22 DEAD IN TORNADOES

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.

Deadly 7.8 Quake Rocks Central China.At Least 5 Killed, Buildings Damaged By Sichuan Province Temblor Felt 1,000 Miles Away
BEIJING, May 12, 2008

This image from TV shows a street scene in Beijing, China, shortly after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck western China on May 12, 2008. (APTN)(CBS/AP) A powerful, magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck mountainous central China on Monday, killing five people when two primary schools and a water tower collapsed, state media reported.

The quake struck 57 miles northwest of the Sichuan provincial capital of Chengdu at 2:28 p.m. (0128 Eastern), the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site. It said the quake was centered about 6 miles below the surface. Xinhua News Agency said Monday that more than 100 students were also injured in the quake. Chongqing is a large municipality next to Sichuan province. A statement issued by the government in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province said buildings were cracked and some had collapsed. Mountain roads were damaged after the temblor struck Monday afternoon. The official Xinhua News Agency said the area has a population of about 110,000 residents.

Phone calls to the area could not go through after the quake that was felt as far away as Thailand, Pakistan and Vietnam. The joint UN-European Commission's Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System, or GDAC, warned that the impact could be high because the quake struck during the day when cars would be on roads and people in high-rise buildings. This earthquake has potentially a high humanitarian impact and the affected region has medium vulnerability to natural disasters, GDAC said in a statement on its Web site. In the Chinese capital Beijing, about 930 miles away, office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Beijing Olympics, which start in August. Buildings swayed for more than two minutes but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. Frightened office workers and shoppers could be seen lingering outside buildings in the central business district. It was an unintended emergency response for the organizers, and extreme caution appeared to be taken. Thousands of people rushed or were ordered out of office towers in Beijing's central business district, including the building housing The Associated Press. The people stood on sidewalks for about an hour, then filed back into the buildings.

I've lived in Taipei and California and I've been through quakes before. This is the most I've ever felt.James McGregor, Felt quake in Beijing"I've lived in Taipei and California and I've been through quakes before. This is the most I've ever felt. The floor was moving underneath me. At first I thought I was fainting. I looked down and the floor was moving, said James McGregor, business consultant who was having a meeting inside the LG Towers, a twin high-rise complex in Beijing's business district. Cai Jinqing, a partner is Beijing Brunswick Consultancy, a financial communications company, was also inside LG Towers when the quake hit. I felt the room moving horizontally, It was very, very strong. I couldn't sit down, said the Beijing native. In Shanghai, skyscrapers swayed and most office occupants went rushing into the streets. Calls to emergency response numbers in Chengdu rang constantly busy on Monday. An eyewitness reached by phone in Chengdu said people flooded from buildings. A reporter with state television said customers fell as they rushed out of restaurants in Chengdu. The report also said cracks could be seen on some older buildings in the city. The area where the quake lies on the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau where mountains rise sharply and the population density is generally thin. In the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, 100 miles off the southeastern Chinese, buildings swayed when the quake hit. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The quake was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, where some people hurried out of swaying office buildings and into the streets downtown.MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Earthquake strikes off Taiwan coast, no casualties
11 May 2008, 0642 hrs IST,AFP

TAIPEI: A 5.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the east coast of Taiwan early on Sunday morning, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake hit at 3:41 am (0111 IST) and was centred 99 kilometres southeast of Suao, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of 10 kilometres.
Taiwan, which lies near the junction of two tectonic plates, is regularly shaken by earthquakes.

6.7 quake jolts Guam; no damage or injuries reported
- 5/10/2008 1:24:01 AM

An undersea earthquake off Guam with a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 shook the U.S. territory Saturday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey said.There were no reports of damage or injuries. A magnitude-6 earthquake can cause severe damage.The quake failed to generate any destructive, widespread tsunami, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Honolulu.The quake struck at 7:51 a.m. at a depth of 54.4 miles, the survey said in a statement. It was centered 125 miles west-southwest of Hagatna, Guam, and 250 miles southwest of Saipan in the neighboring Northern Mariana Islands, it said.Kim Alba, lifestyle editor at the Pacific Daily News, said that the quake jolted her house and woke her up, but that the shaking was apparently the extent of its impact on the island.Air Force Tech Sgt. Brian Bahret, spokesman for Guam's Andersen Air Force Base, said there were no reports of damage there. And Sarrah Iguel, a dispatch operator for Civil Defense in the Marianas, said no one called to report damage.Guam is west of the international date line, about 3,700 miles southwest of Hawaii.

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.

Tornadoes kill at least 22 across US MAY 11,2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Rescue crews on Sunday searched through rubble for survivors a day after tornadoes tore across the United States, killing at least 22 people and shattering homes and businesses, officials said. US President George W. Bush called it a sad day for devastated communities in the states of Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia and promised emergency federal aid.Missouri's department of emergency management said 14 people were confirmed dead in the state, with scores more injured.We are still conducting some search and rescue today, department spokeswoman Susie Stonner told AFP, adding that some of the injured were in hospital in critical condition.Numerous tornadoes touched down in Oklahoma late Saturday as the storms ripped across the state at 35-45 miles per hour (55-70 kmh), killing seven in the area near the town of Picher, the Oklahoma department of emergency management said. Some 150 people were injured.Fierce winds ripped roofs off houses, and other homes were thrashed to kindling as the storms downed power lines, utility poles and trees.In some cases, only a home's concrete slab remains, Oklahoma authorities said in a statement.The American Red Cross has opened shelters for those affected by the storms in Oklahoma and Missouri.Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry declared a state of emergency in the disaster area and planned to visit it later Sunday, while National Guard troops were called to shut off access to Picher.

