ALIYAH DAY IN ISRAEL MONDAY

GLOBAL STORM TRACKER
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/specials/interactives/hurricanetracker07/index.html?SITE=YAHOO&SECTION=HOME

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.

Myanmar cyclone kills at least 241 MAY 4,08

YANGON (AFP) - At least 241 people were killed and nearly 100,000 left homeless when tropical cyclone Nargis tore through Myanmar, razing thousands of buildings and smashing up streets, officials said Sunday.Residents awoke Sunday to scenes of devastation after the cyclone bore through swathes of southern Myanmar late Friday and Saturday, uprooting trees, pummelling buildings and ripping up power lines.According to the latest information we have, altogether 19 people were killed in Yangon division and then about 222 people killed in Ayeyawaddy division, an information ministry official told AFP.The authorities have declared disaster zones in the five states and the regions of Yangon, Ayeyawaddy, Bago, Mon and Karen.

State television channel MRTV reported that about 20,000 houses have been destroyed on Haing Gyi island, just off the coast of Ayeyawaddy division where the storm first hit, and 92,706 people there were now homeless.In one mainland township in Ayeyawaddy, 75 percent of all homes were believed to be destroyed, the channel said, adding that authorities had launched a rescue operation in the region.Nargis made landfall late Friday around the mouth of the Ayeyawaddy (Irrawaddy) river, about 220 kilometres (137 miles) southwest of Yangon, before hitting the country's economic hub.The cyclone brought down power and phone lines, cutting off the military-run nation one week before a crucial referendum on its new constitution -- the first polling in Myanmar since general elections in 1990.The coastal area of Ayeyawaddy appears worst hit by the natural disaster, but Yangon was also battered.Traffic lights, billboards and street lamps littered the roads after being knocked over by strong winds.Trees in the leafy city were uprooted, crushing buildings and cars, while water pipes were also cut, forcing people out onto the streets with buckets to try and buy water from the few shops that remained open.Roofs of houses have been torn away, while only a few taxis and buses -- which tripled their fares -- braved the debris-clogged streets on Sunday.The information ministry official said seven empty boats had sunk in the country's main port, while Yangon's international airport was closed until further notice with flights diverted to the city of Mandalay.

We also deployed military units for rescue and rehabilitation projects. Now the military and police have started to clean the city, the official said.We are trying to get back to the normal situation as soon as possible.Electricity supplies and telecommunications in Yangon have been cut since late Friday night as the storm bore down from the Bay of Bengal, packing winds of 190-240 kilometres (120-150 miles) per hour.There are also fears that the poorer outlying areas of Yangon, with their flimsy houses, might have been hard hit.A tea shop owner told me that many people in a Yangon suburb need urgent help for food and accommodation, one food vendor said. Some children are not even wearing clothes.

Myanmar's infrastructure has been run into the ground by decades of mismanagement by the military, which has ruled since 1962.It was not immediately known whether damage from the storm would affect next Saturday's referendum on a new constitution, which the ruling junta says will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010.
Critics, however, say the charter will simply enshrine the military's power.Residents in Yangon said they had heard speculation that the referendum might be postponed, but the information ministry official refused to comment.We cannot say anything, it is up to the senior authorities, he said.Thailand's meteorological department downgraded Nargis to a depression on Sunday, but warned of flash floods and heavy rains in northern, central and eastern Thai provinces as the storm crept over the border from Myanmar.An official at Thailand's disaster prevention department told AFP that as of Sunday evening, there were no reports of severe flooding in the kingdom.


High waves kill at least eight in SKorea MAY 4,08

SEOUL (AFP) - At least eight people including two children were killed Sunday when high waves slammed into a breakwater on South Korea's west coast, sweeping anglers and others into the sea, coastguard officials said.One person is still missing after the incident at Boryeong town and 13 were injured, said Lee Won-Il, a Taean coastguard official, amending an earlier figure of two people missing.A nine-year-old boy and his father, and a five-year-old boy and his uncle, were among the dead, Lee told AFP.He said five of the injured had been released from hospital while eight had been admitted, some in critical condition. Patrol boats are searching the area.The incident happened during a long holiday weekend in South Korea, and visitors to the town 200 kilometres (124 miles) southwest of Seoul were among the casualties.The sea water receded like an ebb tide before two-metre-high (6.6-foot) waves rushed to the breakwater and rocks to sweep the anglers and tourists into the water, Yonhap news agency quoted one witness as saying.Another witness, restaurant owner Ko Myung-Rae, told Yonhap: Suddenly, I heard a thunder-like sound which was followed by screams.I saw some children crying and heard them saying, Our mum is dead.Looking out to sea, there were people floating in the water. I have done business here for 20 years and have never seen something like this before.

The cause of the high waves was not immediately known. The meteorological office said the weather was not particularly bad at the time.The wind might have been a bit strong, as we warned earlier. But there were no reasons for us to issue special warnings against tidal waves today, Bong Ji-A, of the local weather office in Daejeon, told AFP.It's a bit strange. So we've sent investigators to the area to look into this case.Witness Lee Sang-Whan estimated the height of the waves at four to five metres. Lee told YTN TV he heard a loud bang, like a sonic boom from an aircraft, just beforehand.Shortly afterwards, sounds like an explosion were heard and at the same time, the wave struck the breakwater and swept away people there.The defence ministry said it had no reports of military manoeuvres in the area.


7 die in severe storms in Arkansas, raising year's toll to 26 Sat May 3, 2:36 PM By Kelly P. Kissel, The Associated Press

SILOAM SPRINGS, Ark. - Residents of communities across Arkansas are facing the wreckage of homes torn apart by violent weather that has pushed this year's storm death toll in the state up to at least 26.

Seven Arkansans were killed Friday in thunderstorms that tore up parts of four states, and two dozen or more were injured. Emergency officials initially reported eight deaths but later revised the figure downward. Meteorologists said more than 25 tornadoes may have touched down across the middle section of the United States late Thursday and early Friday. The National Weather Service is posting tornado watches for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama as an arc of strong thunderstorms roll across the region.

