BUSHS MIDEAST TRIP

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.

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.

Thousands flee on flooding fears after China quake
Sat May 17, 6:54 PM By Chris Buckley and John Ruwitch

BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - Thousands of Chinese fled their homes on Saturday amid fears a lake could burst its banks, hampering rescue efforts after the deadliest earthquake in more than three decades killed about 29,000 people.Rescue workers returned to Beichuan county, near the epicenter of the quake, in Sichuan province, but many residents were too frightened to go home, worried about a lake formed after aftershocks triggered landslides blocking a river.After briefly evacuating, rescue work returned to normal at Beichuan, an official Web site (www.china.com.cn) said, blaming the evacuation on a false alarm.A paramilitary officer had told Reuters earlier that the likelihood of the lake bursting its banks was extremely big.The situation was very dangerous because there are still tremors causing landslides that could damage the dam, said Luo Gang, a building worker who left the southeastern port city of Xiamen and rushed home to look for his missing fiancee.

Rescue work had been complicated by bad weather, treacherous terrain and hundreds of aftershocks.The United States Geological Survey reported a tremor of 6.1 magnitude centered 49 miles west of Guangyuan, the latest in a series of aftershocks to hit Sichuan province. China's official Xinhua news agency said there was no immediate word from the area of additional damage or casualties.

President Hu Jintao urged emergency workers not to give up efforts to find survivors of Monday's 7.9 magnitude earthquake. Thousands of people are believed to remain trapped under rubble.We should put people first and saving people's lives is still the top priority of the relief work, he said.In a glimmer of hope that more people could be found alive, 33 people were rescued in Beichuan, including a 69-year-old villager who had been buried for 119 hours.Hu also praised international help given to China.I express heartfelt thanks to the foreign governments and international friends that have contributed to our quake-relief work, Xinhua quoted Hu as saying.Offers of help have flooded in and foreign rescue teams from Japan, Russia, Taiwan, South Korea and Singapore have arrived. Donations from home and abroad have topped 6 billion yuan ($858 million).

FEARS FOR FUTURE

As the weather becomes warmer, survivors were worried about hygiene and asked questions about their longer-term future.What we don't need now is more instant noodles, said truck driver Wang Jianhong in the city of Dujiangyan. We want to know now what will happen with our lives.Officials plan to distribute 0.5 kg (1.102 lb) of food and a 10 yuan subsidy each day to people with financial difficulties in quake-hit areas for three months, Xinhua reported, after a meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.They also want to install mobile homes, temporary classrooms and clinics for quake-affected people.China has said it expects the final death toll from the earthquake to exceed 50,000. About 4.8 million people have lost their homes and the days are numbered in which survivors can be found.Cabinet spokesman Guo Weimin, taking a long pause to compose himself as he read from an updated casualty report at a news conference, put the death toll so far at 28,881.Premier Wen said the quake was the biggest and most destructive since before the Communist revolution of 1949 and the quick response had helped reduce casualties.China has sent 150,000 troops to the disaster area, but roads buckled by the quake and blocked by landslides have made it hard for supplies and rescuers to reach the worst-hit areas.
(Additional reporting by Guo Shipeng and Benjamin Kang Lim in Beijing and Donny Kwok in Hong Kong; Writing by Benjamin Kang Lim; Editing by Keith Weir)

China holding 3 days of mourning for quake victims By AUDRA ANG, Associated Press Writer MAY 18,08

BEICHUAN, China - Flags flew at half-staff, public entertainment was canceled and 1.3 billion people were asked to observe three minutes of silence as China began three days of mourning Monday for the victims of the nation's massive earthquake. Officials asked for the horns of cars, trains and ships and air raid sirens to sound as people fell silent at 2:28 p.m. — exactly one week after the quake splintered thousands of buildings and killed an estimated 50,000 people. Chinese news portal sina.com said the government had ordered all visitors to online entertainment and game pages to be redirected to Web sites dedicated to commemorating earthquake victims.The Olympic torch relay — a potent symbol of national pride in the countdown to August's much anticipated Beijing games — was also suspended during the mourning period.Hope of finding more trapped survivors dwindled, and preventing hunger and disease among the homeless became more pressing.It will soon be too late to find trapped survivors, said Koji Fujiya, deputy leader of a Japanese rescue team working in Beichuan, a town reduced to rubble. His team pulled 10 bodies out of Beichuan's high school Sunday.The steady run of rescue news flashed by the official Xinhua News Agency has slowed. Just three rescues were reported Sunday, including a woman in Yingxiu town who was reached by soldiers who dug a 15-foot tunnel through the wreckage of a flattened power station and had to amputate both her legs to set free, after 150 hours.

