POPES NEW YEARS GREETINGS

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.

Earthquake causes serious drinking water problem in Greece
8 January 2008 FOCUS News Agency

Athens. A strong earthquake, which rocked Greece on Sunday, has caused a serious problem with the drinking water in the country, the Greek radiostation Skai reports. The earthquake was registered at 7.14 local time in the region of the Peloponisos peninsula and was felt in the whole country, even in Italy. Since its depth was 60-70 km, there were no casualties, nor devastation. But now there are problems with the drinking water in the region of Leonidio. The waters of the Lerna River are murky and this river feeds several towns and villages with drinking water. Meanwhile the water in Leonidio has turned red since fresh water has mixed with soil.

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.

Cold snap kills eight in Iran by Hiedeh Farmani
Tue Jan 8, 7:46 AM ET

TEHRAN (AFP) - At least eight people froze to death in the heaviest snowfalls to have hit Iran in years, with several areas brought to a virtual standstill and 20 towns suffering cuts in gas supplies, officials said on Tuesday. The snowfalls, said to be the worst in some 40 years, have forced all schools and government offices to close in Tehran and other regions in northern Iran over the last two days. They will remain shut on Wednesday.The eight fatalities were stuck on the roads and died of cold and freezing, the head of Iran's natural disasters control centre, Hossein Bagheri, told the ISNA news agency.

He added that 20 more people were killed in road accidents attributed to the bad weather, with 290 people injured and 40,000 stranded on the first night of heavy snow on Saturday.Air travel also continued to suffer major disruption, with several flights cancelled from Iran's Imam Khomeini International Airport and hundreds of passengers stranded, the official IRNA news agency reported.Among the victims of the delays was Germany's Hansa Rostock football team, which has been stuck in Iran for the past three days after defeating the Iranian national side in a friendly game on Saturday.The lowest temperature overnight was minus 24 degrees Celsius (minus 11 Fahrenheit) in Shahre Kord in Western Iran, while the capital Tehran registered minus seven degrees Celsius (19 degrees Fahrenheit), the television said.The government announced that state offices and schools would be closed on Wednesday and probably Thursday. According to the IRNA, this decision was taken due to the drop in temperatures and gas pressure.

Around 20 towns in northern and western Iran have been hit by gas cuts during the cold spell amid a surge in demand and also an unexpected cut in imports from Turkmenistan, officials said.The authorities have urged people to cut their notoriously profligate consumption and completely halted gas exports to Turkey, the only significant importer of Iranian gas, for the second time in two years.Iran, owner of the second largest gas reserves in the world after Russia, has major hopes for its nascent gas export industry but progress is being stymied by a lack on foreign investment in gas fields.Tehran and several other cities in the north and centre of Iran lie at altitudes of more than 1,000 metres (3,300 feet) above sea level and are regularly hit by heavy falls of snow in winter.Meanwhile, the dunes of the Kavir-e Lut desert in southwestern Iran were covered in a dusting of snow for the first time in living memory, IRNA reported.The villages elders said they had never seen or heard about snow in those areas, it said.

As Bush flies to Israel, 'rogue' tornadoes rip Midwest USBy Stan Goodenough January 08, 2008

At least two people were killed Monday night when an army of tornadoes tore across the Midwest United States, just hours before President George W. Bush departed for the Middle East where he plans to put his hand to dividing up the Land of Israel.As many as 37 rogue tornadoes - as Fox News described them - fueled by moist air from the south, tore homes from their foundations and knocked railroad cars of their tracks as it rampaged across southwest Missouri, southeastern Wisconsin, Arkansas, Illinois and Oklahoma.
The Associated Press described the storms as a freak cluster of tornados.A sheriff in Wisconsin's Kenosha County, where 11 houses were destroyed, told the news agency he had never seen damage like this in the summertime when we have potential for tornadoes.

To see something like this in January is mind-boggling to me. This is just unimaginable to me.Weathermen said record warm temperatures were being experienced across much of the United States, and forecast more wild weather to come as a result.Many pro-Israel Christians believe that God has and will use natural disasters to judge America (and other nations) for trying to steal Israel's land for the creation of a 23rd Arab state called Palestine.The Palestinian Arabs have never in history comprised a nation or had a national home of their own.

OUT of ZION Ministries
A Messianic Ministry Based on Mt Carmel
Address: Apt # 2, 9 Sachlav St, Ramat Almogi,Haifa 34792,ISRAEL. Tel: 972 4 8245590 Email: kiwi@netvision.net.il Website: www.out-of-zion.com

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Special Mid-Week Comment: Could This Be Why President Bush is Intent on Destroying Israel ?