We will get through this pulling together and working together as Oklahomans, making sure our neighbors have what they need, Henry was quoted by the Oklahoman newspaper as saying.The state said that about 6,300 homes and businesses were without electricity, including 3,000 near Tulsa.Bush called it a sad day for those who lost their lives in Oklahoma and Missouri and Georgia because of the tornadoes.Speaking in Waco, Texas the day after his daughter Jenna's wedding on the family ranch, he said: We send our prayers to those who lost their lives and the families of those who lost their lives, and the federal government will be moving hard to help.
Bush later called Henry as well as governors Sonny Perdue of Georgia and Matt Blunt of Missouri to offer whatever federal assistance they needed, according to White House officials.The storms barrelled eastward and killed one person and damaged hundreds of homes in the southeastern state of Georgia in the early morning hours of Sunday, the state's emergency management agency said.Perdue declared a state of emergency for six counties hardest hit by severe thunderstorms, hail and tornadoes in central Georgia.

The small town of Kite, with some 1,000 residents, was devastated.

From what I understand it has been completely destroyed, said agency spokeswoman Lisa Janak. Many roads are still blocked and impassable, she said. They're having problems with trees in the road, so these are very preliminary estimates, but the town of Kite sustained significant, significant damage.Some 18,000 residents were without power in the state, Georgia Power told the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Meanwhile a severe storm and tornado swept through another southeastern state, North Carolina, on Sunday afternoon, dumping tennis ball-sized hail, but no deaths or serious injuries were reported, the Charlotte Observer newspaper said. In February, a string of storms brought rare winter tornadoes to the Southern states of Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama, killing 55 and injuring hundreds.

Over 20 dead in Mo., Okla., Ga. after new round of storms By ROXANA HEGEMAN, Associated Press Writer MAY 11,08

SENECA, Mo. - Stunned survivors picked through the little that was left of their communities Sunday after tornadoes tore across the Plains and South, killing at least 22 people in three states and leaving behind a trail of destruction and stories of loss. At least 15 people died in southwestern Missouri. In the fading mining town of Picher, Okla., at least six people were killed, and at least one person died in storms in Georgia.Susan Roberts, 61, stared at the smashed remains of her classic 1985 Cadillac sitting on her living room floor — the only thing left of her Seneca home. A woman who had apparently sought shelter in the car died there, she said.That is what is tearing me up, Roberts said. She had warned the woman — who stopped to change a tire as Roberts and her 13-year-old grandson drove away from the rental house — to escape. The tornado hit just minutes later.I'm from Kansas. I grew up watching storms, she said as she walked through the debris. If I didn't have my grandson with me, I probably wouldn't have left.The same storm system earlier hit Oklahoma, where at least six people died and 150 people were injured in Picher.The town, once a bustling mining center of 20,000 that dwindled to about 800 people as families fled lead pollution there, was a surreal scene of overturned cars, smashed homes and mattresses, and twisted metal high stuck in the canopy of trees.I swear I could see cars floating, said Herman Hernandez, 68. And there was a roar, louder and louder.Ed Keheley was headed to town to help out Saturday night when he heard a woman screaming. He looked over to see her hand reaching out of debris.

She was sitting in the bathtub, she had curlers in her hair and she wanted out of there, said Keheley, who along with several others pulled her out.The area is part of a Superfund site, and residents have been asked to take part in state and federal buyouts in recent years.From what I've been able to determine, that wouldn't have any bearing on whether a disaster declaration would come forth, said Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesman Earl Armstrong.One storm victim's child was initially reported dead, but state emergency management spokeswoman Michelann Ooten later said the infant was actually alive at a Tulsa hospital.As the system moved east on Sunday, one of at least six tornadoes in Georgia killed a person in Dublin, about 120 miles southeast of Atlanta, the National Weather Service said.The small town of Kite was destroyed by the storm, said Caroline Pope, a spokeswoman for the Johnson County Sheriff's Department. Close to 1,000 people live in the community, she said.From what they're telling me, it's gone, she said from the dispatch center in the jail, which was operating on a generator because the power was out.Storms later Sunday in North Carolina destroyed several mobile homes, and six people were slightly injured, said Patty McQuillan of the state police. And in South Carolina, a possible tornado damaged several homes, but no injuries were reported, said Charleston County spokeswoman Jennie Davis.

President Bush has talked with governors to express his condolences for the lives lost and to discuss needs for recovery, according to the White House. The federal government will be moving hard to help, Bush said. In Missouri, the tornado hit the rural area about eight miles north of Seneca and continued east. Jane Lant climbed over splintered wood to go through the mud-caked remains of her bridal shop. I just feel so awful, going through this rubble when they are out looking for bodies, she said as she motioned to the search dogs wandering the field behind her. An unidentified body lay under a blue tarp nearby. Among the dead were five family members of her neighbor who had been going to a wedding when the tornado caught their vehicle in front of her store, she said.

Next door, her husband's feed store also lay in shambles. But one bright moment came Sunday when rescuers heard chirping from the mound and found a half-dozen chicks. They had rescued about 100 the night before. Susie Stonner, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Agency, said it was unclear how many homes had been damaged. But she said officials in Newton County, which includes Seneca, had initial estimates of 50 homes damaged or destroyed there. In storm-weary Arkansas, a tornado caused significant damage in Stuttgart, but no one was seriously injured, said Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward. Tornadoes killed 13 people in Arkansas on Feb. 5, and another seven were killed in an outbreak May 2. In between was freezing weather, persistent rain and river flooding that damaged homes and has slowed farmers in their planting. Associated Press writers Murray Evans in Picher, Dorie Turner in Atlanta and Chuck Bartels in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

900 First Nation's residents airlifted out of James Bay community due to flooding Sun May 11, 6:11 PMBy The Canadian Press

TORONTO - Some 900 people are being evacuated Sunday from a First Nation's community along the coast of James Bay due to fears of flooding. The continued threat of flooding has prompted the leaders of Attawapiskat to broaden the evacuation of their community, located about 500 kilometres north of Timmins. Some 300 of the area's most at-risk residents including the sick, elderly and infants have already been airlifted out of the region to Kapuskasing and Hearst. About 600 other community members were expected to be airlifted to Thunder Bay and Greenstone by the end of the day. Officials say another 600 residents could be flown to safety in the coming days should the flooding threat become more imminent. The airlift is being co-ordinated by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.