Meanwhile, a morning storm has damaged homes in southeastern Louisiana, and one highway was reported to be blocked by water about one metre deep. Destruction in Arkansas on Friday ran from Siloam Springs near the Oklahoma line to tiny communities along the Mississippi River. Powerful tornadoes killed 13 people in the state on Feb. 5 and another person on Jan. 8. You can see the bags under the eyes of the people who consistently over and over again are called on to respond, Gov. Mike Beebe said Friday. That's their job and that's our job and we'll do it, no matter how many hours it takes or how many days it takes.This year it just seems like we're getting pounded, added Van Buren County Sheriff Scott Bradley. Eighteen Arkansas counties reported damage, including some 400 homes damaged or destroyed, Renee Preslar, spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said Saturday. There is clean up going on everywhere, Preslar said. Storms on Friday also ripped off roofs and toppled train cars near Kansas City, Mo. Oklahoma endured severe hail, and tents tumbled at an open-air market in eastern Texas. Wes Morrison, 24, was at a convenience store in Earle when a friend called to warn about the storm. Dad and I took off, Morrison said. As we were (driving) down Main Street, you could just see that cloud twirling around.He and his father made it to an inside bathroom of his grandparents' house just before the tornado came through, Morrison said. I don't think it lasted but 10 seconds, he said. When it was over, the First Baptist Church of Earle, which is just across the street from my grandparents' house - it's gone.Wind ripped the roof off another church, one so new that neighbours said it had not yet held services. Members of a work crew ran inside the Southside Baptist Church just north of the Van Buren County town of Damascus after a neighbour warned them of the coming storm. They said it was total silence as the storm approached. Everybody was afraid, said worker Jesus Estrada, 22.

After the storm, he and others went down the street and aided firefighters who were helping people out of their homes. Nearly 6,000 homes and businesses lost power in Arkansas. Severe flooding killed at least five people, said Preslar, the state's emergency management spokeswoman. Beebe said Arkansans would cope with the latest in a string of bad weather that has included 30 centimetres of snow and 300 millimetres of rain. We will fight through it, we will get through it and we will help our neighbours, he said. We'll do what's necessary to take care of our people.Six of the deaths Friday were in two counties, Conway and Van Buren, hit hard by the February tornado. That storm, with a 200-kilometre-long track, had wind estimated at 265 to 320 km/h. Friday's tornado Friday had wind of 217 to 265 km/h. In central Arkansas, a man, a woman and a preschool-age child died when the storm destroyed their house just south of Bee Branch, in Van Buren County. There wasn't anything left, Bradley said. Near the Arkansas-Oklahoma line, a 15-year-old girl died early Friday when a storm toppled a tree onto her family's home in Siloam Springs. She and her 10-year-old brother were sleeping in bunk beds; the boy survived with minor injuries and was pulled from the wreckage by neighbours. She was dead on top of him with the tree on top of her. It was just the mattress in between them, and he was screaming Get it off of me! Get it off of me! Chad Tilghman said. A man and one of his sons died near Birdtown in Conway County; officials initially reported the death of a second son but Saturday he remained hospitalized. The seventh death was reported in Pulaski County, south of Little Rock. Greg Carbin, a meteorologist for the national Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said as many as 25 tornadoes may have stuck Oklahoma, Arkansas, eastern Kansas and western Missouri. Other severe weather approached Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, forcing the cancellation of more than 200 flights.

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.

IN THIS VERSE ABOVE HAMAS MEANS VIOLENCE IN THE HEBREW LANGUAGE. PROOF THERES A GOD IN CONTROL OF WORLD EVENTS. HAMAS JUST NAMED ITSELF NOT TO MANY YEARS AGO, AND THE BIBLE WAY BACK IN GENESIS 6 JUST BEFORE THE FLOOD PREDICTED HAMAS WOULD BE THE NAME FOR VIOLENCE IN THE END TIMES....NO ACCIDENT, KING JESUS IS IN CONTROL OF WORLD EVENTS.

Chilean volcano town nearly deserted By SANTIAGO LLANQUIN, Associated Press Writer Sat May 3, 6:07 PM ET

CHAITEN, Chile - The Chaiten volcano spewed light ash on a nearly deserted village Saturday, two days after its first eruption in thousands of years. No more than 45 of Chaiten's 4,500 residents remained in what looked like a ghost town, its streets, houses, cars and trees draped with a thick layer of light-colored ash, Interior Minister Edmundo Perez said.Those who decided to stay after Thursday's eruption could be seen wearing face masks outdoors in Chaiten, 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) south of the capital, Santiago. Street lights were illuminated under darkened skies.Just six miles (10 kilometers) away, the volcano belched fat smoke plumes that at times rose as high as 12 miles (20 kilometers) into the air, the government's Emergency Bureau said.Winds carried the ash to other towns in the region and across the Andes mountains to Argentina, where two airlines suspended flights due to poor visibility.Authorities evacuated most of Chaiten's residents to schools and churches in the nearby cities of Puerto Montt and Castro.It is very difficult to predict when the people will be able to return, Perez said. This situation can last for days, or weeks — or longer.

Some residents were pessimistic.

This could be the end of our town, community leader Leonardo Maureira told Radio Cooperativa of Santiago. We have worked an entire life here and now all we could do was to put a few things in a bag and depart, leaving everything behind.Others decided to stay.We have to protect our investment, said Nelson Alderete, a small shopkeeper, as he watched his wife and small daughter board a boat to Puerto Montt. But if things get really ugly, I will leave.Chaiten Mayor Jose Fritis said the town will not die.This has been a historic catastrophe for us, but we will rebuild from the ashes, he said.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

Major Arctic sea ice melt is expected this summer By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, AP Science Writer Fri May 2, 9:12 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Arctic will remain on thinning ice, and climate warming is expected to begin affecting the Antarctic also, scientists said Friday. The long-term prognosis is not very optimistic, atmospheric scientist Jennifer Francis of Rutgers University said at a briefing.Last summer sea ice in the North shrank to a record low, a change many attribute to global warming.

But while solar radiation and amounts of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are similar at the poles, to date the regions have responded differently, with little change in the South, explained oceanographer James Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.What researchers have concluded was happening, was that in the North, global warming and natural variability of climate were reinforcing one another, sending the Arctic into a new state with much less sea ice than in the past.

And there is very little chance for the climate to return to the conditions of 20 years ago, he added.On the other hand, Overland explained, the ozone hole in the Antarctic masked conditions there, keeping temperatures low in most of the continent other than the peninsula reaching toward South America.So there is a scientific reason for why we're not seeing large changes in the Antarctic like we're seeing in the Arctic, he said.But, Overland added, as the ozone hole recovers in coming years, global warming will begin to affect the South Pole also.The briefing covered data being reported in a paper scheduled for publication next week in Eos, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.Overland said he used to be among those skeptical about the effects of global climate change. The new findings, which he termed startling, were developed at a recent workshop, he said.

There is agreement between weather observations, the output of computer climate models and scientific expectations for what should happen, added Francis.All the evidence points toward human-made changes at both poles, she said, a conclusion that further depletes the arsenals of those who insist that human-caused climate change is nothing to worry about.Climatologist Gareth Marshall of the British Antarctic Survey said that while the term global warming is widely used, things are more complicated at the regional level.

