QUIT FORCING - PUSHING ISRAEL U.S.A

HERE WE GO THE RIFT BETWEEN THE EU AND RUSSIA IS STARTING TO HAPPEN. SINCE RUSSIA WILL LEAD THE MUSLIM HORDE AGAINST ISRAEL IN THE FUTURE AND THE EU IS PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY, THERE HAS TO BE A RIFT WITH RUSSIA AGAINST THE WEST.

EU sides with UK in diplomatic clash with Russia
19.07.2007 - 09:32 CET | By Lucia Kubosova

Despite warnings from Moscow against EU involvement in its diplomatic clash with the UK, the bloc's Portuguese presidency has voiced disappointment over Russia's stance on the probe into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.The former KGB agent died of exposure to radioactive polonium-210 in London last year. British prosecutors want the chief suspect Andrei Lugovoi, whom Mr Litvinenko met shortly before he fell ill, to face trial in the UK but Russia is refusing to hand him over.Referring to the murder as a grave and reckless crime, the EU stressed that urgent and constructive cooperation by the Russian Federation is crucial, in a statement issued on Wednesday (18 July).The presidency declaration is being viewed as an important signal of support for the UK, in a row that Moscow has tried to keep exclusively between itself and London.

It also comes despite Portugal earlier indicating that it does not want to increase tensions with Russia during its term at the EU helm, running until the end of the year. Earlier this week, Alexander Grushko, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, was reported in British media as saying: We hope that common sense will prevail and its members will not yield to more attempts to turn relations between Russia and the EU into an instrument for one-sided political goals that have nothing to do with the real interests of co-operation.But Portugal insisted the matter raises important questions of common interest to EU Member States and called for its satisfactory solution. The issue is expected to be raised next Monday (23 July) when EU foreign ministers gather in Brussels.

The diplomatic row has so far resulted in Britain expelling four Russian embassy staff in reaction to Moscow's reluctance to extradite Mr Lugovoi.Russia argues that it is against the country's constitution to hand over its citizens for trials in other countries. The UK counters that an international accord signed by Moscow, paves the way for the hand-over.The case is sensitive due to a statement by Mr Litvinenko, unveiled a day after his death, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of involvement in his poisoning. The Kremlin strongly rejects any involvement in the murder.

New Ethiopian Synagogue in Jerusalem & Other Local Jewish News
by Hillel Fendel(JULY 20,07 INN)

A first-ever Ethiopian synagogue has been dedicated in Jerusalem, a missionary center was closed down in Kiryat Yam, and a synagogue dispute in Haifa will be mediated by MKs - three news items of local Jewish interest culled from HaTzofeh newspaper.

Missionary Center X-ed

In Kiryat Yam, the Yad L'Achim anti-missionary organization has succeeded, after a long struggle, in closing down a Jehova's Witnesses missionary center. Yad L'Achim had marked the Kiryat Yam office building as one of four main Jehova's Witnesses centers in the country, learning that the cult held twice-weekly lectures there for dozens of people. Pressure by Yad L'Achim and other tenants in the building finally became unbearable, and the missionary center closed down.

First Ethiopian Synagogue

Earlier this month, in the northern Jerusalem neighborhood of N'vei Yaakov, the capitals' first Ethiopian synagogue was dedicated, in the presence of Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupoliansky. The New Jerusalem Foundation and members of the Ohel Nechama synagogue helped pay for the synagogue.

The synagogue, which will serve more than 170 families of Ethiopian extraction in N'vei Yaakov, is located in a previously unused section of the Bernadette public-religious school. The dedication ceremony included an emotional afternoon prayer service, replete with the customs of the Ethiopian liturgy.

The new synagogue will improve the image of the Ethiopian immigrants, it was said at the ceremony, and will alleviate the sense of frustration, neglect and estrangement, replacing it with feelings of pride and unity of a vital community integrating with the city and its many groups.

MKs Gafni and Beilin

In Haifa, a squabble over a synagogue between two Jewish groups has led to a Knesset committee debate and mediation by two Knesset Members: Yossi Beilin of the far-left and very secular Meretz party, and Moshe Gafni of the hareidi United Torah Judaism party.