She was in a delirious state and told rescuers to leave her alone, thinking she was already in a hospital, Xinhua quoted rescuer Ma Gang as saying. We fed her milk and water, and her family was there to reassure her.Dozens of aftershocks have rumbled through the region, extending the damage and fear of survivors. A magnitude 6 temblor on Sunday killed three people, injured more than 1,000 and caused further damage to houses and roads, Xinhua reported.With more bodies discovered, the confirmed death toll rose to 32,476, the State Council, China's cabinet, reported. The injured numbered more than 220,000.Many bodies lay by roadsides in body bags or wrapped in plastic sheeting, as authorities struggled to deal with the sheer number of corpses by digging burial pits and working crematoriums overtime.The World Health Organization warned that shortages of clean water and warmer, humid weather in Sichuan province — which bore the brunt of the earthquake — were ripe for epidemics. It urged officials not to be distracted by the false belief that corpses were a health threat.The Health Ministry said no major epidemics or other public health hazards had been reported so far, Xinhua said. Two field hospitals with 400 beds have been set up in isolated areas and medical staff have reached all townships affected by the quake, Xinhua said.The three-day mourning period starting Monday was the most extensive one the government has ordered since the death 11 years ago of communist patriarch Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the free-market reforms that have brought many Chinese from poverty to moderate prosperity in a generation.

Officials initially resisted changing the relay, which corporate sponsors have paid millions of dollars to fund, though some of the pomp was toned down in recent days. Organizers say the relay will resume in Sichuan next month.Responding to concerns about nuclear sites in the quake zone, a Chinese military spokesman, air force Maj. Gen. Ma Jian, told reporters Sunday that all nuclear facilities jolted by the quake were confirmed safe.Though Ma did not elaborate, China has a research reactor, two nuclear fuel production sites and two atomic weapons sites within 90 miles of the quake's epicenter, according to the French Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety.Flood threats from rivers blocked by landslides from the quake appeared to have eased after three waterways near the epicenter overflowed with no problems, Xinhua said. County officials diverted released water as a precaution.The quake damaged some water projects, such as reservoirs and hydroelectric stations, but no reservoirs had burst, Liu Ning, engineer-in-chief with the Ministry of Water Resources, told Xinhua. Worries about possible flooding had sent thousands of people fleeing the day before. Also in the quake area, three giant pandas were missing from the Wolong Nature Reserve for the endangered animals. Five staff members were killed in the quake, forestry spokesman Cao Qingyao told Xinhua. The 60 other giant pandas at the were safe. President Hu Jintao continued to tour the destruction for a third day and was surrounded by wailing women at a camp for homeless survivors in Yinghua. I know you lost family and property, Hu was quoted by state media as saying. I share the pain with you. We will try every effort to save your people once there is the slightest hope and possibility.China also raised the magnitude of last Monday's quake, to 8.0 from 7.8, though it did not give reasons for the reassessment and the U.S. Geological Survey kept its 7.9 measure. A magnitude-8 quake has the equivalent energy of 790 nuclear bombs, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Foreign aid continued to arrive, including two U.S. Air Force cargo planes loaded with tents, lanterns and 15,000 meals.

A vast, impromptu humanitarian operation has sprung up among Chinese, with thousands flooding into Sichuan in cars loaded with instant noodles, blankets, clothes and whatever else they could carry. Chinese people, organizations and companies donated around $1.1 billion for quake relief in the first week after the disaster, Xinhua said. Associated Press writers Tini Tran in Muyu and Henry Sanderson in Beijing contributed to this report.

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.