Because we dont want to overload your inbox we only send out more than 1 weekly report when it is deemed to be important enough to do so. This is one of those weeks. After I sent last Friday's Carmel Alert, I received an email that may well be the key to the reason why George Bush is so intent on dividing God's Land and giving large parts of it, including parts of Jerusalem to the so called Palestinians. This information is very radical and must be seen through the eyes of the Spirit. I have done my best to verify that the information is correct. I have not yet read the book where this information comes from, but I have ordered it, but it will not arrive in time to get this message out before President Bush arrives in Israel on Wednesday. It is important that we all understand what I am about to share so that we can all pray with understanding and with the Holy Spirit. Father I pray that you will help our brothers and sisters who love Your land and Your people to receive and understand what is really behind the current US pressure on Israel to divide Your land and give it to people that You did not promise it to - In the Name above all Names - Yeshua our Saviour and King ....... Amen

As we should all realise, the real roots of the Arab / Israeli conflict are not political but spiritual. At the heart of the conflict is the age old battle between YHVH and Lucifer over whose kingdom will be established forever on Mt Zion ( Mt Moriah ) in Jerusalem. Therefore, if the roots are spiritual we need to see the events connected to that battle through the eyes of the Spirit.

The Devil knows that it is imperative he aborts the prophetic promises of Israel's full and total restoration - restoration of all the Land.Restoration of ALL the Jewish people to the Land, and the restoration of the Jewish people to a blood covenanted intimate relationship with YHVH through the death and resurrection of His Son Yeshua. All of these dynamics have been in the process of fulfillment since the first Zionist Congress in 1897, and indeed have been greatly accelerating since 1967. And the Devil is frantic to stop it.

Over the last 100 years the Arab countries that surround the tiny Israel have done all they could to destroy the Jewish state. Sixty years ago Adolf Hilter attempted to annihilate all the Jews of Europe and beyond. Hitler was a very close to the then Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, who was also the great uncle of Yassar Arafat. There is the first spiritual connection

Every recent US president has in some way or other, stuck his nose into God's business in the Middle East. But none as seriously as the current President George Bush. It seems that president Bush is totally blinded to God's covenant promises to Abraham and the Jewish people. These promises also apply to every Born Again Christian who, according to the Apostle Paul, becomes a fellow heir to all that has been promised to the natural seed of Abraham. What concerns and affects Israel also concerns and affects all Christians.

Until now I could not understand why George Bush is behaving in this way. Why he seems to be doing everything he can to placate the Muslims and destroy the Zionist dream, or at least severely hinder the promises of Israel's restoration. The answer may well be in the following article that I received late Friday afternoon ............

George Bush: Heir to the Holocaust ?
According to classified documents from Dutch intelligence and US government archives, President George W. Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush made considerable profits off Auschwitz slave labor. In fact, President Bush himself is an heir to these profits from the holocaust which were placed in a blind trust in 1980 by his father, former president George Herbert Walker Bush.

Throughout the Bush family's decades of public life, the American press has gone out of its way to overlook one historical fact that through Union Banking Corporation (UBC), Prescott Bush, and his father-in-law, George Herbert Walker, along with German industrialist Fritz Thyssen, financed Adolf Hitler before and during World War II. It was first reported in 1994 by John Loftus and Mark Aarons in The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People.

Just as the same spirit flowed down through the Grand Mufti to his great nephew Arafat, the same spirit that was behind Prescott Bush's association with Hilter and the Nazis, may have flowed down through the Bush family to the current President. Added to that is
the Bush family association with 33 degree Freemasonry, the Skull and Bones Club and the Order. President Bush's father is also connected to the CFR, the Club of Rome and other New World Order groups. This may sound like just another conspiracy theory, but these are all facts and if we look through the eyes of the Spirit, indicate that something devious and evil is going on.

Here is some information about the book and the author that I believe give the above claims credibility, at least enough credibility to investigate further ............ you can order the book from www.Amazon.com - it looks very interesting.

Secret War Agianst the Jews: How Western Europe Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People by John Loftus, Mark Aarons St. Martin's Press; copyright 1994; ISBN 0-312-11057X.)

About this title: A hugely controversial work, The Secret War Against the Jews uses thousands of previously top-secret documents and interviews with hundreds of current and former spies to present a compelling narrative claiming that many Western countries--who profess to be allies--have willfully spied on Israel over many decades in order to obtain oil from Arab countries.

About the author: As a former Justice Department prosecutor, John Loftus once held some of the highest security clearances in the world, with special access to NATO Cosmic, CIA codeword, and Top Secret Nuclear files. As a private attorney, he works without charge to help hundreds of intelligence agents obtain lawful permission to declassify and publish the hidden secrets of our times. He is the author of four history books, three of which have been made into films, two were international best sellers, and one was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.

for more information on The Political Heritage of George W. Bush go to http://spitfirelist.com/f248.html

How to Pray in Light of the Above I believe that there is a good possibility that President Bush has no idea of what he is actually involved in or how he is being controlled by external spiritual forces not of God. In just a few hours he will arrive in Israel for his first ever visit, to further the plans he concocted at the December Annapolis Peace Summit, requiring Israel to give away most of Judea and Samaria, and giving over large parts of East Jerusalem to be the capital of a Palestinian State. Millions of Bible believing Jews and Christians oppose this un-Biblical division of God's Land in exchange for an impossible promise of peaceful co-existence.