Beilin came from the side of the neighborhood residents, who claimed that Breslover Hassidim had taken over a neighborhood synagogue and turned it into a yeshiva. Gafni and the Breslovers, on the other hand, said they were asked to help bolster synagogue attendance following the death of the local rabbi and a resulting drop in general attendance.

MKs Beilin and Gafni met on Tuesday, and plan to visit the site within the coming days.

MIDDLE EAST QUARTET SUPPORTS US PRESIDENT’S CALL FOR INTERNATIONAL MEETING
New York, Jul 19 2007 7:00PM

The diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East – comprising the United Nations, European Union, Russian Federation and the United States – today supported US President Bush’s call for an international meeting in the fall. The Quartet’s backing came in a
communiqué released following a meeting in Lisbon that was attended by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice,Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, High Representative for European Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner.They were joined by Quartet Representative Tony Blair.

The Quartet welcomed President Bush’s July 16 statement renewing US commitment to a negotiated two-State solution, and supported President Bush’s call for an international meeting in the fall, stated the communiqué. The Quartet agreed that such a meeting should provide diplomatic support for the parties in their bilateral discussions and negotiations in order to move forward on a successful path to a Palestinian State. The Quartet welcomed Mr. Blair’s agreement to be its Representative and discussed with him “the urgent work that lies ahead, according to the communiqué.

Noting the centrality of reform, economic development, and institutional capacity building to the establishment of a stable and prosperous Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza that will unite all Palestinians, and live in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours, the Quartet urged the parties and all states in the region to work closely with Mr. Blair, and encouraged robust international support for his efforts. The Quartet expressed support for the Palestinian Authority Government headed by Salam Fayyad, which is committed to the political platform of
President Abbas. It also encouraged direct and rapid financial assistance and other aid to the Palestinian Authority government to help reform, preserve, and strengthen vital Palestinian institutions and infrastructure, and to support the rule of law.

The Quartet welcomed the resumption of bilateral talks between Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas, and expressed support for steps taken by the Israeli Government, including the resumption of tax and customs revenue transfers and the decision to release Palestinian prisoners. The communiqué also encouraged continued bilateral dialogue and further cooperation and urged both parties to work without delay to fulfil their previous commitments and to build confidence. Recognizing the continuing importance of the Arab Peace Initiative, the Quartet looked forward to the planned visit to Israel by representatives of the Arab League to discuss the Initiative. The Quartet emphasized the need to find ways to sustain Palestinian
economic activity and the importance of creating circumstances that would allow for full implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Access,particularly in view of the impact of crossings on the Palestinian economy and daily life, the communiqué said, encouraging parties to address their obligations under the Roadmap – an outline plan envisaging a two-State solution – including an end to settlement expansion and the removal of unauthorized outposts, and an end to violence and terror.

The Quartet expressed its deep concern over the humanitarian conditions in Gaza and agreed on the importance of continued emergency and humanitarian assistance. The communiqué also reaffirmed the Quartet’s its commitment to bring about an end to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and to work to lay the foundation for the establishment of an independent, democratic and viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security, as a step towards a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East, consistent with the Roadmap and UN Security Council
resolutions.The next meeting of the Quartet will take place in September, the
communiqué says, noting that members will continue to consult regularly on
developments in the meantime.

Blair takes up role as peace envoy - THE HERALD
CATHERINE MacLEOD, Political Editor July 20 2007

Tony Blair was anointed as Middle East envoy in Lisbon yesterday only hours after the polls opened to elect his successor in the Sedgefield constituency.The former prime minister met representatives of the Mideast Quartet - the US, United Nations, the European Union and Russia - aware that the scale of the task facing him cannot be overestimated.The first visit he will make in his new role will be to meet Shimon Peres, the Israeli President, on Tuesday but no details of the talks have been released. He will also visit Ramallah next week before returning for at least a week per month from September. He is expected to stay in Government House, once the home of the old British Mandate, and now a base for the UN.While Mr Blair will try hard to avoid a confrontation with Israel, he is expected to risk their wrath by talking to Hamas at some point. Israel has already said it would not talk to international figures engaging with Hamas but there are several figures in Europe, including David Miliband, the UK's Foreign Secretary, who believe the present policy needs to be revisited. Mr Miliband, amongst others, is thought to wonder if it is at all sensible to maintain a policy that to date has obviously failed.