Four dead as Halong lashes northern Philippines: officials
MAY 18,08

MANILA (AFP) - Four people were killed as tropical storm Halong battered the northern Philippines on Sunday, with powerful winds triggering floods and landslides, relief officials said.All four were hit by tin sheets torn from the roofs of houses in Pangasinan province on the main Philippine island of Luzon, the civil defence office reported.Huge waves known as storm surges destroyed more than 20 houses and a dozen fishing boats and forced 845 people from their homes in the towns of Iba and Botolan, about 145 kilometres (90 miles) northwest of the capital.The northwestern coast of Luzon and the northern mountain resort of Baguio were without electricity, while the coastguard barred small ferries from taking to sea, it said in a report.More than 5,000 other people were displaced by flooding and landslides in the central island of Panay when the storm brushed past the region last week, the relief agency said in a statement.The storm struck the country's northwest coast overnight Saturday at wind speeds of 95 kilometres (59 miles) an hour before weakening slightly as it raked northeast across the Cordillera mountain range, the weather bureau said.Its eye hovered above the town of Gonzaga on Luzon's northeast coast at 2:00pm (0600 GMT) and was forecast to cross over the northern tip of the Sierra Madre Range overnight on its way to the Philippine Sea.Floods cut off key roads in Panay and on the neighbouring island of Mindoro and northern Luzon while landslides shut down roads to Baguio and nearby areas in the Cordillera, it said.

The storm uprooted trees and even a school building in Iba, where about 500 soldiers mounted a search and rescue operation for families displaced by the storm surges, it said.In the town of San Jose, in the central Luzon plain east of Iba, residents laid sandbags to protect their village from rising floodwaters, the agency said.The weather bureau warned residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes across Luzon to take all necessary precautions against possible flash floods and landslides.Luzon's west coast and the islands on the western half of the central Philippines could be hit by big waves, it added.

Burmese children facing starvation, agency warns
Sun May 18, 7:50 AM

VANCOUVER (CBC) - Thousands of children who survived Burma's cyclone will starve to death in two to three weeks unless food is rushed to them, an international aid agency warned Sunday.Save the Children said it believes 30,000 children under the age of five in the hard-hit Irrawaddy Delta were already severely malnourished before Cyclone Nargis hit on May 2.We are extremely worried that many children in the affected areas are now suffering from severe acute malnourishment, the most serious level of hunger, said Jasmine Whitbread, who heads the agency's operation in Britain. When people reach this stage, they can die in a matter of days.

Burmese refugees desperate for aid to start flowing to their families back home held a small protest on Sunday in Mae Sot, which borders Burma, also known as Myanmar. About half the city's 150,000 residents are political exiles or refugees from the neighbouring country.Demonstrators told CBC News they're frustrated over the slow pace of aid distribution and that the international community should be pushing harder to gain entry to cyclone-ravaged areas. They said their families in Burma are starving and that the military regime is not doing enough to help.UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, rebuffed so far in attempts to discuss the situation with the Burmese junta's leaders, announced Sunday he will go to the disaster zone Wednesday to try to ramp up aid efforts.Cyclone Nargis hit just over two weeks ago, killing at least 78,000 people. Another 56,000 people are officially reported as missing.

International aid is arriving in Thailand for the victims, including a shipment from Canada on Saturday, but the ruling military junta insists on handing out the aid without assistance.A number of Buddhist monks joined the more than 100 people in Mae Sot who took part in the peaceful protest, which was confined to a small courtyard.Burmese are not allowed to hold open demonstrations in Thailand. Violators risk arrest by Thai police and deportation.
With files from the Associated Press

Bush lectures Arab world on political reform, women's rights By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent MAY 18,08

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - President Bush lectured the Arab world Sunday about everything from political repression to the denial of women's rights but ran into Palestinian complaints he is favoring Israel in stalled Mideast peace talks. Freedom and peace are within your grasp, Bush said despite scant signs of progress. Winding up a five-day trip to the region, Bush took a strikingly tougher tone with Arab nations than he did with Israel in a speech Thursday to the Knesset. Israel received effusive praise from the president while Arab nations heard a litany of U.S. criticisms mixed with some compliments.Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail, Bush said in a speech to 1,500 global policymakers and business leaders at this Red Sea beach resort. That was a clear reference to host Egypt, where main secular opposition figure Ayman Nour has been jailed and President Hosni Mubarak has led an authoritarian government since 1981.America is deeply concerned about the plight of political prisoners in this region, as well as democratic activists who are intimidated or repressed, newspapers and civil society organizations that are shut down and dissidents whose voices are stifled, Bush said.I call on all nations in this region to release their prisoners of conscience, open up their political debate and trust their people to chart their future, Bush said.