In the Antarctic, he explained, climate change strengthened winds blowing around the continent, helping trap colder air. But that will decrease in the future, allowing warmer conditions to begin, he said.And, Marshall added, all studies now show that human activities are the drivers of climate change in the Antarctic.Asked if this summer will match last year's record low sea ice in the North, Overland that is likely.The tea leaves point to a minimal amount of sea ice next September, that would be the same as we had last summer, 40 percent loss compared to 20 years ago, he said. Overland added that the winter freeze got a late start last fall.

Francis added: Over this entire fall, winter and right up till today the ice concentration, the amount of ice that's floating around on the Arctic, has been below normal every single day.All arrows are pointing towards, certainly not a recovery, something like we had last summer and possibly worse, she said. On the Net:
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration: http://www.noaa.gov American Geophysical Union: http://www.agu.org

METEORS HIT THE EARTH

REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!

Sun's Movement Through Milky Way Regularly Sends Comets Hurtling, Coinciding With Mass Life Extinctions

ScienceDaily (May 2, 2008) — The sun's movement through the Milky Way regularly sends comets hurtling into the inner solar system -- coinciding with mass life extinctions on earth, a new study claims. The study suggests a link between comet bombardment and the movement through the galaxy.

Scientists at the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology built a computer model of our solar system's movement and found that it bounces up and down through the plane of the galaxy. As we pass through the densest part of the plane, gravitational forces from the surrounding giant gas and dust clouds dislodge comets from their paths. The comets plunge into the solar system, some of them colliding with the earth.The Cardiff team found that we pass through the galactic plane every 35 to 40 million years, increasing the chances of a comet collision tenfold. Evidence from craters on Earth also suggests we suffer more collisions approximately 36 million years. Professor William Napier, of the Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, said: It's a beautiful match between what we see on the ground and what is expected from the galactic record.The periods of comet bombardment also coincide with mass extinctions, such as that of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Our present position in the galaxy suggests we are now very close to another such period.While the bounce effect may have been bad news for dinosaurs, it may also have helped life to spread. The scientists suggest the impact may have thrown debris containing micro-organisms out into space and across the universe.

Centre director Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe said: This is a seminal paper which places the comet-life interaction on a firm basis, and shows a mechanism by which life can be dispersed on a galactic scale.The paper, by Professor Napier and Dr Janaki Wickramasinghe, is to be published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.Adapted from materials provided by Cardiff University, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.

Rice pushes for Mideast peace progress By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer MAY 4,08

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday that a year-end goal for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is still achievable, even though both sides question whether the target is realistic. Rice made the comments after a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who has sounded increasingly pessimistic about reaching an agreement with the Israelis. Abbas accuses Israel of undermining talks by continuing to build Jewish settlements on lands the Palestinians claim for a future state, and refusing to remove hundreds of military checkpoints that dot the West Bank.At a news conference with the Palestinian leader, Rice urged Israel not to prejudice a final deal — a reference to the settlement construction. And in unusually pointed criticism, Rice suggested the Israeli government could do more to improve life for West Bank residents.She said Israeli gestures in the West Bank must have a real effect on the lives of people there. We are trying to look not just at quantity, but also quality of improvements," she said.Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert relaunched peace talks at a U.S.-hosted conference last November and set a December 2008 target for a peace deal.

Their talks are to be based on the U.S.-backed road map, a peace plan that sets out a phased process leading to the formation of an independent Palestinian state. As interim measures, Israel is supposed to halt settlement activity and take steps to improve the freedom of movement for Palestinians, while the Palestinians are supposed to dismantle militant groups. Neither side has fully met these obligations.Rice said carrying out the roadmap is very painstaking work, but noted that President Bush believes the time has come for the establishment of the Palestinian state.That is why we are working so hard on the roadmap simultaneously with the negotiations. And we continue to believe that it is an achievable goal to have an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis by the end of the year and by the end of President Bush's term, she said.Rice arrived on her latest peace mission on Saturday night, and spent Sunday in a series of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. With no concrete signs of progress, Rice is seeking to breathe new life into peace talks before a visit to the region later this month by Bush, who is joining Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.Rice said that during talks with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, there was an extensive discussion of the checkpoints.Israel maintains hundreds of roadblocks and checkpoints throughout the West Bank, saying they are needed to protect settlements and prevent would-be attackers from crossing into Israel. The Palestinians claim the travel restrictions have stifled their economy and made free movement in an area they claim for their independent state extremely difficult.It was the first time that I had raised this issue, and so it will be now a discussion as to how to carry out that concern, or how to address that concern, Rice said.At the same time, she acknowledged there is a real security dimension for the Israelis. She praised the Palestinians for their move over the weekend to deploy hundreds of security forces in the West Bank town of Jenin — a onetime stronghold of militant groups.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad toured Jenin on Sunday, meeting with Palestinian police who had deployed there a day earlier. Fayyad said that during a joint meeting with Rice and Barak, they discussed the future deployments of Palestinian police in other West Bank areas.After a White House meeting last month, Abbas was critical of the U.S. for not pushing Israel harder to create conditions that he thinks are more conducive to peacemaking. But on Sunday, he praised the U.S. involvement and said failure is not an option.We want to achieve success, and we need to reach a comprehensive agreement, he said. If we don't reach an agreement, we have to think about what the next step will be. Now, let's not think about failure.Later Sunday, Rice was to meet the chief negotiators, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.Despite Rice's optimistic comments, the sides face new obstacles unrelated to the substance of peacemaking. Abbas, 73, underwent an unannounced heart test last week, raising new questions about his health, while Olmert has become the subject of a new police investigation, the fifth since he took office two years ago. A gag order has been imposed on the Olmert case. But speaking to his Cabinet on Sunday, Olmert said the case has unleashed a wave of malicious and wicked rumors and pledged to push forward with his agenda. He also confirmed reports that he would meet with Abbas on Monday. The two leaders meet regularly to assess progress. Perhaps the biggest obstacle to a peace deal is the Hamas militant group's continued control of the Gaza Strip. The Islamic group violently overtook the area last June from Abbas' forces, leaving the Palestinians with two rival governments. The Palestinians want to build an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza — which lie on opposite sides of Israel. But Olmert says that even if a peace agreement is reached, Israel cannot carry it out until Abbas regains control of Gaza. Israel considers Hamas a terrorist group because of its history of suicide bombings and commitment to Israel's destruction.

