the large-scale civilian protests that began on 30 March 2018.”In voting overwhelmingly in favor of Resolution S-28/1, the 47-member body mandated the panel “to establish the facts and circumstances, with assistance from relevant experts and special procedure mandate holders, of the alleged violations and abuses, including those that may amount to war crimes” and “to identify those responsible.”At the time, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the vote — 29 countries voted in favor, two against, with 14 abstaining — as “irrelevant.”“The organization that calls itself the Human Rights Council again proved it is a hypocritical and biased body whose purpose is to harm Israel and back terror, but mostly it proved it is irrelevant,” he said. “The State of Israel will continue to defend its citizens and soldiers.”According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, 157 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the mass “March of Return” protests on March 30. Israel has accused Hamas of using the clashes to attempt to breach the border fence and carry out attacks, and the terror group has acknowledged dozens of those killed were its members.Hamas, which is committed to Israel’s destruction, has fought three wars with the Jewish state since it violently took over Gaza in 2007.In June, the US quit the The Hague-based body, citing among other things its preoccupation with Israel.Israel welcomed the US’s move. “For years, the UNHRC has proven to be a biased, hostile, anti-Israel organization that has betrayed its mission of protecting human rights,” the Prime Minister’s Office said at the time.
Turkey’s Erdogan calls, praises soldier-slapper Ahed Tamimi-Lebanon's Hariri tweets congratulations to the teen, who was released Sunday after serving 7-plus months in Israeli prison-By Adam Rasgon and TOI staff-31 July 2018
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday phoned Palestinian teenager Ahed Tamimi on her release from Israeli prison for slapping and kicking a soldier, and praised her “bravery and determination to fight,” Turkish media reported.Erdogan also vowed to continue to support the “just struggle” of the Palestinian people, Turkey’s Anadolu Agency reported.Tamimi, 17, and her mother, Nariman Tamimi, who was also jailed over the incident, were freed Sunday morning after over seven months in jail, returning to celebrations in their hometown of Nabi Saleh in the central West Bank.Six years ago Erdogan met Tamimi when she visited Istanbul to receive the Hanzala Courage Prize.Palestinian girl "Ahed Tamimi" awarded the "Hanzala Courage" prize by the Başakşehir Municipality in Istanbul,Turkey. pic.twitter.com/0aSR5B0t— Lisa Lee Dark (@LisaLeeDark) December 28, 2012-Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri tweeted his support for Tamimi.“Congratulation to the brave girl Ahed Tamimi, being released to freedom,” he posted. “And greetings to all Palestinian militants in the Israeli occupation prisons and to all the heroic Palestinian people.”Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, praised Tamimi as a “symbol of Palestinian pride and dignity,” adding that she represents the “resilience and resistance” of the Palestinian people. He also criticized the “so-called American peace envoys” who he said never condemn Israel’s “crimes.”Dr. Saeb Erekat: #AhedTamimi is a symbol of Palestinian pride and dignity, a reminder of the corruption and crimes of the Israeli occupation, and a chapter of shame to those who never condemn any of Israel’s crimes, like the so-called American peace envoys. ???????? pic.twitter.com/zbWLnPwkfN— Palestine PLO-NAD (@nadplo) July 29, 2018-Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump’s Mideast peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt and other White House officials have been effectively blackballed by Ramallah, which was angered by Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and his decision to move the US embassy there in May.On Thursday, Greenblatt slammed the Palestinian leadership for failing to condemn a deadly terror attack in the Israeli settlement of Adam.Tamimi met on Sunday at the Palestinian Authority presidential headquarters in Ramallah with PA President Mahmoud Abbas, who called the teenager “a model for the Palestinian struggle.”Tamimi’s incarceration had drawn attention from around the globe, highlighting the teen’s image as a Palestinian icon. She had become a cause célèbre for Palestinian supporters, and rallies were held in several locations calling for her release after her arrest in December.Many Palestinians saw her as bravely standing up to military control over the West Bank, while Israelis accused her family of using her as a pawn.Following her release release on Sunday, Tamimi was greeted by hundreds of supporters and journalists in Nabi Saleh.In her first public comments since being released, she thanked her supporters and declared that “the resistance is ongoing.”Ahed’s father, Bassem, said Saturday that after her release from prison “we expect her to lead and we will support her to lead” in the fight to end occupation. He did not say what that would entail.Bassem Tamimi said that his daughter completed her high school exams in prison with the help of other prisoners who taught the required material. He said she hoped initially to attend a West Bank university but has also received scholarship offers abroad.Under the terms of a plea bargain, Ahed was sentenced to eight months in prison and admitted to aggravated assault of an IDF soldier, incitement to violence and disrupting soldiers on two other occasions.The teen’s cousin Nour was also indicted for her involvement in the quarrel, but she was released in January.Jacob Magid and AFP contributed to this report.