U.S. flying cyclone aid to outpost of tyranny By Aung Hla Tun MAY 11,08

YANGON (Reuters) - The United States was set to fly relief supplies on Monday to Myanmar, a country it has called an outpost of tyranny, as aid continues to dribble into the reclusive state nine days after a devastating cyclone.A U.S. Air Force C-130 military transport plane was scheduled to take off from an air base on the Thai-Myanmar border carrying water purification systems and supplies to ward off water-borne diseases, U.S. officials said.

Agencies report that aid deliveries to more than a million increasingly desperate cyclone victims has been minimal.Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Sunday three cargo planes from Europe carrying medical material and other supplies was scheduled to arrive in Myanmar on Monday.More than one week after the disaster, despite the sending of three cargo planes and some positive signals, it has been very difficult to provide highly needed supplies for the heavily affected population in Myanmar, MSF said in a statement.In the areas where we have been, we haven't seen any aid being delivered so far, so the amount that has reached people in the areas where we are had been minimal, MSF said.MSF had a large presence in Myanmar before the cyclone. Aid agencies that did not, are having even greater difficulties.

220,000 REPORTED MISSING

While Myanmar's reclusive military government is accepting aid from the outside world, including the United Nations, it will not let in foreign logistics teams, who were queuing up in Bangkok hoping to get visas from the Myanmar embassy.The U.N. humanitarian agency said in a new assessment on Sunday that between 1.2 million and 1.9 million were struggling to survive in the aftermath of the storm that struck eight days ago.Given the gravity of the situation including the lack of food and water, some partners have reported fears for security, and violent behavior in the most severely afflicted areas, the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.It said the number of deaths could range from 63,290 to 101,682, and 220,000 people are reported to be missing. It said acute environmental issues posed a threat to life and health.Unless there is a massive and fast infusion of aid, experts and supplies into the hardest-hit areas, there's going to be a tragedy on an unimaginable scale, said Greg Beck of the International Rescue Committee.

In the delta town of Labutta, where 80 percent of homes were destroyed, authorities were providing one cup of rice per family per day, a European Commission aid official told Reuters.In a blow to the stumbling relief effort a boat carrying some of the first aid to survivors sank, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said.The boat was believed to have hit a submerged tree in the Irrawaddy delta. The accident highlighted the enormous logistical difficulties of delivering aid, with roads washed away and much of the delta turned to swamp.Myanmar raised the death toll on Sunday to 28,458 dead and 33,416 missing from the storm on the night of May 2 and early on May 3. Most of the victims were killed by the 12-foot (3.5 meter) wall of sea-water that hit the delta along with the Category 4 cyclone's 190 kph (120 mph) winds.

U.N. LEADS AID EFFORT

Australia responded to a U.N. appeal for $187 million in aid by dramatically increasing its contribution to $23.4 million.The U.N. World Food Programme said on Sunday it has begun moving aid to its field headquarters in Labutta using trucks provided by its partners in Myanmar, including the Myanmar Red Cross.I think you can say it continues to trickle in, WFP spokesman Marcus Prior said on Monday.

The more than one million worst affected lack food, water, and sanitation, face outbreaks of disease such as cholera, and on top of all that heavy rains are predicted this week over the delta.It's a perfect storm, if you will, of factors ... that could all combine to endanger the lives of up to 1.5 million people, international agency Oxfam's South Asia manager Sarah Ireland told Australian radio on Monday.Four U.S. Navy ships are steaming toward Myanmar, a country Secretary of State described as an outpost of tyranny in 2005, to stand by for possible humanitarian assistance.A French warship was expected in Myanmar's waters later this week carrying 1,500 tonnes of rice that France said it wants to distribute directly to survivors.Despite the alarm bells from the international community about the feeble cyclone relief effort, the junta kept its focus on a weekend referendum on a new constitution, part of a roadmap to democracy culminating in multi-party elections in 2010.There is little doubt about the final result on an army-drafted constitution after an intensive propaganda campaign by the junta urging people to vote Yes.

POISONED WATERS

REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)

REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Boat carrying aid for Myanmar cyclone victims sinks
Sun May 11, 5:20 PM By The Associated Press

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's monumental task of feeding and sheltering 1.5 million cyclone survivors suffered yet another blow Sunday when a boat laden with relief supplies - one of the first international shipments - sank on its way to the disaster zone.
Meanwhile, as the official death toll jumped to more than 28,000, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned that malign neglect by the country's military rulers was creating a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions.The junta has been sharply criticized for its handling of the May 3 disaster, from failing to provide adequate warnings about the pending hurricane to responding slowly to offers of help. Though international assistance has started trickling in, the few foreign relief workers who have been allowed entry into Myanmar have been restricted to the largest city of Yangon. Only a handful have succeeded in getting past checkpoints into the worst-affected areas. But in what was seen as a huge concession by the junta, the United States finally got the go-ahead to send a C-130 cargo plane packed with supplies to Yangon on Monday, with two more air shipments scheduled to land Tuesday. Myanmar's military rulers are deeply suspicious of Washington, which has long been one of the junta's biggest critics, pointing to human rights abuses and its failure to hand over power to a democratically elected government. We hope that this is the beginning of a long line of assistance from the United States, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe told reporters in Crawford, Texas on the weekend. They're going to need our help for a long time.Highlighting the many challenges ahead, however, a Red Cross boat carrying rice, drinking water and other goods for more than 1,000 people sank Sunday near the hard-hit town of Bogalay. All four aid workers on board and the crew were reported to be safe.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies could not say how much of the cargo has been lost, but it said the food supplies were contaminated by river water. Apart from the delay in getting aid to people, we may now have to re-evaluate how we transport that aid, said Michael Annear, the IFRC's disaster manager in Yangon, who described the sinking as a big blow.Other aid was increasingly getting through, the group said, but on nowhere near the scale required.Heavy showers were forecast for the coming week, further complicating delivery of aid that is still barely reaching victims in the Irrawaddy delta, which was pounded by 195-kilometres-an-hour winds and a 3 1/2-metre storm surge from the sea. In hard-hit Laputta, hundreds of survivors crowded the floor of a Buddhist monastery's open-air hall, the sound of hungry children wailing. Many people tried to sleep sitting up because of lack of space. Pain Na Kon, a tiny nearby village of just 300, was completely obliterated. The 12 known survivors huddled together in a tent set up in a rice field, sharing a small portion of biscuits and watery soup handed out at a local monastery. We don't know when they will also run out of food, said U Nyo, casting glances at his six-year-old niece, Mien Mien, who lost both her parents in the cyclone and sat outside in the dark. U Nyo called out to her gently, but Mien Mien just stared into the darkness. Overcome with emotion, U Nyo walked, teary-eyed, over to the girl and sat beside her in silence. His wife, Saw San Myant, described in a hushed voice what had happened to Mien Mien's father. We hung together on a coconut tree as the tide continued to rise. Her father was separated. He tried to hang onto a pole of the hut but that was broken. The wind was too strong. She saw her father swept away by the water but we didn't see anyone else. We think they are all dead, she said.