The talks in Portugal, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, will bring together UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Mr Solana said the primary task for the Quartet was to help build up Palestinian institutions.Speaking to the BBC, he said: What is very important is to have the Palestinians better organised, the structure of the Palestinian Authority today, a state tomorrow.Raji Sourani, director of the Palestinian Human Rights Centre in Gaza, said the focus should be on basic requirements before talking about institution building.There are what we call basic needs: the right to food; the right to life; the right to freedom of movement; the right to communicate with the other side of our nation,he said.

A priority for Mr Blair will be trying to improve movement and access which is diplomatic speak for dismantling some of the checkpoints and roadblocks which the World Bank has blamed for the collapse in the West Bank's economy.In another development yesterday Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Egypt's Foreign Minister, said that a Mideast peace conference called for by US President George W Bush will likely be held in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.
Mr Gheit said that ahead of the conference, Ms Rice will discuss its agenda with Arab foreign ministers on July 31 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort town of Sharm el Sheik.Contacts that took place between the Egyptians and Americans indicate that this (Mideast peace) conference will be held in September on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly but not necessarily in New York.Egypt's vision is that the meeting should handle a wide number of issues, including launching the peace process in active negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian parties, he added.

THE USA WILL BE MOURNING BIGTIME IF THEY INSIST ON FORCING ISRAEL INTO THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM LIKE THE USA IS DOING NOW.

This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
July 19, 2007

Dear Friend of The Fellowship,

The Jewish fast of Tisha B’Av, which falls on the ninth day of the month of Av on the Jewish calendar, begins at sundown on Monday, July 23. On this day throughout history, many catastrophes have befallen the Jewish people, with the worst of these the destruction in the years 586 B.C.E. and 70 C.E., respectively, of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem – the holiest places in all Judaism – and the exile of the Jewish people from Israel.

Tisha B’Av is a day of solemnity and mourning, the culmination of a period of mourning known as The Three Weeks that began on the 19 th of the Jewish month of Tammuz (which this year fell on July 2). It is a day when Jews are to deny themselves ordinary pleasures and indulgences, especially eating and drinking. In fact, the events remembered on this day are so grave that Tisha B’Av is one of only two full fast days on the Jewish calendar (Yom Kippur is the other). Thus, Jews abstain from food and drink – even water – from sunset until darkness the following day.

Other customs on this day are geared toward promoting the avoidance of enjoyment. There is to be no washing, bathing or wearing cosmetics. We are to avoid wearing leather shoes, and are told to sit on low chairs to minimize our comfort. Even Torah study, which is considered to be a joyful activity, is restricted to passages describing the laws of mourning, the destruction of the Temple, and other tragic events.

There are those who say that the best thing to do would be to forget the suffering and move on. But, in fact, Jews are exhorted by the Bible itself not to forget. If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you (Psalm 137:5-6). And so we continue to commemorate past tragedies, not wallow in our grief, but to strengthen our memory of history, in order to ensure that such things may never happen again. And, perhaps, our remembering will help us realize that our survival of these many trials is indeed a miracle, a gift from God.

On this solemn day, Jews will remember those who have died defending the Jewish people and the Jewish State, and those whose lives were cruelly taken away through terrorism. We will remember that Israel is never completely free of the threat of war and destruction, as the world saw last year during the Second Lebanon War. We will remember and pray for the return of the three Israeli soldiers captured last year and still held by terrorists.

And yet, all the while, we will resist succumbing to despair, because we remember that the Bible tells us The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid … The Lord is with me; He is my helper (Psalm 118: 5-6). We will continue to do our work to support Israel and strengthen her people, and to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.