A self-declared leftist wages war on the Palestinian ‘right of return’-In new book, ex-Labor MK Einat Wilf says the refugee ethos is the biggest obstacle to peace. She blames the international community, the Israeli government and the IDF-By Raphael Ahren-TOI-JUL 31,18
Former Labor MK Einat Wilf believes the Palestinians are not ready for peace. They are, in fact, miles away from accepting the idea of dividing the land and are still hoping Israel will soon disappear, she asserts in a new book.And yet, she insists she’s a leftist.But the peace camp must sober up, she says, and start realizing that peace will not come as long as the Palestinians cling to their demand to “return” to areas now belonging to Israel.“If you truly want peace, rather than just feel good about wanting peace — and there are a lot of those — and if you actually understand that at the end of the day they [the Palestinians] are the ones with whom we have to live and share the country, you need to be realistic about where they’re coming from,” she told The Times of Israel during a recent interview in a Jerusalem cafe.“The War of Return,” which she co-authored with former Haaretz journalist Adi Schwartz, provides an in-depth analysis of the Palestinian refugee problem. It notes that immediately after the 1948 War of Independence, Arab leaders were opposed to the return of those who had left their homes in what had become the State of Israel, as this was considered a tacit recognition of Israeli sovereignty.But a short while later, Arab leaders changed their strategy and demanded that the “refugees” return to their old homes, Wilf and Schwartz write, citing countless historical documents to prove their point.The “right of return” was thus formulated clearly “as the continuation of war by other means,” Wilf said.The War of Independence has never ended, Wilf and Schwartz maintain. Officials at the Palestinian Authority today pay lip service to a two-state solution, but in reality are convinced that masses of “refugees” will soon “return” to their homes in Jaffa and Haifa, ultimately destroying the Jewish state, the book argues.“The book really comes from the understanding that we were blind — maybe willfully blind — to what they wanted. You can’t make peace with blindness,” Wilf said.While the issue of refugees is often dismissed as one of the more solvable of the outstanding core issues — Israel could easily admit a “symbolic” number of refugees as a “humanitarian gesture” — Wilf and Schwartz claim that it is actually the hardest nut to crack.Security arrangements, the status of Jerusalem and the exact delineation of borders are all practical matters to which a solution can be found at the negotiating table. But as long as the Palestinians don’t relinquish the “right of return,” ending the ethos of Palestinians being refugees, peace will remain elusive, they insist.“This is the core of the conflict,” Wilf said. “Because no other issue reflects more deeply the continued Palestinian, and more broadly Arab, view that Israel is temporary, and that the Jewish presence is not legitimate.”“The War of Return” was written in Hebrew, but its main target group is foreign diplomats. The international community’s longstanding position on the refugee question — including the support for UNRWA, the UN’s agency for refugees from Palestine — is among the main reasons the Palestinians continue to foster the ethos of return, according to Wilf.UNRWA, the book contends, perpetuates the notion that the people who left their homes in 1948 and their descendants are refugees, implying that they will “come back” one day.Palestinians “refugees” are the only ones whose status is handed down to future generations. In 1950, when the agency started, it recognized 750,000 “Palestine refugees,” a number that has grown to over five million.Until 1998, the Palestinians, backed by the Arab world and the Soviet bloc, were very clear about their intentions: they demanded that all refugees return to what is now Israel and vowed to liberate all of Palestine, Wilf said.After the fall of the Iron Curtain and their subsequent need for support from the US, the Palestinians changed their rhetoric and made what they call a painful compromise in forgoing the majority of historical Palestine, now merely demanding a state on the territory Israel captured in 1967.“But what we show in the book is that never ever have they given up the ‘right of return’,” Wilf said. “When you want to have a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, but the ‘right of return’ is holy and non-negotiable, then the only two states you are rooting for are an Arab state in the West Bank and Gaza, and an Arab state to replace Israel.”Ironically, many people think Israel has destroyed the two-state solution by continuing to build settlements in the West Bank.“What we’re showing is that the Palestinians have actually never, not for a single moment, accepted the two-state solution. There was never a moment where they said: We’re done, we understand that the other state will never be Arab or Palestinian and that it will belong to the Jewish people.”Some in the peace camp may agree that the “right of return” is incompatible with the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, but argue that Palestinians are clinging to it merely as a bargaining chip for negotiations, fully aware that no Israeli leader will ever agree to let masses of refugees flood the country.But Wilf, who served in the Knesset between 2010 and 2013, first with Labor and later with Ehud Barak’s breakaway Independence faction, does not buy this argument.Coddled by a world that vehemently opposes Israeli settlement expansion but never criticizes the demand for return, the Palestinians really believe that hundreds of thousand of “refugees” will soon flood Israeli cities.