On Sunday, Myanmar's state television said the death toll from Cyclone Nargis had gone up by about 5,000 to 28,458 - with another 33,416 missing. Some experts fear the death toll could run into the hundreds of thousands if people do not soon get clean water and sanitation. A natural disaster is turning into a humanitarian catastrophe of genuinely epic proportions in significant part because of the malign neglect of the regime, said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband. I would be amazed if there hadn't been about 100,000 who had died already ... what's more, hundreds of thousands more are at risk, he told British Broadcasting Corp. television. Meanwhile, aid was piling up in foreign countries, awaiting approval from the junta. The country's main airport in Yangon is incapable of handling more than five flights a day, when it should be taking in at least one every hour, said PLAN, a London-based children's aid group. Logistically, the situation looks bleak, it said in a statement. In short, they have one congested airport, ill equipped to deal with the influx of cargo, no port, restricted fuel and no trucks.Aid group World Vision said it has requested visas for 20 people but received approval for just two, while the UN's World Food Program had one visa approved out of the 16 it requested. Still, the UN was making some progress in aid delivery. The junta released more than 34 tonnes of high-energy biscuits to the WFP that were confiscated on Friday and several other shipments were on their way. We're delighted and very encouraged by what is a very positive sign, said the group's spokesman, Marcus Prior. But World Vision, which has a big presence in Myanmar, said relief material delivered so far is a tiny fraction of what is needed. The junta says it wants to hand out all donated supplies on its own. But many survivors have been without help for more than a week after fleeing their inundated villages to take shelter in monasteries and schools in towns.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Brush fires force home evacuations in Florida MAY 11,08

MALABAR, Fla. - Brush fires forced residents to flee more than 500 homes in central Florida on Sunday and closed a major interstate, authorities said. A fire in Volusia County has burned between 500 and 600 acres and caused road closures and home evacuations, state Division of Forestry spokesman Timber Weller said.About 400 homes in the neighborhood near Daytona Beach were under a mandatory evacuation order and 200 more homes were under a voluntary order.
Weller said windy, dry conditions were challenging the fire crews.
Control is extremely difficult, and there's basically several small subdivisions in the area and fires burning, in some cases, very close to the homes, Weller said.A fire near Cocoa had burned more than 100 acres and forced evacuations of about 100 to 200 homes, Brevard County Fire and Rescue spokesman Orlando Dominguez said.

Heavy smoke from another fire in the Brevard community of Malabar forced authorities to close part of Interstate 95, the major East Coast corridor.(This version CORRECTS day to Sunday not Saturday.)

Spain To End Monarchy?
Roger Munns MAY 11,08

Tribune Properties produce travel guides for Malta including expedia holidays,Monaco and Monte Carlo including the casino and Andorra.May 09, 2008

King Juan Carlos helped steer the country of Spain from a dictatorship to a modern democracy after he came to the throne some 32 years ago, and his achievements include defending the fledgling democracy in 1981 from an attempted coup.Once popular and regarded as a man of the people, recent times have been more troubling for the king as political groups on both the left and right have called for an end to the Spanish monarchy.1981 it could be argued was the height of the King's popularity when some army officers stormed the Spanish Parliament. Spain had been ruled by the dictator Franco until his death in 1975, and the King appeared on television to order the army back to barracks, in the process saving the young democracy from returning to dictatorship.While the royal family spend their summer holidays on the island of Majorca at the Marivent Royal Palace and the rest of the year near Madrid his popularity carried through to all regions of Spain.Recent comments from the King though have made many Spaniards uneasy about how close he is coming to interfering with politics, and this has not helped his popularity - although the people of Majorca might disagree as the royal family's holidays give the island an upmarket image elsewhere in Europe, and the hotels and Majorca villa holidays travel market have thrived in recent years.

He made a surprise visit to Spanish troops in Afghanistan just before Christmas, but controversially visited two Spanish enclaves in Morocco which have been in dispute over sovereignty since the 15th century.But last year saw protestors burning photographs of the King in the Spanish city of Girona, a sign of his declining popularity, but Spain and the wider world sat up and took notice when he famously told the President of Venezuela to shut up at a summit in Chile. While most saluted his stand, some saw it as another sign of his interference in politics, going far beyond what would be acceptable in other European countries from their respective royal families.

Majorca

The King wants to be king of all Spain, and not have different regions strongly in favour of the monarchy and others against. Spain's economy has done well under King Juan Carlos, and his intervention to prevent a coup in 1981 has benefitted in particular the tourism market, with Spain and her islands now the destination of choice for more Europeans than any other country when taking a holiday.And it's not just the holidays in Majorca market where the royal family spend their summers that have done well over the last twenty five years.The Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca are well known as holiday destinations, and before King Juan Carlos replaced fascist leader General Franco the holidays market was limited as many Europeans would not holiday in Spain, knowing their tourist money would support an unacceptable regime, in the same way many people boycotted South Africa while it had apartheid.Cheap flights to Majorca airport from the United Kingdom for example have seen the island's economy transformed. And Spanish airlines operating both from the mainland capital Madrid and from Barcelona have also taken advantage of the travel market today, with millions of Spaniards employed in the airlines, hotels and holidays industries.