As we approach Tisha B’Av, I hope you will join me in a show of solidarity with Israel and her people by recommitting yourself to pray for Israel’s peace and security. My deepest thanks for your faithful support – may God bless you, even as you have blessed His people, Israel.

With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIANS AND JEWS.

Mideast expert says Israel a strategic asset, not a liability
Jim Brown - OneNewsNow.com - July 19, 2007

Who's fault is it? Israel's or the U.S.? Neither, according to a leading Middle East expert. Robert Satloff, executive director of the Washington Institute, a Mideast think tank, is bound and determined to expose the root cause for the Islamic terrorist threat facing both nations.In an effort to achieve his objective, Satloff asks some important questions: Is the problem with our values, or with theirs? With our culture, or with theirs? With our way of life that we need to change, amend, accommodate, appease -- or with theirs? Satloff believes that to be successful in the war against terror, the U.S. must first defeat the mindset that it brought this war upon itself through the American way of life and through its alliance with Israel. This mindset, which Satloff calls a lie [and] a canard, is being fueled by a forthcoming book by professors Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, and by the latest anti-Israel book written by former President Jimmy Carter.

Speaking at the Christians United for Israel summit in Washington, DC, Satloff argued that too many people in the halls of power in Washington secretly take seriously the arguments put forth by Carter, Walt, and Mearshimer. It is a mindset, he says, that has infected too many of the foreign policy elite in Washington who view Israel as a liability. Be armed, be warned, be prepared to make the argument in the other way -- that Israel a powerful strategic asset to the United States, he told his audience. The real enemy, he said, are the Muslims who want to impose Sharia law through the gun and the ballot box.In his address, Satloff remarked that the U.S. and Israel actually share common moral values and common strategic interests as well as adversaries. He argued that the U.S. and Israel need to partner with what he calls anti-Islamist Middle East allies in the war on terror.American Family News Network.

World Bank's Zoellick backs WTO proposals to spur trade talks
JULY 20,07

WASHINGTON (AFP) - World Bank president Robert Zoellick backed Friday fresh proposals to drive the deadlocked round of World Trade Organization negotiations to a conclusion this year. A major final push will be needed to close the gaps but, with the right spirit, there is now a deal on the table to be seized, said Zoellick, a former chief US trade negotiator.Negotiators at the WTO issued Tuesday proposals on agricultural and industrial trade to revive the Doha Development Round, dedicated to reducing global trade barriers and encouraging development.

Under the proposals, the US would cut farm subsidies to below 16.2 billion dollars a year, compared with a current ceiling of 19 billion dollars, and 27 developing nations would reduce industrial import tariffs to less than 23 percent.The proposals came one month after the failure of a meeting between representatives of the United States, the European Union, Brazil and India to unblock the Doha Round, which was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001.Representatives of the WTO's 150 members are due to meet in negotiating groups next week in Geneva, Switzerland, to give their initial reactions to the proposals.

I CAN NOT BELIEVE AMERICA IS FORCING ISRAEL TO GIVE THE ARABS PRISONERS THAT TRYED TO KILL ISRAELIS. AND STILL I CAN NOT BELIEVE OLMERT AND THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT IS ALLOWING ISRAEL TO LET THESE ATTEMPTED MURDERS TO BE FREED TO KILL ISRAELIS AGAIN. THE WORLD IS RIPE FOR THE EU DICTATOR TO COME ON THE SCENE ANYTIME NOW AS THE WORLD IS GONE TO ASH AND GOD WILL NOT ALLOW THE US AND WORLD TO DESTROY ISRAEL LIKE THE WORLD IS DOING FOR VERY LONG. THE TRIBULATION 7 YEAR PERIOD IS AT THE DOOR WORLD GET READY.

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.
13 Then God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.

I BELIEVE HABAKKUK IS SPEAKING OF MUSLIMS IN THESE VERSES. BECAUSE IN 1:9 IN HEBREW THE WORD HAMAS IS RIGHT IN THEIR BIBLE TO THE WORD VIOLENCE. AND IN HEBREW IN GENESIS 6:11 THE WORD FOR VIOLENCE IS YOU GUESSED IT HAMAS.