Lets join these millions and pray that while President Bush is in the Holy Land that he will have a radical Holy Spirit revelation of the truth of the Bible and the relevance of the prophecies to the return of Yeshua and the Kingdom of God. Lets pray that he will see and be deeply impacted by the signs that have been placed around Jerusalem emploring him to read his Bible ans see that God gave all of the disputed land to the Jews. Lets pray that he will be baptised in the Holy Spirit when he visits the synogogue in Capernium on Thursday or Friday.

If what I have shared above it true, then before we pray for President Bush we need to take authority over and bind the spirit that is controlling him and causing him to oppose the God he says he believes in ..........

Pray with us right now .......... Heavenly Father. Mighty God, Holy One of Israel, we thank you for the authority You have invested in us and we take up that authority, and in the name of Yeshua we bind any and every spirit not of You that is causing President George W Bush to pressurise Israel to give away Land that You promised to Abraham and his descendants as an everlasting inheritance. We bind any spirit that has come down the Bush family line from Prescott Bush and George Herbert Walker that is causing President Bush to endanger the existence of Israel and the lives of many Jewish people. Father we ask you to set President Bush free while he is in your Holy Land and that he would be open to receive revelation from your Holy Spirit concerning the importance of the land covenant with Abraham. Holy Spirit we ask you to fall upon President Bush as he enters the synagogue in Capernium where Yeshua once read from the Torah scroll. Abba we make these requests in the all powerful Name of Yeshua Ha Mashiach - AMEN & AMEN.

From Mike Evans - the Jerusalem Prayer Team
Because of the marvelous response of over 100,000 appealing to President Bush to not divide Jerusalem, Rabbis in Jerusalem have appealed that the Jerusalem Prayer Team would not stop this campaign but would continue it until a million lovers of Jerusalem signed the Petition to President Bush.

It may take several months to reach the One Million but we already have 100,000 signatures. If each person just gets ten friends to sign the petition, we will have the One Million. Vote your opinion now.

If you have the time and want to know more then read on ...............

THE SECRET WAR AGAINST THE JEWS: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People .This monumental book (658 pages) which exposes many of the dark secrets of the CIA, British Intelligence (M16), and the US State Department. Here are just a few samples of the startling revelations:

1. In order to entice Sadat to sign a treaty with Israel at Camp David, the CIA provided Egypt with satellite photos, intercepts, the location of Israel's nuclear force, and virtually every Israeli military secret. Carter had no knowledge that his Camp David Accords were supplemented by intelligence given to Egypt that betrayed Israel.
2. To evade the laws requiring proper authorization for wire taps, the CIA and M16 would bug each others targets and regularly exchange information. A favorite target of the CIA were politically active American supporters of Israel. Files were even kept on every Jewish child attending summer camp in Israel.
3. In order to spy on Arab terrorists, M16 infiltrated many organization and even took a leading role in planning and training terrorists for attacks on Israel. Although they had advance notice of a planned attack on a Pan Am or El Al plane in Rome in 1973, they forgot to mention it to the Mossad, with whom they were supposed to share intelligence.
4. The CIA set up a special Jew room in 1945-6 devoted to spying on Israel and Jewish Americans. No Jew was allowed to work there. The US Navy banned Jews from serving in their surveillance ships.
5. In 1967 Israel notified America of its planned attack. The Americans promptly tried to warn the Egypt and Syria. As the battles progressed the Americans did everything possible to spy on Israel and provide that information to Israel's enemies. The USS Liberty, a CIA surveillance ship, sailed close to the southern Israeli shore and close to northern Sinai, and began monitoring the battles there. The gathered information was sent to a British listening post in Cyprus, complete with precise electronic maps of the holes in Israeli lines. It was then relayed to the Egyptian, Syrian, and Jordanian military. Fortunately the short duration of the war prevented the Arabs from utilizing the intelligence. The fact of American perfidy remains.

David & Josie Silver
Out of Zion Ministeries
www.out-of-zion.com

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * *
PRESIDENT BUSH HEADS TO THE EPICENTER
By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., January 8, 2007) -- Politically, Americans are focused today on the New Hampshire primaries. But geopolitically, the eyes of the nations are fixed on Israel and her neighbors, the epicenter of the momentous events that are shaking our world and shaping our future.

President Bush leaves today for Israel and the West Bank where he will spend two days meeting with Prime Minister Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas. He will then fly to Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt for meetings with President Hosni Mubarak. From there, he heads to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. I suspect he will also make an unannounced visit to Baghdad.

The trip comes at an important time for the Bush administration. On the positive side, violence in Iraq has plummeted dramatically in the wake of the U.S. military surge. Violence in Israel is at a seven-year low. Lebanon has not imploded, as has been feared for much of the past year. Syria has not retaliated against Israel for the fall airstrike that took out a North Korean nuclear facility under construction. Severe internal divisions are surfacing within Iran's government, and there are fresh reports that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may be losing favor with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

That said, the big question is: What will 2008 hold?