While Spain used to in the early days of her tourism be known as a cheap holidays destination, the country has moved into the upmarket leisure scene too, and new hotels in Majorca are being built, one of which will be the best hotel in Spain.Overall, Spain's economy has done well since Juan Carlos became king, the country has joined and is a fully active member of the EU, and political parties of different persuasions have held democratically elected power with the PSOE, Spain's Socialist Party, recently winning the general election and entering their second term in office, with all these things highly unlikely if Franco's successor had been another fascist.At 70, hopefully it will be some time before the question of a new monarch is asked. Majorca will certainly hope so!

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

Lebanese violence spreads to mountains outside capital By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer MAY 11,08

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon hung between fears of all-out war and hopes of political compromise Sunday as government supporters and opponents battled with rockets and machine guns in the mountains overlooking the capital. The fighting saw the collapse of pro-government forces in the Aley region, a stronghold of anti-Syrian Druse leader Walid Jumblatt.Beirut was quiet a day after Hezbollah gunmen left the streets, heeding an army call for the Shiite fighters to clear out. The city was the focus of four days of Sunni-Shiite clashes that culminated with Hezbollah seizing large swaths of Muslim West Beirut — demonstrating its military might in a showdown with the government.Thirty-eight people have been killed since Wednesday, when a power struggle between the Hezbollah-led opposition and the U.S.-backed government began erupting into the worst sectarian violence since Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

Across the country, there were fears of another slide into civil war.I don't believe this is the end, said Hala, a 32-year-old employee of an insurance company who lives in a posh area of the Muslim sector that saw fighting three days ago. She declined to give her name for fear of retaliation.They haven't solved the problem yet, she added. There will be another round.But some analysts saw Hezbollah's demonstration of its power as paving the way for a solution to end the political crisis. Analysts said the opposition now appears to have the upper hand, which could force the government to compromise.The opposition is in control now. These military victories have to be translated politically, said Amal Saad Ghorayeb, a political science professor who is an expert on Hezbollah.You can't have a civil war when there is one group that is militarily superior to the others, she said, referring to Hezbollah.The violence was sparked when the government confronted Hezbollah with decisions to sack the chief of airport security for alleged ties to the militant group and to declare Hezbollah's private telephone network illegal. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the decisions amounted to a declaration of war.

Ghorayeb said nobody expected Hezbollah to go as far as it did. She expects the group's achievements on the ground to force the government into a compromise.Hezbollah crossed the threshold and gained its own momentum, she said. Given that Beirut fell so quickly, the opposition saw that this was a golden opportunity to force the government into a compromise that would be tilted in its favor.Overnight, there were fierce clashes in the north, particularly in the city of Tripoli. One woman was killed.Heavy fighting between government supporters and opponents broke out Sunday in the central mountain town of Aytat and surrounding areas, about 9 miles from Beirut. The sounds of heavy machine-gun fire and explosions rolled across the capital.Pro-government supporters of Jumblatt and Shiite gunmen and their allies exchanged rockets and machine-gun fire, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. Paramedics said 12 people were injured.As the fighting raged in the mountain region, black smoke could be seen billowing from Druse villages. The violence spread to the nearby towns of Kayfoun, Qamatiyeh, Bchamoun and Chouweifat, they said.The area had been controlled mostly by Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party and its militia. Hezbollah on Saturday accused Jumblatt's followers of killing two of their supporters and kidnapping a third. Lebanon has 17 different religious sects and at least a dozen armed groups that exert some degree of military control over various parts of the country and the capital. Among those armed groups are Hezbollah, Amal, Jumblatt's PSP and the Christian community's Phalange Party, who were all involved in the civil war. After the civil war ended in 1990, all of the militias surrendered their weapons and transformed into political parties, keeping only small arms. Only Hezbollah was allowed to keep its arms because it was considered a resistance movement battling Israel.

Over the years, the groups have built up their arms and reasserted control in different areas. Jumblatt, speaking to private LBC television and sounding subdued, implicitly called on his militiamen to give up their positions in the Aytat area and hand them over to the army. I say to my followers that civil peace and stopping the war and destruction is above any other consideration, he said. Fighting subsided by the evening and the army began deploying in the region. Jumblatt's supporters were handing over their weapons to the army. The Hezbollah-led opposition quit the Cabinet 18 months ago, demanding larger representation that would give them veto power over government decisions. The deadlock has kept parliament from electing a new president since November.

Army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman is the consensus candidate for president and the army's success in calming Beirut could enhance his chances of being elected. Saniora said Sunday the Cabinet would meet in the next days to decide what to do about the two decisions against Hezbollah that sparked the violence.In Cairo, Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting on the Lebanon crisis and issued a statement urging an immediate end to all fighting. They criticized Hezbollah for using military force to achieve political goals and said they were sending a delegation to Lebanon to try to broker a political settlement. Hezbollah's show of force in Beirut was a blow to Washington. The U.S. has long considered Hezbollah a terrorist group and condemned its ties to Syria and Iran. The Bush administration has been a strong supporter of Saniora's government and its army for the last three years. The conflict has heightened concerns in the Middle East and the West over Iran's growing influence and its intentions in the region. Beirut's streets were largely deserted Sunday, a day off in Lebanon. The opposition continued to block many roads including the one to the airport in protest against the government. There have been no incoming flights to Lebanon for four days and no outgoing flights for three days.