HABAKKUK 1:2-17,2:1-4
2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
3 Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.
4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth.
5 Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which ye will not believe, though it be told you.
6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwellingplaces that are not their's.
7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.
9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
14 And makest men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?
15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.
16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their meat plenteous.
17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?
1 I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2 And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
4 Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.

Israel frees more than 250 Palestinian prisoners by Nasser Abu Bakr
Fri Jul 20, 10:28 AM ET

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Israel on Friday freed more than 250 Palestinian prisoners, who flashed victory signs to a West Bank heroes' welcome, in a move promoted to bolster moderate president Mahmud Abbas. In the biggest such release in two years, Israeli prison officials drove the 255 prisoners to the Beitunya checkpoint where they were handed over to the Palestinian Authority and bused to the West Bank capital Ramallah.I thank God that we are honoured by the return of heroes of freedom to their home and the bosom of their homeland, Abbas told the thousands who thronged the courtyard of his leadership compound to welcome the prisoners.We must continue to work for the return of all Palestinian prisoners, he added, of the nearly 11,000 Palestinians who remain in Israeli custody, in one of the thorniest issues separating the two sides.

I only have three words to say: freedom, freedom, freedom. There is nothing more beautiful than freedom, said Abdelrahim Malluh, deputy leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the most prominent to be freed.Including six women and 11 minors, Friday's release comes three weeks after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert promised, at a Middle East summit in Egypt, to release 250 prisoners as part of efforts to bolster Abbas against Hamas.It was Israel's biggest single release of Palestinian prisoners since 2005, when 900 were freed in two batches following an earlier Middle East summit.Sporting fresh haircuts and grinning from ear to ear, the prisoners craned their necks to lean out of buses waving flags and keffiyehs, flashing victory signs and kissing loved ones, en route to the festivities in Ramallah.After being welcomed individually as heroes by Abbas, they went in homage to the grave of the late historic leader Yasser Arafat and took part in a special, collective Friday Muslim prayers under a tent.

The prisoner who served the longest sentence is Muhannad Jaradat, detained in 1989 and sentenced to 20 years. His sentence was due to end in 2009.Today I'm reborn. Unfortunately my father, who I dreamt of seeing again, died while I was in prison, the 40-year-old told AFP.Now my priority is to enroll at university to continue my studies and continue efforts to release the other prisoners, he said.Israel agreed to the releases as part of a series of goodwill gestures designed to bolster Abbas in his struggle for power with the Islamist Hamas, following the group's bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip last month.The prisoners largely belong to Abbas's pragmatic Fatah party that has been locked in a power struggle, and at times deadly combat, with Hamas and since losing a general election to the Islamist movement in 2006.While welcoming the release, the Palestinians have said that freeing 250 prisoners out of the more than 11,000 held in Israeli jails, the majority of them on security charges, was not enough.

None of those bused to freedom on Friday have blood on their hands, meaning involvement in attacks that have killed Israelis, and all had to sign a commitment not to be involved in terror prior to their release.Wearing traditional dress, Halima Jomhur, 60, was waiting for her son Imad who served four years of a six-and-a-half year sentence in Israel.He was arrested 10 days before his wedding. His fiancee is still waiting for him and the first thing we're going to do is marry them, she said. This is a huge joy but it will only be complete when all our prisoners are released, she said, from the village of Beit Annan in the Ramallah area.

Israel has recently pledged to remove from wanted lists nearly 190 militants who promised not to carry out attacks, and released some Palestinian customs duties it has withheld for more than a year after Hamas came to power. But Ismail Haniya, prime minister of the Hamas-led government that Abbas sacked last month, expressed scepticism about Israel's real intentions. We are happy when Palestinian prisoners are released but we warn against using them as political bribery because Israel's so-called good intentions are a trap intended to undermine Palestinian unity, he told worshippers in Gaza. Since Hamas routed forces loyal to Abbas in Gaza on June 15 in ferocious street battles, the Palestinians have been split into two entities, with the moderate president controlling the West Bank and Hamas ruling over Gaza.