The recently-released National Intelligence Estimate on Iran notwithstanding, top Israeli officials I have spoken with are convinced Iran most certainly is pursuing a nuclear weapons program, and could have a workable device by 2010. President Bush is saying publicly that he is convinced Iran remains a serious threat to U.S. and allied interests in the Middle East, and that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to another Holocaust.

If I were an Israeli, I would take the words of the Iranian president seriously, and as President of the United States I take them seriously, Bush said yesterday during an interview on Israeli army radio. He also vowed to defend Israel if Iran were to attack the Jewish state.

In one of the most dangeorus provocations by the Iranian regime of late, five armed Iranian speedboats approached three United States Navy warships in international waters in the strategic Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, then maneuvered aggressively as radio threats were issued that the American ships would be blown up, reported the New York Times. The confrontation, which ended after just under 30 minutes without damage, shots fired or any injuries, took place during daylight on Sunday as the three American ships were entering the Persian Gulf....Defense Department and military officials said that as the Iranian boats neared the American vessels, a radio threat was issued that the American ships would explode. The verbal warnings broadcast over the internationally recognized bridge-to-bridge radio channel said, I am coming at you, and you will explode in a few minutes,; an American official said.

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has clearly chosen to ally himself with the radicals of the region, notably Iran, Syria and Sudan, and is selling these and other regimes billions of dollars worth of advanced weapons systems. And, of course, the 60th anniversary of Israel is coming May 14th, raising the possibility that Islamic jihadists and/or their state sponsors may be planning new attacks for this year.

Given that Psalm 122:6 instructs us to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, let us pray faithfully that President Bush's peace mission to the region is fruitful and effective. Let's pray that he is able to strengthen the resolve of the Reformers in the epicenter to become even more unified in fighting the Radicals. Let's pray that he is able to encourage the Israeli people who feel very much alone in a dangerous neighborhood right now. Let's pray that moderate forces within the Palestinian society feel strengthened to find a peaceful coexistence with the Israelis and have the courage to oppose the Hamas extremists. Let's pray for Christians in the region to be strong and courageous amidst intense persecution (seven churches and Christian sites were attacked in Iraq over the weekend) and to find practical ways to show the love of Jesus Christ to their neighbors and their enemies. Let's also pray for the President Bush's safety, as jihadists would love to make him the next Benazir Bhutto.

Protest in Downtown Jerusalem on Thursday JAN 8,07

(IsraelNN.com) Activists are planning a massive rally on Thursday in downtown Jerusalem to protest plans to split the city and create a Palestinian Authority state in Judea and Samaria. The protest rally will take place in Zion Square (Kikar Tzion) in downtown Jerusalem at 7:00 p.m. under the title Jerusalem’s Cry.

The rally will begin with the recitation of psalms, and will include speeches from public figures and security officials. Rabbi Dov Lior will attend the rally, and is expected to read a halakhic ruling saying that a government that plans to split Jerusalem and endanger the Jewish people is invalid.

DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).

GEORGE W SAID IN A PRESS CONFERENCE AT THE WHITE HOUSE HE WANTS TURKEY TO ENTER THE EU ALSO.

France open to further EU enlargement
08.01.2008 - 09:07 CET | By Honor Mahony

France has indicated that it is ready to support further enlargement of the European Union, with a series of countries from the Western Balkans lining up to the join the 27-nation bloc. French Europe minister Jean-Pierre Jouyet told the Financial Times newspaper that the French government had changed its attitude to enlargement and to Europe more generally since French voters rejected the EU constitution in mid 2005.We used to believe that a federal Europe was necessary for a more deeply integrated union and that enlargement would counter this and prevent Europe from working effectively. We have now overcome this contradiction, the minister said.The thing that has most struck me since I took up this job seven months ago is precisely the capacity of an EU of 27 members, and more one day, to take decisions.Mr Jouyet also indicated that Paris would back the integration of the Balkans countries into the EU.He told the FT that in France we have not done enough to make the case for enlargement.

The words are likely to be seen as a strongly positive signal to Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia, which have been promised eventual EU membership.In recent years, the western Balkans region has been feeling the effect of a downturn in enthusiasm for enlargement among some governments after the 2004 big bang enlargement took on 10 new countries.Mr Jouyet's words are especially important as France will take over the EU presidency in the second half of 2008.But France's new fondness for enlargement does not extend to Turkey. President Nicolas Sarkozy remains firmly opposed to Turkish membership of the EU, having previously remarked that the country does not belong in Europe.The statements by the Europe minister are in line with a recent proposal to reform the French constitution.Under the draft bill, submitted last month, French approval of new EU member states could be done either by popular vote or by the French Congress - comprising the country's national assembly and the senate. The new bill has dropped the proposal of the previous government under Jacques Chirac obliging a referendum on all new EU membership bids but maintains the right of the president to decide the method of ratification - by congress or by referendum.