In the West Beirut neighborhood of Karakol Druse, which saw heavy fighting Thursday, a man swept glass outside his shop. A gaping hole from a rocket propelled grenade and bullet holes marked the facade of a normally busy bakery, now closed. There were few signs of gunmen openly carrying weapons, save for small knots of Hezbollah allies from the Syrian Social Nationalist Party sitting outside the Economy Ministry in one seaside district. On Beirut's normally bustling seaside corniche, workers outside five-star hotels cleaned blackened streets scarred by burning tires. Nabil Silisty, a 60-year-old lawyer, said he did not foresee another sectarian conflict in Lebanon. There will be no civil war. The Lebanese tried it before and it was a catastrophe, said the Greek Orthodox Christian, a resident of West Beirut since birth. He spoke as he took laundry to wash at a relative's house because he has not had electricity since Friday morning.

Arab League tries to broker Lebanon settlement By SALAH NASRAWI, Associated Press Writer Sun May 11, 8:20 PM ET

CAIRO, Egypt - Arab foreign ministers urged warring Lebanese factions to immediately cease fighting and said Sunday they will send a delegation to try to broker a settlement between the Hezbollah-led opposition and U.S.-backed government. After an emergency meeting in Cairo on the Lebanon crisis, the Arab League issued a statement implicitly criticizing the Shiite militant Hezbollah.The ministers reject the principal of resorting to armed violence to achieve political goals, it said.Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said the delegation would leave for Lebanon soon but did not give a date. No flights have gone into Beirut for four days because Hezbollah supporters have blocked the airport road. Moussa said the delegation would need to make security arrangements with the Lebanese army to go in.The delegation will be headed by Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, an ally of Syria who has good relations with Hezbollah.Sunni Arab heavyweights Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who back the Lebanese government, will not be represented on the 10-member delegation. Syria, which supports Hezbollah, was also not included.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are deeply suspicious of Hezbollah, accusing it of sidelining Lebanon's Sunni minority and being a proxy for extending Iran's power in the Middle East.What is going on in Lebanon is unacceptable. We are very worried about this, said Moussa, an Egyptian who will be part of the delegation as secretary-general of the Arab League.We might succeed and we might not, but we have to try, Moussa told a news conference after the meeting.
Syria, which currently holds the Arab League presidency, did not send its foreign minister to the meeting. Damascus controlled Lebanon for nearly three decades until 2005 and has said that the dispute should be left to the Lebanese to solve.The Arab League demanded Shiite gunmen pull out of West Beirut and leave Lebanon's army in charge of security. The gunmen had mostly left the streets by Sunday, a day after the army called on them to clear out.

The ministers also relaunched a January plan that calls for the immediate election of Lebanese army chief Michel Suleiman as a consensus president, the formation of a national unity government and the adoption of a new electoral law.Lebanon's sharply divided parliament has failed to elect Suleiman as president because the majority and opposition are deadlocked over the shape of the future government. The majority rejects the opposition's demand for veto power in the government.

Blair discusses Mideast peace with Saudi king Sun May 11, 3:11 PM ET

RIYADH (AFP) - Middle East envoy Tony Blair met on Sunday with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss peace efforts in the region, the official SPA news agency reported. Blair discussed with Abdullah developments pertaining to the Palestinian issue and international efforts aimed at achieving just and comprehensive peace in the region, SPA said.The former British prime minister serves as envoy of the Middle East Quartet comprising the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union.His trip to Saudi Arabia comes ahead of a visit by US President George W. Bush to the oil powerhouse and key US ally on May 16 as part of a regional tour.

During a meeting in London on May 2, the Quartet called on Israel to stop building or expanding settlements in the West Bank, while voicing deep concern over the Gaza Strip due to an Israeli blockade.
The four key powers also urged Arab states to make good on pledges to help the Palestinians.

Jews can’t vote for Obama and be pro-Israel at the same time By Ted Belman MAY 11,08

In the poll of Jewish voters (conducted April 1-30), it showed Obama getting 61% of the Jewish vote against John McCain (32%). Yet in the same poll Hillary Clinton beat Obama among Jewish voters 62% - 38%. So obviously Jews are lifelong democrats who would vote for Obama, whom they rejected in the primaries, rather than vote for McCain. Thus, for them, party loyalty is preferable to Israel loyalty.Recently I posted two articles by Yarom Ettinger, former Israeli Ambassador to the US, The Prospects of a Palestinian State and National Interests of the United States and It’s American interests, stupid, both of which clearly demonstrate that keeping Israel strong is to keep America strong. Thus to be pro-Israel is to be pro-America.Now some would argue that most Jewish Americans are not one issue voters but they must realize that to favour a basket of issues or the Democratic Party above favouring Israel, makes them less pro-Israel and thus less pro-American. This I am sure will get howls of protest from the J-Street Lobby which represents progressive Jewry, who would have you believe that by forcing Israel to capitulate, they are acting in the best interests of Israel and the US. I hope you don’t buy their thinking. These articles fly in the face of such thinking. Consider them carefully it is important.

While most Jews favour Obama in a run off with McCain because he is a Democrat, they ignore how pro-Palestinian and anti-American he is.

Let me list the ways.

- Obama said Nobody is suffering more than the Palestinian people,
- Obama said If there is an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney, those are my civil liberties!
- Everyone on Obama’s foreign policy team, McPeak, Hamilton, Kurtzer, Brezezinski, are anti- Israel and The Israel Lobby. Their policies are closely aligned with Carter’s and Baker’s.
- Obama has been in bed with Jew haters and Islamic jihad for years. Farrakhan and his dear friend Reverend Wright, Obama’s spiritual guru, is a vile Jew hater.
- Obama is the first Presidential candidate endorsed by Hamas. He is the toast of the Islamic world. Obama’s church posted a Hamas manifesto.
- Obama has been endorsed by William Ayers (Weatherman Underground bomber, unrepentant domestic terrorist) (Member Communist Party USA, Early mentor to Obama) Jeremiah Wright (Black Liberation militant, racist, and Pastor) Tony Rezko (Corrupt Financier, ties to Terror Financing) Louis Farrakhan (Nation of Islam Leader, racist, anti-American) Hamas Terrorist Organization (Islamic Terrorist Organization) Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades (Islamic Terror Irganization) Raila Odinga (Fundamental Islamic Candidate, Kenya, Obama’s Cousin) Daniel Ortega (Marxist Sandinista Leader. Nicaragua Raul Castro (Hard-line Communist Leader, Communist Party Illinois (US Communist Political Party) Socialist Party USA (Marxist Socialist Political Party) The New Black Panther Party (Black Militant Organization, anti-American and racist Mosques are preaching for Obama (muslims vote inshallah!)