Israel’s never-ending battle.
By Ted Belman MAY 4,08

As the West ups the pressure on Israel to capitulate to Arab demands and return to the armistice lines, it is important to remember that all of Judea and Samaria were held in trust for the Jewish state from the singing of the Palestine Mandate in 1922, if not earlier from the time the San Remo Conference awarded these lands to the Jews. Throughout the thirties and forties the Arabs, with the Support of Great Britain, the Mandatory Power charged with the responsibilities of holding the land for the Jews, tried to thwart the intent of the Mandate and prevent the Jewish state from coming into being. Even the US helped in this endeavour. In 1947, UNGA Resolution 181, recommended a detailed plan for the Partition of Palestine knowing full well that such a resolution was contrary to the sacred trust for the Jews set out in the Mandate.Ben Gurion, knowing, how the winds had been blowing, decided that a half a loaf was better than no loaf and went for the deal. The Arabs didn’t and invaded Israel instead. The War ended in an Armistice Agreement. Neither Res 181 nor this agreement vitiated the sacred trust and Jewish rights to Judea and Samaria and Gaza.

While the West maintained its policy of preventing Israel from expanding these lines by forcing Israel to retreat in ‘56 from Sinai and negotiating Res 242 in ‘67 requiring Israel to return from territories occupied to secure borders, the Arabs continued in their efforts to erase the Jewish state.By accepting Res 242, many argue that Israel relinguished its rights to keep all the land described in the Mandate. Others dispute this interpretation and continue to argue that the Mandate still applies. Afterall, Res 242 was silent on the question of the Mandate and simply gave Israel the right to remain in occupation until they had negotiated secure and recognized borders. It is noteworthy that no restriction was put on Jewish settlement of these lands as permitted by the Mandate. Myths and Facts has produced a very important presentation Mandate for Palestine: The legal Aspects of Jewish Rights confirming Israel’s right to Judea and Samaria.Be that as it may, the government of Israel chose not to claim all the land as was its right, with the exception of Jerusalem and The Golan which it annexed.Nevertheless the west is not supporting Israel in any of its positions demanding that it share Jerusalem and return to negotiated borders near the armistice line. In time it will demand that Israel cede the Golan too.Although Bush is on record of leaving it to the parties to negotiate borders, only Israel is pressed to capitulate and the PA is allowed to be as inflexible as it wants. Under these circumstances, if Israel isn’t allowed to say no, their right to negotiate is vitiated.So now the West is getting ready to force Israel to accept the Arab demands. Unfortunately many Jews in Israel and the US support such a move. But the majority don’t.

Refugees

In a fair world the refugees would have been resettled in the fifties when Jordan was in occupation. That was more of an occupation than that of the Israel’s because Jordan had no legal claim to the land. Did Jordan welcome back the refugees? NO. Did the west resettle them elsewhere? No. Thus the West was fully complicit in supporting the right of return as the solution.At the Madrid Conference a Refugee Working Group was set up to try to resolve the plight of Palestinian refugees. The Arabs were adamantly opposed to resettlement of the refugees elsewhere. When Canada’s Minister John Manley, sat as Chair of the RWG, he announced that Canada would accept a certain number of refugees and had similar commitments from others. He said,We are prepared to receive refugees. We are prepared to contribute to an international fund to assist with resettlement in support of a peace agreement.
The Palestinians burned him in effigy and said, We refuse resettlement of refugees. That was the end of the RWG. An article in EretzYisroel.org, Palestinian Refugees, Invited to leave in 1948 clearly presents the history of this issue. The quote I like best is the one by Syria’s Prime Minister, Khaled Al-Azm, after the 1948 war.Since 1948 it is we who demanded the return of the refugees… while it is we who made them leave…. We brought disaster upon … Arab refugees, by inviting them and bringing pressure to bear upon them to leave…. We have rendered them dispossessed…. We have accustomed them to begging…. We have participated in lowering their moral and social level…. Then we exploited them in executing crimes of murder, arson, and throwing bombs upon … men, women and children-all this in the service of political purposes …. [36
Commentary Magazine just published an article by Ephraim Karsh entitled 1948, Israel, and the Palestinians— The True Story

During the past decade or so, the actual elimination of the Jewish state has become a cause célèbre among many of these educated Westerners. The one-state solution, as it is called, is a euphemistic formula proposing the replacement of Israel by a state, theoretically comprising the whole of historic Palestine, in which Jews will be reduced to the status of a permanent minority. Only this, it is said, can expiate the original sin of Israel’s founding, an act built (in the words of one critic) on the ruins of Arab Palestine and achieved through the deliberate and aggressive dispossession of its native population. This claim of premeditated dispossession and the consequent creation of the longstanding Palestinian refugee problem forms, indeed, the central plank in the bill of particulars pressed by Israel’s alleged victims and their Western supporters. It is a charge that has hardly gone undisputed. As early as the mid-1950’s, the eminent American historian J.C. Hurewitz undertook a systematic refutation, and his findings were abundantly confirmed by later generations of scholars and writers. Even Benny Morris, the most influential of Israel’s revisionist new historians, and one who went out of his way to establish the case for Israel’s original sin, grudgingly stipulated that there was no design to displace the Palestinian Arabs.The recent declassification of millions of documents from the period of the British Mandate (1920-1948) and Israel’s early days, documents untapped by earlier generations of writers and ignored or distorted by the new historians, paint a much more definitive picture of the historical record. They reveal that the claim of dispossession is not only completely unfounded but the inverse of the truth. What follows is based on fresh research into these documents, which contain many facts and data hitherto unreported.

It makes for interesting reading.

The Arabs will never make peace with Israel. Why should they. With the use of the peace process and the support of the West, they keep chipping away at the state of Israel.Israel must put an end to it.Ted Belman.

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.(TRADE 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).

Central European summit pledges for further EU enlargement
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-03 05:39:51

TIRANA, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The heads of state from central and southeast European countries said on Friday that the process of Euro Atlantic integration will be incomplete without the full inclusion of the Western Balkans. This region has no alternative but the integration into the European Union, says the draft document to be adopted Saturday, pledging for further EU enlargement. Officials from 18 central and southeast European member countries ended the first part of their two-day summit in Ohrid, a lakeside resort in southern Macedonia, on Friday. Among the countries present at the summit, 10 are EU members, three have EU candidate status and five have not joined the bloc. Most of them are west Balkan countries. Slovenian President Danilo Turk said that the EU will succeed as a global player if it includes candidate countries.

At no cost should we allow that Balkans remain a black hole outside the European Union, said Turk, whose country currently presides over the EU. Albanian President Bamir Topi said that Euro Atlantic integration is the best way in providing safe and sustainable development for countries in the region and beyond. Turkish President Abdullah Gul, who is on a state visit to Macedonia and attending the meeting as a special guest, said that the region of south eastern Europe would be stable only if it was integrated into the EU and NATO. Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski said in a key note speech that west Balkans countries have achieved visible progress, but certain risks still remained and should not be underestimated. Crvenkovski said membership in the NATO and EU were his country's main priority and expressed regrets that Macedonia was not invited to join NATO at a summit in Bucharest in April.