Israeli,Palestinian teams meet ahead of Bush visit
By Adam Entous REUTERS 7:01 a.m. January 7, 2008

JERUSALEM – Top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, under U.S. pressure to start peace talks, met on Monday on a plan to begin tackling some of the thorniest issues after a month-long impasse over Jewish settlements. Both sides said they hoped to announce agreement on how they will conduct so-called final status negotiations – over borders, and the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees – before U.S. President George W. Bush visits Israel and the occupied West Bank starting on Wednesday. The talks in Jerusalem between Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie will be followed up on Tuesday when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet.

Olmert and Abbas, at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November, set the goal of trying to negotiate a statehood agreement before Bush leaves office in January 2009. But it is unclear how that can be accomplished with weakened leaders on all sides. Since Hamas Islamists seized control of the Gaza Strip in June, Abbas wields little authority beyond the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Olmert was weakened by the 2006 war in Lebanon and could face new calls to resign at the end of the month when a commission of inquiry issues its final report on Israel's deficiencies in the conflict with Hezbollah guerrillas. Speaking in the West Bank town of Bethlehem earlier on Monday, Abbas said he would ask Bush during his first presidential visit to the West Bank to halt Jewish settlement activity for the sake of peace. Bush has called settlement expansion on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood an impediment and said he would raise the issue with Olmert. Olmert last week ordered a de-facto halt to new Israeli projects in the West Bank, but has not called off plans to build hundreds of new homes in an area near Jerusalem known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim. Construction there has been the main source of disagreement with the Palestinians and has drawn fire from Washington.

Olmert has conditioned implementing any peace deal with the Palestinians on Abbas first proving his mettle against militants. While Abbas had made some progress on security, Israel said the Palestinians still had a way to go. Under the plan for negotiations under discussion on Monday, Olmert and Abbas would continue to meet about twice a month in order to make decisions on specific issues that come up during the negotiations, Israeli and Palestinian officials said. Livni and Qurie, backed by teams of experts, would conduct final-status negotiations, largely in secret. Working groups would also be assigned specific issues, such as water or economic cooperation, the officials said. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah and Dan Williams in Jerusalem; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

Netanyahu Warns Rockets to Hit Tel Aviv if Israel Withdraws to ‘67 Borders By Amihai Zippor

(IHC News, 07 January 2008) Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu spoke out against Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s plans for Israel to withdraw to the pre-1967 borders. Netanyahu warned, doing so would not leave Israel with defensible borders and the result would be rocket attacks on Israel’s major population centers. It is clear that if we leave Judea and Samaria, it is Hamas that we will find on the other side of those '67 borders and they are already in possession of those Katyusha rockets, Ynetnews.com quoted Netanyahu as saying on Thursday, 03 January 2008.Labeling Olmert and Barak’s policy as blind and amateurish, he said it has already brought the residents of the Galilee and Haifa under Katyusha fire and has brought Ashkelon – and next Ashdod – and eventually Tel Aviv – into the range of fire.Though as Prime Minister from 1996-1999 Netanyahu negotiated the Wye River Accord handing over most of Hebron to the PA and held secret talks with Syria regarding the return of the Golan Heights in exchange for peace, a condition for his diplomatic moves was reciprocity.Since Olmert came to power reciprocity was shelved as his government continued negotiations with the PA under fire.

That lack of policy has now become a guiding principle on the Syrian track as well. PM Olmert told The Jerusalem Post last week there are no preconditions to talks with Damascus.Previously Israel had demanded an end to Syrian support for Palestinians terrorist groups and Iran as a pre-condition before formal peace talks could be renewed. Meanwhile, another area where Netanyahu and Olmert differ drastically is the matter of Jerusalem. Netanyahu is against any concessions on Jerusalem and Olmert believes Israel can give over Arab neighborhoods of the capital to the PA, some just meters from Jewish neighborhoods. Last week the London-based Al Hayat newspaper claimed that during a meeting between Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II on Thursday, the division of Jerusalem was discussed. Source: Original text contributed by the author, IHC reporter.
Israel Hasbara Committee, 07 January 2008.

ASEAN a long way from EU-style integration: Lee Kuan Yew Mon Jan 7, 10:30 PM ET

SINGAPORE (AFP) - It will take 50 years or more for Southeast Asian nations to more closely resemble the European Union including the easing of border controls, according to Singapore's former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew. He said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was still a long way from being as closely integrated as the European Union, which in December admitted nine new countries into a no-passport zone.Well, I don't think they are comparable, Lee said late Monday on the day Singapore became the first ASEAN member to complete ratification of a landmark charter aimed at transforming the 10-member bloc.

To expect us to make this leap into a European Union will be 50, maybe more, years, he told a gathering on the 40th anniversary of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.Lee, who retains an influential position in the cabinet of his son Lee Hsien Loong, said ASEAN nations were very disparate with differing levels of economic and cultural development.I think we make progress slowly. As we rise and we converge towards a more common level there will still be differences but not so stark. Then we can make the moves to free up the borders, he said.The EU move means people will now be able to travel in 24 countries across Europe, from the Baltic Sea nation of Estonia to Portugal, without passport controls.