- We know from this blog entry by the pro-Palestinian blogger Ali Abunimah at The Electronic Intifadah, that Obama has moved to a move pro-Israel position as his national aspirations developed. The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, Abunimah writes. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing. As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, Hey, I’m sorry I haven’t said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I’m hoping when things calm down I can be more up front.’ He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, Keep up the good work!

- Ralph Nader agrees.(Obama) has run a brilliant tactical campaign. But his better instincts and his knowledge have been censored by himself….He was pro-Palestinian when he was in Illinois before he ran for the state Senate, during he ran–during the state Senate.
- Obama served as a paid director on the board of a nonprofit organization that granted funding to a controversial Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a catastrophe. (Obama has also reportedly spoken at fundraisers for Palestinians living in what the United Nations terms refugee camps.). The co-founder of that Arab group, Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, is a harsh critic of Israel who reportedly worked on behalf of the Palestine Liberation Organization when it was labeled a terror group by the State Department. Khalidi held a fundraiser in 2000 for Obama’s failed bid for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

- Ten years ago Obama went to a pro-Palestinian dinner at which Edward Said was the guest speaker and they sat at the same table.
- Obama employed and continues to employ several Farrakhan acolytes in high positions on his Illinois and U.S. Senate campaign and office staffs.
- Obama very recently and previously referred to the cycle of violence in the Middle East. He thereby equates Arab criminal violence with legitimate Israeli self-defence.
- Obama’s Church reprinted the outrageous claim that Israel planned an ethnic bomb to kill blacks and Arabs.

All items listed above cannot be characterized as a smear as they are all true.How can Jews ignore all this or dismiss it as inconsequential? I don’t get it.

G-8 labor officials begin 3-day meeting in Japan By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press Writer Sun May 11, 2:03 PM ET

TOKYO - Labor ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations met with international trade union and business groups Sunday to discuss the reduction of workplace emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, officials said. The talks, in Niigata on Japan's north coast, are aimed at boosting support for global environmental initiatives before Japan hosts the G-8 summit in July.The labor ministers, whose formal talks start Monday, are also expected to address concerns about growing income disparity, aging and uncertainty over financial markets, Japan's Health and Welfare Ministry said.Participants at Sunday's session — including representatives from the International Labor Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — issued a statement urging G-8 nations to promote sustainable labor markets and environmental protection at workplaces.The G-8 countries should foster a societal approach moving all industry sectors in more environmentally friendly and energy efficient directions, it said.Japan hopes to lead the discussions with its experience from Cool-Biz — a no-tie, no-jacket summer campaign it launched in 2005 to curb greenhouse gas emissions by limiting the use of office air conditioning, Kyodo News agency reported.Many countries, including Japan, are struggling to meet targets set by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which requires that greenhouse gas emissions be reduced by an average of 5 percent below 1990 levels by 2012.Japan is now considering setting a more aggressive emissions reduction target for 2050 — raising the current goal of a 50 percent emissions cut to between 60 percent and 80 percent — to be announced in mid-June, public broadcaster NHK reported Sunday.

Japanese officials also plan to discuss how industries that are likely to be hurt by climate change can seek alternative income sources, such as ski resorts facing snow shortages pursuing other forms of tourism, Kyodo said.The G-8 comprises Britain, Italy, Canada, the United States, France, Russia, Germany and Japan. Thailand and Indonesia were invited to join some discussions.

Rabbi: Israel needs religious PM Safed's chief rabbi: Turns out that Olmert is more corrupt than we thought, PM with values needed Efrat Weiss Published: 05.10.08, 21:46 / Israel Jewish Scene

The State of Israel needs a kippa-wearing prime minister, Safed's Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu wrote in an article titled A religious prime minister – it's possible distributed at synagogues over the weekend. Rabbi Eliyahu's article also addressed the latest investigation against the prime minister, noting that it turns out that Olmert is more corrupt than we thought.So what shall we do? Elect another prime minister without faith? Another one without credibility? Another one without values?…when will we wake up and realize that we need a prime minister with a kippa? We need a prime minister who acts based on genuine faith and values. We've had enough of prime ministers who bought us by just saying 'God willing' and sold out the Sinai…we certainly don't need a prime minister who establishes and then razes communities with the same determination and sensitivity, Eliyahu wrote. The last prime ministers proved that even if they have good intentions, they are able to sell off the country and Jerusalem in one deal, and they are able to put all of us in existential danger, he wrote.

We must wake up
Turning his attention to the prime minister's diplomatic moves, Eliyahu wrote: Listen carefully, Olmert is talking about withdrawal from the Golan Heights and he can sign on it without batting an eyelash. If it saves him from the latest investigation, why not?

We must wake up. Not next time, this time! We need to define the objective…the objective is to bring a government of faith to the country, he wrote. In recent years, Eliyahu has made headlines after making some controversial statements. About a month and a half ago he was slammed for calling for revenge attacks against Arabs in the wake of the massacre at Jerusalem's Mercaz Harav yeshiva. In the past, he said that apartments should not be sold or rented out to Arabs. Following the remark, he was charged with making racist statements.

WE ARE AT THE HALF WAY MARK OF COUNTRIES THAT RATIFIED THE LISBON TREATY, NUMBER 14 HERE.

Portugal ratifies EU treaty on Europe day
10 May 2008, 00:48 CET

(LISBON) - Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva officially ratified the EU's reforming Lisbon treaty on Friday, symbolically choosing 'Europe Day' to do so.The treaty, signed by European leaders in the Portuguese capital last December, was formally promulgated at a solemn ceremony following its approval by the national parliament last month.The treaty constitutes a step forward towards the construction of a more unified Europe, one more in solidarity, said Cavaco Silva.Its success shows the political determination and the convergence of the efforts of the leaders of the member states and the European institutions, he added.

