TEMPLE MOUNT CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Eight feared dead after storm lashes Myanmar coast. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Israel to offer new peace initiative 5-125 Kassams Launched Since Tuesday. 6-Lieberman Issues Ultimatum: Dismantle Hamas or Dismantle Gov't. 7-Temple Mount Controversy Continues.

EARTHQUAKES

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.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

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.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; 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, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

Eight feared dead after storm lashes Myanmar coast Sun May 20, 3:42 AM ET

YANGON (Reuters) - Eight people were feared dead and more than 900 houses were destroyed by a storm in the Bay of Bengal that swept through coastal districts of Myanmar last week, a fisherman and a state newspaper said on Sunday. A small fishing trawler with 13 crew sank off Sindamaw Island, 18 miles southeast of Rakhine state's capital Sittwe, last week, the fisherman told Reuters.Three of the 13 crew were rescued by a nearby fishing boat while two got ashore using a plastic drum and eight went missing, he said.As of Sunday morning, two dead bodies had been found and the remaining six are believed to be dead, he said.More than 900 homes, including 363 in Sittwe Township in Rakhine state, were damaged by the storm, which had winds of up to 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour, semi-government Myanmar Times weekly reported quoting a Myanmar Red Cross Society official as saying.Emergency kits were supplied to the affected families in the coastal region, which is frequently struck by storms, the official said.

The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Sun May 20, 5:29 AM ET

Scattered showers and thunderstorms were forecast for Sunday across the eastern Great Lakes, New England and northern Mid-Atlantic. Heavier rainfall amounts were anticipated in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont. A cold front was expected to push through the Northern Plains and Upper Mississippi Valley, producing widely scattered showers and thunderstorms. Stronger storms were likely in parts of Montana and the Dakotas, with possible isolated tornadoes and hail.Light to moderate rain was forecast for the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Saturday ranged from a low of 28 degrees at Saramac Lake, N.Y., to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.

Israel to offer new peace initiative By DALE GAVLAK, Associated Press Writer MAY 20,07

SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan - Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres said Sunday his government would offer a counterproposal to an Arab peace initiative to resolve the conflict with Palestinians.

He urged Arab leaders to meet with Israel to hash out the issue.Arab League chief Amr Moussa suggested he would entertain the Israeli offer but said it would not be seriously considered unless it was reasonable.Arab countries have been trying to re-ignite the stalled peace process with their plan that offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state.

Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several key provisions such as pulling back to the pre-1967 borders and taking in millions of Palestinian refugees.The Arab League has proposed, fine.

We will make a counterproposal, Peres said during heated discussions that included Moussa and Saeb Erekat, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, at the World Economic Forum in Jordan.We will come to the Arab League, to the Saudis, where they want. ... If you are serious and we are serious, let's sit together. You cannot send us a document and say take it or leave it.He did not elaborate on the counteroffer or say when it would be proposed.Peres' offer coincided with a new outburst of violence in the Gaza Strip over the past week with a combination of Palestinian factional fighting and Israeli airstrikes on the Islamic militant group Hamas that has killed scores of Palestinians. The airstrikes, in reprisal for Hamas rocket attacks on Israel, have destroyed a 6-month-old truce between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.But the proposal has remained grounded with the Palestinian infighting in Gaza and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's domestic problems after his handling of a summer war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon was sharply criticized. Moussa said he would wait to see what sort of offer Israel proposed before considering it.If there is a counteroffer and a reasonable one, then we're all in business, he said.But Erekat said he backed the Arab peace deal, calling it the most important strategy.Mr. Peres, our negotiations have finished. ... Today, it's time for decisions, Erekat said. Stop the bombardment of Gaza immediately and restart the truce between us immediately. We are willing to engage now in sustaining the cease-fire.On Sunday, Moussa asked Peres if he had the authority to speak for Israel, alluding to the domestic turmoil over the war's fallout.When I see what is going on in the occupied territories, and what is being said by other officials I really find myself at a loss, he said. Who is speaking for the state of Israel?

Peres insisted he was.

In Jerusalem, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev declined to comment because he had not heard Peres' proposal. Even though Israel sees the Arab initiative as very positive, he predicted it would remain grounded. Israel has no interest in stagnation and unfortunately, if the Arab initiative is take it or leave it, that will be a recipe for stagnation, Regev said. Peres adviser Yoram Dori also would not give details on the counterproposal or a timetable for its submission to the Arab League and Saudi Arabia. Our government, our Cabinet will discuss it, and we will submit our proposal to the Arab League and to the Saudis, he said. Erekat urged Israel to solve the thorny issues including the future status of Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories. If Israel doesn't cooperate, he warned the region would be doomed. If we leave things to conflicts and wars and
settling differences by bombardments and wars we will go into the 21st century in the vehicles of darkness and extremism, he said.

125 Kassams Launched Since Tuesday
3 Sivan 5767, May 20, '07

(IsraelNN.com) At least 125 Kassam rockets were fired by Palestinian Authority terrorists at western Negev communities since last Tuesday, according to Israel police. The figure includes the 14 rockets fired at Israel on the Sabbath, but does not include the five Kassams which landed in the western Negev Sunday morning. More than 400 rockets have been fired at Israeli communities since the supposed ceasefire with PA Gaza terrorists on November 26, 2006.

Lieberman Issues Ultimatum: Dismantle Hamas or Dismantle Gov't
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) MAY 20,07

As we go to press, Strategic Threats Minister Avigdor Lieberman has issued an ultimatum to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party and is a critical part of the Olmert government, said that he is on his way to the Cabinet meeting, where he will demand an IDF ground operation to completely destroy the Hamas. Anything short of that, he said, would force him to lead Yisrael Beiteinu out of the government and work to bring about the end of the current
government.

Temple Mount Controversy Continues
by Ezra HaLevi and Hillel Fendel (MAY 20,07 INN)

Record numbers of Jews have ascended the Temple Mount since a large group of religious-Zionist rabbis issued a public call to visit Judaisms holiest site in accordance with Jewish legal strictures.

On Jerusalem Day, for the first time in recent history, multiple groups of 40 or more Jews were allowed to ascend the Temple Mount at once. In the past, groups were severely limited in size and only one allowed on the mount at a time. Two Jewish visitors were arrested Wednesday for belting out Shma Yisrael the Jewish declaration of faith and G-d's Oneness of Deuteronomy 6:4. Unlike on previous occasions, the rest of the group was not penalized, and many returned the next day to visit as well. The religious precautions required of one who wishes to ascend the Mount in purity include immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area.

There has been a marked increase in Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount since the large group of rabbis ascended, the Movement for the Preparation of the Temple said in a statement. The public is encouraged to study the relevant laws and familiarize themselves with their holiest place.However, many rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp continue to rule out visits to the sacred site.

Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, the nonagenarian [in his 90's] dean of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, told the massive crowds who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day at the yeshiva that entry to the Mount is not permitted at this time, because of the lack of certainty as to the exact location of the Biblically forbidden areas on the mount.Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner are also among those who forbid Jewish entry to the Temple Mount. It is felt that the extreme nature of the Biblical prohibition against entering the site of the Temple outweighs both political/ nationalist concerns and the confidence of those who claim they know the precise location of the forbidden areas.