ASEAN's charter aims to commit the region's disparate nations to promote human rights and democratic ideals, and sets out the principles and rules for members.It also transforms ASEAN, formed in 1967, into a legal entity which will give the group greater clout in international negotiations.The ASEAN leaders are fast-tracking integration of their economies with the goal of creating a single market of more than half a billion people by 2015 to help battle competition from giants China and India.

EU President Slovenia Urges Caution On EU Treaty Ratification AFP

BRDO PRI KRANJU, Slovenia (AFP)--Slovenia urged its European Union partners Tuesday to carefully weigh how to ratify the E.U.'s new reform treaty, as Portugal considers holding a potentially perilous referendum.The treaty, signed in Lisbon last month, will streamline the way the 27-nation European bloc is run and replaces the failed constitution, which was torpedoed by referendums in France and the Netherlands in 2005.Europe is very much interconnected and we have to ask ourselves how events in one country influence events in another country where the situation may be somewhat different, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa told reporters.All those of us now making decisions about how we intend to undertake this very delicate stage of the project...have to bear the broader perspective in mind, not only the domestic issues but also pan-European issues, he said.

Of the E.U.'s member countries, only Ireland is constitutionally bound to hold a referendum. Most nations are expected to ratify the treaty through their parliaments although some, including Portugal, are yet to commit.However, Jansa, whose country took over from Portugal as the E.U. president nation last week, expressed optimism that the treaty would be adopted there even if it were put to the vote.Even if there were to be a referendum in Portugal, it would be a positive one, he saidat a press conference with European Commission Vice President Margot Wallstroem.E.U. leaders have committed to ratify the treaty before the next European Parliament elections in 2009 to ensure that the bloc's institutional woes don't undermine the vote. (END) Dow Jones Newswires 01-08-080846ET

I FIND THIS INTERESTING THAT JUAN CARLOS IS 70 YEARS OLD WHEN IN THE BIBLE THE WORLD AT THE TOWER OF BABEL, (1ST WORLD GOVERNMENT), GOD SCATTERED THE 70 NATIONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

Spain's King Juan Carlos will celebrate his 70th birthday with a formal dinner 2008-01-08 06:36:56

Spain's King Juan Carlos will celebrate his 70th birthday with a formal dinner tomorrow (09.01.08).The monarch - who quietly celebrated his actual birthday at his royal residence Zarzuela Palace, on the outskirts of Madrid, on Saturday (05.01.08) - will be guest of honour at the glitzy event, which has been organised by his family.Juan Carlos has spent 32 years as the Spanish Head of State and, despite rumours that he planned to abdicate when he reached 70, shows every sign of remaining in power.The famously outspoken monarch - who told Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez to Shut up during last November's Ibero-American summit in Chile - has been both highly praised and faced heavy criticism during his reign.Last year, the king was forced to defend the royal family following a wave of protests against the monarchy and calls for his to abdicate.

In September, hundreds of left-wing demonstrators took to the streets in Catalonia to burn images of the king in defiance against Spain's rule of the autonomous area.Juan Carlos has two daughters, Elena and Cristina, and a son, Felipe, who is heir to the throne, with his wife Queen Sophia.

REVELATION 17:1-2
1 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(VATICAN IN POLITICS)

ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI
TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS ACCREDITED TO THE HOLY SEE
FOR THE TRADITIONAL EXCHANGE OF NEW YEAR GREETINGS
Monday, 7 January 2008

Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. I extend cordial greetings to your Dean, Ambassador Giovanni Galassi, and I thank him for the kind words that he has addressed to me in the name of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. To each of you I offer respectful greetings, particularly to those who are present at this meeting for the first time. Through you, I express my fervent prayers for the peoples and governments that you represent with such dignity and competence. Your community suffered a bereavement some weeks ago: the Ambassador of France, Monsieur Bernard Kessedjian, ended his earthly pilgrimage; may the Lord welcome him into his peace! My thoughts today go especially to the nations that have yet to establish diplomatic relations with the Holy See: they too have a place in the Pope’s heart. The Church is profoundly convinced that humanity is a family, as I wanted to emphasize in this year’s World Day of Peace Message.

2. It was in a family spirit that diplomatic relations were established last year with the United Arab Emirates. In the same spirit, I was also able to visit certain countries that I hold dear. The enthusiastic welcome that I received from the Brazilians continues to warm my heart! In that country, I had the joy of meeting the representatives of the great family of the Church in Latin America and the Caribbean, gathered at Aparecida for the Fifth General Conference of CELAM. In the economic and social sphere, I was able to note eloquent signs of hope for that continent, as well as certain reasons for concern. We all look forward to seeing increasing cooperation among the peoples of Latin America, and, within each of the countries that make up that continent, the resolution of internal conflicts, leading to a consensus on the great values inspired by the Gospel. I wish to mention Cuba, which is preparing to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the visit of my venerable Predecessor. Pope John Paul II was received with affection by the authorities and by the people, and he encouraged all Cubans to work together for a better future. I should like to reiterate this message of hope, which has lost none of its relevance.