“Push came to shove several times. And again and again, ‘return’ was not something to give up when everything else was acceptable,” she said, referring to previous rounds of Israel-Palestinians peace negotiations.“They have never agreed to anything. Even if it came very close, they have never agreed to any formulation that will close the door on the possibility of return.”Does Wilf truly believe the Palestinians stick to the right of return because they see it is their doomsday weapon to destroy Israel? Haven’t the Palestinians realized that Israel will never agree to accept a large number of refugees, certainly not enough to end its character as a Jewish state? “If the Palestinians truly want a state, they don’t sit on their asses and say: No, we’re going to continue suffering many years of statelessness [rather than] to give up something we already know is not going to happen,” she replied. “This makes zero sense, in any context, if that’s what they really want.”In the 1940s, the Zionists’ drive for sovereignty led them to accept the UN Partition Plan — which meant the creation of a Jewish state, albeit without Judea and Samaria (the proposed state did not include the West Bank) and without Zion (Jerusalem was meant to be a separate entity).“But there’s not a single Palestinian leader who says: We want sovereignty and we understand that the price of that sovereignty will be that we will not return,” the lawmaker-turned-author said.Some leftists say the Oslo Agreement proved that the Palestinians were ready to compromise and would now accept a state based on the 1967 lines living in peace with Israel. Not this one.“I find it incredibly hard to believe that a people who changed course in 1988 [with Yasser Arafat’s “Declaration of Independence“], 30 years afterwards doesn’t have a state,” said Wilf, who has a degree in government and fine arts from Harvard and a PhD in political science from Cambridge University. “Because they had several opportunities. If they had really changed course, why not take it?”Do the Palestinians really believe they can eradicate Israel? Israel is considered one of the most powerful nations in the world, economically and militarily. The Palestinians can’t really think that they will eradicate Israel, can they?“Well, that’s the thing. They actually do,” Wilf said resolutely.Palestinians view the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and discussions about the legitimacy of Zionism as clear indications of Israel’s imminent demise, she posited.The Romans, the Ottomans, the British — foreign invaders come and go, she said, describing Palestinian thinking about Israel living on borrowed time. The Crusaders lasted only 88 years in Jerusalem, she added, saying Israel had only 17 years left on the Palestinian clock.“They genuinely believe that,” she insisted.If a people is constantly strengthened in the belief that they have a “right to return” that is sacrosanct and cannot be renounced, their leaders will never be able to make the compromises needed for peace, she went on.It’s a book of people who want to get to peace and who realized that technicalities are not the problem. The problem is that the Palestinians have never been prepared for the idea of partition-A national ethos can be changed, but only if leaders prepare their people for it. Former prime minister Ariel Sharon in 2003 shocked his political base when he uttered the word “occupation.” Two years later, Israel left Gaza.“It’s not that the words end the process. But they create an environment where actions can take place,” Wilf said.Peace, she continued, will only come when a Palestinian leader faces his people and tells them: Enough. The Jewish people have a historical right here. It’s not superior to ours, it’s not exclusive. But we’re done denying that they have a historical connection to this land. They will not have everything, and we will not have everything. No, we will not have the homes. We can visit them, but they won’t be ours.“You never heard that speech,” she lamented.That speech, if it is ever given, won’t mean that peace negotiations are over, she went on. “But at least then you know the Palestinians have reasonable expectations.”So far, no Palestinian leader has said or written or anything to indicate that they are ready to relinquish their refugee ethos.“That’s why I said this is a book written by left-wingers. It’s a book of people who want to get to peace and who realized that technicalities are not the problem. The problem is that the Palestinians have never been prepared — not even for a moment — for the idea of partition.”And yet, as opposed to Yossi Klein Halevi’s “Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor,” her 300-page book is not addressed at the Palestinians.Rather, it is geared to the international community, which Wilf accuses of perpetuating the Palestinian narrative of being refugees who have a legitimate demand of “return.” (Wilf and Schwartz are currently looking for a publisher for the English translation of the book, by journalist Eylon A. Levy.)“The Palestinians will dream of Jaffa. You will never get into their heads and take that away — just as nothing will ever make the Jews stop longing for Judea,” she said.