Scattered applause followed, with barely a ripple of reaction later to his declaration than Iran must not be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon.Bush arrived back in Washington late Sunday with little to show for the trip. Saudi Arabia rebuffed his plea for help with soaring oil prices, Egypt's leader questioned his seriousness about peacemaking and there was not enough progress in the peace talks to warrant a three-way meeting of Bush with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, did not conceal his disappointment over Bush's remarks to the Israeli parliament. The speech barely mentioned Palestinian hopes.

We do not want the Americans to negotiate on our behalf, Abbas said Sunday after talks with Mubarak. All that we want from them is to stand by (our) legitimacy and have a minimum of neutrality. Abbas had dinner Saturday with Bush.In principle, the Bush speech at the Knesset angered us, and we were not happy with it, Abbas said Sunday. This is our position and we have a lot of remarks (about the speech) and I frankly, clearly and transparently asked him that the American position should be balanced.Abbas told Israeli parliament member Yossi Beilin on Sunday he would resign if there was no substantial progress in peace talks over the next six months, according to the lawmaker's office.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on Air Force One with Bush returning to Washington, said there were serious peace negotiations going on in private and that she expected them to intensify in the months ahead. She said Bush inserted the wording in the speech that I believe the Palestinians will build a democracy, as a sign of his confidence that will happen.As for Arab criticism Bush leans too far in supporting Israel, Rice said, The president isn't pro this or pro that. The president is pro-democracy and pro-peace.

The trip was Bush's second to the Mideast this year. His national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, said Bush might return again before his term ends in January if there is work for him to advance the peace process.The White House made clear that Bush's goal for a peace accord before his leaves office does not mean it will be put into place by then or produce an immediate Palestinian state. That would be a process that would take years, Hadley said.Bush ended his visit with an address to the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, an offshoot of the annual gathering of political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.After talking privately with key leaders, the president in public touched only broadly on Mideast peacemaking. He did not suggest concrete steps to resolve the generations-old differences standing in the way of an agreement.

Palestinians must fight terror and continue to build the institutions of a free and peaceful society, Bush said. Israel must make tough sacrifices for peace, ease the restrictions on Palestinians. Arab states, especially oil-rich nations, must seize this opportunity to invest aggressively in the Palestinian people and to move past their old resentments against Israel.And all nations in the region must stand together in confronting Hamas, which is attempting to undermine efforts at peace with acts of terror and violence from the Gaza Strip, Bush said. Hamas, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group, controls that territory; the U.S.-backed Abbas is in charge of the West Bank. The heart of Bush's speech was a warning that Mideast nations lag behind the developing world and cannot count on their oil wealth forever. Bush urged countries to make their economies more diverse, open to free trade, with lower taxes and protection for intellectual property rights. He called for political changes that bring competitive, legitimate elections where leaders are held to account and appealed to nations to push back against the negative influence of spoilers such as Iran and Syria. He urged an expansion of women's rights as a matter of morality and of basic math. No nation that cuts off half its population from opportunities will be as productive or prosperous as it could be. Women are a formidable force, as I have seen in my own family and my own administration.At the same time, Bush hailed democratic advances in countries such as Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco and Jordan and said, The light of liberty is beginning to shine.Bush's speech recalled his promise in his second inaugural address to work in every nation for ending tyranny in our world. One of the obvious targets of his message was Egypt, the country hosting the conference. Egypt has often been publicly singled out by his administration, especially in its early years, as a country that needs to do more in terms of political liberalization and democracy. Egypt did hold its first presidential elections in 2005 but pulled back following strong gains by the Muslim Brotherhood in later parliamentary elections.

In addition to Nour's jailing, independent newspaper editors were sentenced to prison for criticizing the president and his government, and hundreds of members of the Muslim Brotherhood were put behind bars. Public criticism of Mubarak's government by the Bush administration, however, has been increasingly muted in recent years as the situation in Iraq worsened and worries grew over Iran, and as the U.S. sought Egypt's help on a Palestinian-Israeli peace deal. Bush said political changes must accompany economic ones in Egypt. Associated Press writer Salah Nasrawi contributed to this report. On the Net: White House site on Bush's trip: http://tinyurl.com/598kka

Bin Laden calls on Muslims to end Israeli Gaza blockade: website Sun May 18, 7:05 PM ET