3. My thoughts and prayers are directed especially towards the peoples affected by appalling natural disasters. I am thinking of the hurricanes and floods which have devastated certain regions of Mexico and Central America, as well as countries in Africa and Asia, especially Bangladesh, and parts of Oceania; mention must also be made of the great fires. The Cardinal Secretary of State, who went to Peru at the end of August, brought me a first-hand account of the destruction and havoc caused by the terrible earthquake, but he spoke also of the courage and faith of the peoples affected. In the face of tragic events of this kind, a strong joint effort is needed. As I wrote in my Encyclical on hope, the true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffering and to the sufferer. This holds true both for the individual and for society (Encyclical Letter Spe Salvi, 38).

4. The international community continues to be deeply concerned about the Middle East. I am glad that the Annapolis Conference pointed towards the abandonment of partisan or unilateral solutions, in favour of a global approach respectful of the rights and legitimate interests of all the peoples of the region. I appeal once more to the Israelis and the Palestinians to concentrate their energies on the implementation of commitments made on that occasion, and to expedite the process that has happily been restarted. Moreover, I invite the international community to give strong support to these two peoples and to understand their respective sufferings and fears. Who can remain unmoved by the plight of Lebanon, amid its trials and all the violence that continues to shake that beloved country? It is my earnest wish that the Lebanese people will be able to decide freely on their future and I ask the Lord to enlighten them, beginning with the leaders of public life, so that, putting aside particular interests, they will be ready to pledge themselves to the path of dialogue and reconciliation. Only in this way will the country be able to progress in stability and to become once more an example of the peaceful coexistence of different communities. In Iraq too, reconciliation is urgently needed! At present, terrorist attacks, threats and violence continue, especially against the Christian community, and the news which arrived yesterday confirms our concern; it is clear that certain difficult political issues remain unresolved. In this context, an appropriate constitutional reform will need to safeguard the rights of minorities. Important humanitarian aid is necessary for the peoples affected by the war; I am thinking especially of displaced persons within the country and refugees who have fled abroad, among whom there are many Christians. I invite the international community to be generous towards them and towards their host countries, whose capacities to absorb them have been sorely tested. I should also like to express my support for continued and uninterrupted pursuit of the path of diplomacy in order to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear programme, by negotiating in good faith, adopting measures designed to increase transparency and mutual trust, and always taking account of the authentic needs of peoples and the common good of the human family.

5. Turning our gaze now towards the whole of Asia, I should like to draw your attention to some other crisis situations, first of all to Pakistan, which has suffered from serious violence in recent months. I hope that all political and social forces will commit themselves to building a peaceful society, respectful of the rights of all. In Afghanistan, in addition to violence, there are other serious social problems, such as the production of drugs; greater support should be given to efforts for development, and even more intensive work is required in order to build a serene future. In Sri Lanka it is no longer possible to postpone further the decisive efforts needed to remedy the immense sufferings caused by the continuing conflict. And I ask the Lord to grant that in Myanmar, with the support of the international community, a season of dialogue between the Government and the opposition will begin, ensuring true respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

6. Turning now to Africa, I should like first of all to reiterate my deep anguish, on observing that hope seems almost vanquished by the menacing sequence of hunger and death that is unfolding in Darfur. With all my heart I pray that the joint operation of the United Nations and the African Union, whose mission has just begun, will bring aid and comfort to the suffering populations. The peace process in the Democratic Republic of Congo is encountering strong resistance in the vicinity of the Great Lakes, especially in the Eastern regions, while Somalia, particularly Mogadishu, continues to be afflicted by violence and poverty. I appeal to the parties in conflict to cease their military operations, to facilitate the movement of humanitarian aid and to respect civilians. In recent days Kenya has experienced an abrupt outbreak of violence. I join the Bishops in their appeal made on 2 January, inviting all the inhabitants, especially political leaders, to seek a peaceful solution through dialogue, based on justice and fraternity. The Catholic Church is not indifferent to the cries of pain that rise up from these regions. She makes her own the pleas for help made by refugees and displaced persons, and she pledges herself to foster reconciliation, justice and peace. This year, Ethiopia is marking the start of the third Christian millennium, and I am sure that the celebrations organized for this occasion will also help to recall the immense social and apostolic work carried out by Christians in Africa.

7. And finally, focussing upon Europe, I rejoice at the progress that has been made in various countries of the Balkan region, and I express once again the hope that the definitive status of Kosovo will take account of the legitimate claims of the parties involved and will guarantee security and respect for the rights of all the inhabitants of this land, so that the spectre of violence will be definitively removed and European stability strengthened. I should like also to mention Cyprus, recalling with joy the visit of His Beatitude Archbishop Chrysostomos II last June. It is my earnest wish that, in the context of the European Union, no effort will be spared in the search for a solution to a crisis that has already lasted too long. Last September, I made a visit to Austria, partly in order to underline the essential contribution that the Catholic Church is able and willing to give to European unification. On the subject of Europe, I would like to assure you that I am following attentively the new phase which began with the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon. This step gives a boost to the process of building the European home, which will be a good place to live for everyone only if it is built on a solid cultural and moral foundation of common values drawn from our history and our traditions (Meeting with the Authorities and the Diplomatic Corps, Vienna, 7 September 2007) and if it does not deny its Christian roots.