Austria, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia have now ratified the treaty, according to the EU's executive body, the European Commission.All 27 EU member states must do so before it can come into effect, as planned, next year.Only Ireland is constitutionally bound to put the treaty to a national referendum which it will do next month.The treaty is deemed essential to streamline the workings of the European bloc, which has boosted its ranks from 15 to 27 member states since 2004.It also introduces the post of an EU president, one of the factors which eurosceptics point to as an indication of the movement towards a federal Europe.

Numerous celebrations were scheduled for late Friday throughout Portugal to mark Europe Day, which commemorates the May 9, 1950 declaration by then French foreign minister Robert Schuman which is considered the founding proposal for the European Union.In Lisbon itself European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso, who is Portuguese, was handed the keys of the capital.Barroso's work at the head of the EU's executive arm constitutes an honour for Portugal and for the city of Lisbon, said Mayor Antonio Costa.

Europe Day was also marked elsewhere, with a 12-metre high model of a European Ariane 5 rocket set up next to stands of regional European products at the Hotel de Ville, town hall, in Paris. A cinema chain in the French capital showed 27 films in their original languages, one from each EU member state.In Marseille, southern France, a European village was set up for a grand picnic with the European anthem, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, ringing out from a local theatre.In The Hague a Europe Night was planned for the youth market, while in Brussels, the seat of the European Union, the day was marked by a holiday for all the EU institutions.In the landmark 1950 address, Schuman called on France, Germany and other European nations to work towards what became the European Coal and Steel Community, the start of the European project following the devastation of World War II.A European summit in 1985 decided to commemorate this event each year as Europe Day.

French Foreign Minister visits Algiers Monday MAY 11,08

Paris, France - French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bernard Kouchner, will Monday visit Algiers, Algeria's capital city, with a message from President Nicolas Sarkozy to his Algerian counterpart, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.In a communiqué issued here. made available to the PANA, the French ministry of foreign affairs highlighted the main aim of the trip was to discuss with Algerian authorities, the Mediterranean Union project in which Algeria must be a major actor,
Kouchner and Algerian officials will also review the situation regarding the numerous projects initiated during Sarkozy's visit in Algeria last December.The Mediterranean Union, a project dear to Sarkozy, was approved last March by the 27 European leaders who held a summit in Brussels, Belgium.Paris - 11/05/2008

PRIME MINISTER HARPER’S SPEECH FOR ISRAEL’S 60th
Toronto, May 8, 2008

Thank you for your warm welcome. Thank you Ivan for your kind introduction. Consul General Gissin, Minister Jim Flaherty, Leader of the Opposition John Tory, colleagues from the federal and provincial legislatures, members of the United Jewish Appeal Federation, ladies and gentlemen, I am truly honoured to be part of tonight’s celebration marking the sixtieth anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. All of my life, Israel has been a symbol – a symbol of the triumph of hope and faith. After 1945, our battered world desperately needed to be lifted out of post-war darkness and despair. After so much pain and suffering, humanity needed comfort and optimism. After so much death and destruction, we needed renewal – the renewal of the dream of a better and more civilized world. In short, we needed to be inspired. It was the people who had suffered who most provided that inspiration. By their example, they led the world back to the light. From shattered Europe and other countries near and far, the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob made their way home. Their pilgrimage was the culmination of a two-thousand-year-old dream; it is a tribute to the unquenchable human aspiration for freedom, and a testament to the indomitable spirit of the Jewish people.

In the sixty years that followed, Israel blossomed into one of the most successful countries on earth; a land of ingenuity and enterprise, an oasis of agricultural genius, a wellspring of fine art and high culture, a model of democracy. Israel truly is the miracle in the desert.But the source of Israel’s strength and success, in my view, is its commitment to the universal values of all civilized peoples: freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Soon I hope to have the opportunity to travel to Israel to see the miracle with my own eyes; to see how millions of people from all over the earth, with their countless different languages and traditions, came together to build a modern, prosperous, vibrant, democratic country. It is a pilgrimage I have wanted to make for a long time, but my determination to do so was redoubled this spring after I visited Auschwitz. I want to see first-hand what the survivors of the Holocaust and their descendants have accomplished, for theirs is truly an achievement of resilience and renewal unsurpassed in human history. I also want to go to deliver in person the message of Canada’s unshakable support for Israel. Unfortunately, Israel at 60 remains a country under threat – threatened by those groups and regimes who deny to this day its right to exist. And why? Make no mistake; look beyond the thinly-veiled rationalizations: because they hate Israel, just as they hate the Jewish people. Our government believes that those who threaten Israel also threaten Canada, because, as the last world war showed, hate-fuelled bigotry against some is ultimately a threat to us all, and must be resisted wherever it may lurk.

In this ongoing battle, Canada stands side-by-side with the State of Israel, our friend and ally in the democratic family of nations. We have stood with Israel even when it has not been popular to do so, and we will continue to stand with Israel, just as I have always said we would. I know that we all hope and pray that someday freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law will be a reality for all the peoples of the Middle East. Enshrining these values is the best way to assure lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians alike. The foundations for a peaceful future are there. At the individual level, throughout the holy land, people of all faiths only want what all of us want: a safe place to live, a fair opportunity to get ahead, a good life for their children, a future for their grandchildren. So as we gather tonight to celebrate the first 60 years of the State of Israel, let us resolve as Canadians to do whatever we can to support Israelis and their neighbours in their quest for a better future. There will be many challenges along the way, but considering how far Israel has come in such a short time, in the face of such seemingly insurmountable odds, I can foresee no dark force, no matter how strong, that could succeed in dimming the light of freedom and democracy that shines from within Israel.

Thank you very much.
Happy 60th anniversary.
Shalom. TED BELMAN