Macedonia's NATO membership was blocked by Greece over a 17 year-long name dispute between the two countries. Athens has been opposed to its neighbor being called the Republic of Macedonia, arguing it implies a territorial claim over a Greek northern province also called Macedonia. Editor: Mu Xuequan.

Mediterranean Unity in the Absence of a Solution for Palestine Randa Takieddine Al-Hayat- 01/05/08/

Ever since Nicolas Sarkozy took office in France, he has been pushing forcefully for the creation of a Mediterranean Union. Sarkozy dreams of linking the northern and southern countries of the Mediterranean, based on equality and not a kind of Barcelona Treaty, where everything was decided in Brussels, the European Union capital.Sarkozy is aware of the counterproductive political conditions among the southern Mediterranean countries. He is completely aware that Algeria and Morocco have bad relations, with their borders closed for more than a decade now. He knows quite well that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israeli actions in the Palestinian territories are catastrophic. Sarkozy is perfectly aware of the attempt to see a return of Syrian hegemony over Lebanon. Nonetheless, he says that these political problems can be overcome and there can be a discussion of joint projects, such as cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea or linking ports such as Port Said and Tangier with Barcelona and Marseilles through organizing non-stop maritime excursions. It is true that launching such projects would be useful to the countries of the south. It is also true that the French president should not be blamed for his aspirations. But the question is: Can the northern and southern banks of the Mediterranean be linked, while Palestinian conditions deteriorate due to Israeli policies?

Sarkozy acknowledges that he is a friend of Israel and says that this does not prevent him from talking with Israeli officials about halting settlements and other arbitrary and repressive measures against the Palestinian people. However, prior to launching the Mediterranean Union Project, it would be better for him to exert pressure on his friends in Washington and Tel Aviv to convince them that the interest of the entire world lies in seeing serious efforts made to solve the Palestinian issue. What would Mediterranean unity be with the people of Gaza under siege? How painful and barbaric is the image of that Palestinian woman and her small children, cut down by Israeli weapons! Why don't we hear anyone in the northern Mediterranean condemning this human catastrophe? What has President George Bush done for his friend Mahmoud Abbas, who returned from Washington, as he said, with empty hands? Bush did not urge Israel to change its policies. He did not push Israel to give Abbas an opportunity to succeed in negotiations. In doing so, he has provided all sorts of pretexts to the enemies of the US to spread their propaganda and attract extremists. When Sarkozy says he hopes to see a Palestinian state created by the end of 2009, he knows perfectly well this dream will not come true amid these deteriorating conditions.

On the Syrian-Israeli negotiating track, with Turkish mediation, all of the recent movement has been empty of content, according to informed diplomats. During this period, Israel needs to show this administration, which launched the failed Annapolis process, that it is ready to move on the Syrian track and begin negotiating with Damascus in the absence of any change in its stance on the Palestinian Authority. Meanwhile, Syria needs to exit its international isolation, especially vis-à-vis the US administration, to show that it has returned and begun to strengthen itself via negotiations with Israel. Turkey, for its part, is trying to show the European Union that it has special features on more than one level, and especially with regard to this conflict. Everyone knows that it is difficult for the Israeli public to abandon the Golan Heights, while the Israeli conditions set down on Syria are unfeasible, such as giving up on its alliance with Iran, assistance for Hezbullah, and hosting of Hamas leaders in the Syrian capital.

What makes things even more difficult is the nuclear reactor that Israeli aircraft bombed a few months ago in Syria. The Israeli authorities raised this issue with France last October and turned over photographs of the installation. The US administration went public with the details to embarrass Syria and contradict the policy of its ally Israel on this score. The Arab-Israeli conflict should be a priority of any president who is a friend of Israel, before launching the unity of southern and northern banks of the Mediterranean. The Arab-Israeli conflict represents the core of the problem in the Mediterranean, the Arab region and the entire world.

Rethinking European defense policy MAY 2,08 With Sarkozy contemplating bringing France back into the NATO fold, the need for a strong European defense force is at the forefront, writes Daniel Rackowski for ISN Security Watch.

Image: rockcohen, FlickrCommentary by Daniel Rackowski in Brussels for ISN Security Watch (02/05/08)At the NATO summit in Bucharest in April, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared that they would jointly host NATO's 60th anniversary summit next year in Strasbourg and its German sister town of Kehl - shortly after Sarkozy plans to announce his decision on whether France will become a full NATO member. What better timing could there be to show a much needed political breakthrough for the alliance? Recent statements made by Merkel, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Sarkozy regarding the sorry state of European defense capabilities have spurred the debate over struggling armies on the continent and the need for enhanced military cooperation. But this debate predates even the European institutions without yielding much return, and one might be excused for asking what could give new impetus to an essentially old idea.

For one thing, these comments come from the EU big three. While an accord on such a major policy issue among these leaders is in itself a sign that the message should be taken seriously, they are also known to be in favor of stronger trans-Atlantic ties and as such, they arguably helped to generate a paradigm shift in US attitudes toward a strong and more independent European military.

This shift was perhaps most vociferously articulated by US-NATO Ambassador Victoria Nuland in a landmark speech in Paris in late February during which she went as far as to call for a place where we can plan and train for such missions as a NATO-EU family.The location and timing of Nuland's speech were by no means a coincidence. The main thrust behind European defense has traditionally emanated from the Elysée Palace, but it was Sarkozy's bid to re-join the NATO military integrated command and the suggestion that an EU bloc within the grouping with a more synchronized voice would be mutually beneficial to the US and EU, that really did the trick.Curiously, the US may give the EU a decisive push toward a permanent structured cooperation within the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) framework, as set out in the Lisbon Treaty.With France poised to take over the EU presidency this summer, the US and NATO have lent their support at a critical juncture. Sarkozy has been pushing heavily for a defense bloc consisting of, at least initially, the EU's six biggest member states. What would be novel about this force is not so much the idea, but rather the fact that under the Lisbon Treaty, single member states would not be in a position to veto such a push forward. One of the envisaged requirements for membership would however be a minimum allocation of 2 percent of their respective GDP, a condition currently met only by the UK and France.

This of course is emblematic of the European defense predicament. While there have been complaints about the lack of a European strategic vision for defense and the absence of real common institutions, the actual problem seems to lie in the reluctance to invest in the necessary military equipment and training as well as a disinclination to create comprehensive synergies between member states that would make Europe ready for the security challenges of the 21st century.

The figures are in fact staggering.