8. From this rapid overview it appears clearly that the security and stability of the world are still fragile. The factors of concern are varied, yet they all bear witness to the fact that human freedom is not absolute, but is a good that is shared, one for which all must assume responsibility. It follows that law and order are guarantees of freedom. Yet law can be an effective force for peace only if its foundations remain solidly anchored in natural law, given by the Creator. This is another reason why God can never be excluded from the horizon of man or of history. God’s name is a name of justice, it represents an urgent appeal for peace.

9. This realization could help, among other things, to give direction to initiatives for intercultural and inter-religious dialogue. These ever increasing initiatives can foster cooperation on matters of mutual interest, such as the dignity of the human person, the search for the common good, peace-building and development. In this regard, the Holy See attaches particular importance to its participation in high-level dialogue on understanding among religions and cultures and cooperation for peace, within the framework of the 62nd General Assembly of the United Nations (4-5 October 2007). In order to be true, this dialogue must be clear, avoiding relativism and syncretism, while at the same time it must be marked by sincere respect for others and by a spirit of reconciliation and fraternity. The Catholic Church is deeply committed to this goal. It is a pleasure for me to recall once again the letter that was addressed to me, on 13 October last, by 138 Muslim Religious Leaders, and to renew my gratitude for the noble sentiments which were expressed in it.

10. Our society has rightly enshrined the greatness and dignity of the human person in various declarations of rights, formulated in the wake of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which was adopted exactly sixty years ago. That solemn act, in the words of Pope Paul VI, was one of the greatest achievements of the United Nations. In every continent the Catholic Church strives to ensure that human rights are not only proclaimed but put into practice. It is to be hoped that agencies created for the defence and promotion of human rights will devote all their energies to this task and, in particular, that the Human Rights Council will be able to meet the expectations generated by its creation.

11. The Holy See for its part never tires of reaffirming these principles and rights, founded on what is essential and permanent in the human person. The Church willingly undertakes this service to the true dignity of human persons, created in the image of God. And on the basis of these considerations, I cannot but deplore once again the continual attacks perpetrated on every continent against human life. I would like to recall, together with many men and women dedicated to research and science, that the new frontiers reached in bioethics do not require us to choose between science and morality: rather, they oblige us to a moral use of science. On the other hand, recalling the appeal made by Pope John Paul II on the occasion of the Jubilee Year 2000, I rejoice that on 18 December last the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted a resolution calling upon States to institute a moratorium on the use of the death penalty, and I earnestly hope that this initiative will lead to public debate on the sacred character of human life. I regret, once again, the disturbing threats to the integrity of the family, founded on the marriage of a man and a woman. Political leaders, of whatever kind, should defend this fundamental institution, the basic cell of society. What more should be said? Even religious freedom, an essential requirement of the dignity of every person [and] a cornerstone of the structure of human rights (Message for the 1988 World Day of Peace, Preamble) is often undermined. There are many places where this right cannot be fully exercised. The Holy See defends it, demands that it be universally respected, and views with concern discrimination against Christians and against the followers of other religions.

12. Peace cannot be a mere word or a vain aspiration. Peace is a commitment and a manner of life which demands that the legitimate aspirations of all should be satisfied, such as access to food, water and energy, to medicine and technology, or indeed the monitoring of climate change. Only in this way can we build the future of humanity; only in this way can we facilitate an integral development valid for today and tomorrow. With a particularly felicitous expression, Pope Paul VI stressed forty years ago in his Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio, that development is the new name for peace. Hence, in order to consolidate peace, the positive macroeconomic results achieved by many developing countries during 2007 must be supported by effective social policies and by the implementation of aid commitments by rich countries.

13. Finally, I wish to urge the international community to make a global commitment on security. A joint effort on the part of States to implement all the obligations undertaken and to prevent terrorists from gaining access to weapons of mass destruction would undoubtedly strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and make it more effective. I welcome the agreement reached on the dismantling of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and I encourage the adoption of suitable measures for the reduction of conventional weapons and for dealing with the humanitarian problems caused by cluster munitions.

Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

14. Diplomacy is, in a certain sense, the art of hope. It lives from hope and seeks to discern even its most tenuous signs. Diplomacy must give hope. The celebration of Christmas reminds us each year that, when God became a little child, Hope came to live in our world, in the heart of the human family. Today this certainty becomes a prayer: May God open the hearts of those who govern the family of peoples to the Hope that never disappoints! With these sentiments, I offer to each one of you my very best wishes, so that you, your staff, and the peoples you represent may be enlightened by the Grace and Peace which come to us from the Child of Bethlehem.