“But just as the international community makes it clear on a daily basis that the Jews cannot have Judea, it should start saying now that the Palestinians will not have a state ranging from the river to the sea.”The world, which condemns every single announcement of new housing units in the West Bank, never asks the Palestinians to relinquish their demand for return, Wilf charged. “You literally have no problem telling the Jews that they won’t have it all. Why not tell the Palestinians?”But doesn’t it go without saying that the Palestinians won’t have everything? After all, no one in the international community (except Iran) today disputes that the Western side of the 1967 line belongs to Israel?Once again, Wilf disagreed.“When Western governments fund a UN agency with more than a billion dollars every year, feeding the delusion of return, it doesn’t go without saying.”In fact, Wilf believes the Palestinians interpret the West’s support for UNRWA as support for the right of return. And they are right to do, she insisted: “When 70 percent of people who live in Gaza believe that they are refugees, and are stamped by the UN as such, you cannot fault them for thinking that their right of return is internationally sanctioned.”Foreign diplomats believe that UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which in 1948 said that “refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date,” unambiguously affirms the Palestinians’ right of return.It doesn’t, Wilf and Schwartz argue at great length in their book.If the international community were fair it would treat Israeli settlements and Palestinian demands of return in exactly the same manner, Wilf submitted. “Because both of them reflect the maximalist vision. Both of them reflect the idea that a specific people should be in every single inch.”But the world only cries foul when Israel builds settlements, at the same time as it actively encourages the Palestinian refugee ethos by supporting UNRWA, she said.Diplomats would counter such arguments by saying that settlement expansion creates facts on the ground that physically impede the implementation of a two-state solution, while the demand of return is intangible.Wilf doesn’t buy it.“I believe that the idea of return is more powerful than any house built in the settlements. Because houses are easily demolished,” she offered.“Israel builds the houses and then demolishes them. Granted, I think it’s stupid to build them in the first place. But the idea [of return] is almost unmovable. The actions taken because of the idea are dramatic. Because of this idea the Palestinians repeatedly reject compromise.”It is the lingering refugee ethos that causes Palestinians to consider Gaza a temporary place of residence, one they will leave when they are allowed to “return” to Haifa, Jaffa and Beersheba.“The people dying at the fences [at the Gaza border] demanding return are the consequence of the people who refuse to say that the limit of their political ambition is at the 1967 border,” according to Wilf.“I’m not in favor of building houses [in the settlements]. But Israel has demonstrated that it can uproot the houses. The Palestinians are yet to show that they take one refugee off the roster.”In her frequent meetings with foreign diplomats, Wilf argues that the refugee issue is “more destructive to peace than the settlements ever were and ever will be,” she said.“How are we going to get to partition and compromise if the Palestinians seriously think — and they seriously think — that Palestine will be free, from the river to the sea?”So what should be done? As a first step, “UNRWA should be dismantled,” Wilf said. The services it provides, mainly in the fields of health care and education, should be transferred to other countries, agencies or providers “that do not tie the provision of the service to the perpetuation of the idea of being a refugee and the illusion of return.”UNRWA, by virtue of its very mandate, perpetuates the idea that the Palestinians are refugees from Palestine, she said.“So what we’re saying is: provide the services differently so that the facade is taken away. And then you’re just left with this crazy idea that a middle-class lawyer who was born in Ramallah and lives in Ramallah is a refugee from Palestine. Then you really expose it as the nonsensical notion that it is.”Once the letters “UN” are removed from the refugee ethos, the Palestinians will sooner or later have to realize that the world does not share this view.“Change takes place when you begin to realize your true power. Right now, they have no sense of their true power because they think that the world is with them,” she said.UNRWA’s top lobbyist? The Israeli government-Leading Israeli politicians rarely have a good word for UNRWA, but it is no secret that the defense establishment is very much in favor of the agency’s survival, arguing that its services are necessary to prevent a humanitarian disaster that would ultimately end in violence against Israel.Indeed, Israel is “the number one lobbyist for this organization,” Wilf charged, arguing that both the army and the political leadership are satisfied with the status quo.One might think that UNRWA and the IDF have a secret treaty to support each other, she joked.“The military doesn’t care about five years from now. It says, right now UNRWA doesn’t fight me. What it doesn’t understand is that UNRWA is making sure that the Palestinians will have recruits forever to fight Israel,” she said.“My argument is that militaries don’t understand narratives. Militaries don’t understand that consciousness and words determine action.”Given her views, foreign diplomats are surprised to hear that Wilf considers herself a leftist, she said.“I say to them, it’s seriously very simple. East of the Green Line: not us. West of the Green Line: not them.”