While the defense expenditures of EU member states collectively match more than half the US expenditure (3.7 percent of its GDP), for defense, it does not even come close to reaching 50 percent of America's military capabilities.Less than 5 percent of the armed services in Europe are currently deployed abroad, and vast deficiencies in military gear and training suggest no chance for an increase.There is a dire need for UAVs, helicopters and special forces, to name but a few areas where Europe's armies suffer from significant shortcomings. And the Atlantic gap is widening.The US increases spending in strategic areas such as research and development by about 9 percent each year, compared to a meager 1.5 percent in Europe.

The EU will clearly have to spend more, but it will also have to spend more wisely. A structured defense policy would help to save costs for member states, make European forces more effective and foster cohesion. Interoperability and the harmonization of equipment are prerequisites for at least the restoration of the status quo ante at NATO.A strengthened ESDP does not have to produce a zero-sum situation; rather, it has the potential to complement NATO structures as long as existing structures are not unnecessarily duplicated.The realization on the part of the US administration that the US needs a strong partner - both in terms of soft and hard power - is to be welcomed. And the thought is not a new one. Presidents Truman and Eisenhower were enthusiastic about the prospects of a European army at a time when few Europeans would have even considered doing away with what many still consider an essential pillar of national sovereignty. Ripeness is considered a decisive factor for a political sea change. NATO's 60th anniversary could mark the beginning of such an event.Daniel Rackowski is senior fellow for EU affairs at the Brussels-based Transatlantic Institute.The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author only, not the International Relations and Security Network (ISN).

Neo-fascistic European Union demands British travellers to give up privacy rights Edited by Paul Chen MAY 4,08

Passengers travelling between European Union (EU) countries or taking domestic flights would have to hand over a mass of personal information, including their mobile phone numbers and credit card details, as part of a new package of security measures being demanded by the British government. The data would be stored for 13 years and used to profile suspects. Brussels officials are already considering controversial anti-terror plans that would collect up to 19 pieces of information on every air passenger entering or leaving the (EU. Under a controversial agreement reached last summer with the U.S. department of homeland security, the EU already supplies the same information [19 pieces] to Washington for all passengers flying between Europe and the United States. But Britain wants the system extended to sea and rail travel, to be applied to domestic flights and those between EU countries.

According to a questionnaire circulated to all EU capitals by the European commission, the UK is the only country of 27 EU member states that wants the system used for more general public policy purposes besides fighting terrorism and organised crime.

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Top Lebanon Christian cleric heads for US talks MAY 4,08

BEIRUT (AFP) — Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, from whose Maronite community Lebanese presidents are drawn, left on Sunday for the United States, for talks due to focus on Lebanon's protracted presidential vacuum.Sfeir will hold talks with President George W. Bush on May 22 after a stop in New York to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, the Maronite church said.Sfeir said ahead of the visit he hoped Washington could contribute to efforts to ease the political crisis in Lebanon, which has been without a president since November amid wrangling between feuding leaders.The American officials know about the situation in Lebanon. If they can contribute to promoting the security that we want in our country, their efforts will be welcome, Sfeir said.Lebanon's Western-backed ruling coalition and the opposition, supported by Iran and Syria, are deadlocked over power-sharing in the country. The crisis has prevented the election of a new president.The cardinal has repeatedly urged the two camps to resolve the crisis -- the worst to have hit Lebanon since the 1975-1990 civil war -- by electing a president in order to avoid chaos in the divided country.

Sfeir, 88, begins his visit in Qatar where he will say mass on Sunday at Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic church -- the first church in the Muslim Gulf state which opened only in March.On Tuesday, the cleric embarks on an eight-day visit to South Africa before flying to the United States.He wraps up his tour in Spain where he is due to meet King Juan Carlos on May 23 before returning home three days later.

MUSLIM NATIONS

EZEKIEL 38:1-12
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW)and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY)of the north quarters, and all his bands:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.

ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.

PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Published: 05/04/08, 11:42 AM
Sunday Times Hints: Israel's Evidence on Iran Justifies Strikeby Hillel Fendel

(IsraelNN.com) The Sunday Times of London reports that Israel's intelligence information on Iran's nuclear capabilities appears to belie the official United States stance on the issue. The US National Intelligence Estimate of last December concluded that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003. However, the Times reports, Israel has made a breakthrough in intelligence-gathering within Iran, and now fears that Iran has in fact made significant advances towards attaining nuclear power.A source quoted by the Times said the new information was on a par with intelligence that led Israel to discover and then destroy a partly constructed nuclear reactor in Syria last September.The head of Britain's MI6 intelligence agency, Sir John Scarlett, is scheduled to visit Israel later this month, and will be briefed by Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan. Iran’s nuclear program is expected to be high on their agenda in an intelligence-sharing process described by Israeli officials as a strategic dialogue; both Israel and Britain have extensive spy networks in the Middle East.Israeli officials have briefed US and British officials on their findings, and Israel expects the US to revise its analysis of Iran’s program in the near future. The newspaper surmises that if Israel were considering military action against Iran [regarding] its nuclear program, it would want to ensure it had diplomatic support in London and Washington.

Iran: Barak Threatened Us
An Iranian press agency reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak threatened Iran this past Friday. The agency quoted Barak as saying that Israel is fully prepared to launch a military attack on Tehran - though he did not elaborate.Israel is the strongest country in the entire region, even at a range of 1,500 kilometers, Barak reportedly said, adding that Israel is willing to be alone with the problem.Last week, a second US aircraft carrier entered the Persian Gulf, sparking media speculation in Iran that this was a tacit declaration of war on Iran. The Iranian news agency also reported that Israel has been preparing for war for several months now, citing Israel's recent nationwide drill testing its emergency response as an example.

Putin's legacy: strong Russia with a Soviet flavor By Oleg Shchedrov Fri May 2, 4:26 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - When Russian President Vladimir Putin steps down next week after eight years in power, he will leave behind him a strong Russia, self-confident at home and assertive abroad. But the smack of the Soviet past can be felt distinctly in the legacy that Putin, a steely-eyed former KGB spy, will hand over to his protege Dmitry Medvedev, who will be sworn in as the new president on May 7.

Russia was in ruins when Putin became president in 1999. Its economy was spluttering, the country's cohesion was threatened by independent-minded regional leaders, a separatist rebellion in Chechnya and a wave of violent attacks across the country.Eight years on, Russia is very different country and voters give Putin much of the credit -- he bows out with an unprecedented popularity rating of about 70 percent. He will stay on as a powerful prime minister.We have restored the territorial integrity and unity of our nation, we have recreated the state, he has said, summing up his key achievements. We have restored the fundamental basis of the Russian economy and are turning into an economic leader.Chechnya has been largely pacified and key rebel leaders have been killed, although a small-scale Islamist insurgency is still causing instability in the regions around it.The one-trillion-dollar economy, helped by high energy prices and liberal market reforms launched in the first years of Putin's rule, is booming with hefty 7percent annual growth. Big Russian firms are elbowing their way into Western markets.We feel more confident now, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has said. The government no longer needs to plug holes and can focus on long-term goals.I read newspapers again because I find things to be proud of there, said Oleg Georgiyevich, a pensioner who came to watch tanks and missile launchers rolling through Moscow as they rehearsed for a May 9 parade -- a revival of a Soviet-era tradition.

