FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS BACK PEACE NOW

1-Ohio Quake. 2-Foreign Governments are key backers of peace now. 3-Floods kill 94 in Indonesia.4-US makes Missle defence operational.

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Northeast Ohio Hit With 12th Earthquake Since 2005 Quake Had Magnitude Of 3.3
POSTED: 5:03 pm EDT June 20, 2006UPDATED: 6:27 pm EDT June 20, 2006

PAINESVILLE, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio experienced another minor earthquake Tuesday afternoon, the 12th and largest earthquake to hit the area since 2005.According the United States Geological Survey center, it has been confirmed that the earthquake hit northeast Ohio at 4: 11 p.m.The quake had a magnitude of 3.3 with the epicenter being off the shore of Lake Erie, northwest of Ashtabula near Painesville.Several other earthquakes have hit northeast Ohio so far this year. The last one hit near Mentor in May, with a magnitude of 3.0.The quakes before that ranged in magnitude from 2.0 to 2.6 by NewsNet5.

Foreign Governments Are Key Backers of Peace Now 16:42
Jun 20, '06 / 24 Sivan 5766,by Scott Shiloh Peace Now,

a far-left Israeli-based organization promoting Israeli withdrawal to pre-1967 borders and removal of all Jewish communities in Judea/Samaria, is largely funded by foreign governments.The organization, which spends large sums of money finding and detailing every new Israeli structure in Judea and Samaria, is effectively on the payroll of at least three European governments, according to Israeli investigative reporter David Bedein. Those governments provide the financial support for the activities of Dror Etkes, whose staff researches and publicizes data relating to every aspect of the Israeli government’s support for
the quarter-million Israelis living in Judea and Samaria.Etkes, who is studying for an M.A. in history, draws a salary of NIS 150,000 ($34,000) per year for his anti-settlement activities for Peace Now, a large sum by Israeli standards.

The foreign governments which fund Etkes and Peace Now, such as Britain and Norway, are fundamentally opposed to the existence of all Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. The money Peace Now receives to promote an Israeli withdrawal from those territories, therefore, may invariably serve those governments’ foreign policy interests.Such an outcome would not be surprising, as Bedein claims Peace Now has accepted funding directly from the British and Norwegian Ministries of Foreign Affairs. Bedein claims he has documents detailing the extent of Peace Now’s funding by foreign governments. In 2005, he says, Peace Now received direct payments from three European governments, Britain, Norway, and Finland, totaling nearly a half million dollars.

For its 2006, budget, the group has approached six foreign governments - Britain, Norway, Canada, Germany, Holland, and Finland - and has received commitments for larger budgets from Britain, Norway, and Finland, according to Bedein.Yesterday, representatives of Peace Now met with a ministerial committee headed by Justice Minister Chaim Ramon (Kadima) in an effort to convince the committee to dismantle a number of Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. The legal status of those communities has been repeatedly challenged by Peace Now. Such challenges often have direct impact on government policy and on the country’s fragile
social and political fabric. The government’s decision to dismantle nine homes in the town of Amona, for example, followed a Supreme Court petition filed by Peace Now, claiming the homes were built illegally. The homes were destroyed in a violent police action, in which hundreds were injured.

The violence and sharp polarization of Israeli society ensuing from the Amona tragedy may be playing into the hands of the same foreign governments which fund Peace Now. This is so to the extent that divisions within Israel’s political communitiy weaken the government’s ability to maintain Israeli control of Judea and Samaria in the face of world criticism.Regarding Finland’s contribution to Peace Now, Bedein said a member of the Finnish Parliament told him the money was forwarded to Finland by the U.S. government.Bedein said another source of financing for Peace Now is the Economic Cooperation Foundation, a group funded directly by the European Union. The EFC was the subject of controversy last year when the Israeli media revealed that the organization was funding the activities of left-wing MK Yossi Beilin (Meretz).

Despite the funding Peace Now receives from foreign governments, the organization is not required under Israeli law to register as a foreign agent. In contrast, if the organization were operating in the United States, it would have to register as a foreign agent with the U.S. Justice Department, Bedein explained.Bedein said Peace Now was not just a foreign agent operating in Israel but was “in effect spying on Israel for foreign governments. He said the organization not only engages in surveillance activities relating to Israeli settlements and their security, but reports on and photographs military installations belonging to the IDF.Bedein said Peace Now’s
association with foreign governments also calls into question the financial support the organization receives from American Friends for Peace Now, a group based in the United States. He said the U.S. group’s affiliation with Peace Now may require the American group to register as a foreign agent in the U.S.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Floods, landslides in Indonesia kill 94 1 hour, 6 minutes ago 1104

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Heavy rains have caused floods and landslides on a central Indonesian island, killing at least 94 people, officials said Wednesday. At least 42 people have also been reported missing on Sulawesi island, which has been battered by incessant rains since Monday, swelling rivers and inundating hundreds of houses.We are overwhelmed with the bodies here, said Bachtiar, head of a public health center in the worst-hit district of Sinjai. We need help, especially body bags. An Associated Press tally of figures released by Sinjai and four other districts showed that 94 bodies had been recovered in the region, about 1,000 miles
northeast of Indonesia's capital, Jakarta. Seasonal downpours cause dozens of landslides and flash floods each year in Indonesia, where millions of people live in mountainous regions and near fertile flood plains close to rivers.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (dangerous) times shall come.

US makes missile defense system operational By Will Dunham Tue Jun 20, 10:15 AM

ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has moved its ground-based interceptor missile defense system from test mode to operational amid concerns over an expected North Korean missile launch, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed a Washington Times report that the Pentagon has activated the system, which has been in the developmental stage for years. It's good to be ready, the official said.U.S. officials say evidence such as satellite pictures suggests Pyongyang may have finished fueling a Taepodong-2 missile, which some experts said could reach as far as Alaska.There's real caution in how to characterize it so as to not be provocative in our own approach," the defense official said of the move to activate the system.The Pentagon and State Department have said a North Korean missile launch would be seen as "provocative." While military officials also note the United States has a limited missile defense system, they have so far declined to comment on any details about the capabilities or potential use of the system to intercept a North Korean missile. (Additional reporting by Kristin Roberts)