DUBAI (AFP) - Osama bin Laden has called on Muslims to help lift the Israeli blockade on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, in an audio message purportedly recorded by the Al-Qaeda chief and posted on the Internet Sunday. The message, which could not immediately be authenticated, was addressed to the Islamic nation and posted on a website used by Islamist militants.It called on Muslims, especially those in Egypt, to work to break the unjust blockade on Gaza, which has resulted in dozens of deaths.It also cited the participation of some western leaders in recent celebrations marking the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel as proof that (their) values of justice, freedom and humanism are mere slogans brandished about to trick the weak.US President George W. Bush was among top leaders who joined in the anniversary festivities -- an occasion marked by Palestinians as a catastrophe.The new recording upbraided Arab states for having sold out the Palestinian people, insisting that Israel owed its continued existence not to its own power, but to the fact that (Arab) governments have renounced their struggle against the Jewish state.

In order to liberate Palestine there is no other path than the battle against the governments and parties ... who stand between us and the Jews, said the recording.It also upbraided Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah for ending the Lebanese Shiite militia's 2006 war against Israel.Hassan Nasrallah said he didn't need money ... or men as he had those. If he was sincere why didn't he continue the battle for the liberation of Palestine? The Internet site had announced earlier Sunday that it was about to carry a very strong address from the lion of Islam, Sheikh Osama bin Laden.It was the second audio message attributed to Bin Laden to surface on the Internet in the past three days, following a similar recording on Friday that vowed a sustained Muslim battle for Palestine.We will continue the fight against the Israelis and their allies... and we will not give up one inch of Palestine, God willing, as long as there is one sincere Muslim on this earth, the earlier message said.

The Al-Qaeda chief has taken credit for the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States which killed nearly 3,000 people and triggered the US-led invasion of Afghanistan.The Saudi-born bin Laden has a 25-million-dollar bounty on his head but his whereabouts are unknown.

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.

Florida under dense smoke adivsory amid wildfires Sun May 18, 3:14 PM ET

MIAMI - Parts of southern Florida were under a dense smoke advisory on Sunday as firefighters worked to control several wildfires that have burned about 62 square miles. The majority of fires burned around Lake Okeechobee in Glades County and on the coast in Brevard County, where a smokey haze was expected to linger throughout the day.In the area around Lake Okeechobee, the Florida Highway Patrol used electronic highway signs to warn people about lingering smoke, and areas northeast of the lake were continuing to experience haze from the fires, said Division of Forestry spokeswoman Melissa Yunas.

In Brevard County, fires were 75 percent contained, said State Division of Forestry spokesman Todd Schroeder.

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).

EU seeks to speed up negotiations with ACN, Mercosur
www.chinaview.cn 2008-05-17 10:56:25

LIMA, May 16 (Xinhua) -- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday it is necessary to speed up negotiations on cooperation with the Andean Community of Nations (ACN) and the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). Barroso, who is attending the Latin American, Caribbean and European Union Summit, said the European Union (EU) will consider changing some of its positions on the disparities between Latin American countries. The aim is to complete the EU's accords with the ACN, Mercosur and Central America next year, Barroso said. To date, the EU has free trade deals with Mexico and Chile. These are not simple commercial trades, but are accompanied with political dialogue based on social inclusion and the fight against climate change, Barroso said.

The EU will double its budget for food cooperation as a measure to help address economic imbalance in Latin America. The strategic association between Latin America and Europe is now more necessary than when it was proposed during the Rio de Janeiro summit. Global challenges demand today global answers, Barroso said. These challenges are climate change, energy security, food price, terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, he said. The ACN, Peru and Colombia want to move forward faster in the negotiations with the EU, while Bolivia is interested in migratory and human rights subjects. Editor: Sun Yunlong

Fifth Latin America-European Union Summit advocates democracy MAY 18,08

The Fifth Latin America, Caribbean-European Union Summit -held in Lima- Friday made a call whereby the two regions undertake to enhance their relations and find a solution to the problems hitting people worldwide.The meeting -attended by some 60 heads of state and presidents from the two regions- was closed by Peruvian President Alan García late Friday.EU, Latin American and Caribbean representatives whose countries have agreements pending for execution -including those under the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), the Andean Community of Nations (CAN), the Central American Integration System, among others- are meeting on May 17 in the Peruvian capital city.García hailed the fact that the summit reached an agreement to take actions to fight against poverty, a problem hitting almost one third of Latin Americans.The Peruvian ruler also urged to uproot illiteracy and put an end to the insanity of an arms race and rivalries among countries in the two regions.The next Latin America, Caribbean-European Union Summit is scheduled to be held in 2010 in Spain, Efe reported.