WORRYING SIGNS

But a vocal minority of Russians, along with Western governments and rights groups, see worrying signs.Putin's main achievement is a spectacular return to the Soviet epoch, author and opposition activist Zakhar Prilepin said in the Internet publication Izbrannoye (www.izbrannoye.ru).Putin's rule has seen a rolling back of political freedoms introduced under his predecessor Boris Yeltsin.Hitherto elected regional governors are now effectively appointed by the Kremlin. Parliament, once the scene of political battles, has become under Putin a docile chamber that rubber-stamps the Kremlin's decisions.Opposition parties complain they have been sidelined by a Kremlin campaign of harassment and elections rigged to favor Putin's United Russia party. The Kremlin says the opposition has lost ground because it is out of touch with what voters want.Russia's main television stations and biggest newspapers are either controlled by the state or Kremlin-friendly businessmen, and have become deferential in their reporting.At the grass roots, the pervasive influence of Putin's tightening control is felt too.I had to get a United Russia membership card, said a 50-year-old businessman from the provincial city of Yaroslavl. It is now an entry ticket to official contacts and protects you from problems, exactly like the Communist Party card worked in the Soviet Union. Putin argues that the Kremlin needed to wield stronger political powers to ensure economic growth and avert the disintegration of the country. He also defends another element of his legacy: increasing government involvement in the economy. Some international companies have been forced to give up their stakes in lucrative energy projects and state corporations are mushrooming.

Many investors were alarmed at the way the Russian state dismantled the Yukos oil company, arrested its top executives and sold off its best assets to the state-owned Rosneft in auctions which lacked transparency. Business leaders -- careful since the Yukos case to stay away from politics -- are now warning that too much state intervention could harm the economy. There should be clarity about the role of the state and private business in the economy, the influential head of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, Alexander Shokhin, told Medvedev at a meeting last month.

ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).

MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

ISRAEL SATAN COMES AGAINST

1 CHRONICLES 21:1
1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

ISRAELS TROUBLE

JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.

DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)

ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.

ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.

12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.

Monday Declared International Aliyah Day MAY 4,08
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) More than 400 new immigrants from 23 countries will be arriving in Israel on Monday for what has been declared International Aliyah Day 2008.Aliyah means immigration of Jews to the Land of Isael.The one-day display of the ingathering of exiles, orchestrated by the Absorption Ministry and the Jewish Agency, will mark the absorption of more than 3,000,000 Jewish immigrants to the Promised Land in the 60 years since the State of Israel declared independence. The new immigrants will hail from almost two dozen countries including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Honduras, Hungary, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States. They are planning to settle in more than 50 communities throughout the Land of Israel.A reception honoring the new immigrants will take place at Ben Gurion Airport’s Terminal One at 3 p.m. on Monday, May 5.Also being flown in are about one hundred parents of lone immigrant soldiers serving in the IDF. The young men and women, who immigrated without their families, will be allowed to spend Independence Day with their loved ones. The initiative, called the Keshet Project, seeks to expose parents of immigrants to the country in the hope that they will join their children here.The ceremony will be attended by Absorption Minister Ya’akov Edery, Jewish Agency Chairman Ze’ev Bielski, Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Amar, JNF Chairman Avi Pazner and representatives from the UJC Federations of the US and the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which has been assisting the Jewish Agency in its Aliyah efforts.

Origins of the Idea
The concept of Aliyah Day was first proposed by Israel National Radio's Yishai Fleisher, co-founder of the Kumah Aliyah movement. It was formally presented to the Knesset Lobby for Western Aliyah earlier this year.Aliyah Day is a project that can help change attitudes through the classic Jewish technique of education, Fleisher wrote in a brief to be submitted to Committee Chair MK Gilad Erdan. There are well known state holidays that are used as springboards for massive educational undertakings. Yom Haatzmaut [Independence Day] is a national celebration, but it is also a day of award ceremonies, mass concerts, and gatherings. Yom Hazikaron [Memorial Day] has its cemetery memorials and the horn that so powerfully reminds us of the sacrifice. Yom Hashoa educates us about the horrors of the Holocaust. The time has arrived for a new State Holiday called Aliyah Day. Aliyah Day should be celebrated in all Israeli schools with every child getting up and telling the tale of his family's Aliyah. On TV, the stories of the various Aliyot (mass immigrations from a particular country or sector) are told. Prizes are given out to Aliyah activists, or Klita (absorption) activists.Simultaneously, Aliyah Day will be celebrated internationally in all Zionist institutions. There, the discussion will focus on the importance of Aliyah, the centrality of Israel, and the ingathering of the exiles. In short, Aliyah Day will use the proven model of a State holiday to put Aliyah back into the discourse of Israel and Zionism.Fleisher originally prepared the idea to be presented by Aliyah activist Ze'ev Orenstein, the former Director of Student Aliyah at the Jewish Agency’s New York Aliyah Center, at the World Zionist Congress. After it the Congress responded unenthusiastically to the idea, Orenstein outlined the proposal further on his blog in 2005:

Yom HaAliyah [Aliyah Day] is a day which celebrates the Aliyah of millions of Jews from the four corners of the Earth to the Jewish State of Israel, Orenstein wrote. [It] is a day which celebrates the undying will and spirit of the Jewish People throughout the 2,000 year Exile to return Home to the Land of Israel, as is expressed through Jewish tradition and heritage. [It] is a day which will focus on educating Jews both in Israel, as well as abroad, of the importance of Aliyah, and the fulfillment that it brings to one's Jewish life. In Israel, educational programming would be geared towards helping Jewish Israelis appreciate the significance of Aliyah to the future of the State of Israel, both in a demographic sense, as well as a spiritual one. Additionally, educational programming would be geared towards helping native Israelis understand the challenges and sacrifices involved in making Aliyah, in an effort to try and build a connection and understanding between native Israelis and Olim Chadashim (new immigrants). Additionally, on this day, all Jews who made Aliyah in the past year would be invited to a special ceremony lead by Jewish / political leaders throughout Israel in a gala celebration of the Ingathering of the Exiles.Jewish communities throughout the world will learn how they can find both personal and communal fulfillment in Israel, be it professionally, educationally, religiously, spiritually, or physically. Olim from their respective communities will return to their native communities to give first hand accounts of their lives in Israel.