Socialists introduce alternatives to the Union for the Mediterranean Saturday, May 17, 2008ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

Party of European Socialists (PES)has presented a proposal designed to influence preparations in the European Commission for a European Union-Mediterranean summit, to be held in Paris on July 13 under the auspices of the French EU presidency. Members of the PES told the EU's information Web site EurActiv that the proposal, unveiled Wednesday, came in response to French President Nicolas Sarkozy's design for a union of Mediterranean countries. Sarkozy first floated the idea of a Mediterranean union during the French election campaign in 2007. The initiative received the backing of Italy, Spain and Greece, but it drew heavy criticism from Germany, which is keen to ensure that the new union does not compete with the EU or the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership formed under the Barcelona Process. Nevertheless, in March, German Chancellor Angela Merkel lent her support to Sarkozy's project, receiving in exchange his assurances that it would be a project for all 27 member states. The final project, called the “Union for the Mediterranean,” was backed by EU leaders at a summit in March, albeit a watered down version.

Pasqualina Napoletano, vice chairperson of the Party of European Socialists, called Sarkozy's proposals too voluntary and not very clear. She also cautioned against a move toward national hegemony, and attempts to reinvent the Mediterranean, adding that Sarkozy had likely not heard of the Barcelona Declaration when he first launched his proposal for the Union for the Mediterranean. However, Napoletano added more positively that she supports the development of Mediterranean relations, but wishes to build on existing relations and the process that began with the 1995 Barcelona Declaration. The document she presented highlights the need to overcome what she calls hysterical fears over immigration. Instead, she said Europe should concentrate on long-term strategies, especially projects that would foster employment in its southern partner countries and reduce the socio-economic gap between northern and southern nations. She also stressed the need to help civil society and democratic political forces in the southern Mediterranean. According to Euractive, she said the PES is also keen to keep the option of EU membership open for Turkey, and does not wish to have that goal overshadowed by a Mediterranean partnership. Napoletano said the PES has, in fact, very close political relations with Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The PES is also demanding that the European Parliament be consulted over the establishment of permanent bodies for Euro-Mediterranean cooperation. It insists that the new union consist of a robust parliament, building on the existing Euro-Mediterranean parliamentary assembly or the APEM.

Jerusalem, capital of the world MAY 17,08
Simon Goldhill takes readers to the city that lies at the intersection of east and west and the crossroads of competing historical narratives, and that has captured imaginations like no other KORNEL ZATHURECZKY, Freelance Saturday, May 17

If asked to name the capital of the world, many people would reply New York, on account of its grandiose architecture, unsurpassed economic importance and vibrant cultural life.Simon Goldhill would strongly disagree. In Jerusalem: City of Longing, he serves up a playful pastiche of a book, peppered with enchanting anecdotes, that places Jerusalem at the world's centre.Jerusalem, small and insignificant architecturally, the unique splendour of the Dome of the Rock notwithstanding, has captured the imagination of people through the ages like no other city. Abounding in memories, it lies at the intersection of East and West and at the crossroads of competing historical narratives. It is a city of multiple projects of the imagination, where every piece of stone lies at the junction of often profoundly different historical perspectives.

Goldhill focuses on these seemingly insignificant stones to reveal the city's hidden stories. Though people are often captivated by history's grand narratives, these always prove deceptive. The history of a city is more about interruptions, contests and heart-wrenching agonies. This is the kind of history Goldhill presents, and it is the main reason his book distinguishes itself among the many others on Jerusalem.The book unfolds in such a way that it mimics the stages of a love affair, though this is certainly not a case of love at first sight, like being lovestruck by the glamour of Paris, for example. The love affair with Jerusalem begins in a rather reserved way, full of uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the object of one's affections.Each chapter opens with intriguing anecdotes that lead easily toward more detailed discussions of particular features of the city. This quality makes Goldhill's book a valuable guide for visitors, current residents and even for people who can only dream of ever visiting.Jerusalem, like any good lover, holds exciting surprises. Once the author has persuaded the reader to fall in love with Jerusalem, he serves up one such surprise, presenting it in the unexpected guise of a Victorian city. That chapter begins with an English travel writer's description of the strange tradition of Russian peasant pilgrimages to Jerusalem during the Victorian era. This was an epoch when competing empires tried to stake a claim to Jerusalem, recognizing the symbolic significance of such a gesture.However, it was left to ambitious representatives of the British Empire, pilgrims of a different kind, to usher the city into modernity.

This is a book for pilgrims, religious or otherwise. Goldhill reminds us all, not least leaders of the state of Israel and those who seek to eradicate the Jewish state, that Jerusalem belongs to everyone. Although the author discusses, almost by canonical necessity, the three great Abrahamic religions that have staked claims on this most contested and congested piece of real estate, Goldhill does not bog down his book with arguments.The author begins his adventures through the labyrinthine passages of memory that criss-cross Jerusalem, describing the warm hospitality he enjoyed while visiting the home of a Palestinian Muslim who lives in a house adjacent to the Holy Sepulchre, the site most revered by Christians. Through his descriptions of such revealing encounters, enriched by his penchant for small details, Goldhill illustrates how Jerusalem does not allow strict lines of separation to be drawn between people of different creeds and beliefs. In spite of the walls erected and the rituals devised to demarcate the turf of each religious group, the city's various sites and their history make it impossible to segregate one religious group from another.

Lesson from Zachariah stands true for today, too
May 17, 2008

Some 2,400 years ago, as the Jews were slowly building the Second Temple in Jerusalem, they asked the prophet Zachariah (Zachariah 7), Shall we continue to fast for the Babylonian destruction of the First Temple? Or has our period of mourning ended? Commentators explain that this question was born of frustration with the slow pace of Jewish redemption from their exile to Babylon. Persian King Cyrus had permitted the Jews to return to Israel and build their temple anew, but the process had been hampered by Samaritan antagonism as well as Jewish poverty. Those who remembered the glory of the First Temple were unimpressed by the diminished beauty of the second. Only a small percentage of the nation had even returned from exile at this stage of the building process. And so the nation wanted to know: Is this what redemption looks like? Is our suffering truly over, or are we simply in another phase of our exile? Fast-forward to our own day, and May 2008, as Israel celebrates its 60th anniversary of modern statehood. When this new incarnation of a Jewish country was first established, just a few years after the Holocaust, many Jews looked upon its birth as a divine nod of approval, the first sproutings of messianic redemption. A holiday, Yom ha'Atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) was established, complete with special prayers of thanks and great celebrations.

Over the past 60 years, Israel has succeeded in fulfilling much of that messianic promise. Millions of Jews have been saved from persecution in other countries, such as France, Argentina, Yemen, Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union. The Torah is studied there in dozens if not hundreds of institutions. Sites barred to Jews by generations of Arab rulers are now open for all to access. A thriving economy, great universities, a society with civil rights for all of its citizens, a democratically elected government and a free press, all of these have been introduced for the first time in many centuries into a land which had been governed by one despot or another for almost two thousand years, since the eviction of the Jews by the Roman empire. In many ways, the past 60 years have seen a great, even messianic, Jewish renaissance in Israel.But, at the same time, the question of Zachariah's era resonates with Jews of today's generation. For thousands of years, Jewish sages have taught that a messianic time would mean peace with the nations around us, a return to Jewish religion by all Jews, and a temple on the Temple Mount. It is for this that Jews have prayed, And may our eyes behold your merciful return to Zion, three times each day, for millennia. And so Jews today look at constant warfare, internecine squabbles, political corruption and significant poverty among children and the elderly, and ask the question of their ancestors: Shall we continue to fast for the destruction of the First Temple? Or has our period of mourning ended?

To this question, Zachariah's answer is as relevant today as it was in his day. The prophet reminded the populace of the sins which had preceded the First Temple's destruction, as well as the exhortations of his predecessors: Judge truthfully, and act with generosity and mercy toward each other. Do not cheat the widow, the orphan and the stranger, and do not plot evil against your brother in your hearts.In other words, dithering about whether deliverance has arrived or not is a waste of time. Better to focus on righting wrongs and building a proper society, and ensuring that we earn whatever redemption God has in store.This is a timeless message for Jews and for all humanity's eschatology-oriented religions -- divine redemption will come, whatever its form, when it is divinely decreed. Our responsibility is not to attach a label to this salvation, but to work to make it a reality.Mordechai Torczyner is rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel, Allentown.