An Annual Holiday
Both Fleisher and Orenstein suggest alternate dates for the new holiday. Orenstein proposed the 6th of Tammuz. On the 6th of Tammuz over 500 Jews made Aliyah from North America (with the generous assistance and support of Nefesh B'Nefesh), the largest contingent of North American Jews to make Aliyah in one day in Israel’s history, he wrote, explaining that he believes Aliyah from North America to most personify the holiday as it is the apex of Aliyah-by-choice. Fleisher suggested choosing a day in the Hebrew month of Cheshvan. It has some amazing Aliyah dates while at the same time being a relatively quiet month situated at the beginning of the school year, he explained The Torah portion of Lech Lecha usually falls within Cheshvan. Lech Lecha and Abraham's Aliyah is an awesome pedagogical tool to promote Aliyah. Cheshvan also has the yartzeit [anniversary of the death] of [the Matriarch] Rachel, and the Rambam's [Maimonides] Aliyah to Jerusalem. All together, Cheshvan seems a perfect month for a new State holiday to be celebrated and propagated throughout the world with one central message: We are proud and lucky to live in Israel and we are calling upon all Jews to make Aliyah and to join us in the Promised Land.A dozen other chartered and group flights from the US and Canada will take place throughout the summer, organized by Aliyah-assistance movement Nefesh B’Nefesh.

EUROPEAN UNION ARMY

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (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.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: 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 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)

DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.

DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.

REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)

I DON'T KNOW IF THIS ARMY WILL PROTECT ISRAEL LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS THE EU MUST GUARENTEE ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND TRADE OFF. IF FRANCE BRINGS TROOPS IN THIS COULD BE THE START OF THE EU GUARENTEING ISRAELS SECURITY LIKE DANIEL 9:27 SAYS.

Published: 05/04/08, 9:25 AM
US-Trained Fatah Force Deployed in Jenin, France Offers to Join
by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Hundreds of armed Fatah loyalists were deployed in Jenin Saturday as the newest and most trained members of the Palestinian Authority armed police force.The deployment came as a result of authorization granted by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as a good-will gesture to the foundering Fatah-run PA and its chairman, Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas.The 450 trained PLO veterans hail from Jordan and received training from United States General Keith Dayton and his men.The IDF released a statement shortly after the deployment, saying, This morning, approximately 450 Palestinian Authority personnel arrived at Jenin and north Samaria. The deployment was made after a number of coordinated meetings of different levels between IDF personnel and the Civil Administration with the Palestinians.The IDF statement qualified: It is important to emphasize that the IDF did not pass the security responsibility in Jenin to the Palestinian Policemen, and will continue their coordination with the Palestinian Policemen in Jenin.

Deployment Controversial
Several organizations, most notably terror victim associations and student groups, have come out against the training and deployment of additional PA police forces. In addition to the problem of Fatah controlling armed forces while it still maintains terrorist groups under its control, actual PA police have carried out terrorist attacks as recently as the past few months.Ido Zoldan, a former resident of Homesh, was gunned down near Kedumim by a PA police officer. Off-duty IDF soldiers Achikam Amichai and David Rubin were also shot to death by a PA officer and PA Islamic court employee – who both took refuge at the PA’s Hevron headquarters immediately following the murders.An armored vehicle given to Fatah when it controlled Gaza was recently used to overrun the Gaza border in a carefully staged bomb-attack on the eve of Passover two weeks ago by Hamas. Israel has authorized the transfer of several identical armored vehicles to Fatah by Russia to its remaining footholds in Judea and Samaria.

France Offers to Send Troops
France has offered its unsolicited assistance in the form of dispatching troops to Judea, Samaria and Gaza in the event that an international force is created to patrol those regions.Left-wing groups and even MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) have increasingly called for international troops to be deployed in areas currently under control of Fatah and Hamas. Hamas rejects the idea, though Fatah officials have expressed interest.Yehuda HaKohen of the student activist Zionist Freedom Alliance said, This new Fatah force is a police force of gangsters who oppress their own people and kill our people. The only reason that they are being allowed to have an army is that their corrupt leadership [Abbas] is pursuing the agenda of the Bush administration to shrink and weaken the State of Israel. In this local conflict, both sides are being armed by the same western government. If western powers would stop interfering in our local conflict, maybe it will be easier to realize peace in our time.French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said France would be willing to take part in such an international force when circumstances permit and if the parties so wish. International forces under the command of the European Union were stationed at the Rafiah crossing between Gaza and Egypt following the 2005 Disengagement, but fled almost immediately following the 2007 Hamas takeover of the region. International forces are currently stationed in southern Lebanon, but even internal UN reports admit they have failed to stop weapons smuggling and terrorist activity in the area.

Attacks and Arrests in Judea and Samaria
A terror attack in the south Hevron Hills area was prevented Friday night when soldiers manning a checkpoint attempted to stop an Arab man who was acting suspiciously. The Arab ran away from the troops, who fired in the air, in accordance with directives for IDF soldiers. When the Arab refused to stop they fired and wounded him. The Arab, who was found to be carrying a large knife, presumably to be used in a terror attack, was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment. He later died of his wounds.Over the Sabbath, Arab terrorists in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets and six mortar shells at Israeli targets in the western Negev. No injuries or damage were reported in the attacks. Arabs threw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli driver on Saturday night near the city of Bethlehem. The driver was uninjured.Later at night, Arabs threw Molotov cocktails and stones at IDF forces near the city. The soldiers were not hurt in the attack. Soldiers managed to arrest two of the attackers.IDF soldiers arrested three wanted terrorists in Judea and Samaria early on Sunday morning. The detainees were taken to security services for questioning. No injuries were reported.

Rice to Demand Removal of More Checkpoints
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she plans to pressure Israel to continue removing checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. In a conversation with journalists held on Saturday, Rice said she would discuss the checkpoints with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.In addition, she said, she plans to investigate the “facts on the ground” to see whether or not Palestinian Authority Arabs are experiencing improved conditions following the removal of several checkpoints. Several checkpoints and dozens of roadblocks in Judea and Samaria have already been removed despite misgivings from some security officials.

Jews in Samaria Repel Arab Mob
Residents of the Arab village of Asira al-Kabalia clashed with Jews from the nearby town of Yitzhar on Saturday. According to local Jews and IDF soldiers who witnessed the incident, the clash began when dozens of Arabs began walking towards Yitzhar while setting fire to Jewish-owned fields along the way.When the Arabs reached the Jewish town, the two sides began to fight. IDF soldiers stopped the clash. Nobody was arrested.Arabs later claimed Jews entered Asira al-Kabalia, took to the rooftops and smashed vehicles and windows throughout the village with help from IDF soldiers.