ISRAELS 60TH MIRACLE BIRTHDAY TODAY

EARTHQUAKES

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

Earthquake 100 miles away wakes up residents of Tokyo May 704:11 PM US/Eastern

TOKYO (AP) - A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Japan early Thursday, the national Meteorological Agency said, waking up people 100 miles away in Tokyo. Two people suffered minor injuries from falling furniture, public television broadcaster NHK reported. An 18-year-old man was hit when his stereo speakers fell onto his bed, and a 25-year-old man was hit by objects rattled off shelves.

There were no other immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 6.8 earthquake, NHK said. No tsunami warning was issued. The earthquake occurred at 1:45 a.m. offshore at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 100 miles northeast of Tokyo. A second quake with a magnitude of 5.3 struck the same area about 30 minutes later, and more aftershocks could follow, Tamotsu Aketagawa, an official who monitors earthquakes for the country's Meteorological Agency, told The Associated Press. Since it was a very large-scale earthquake, we would expect to see some modest aftershocks, he said. Japan is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world because it sits atop four tectonic plates. Tokyo has not been hit by a major quake since 1923, when 140,000 people died in the Great Kanto Earthquake.

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 STORY
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7717511&ch=4226714&src=news

Estimated 80,000 cyclone dead in one Myanmar district: official MAY 7,08

LABUTTA, Myanmar (AFP) - An estimated 80,000 people have died in the remote Myanmar district of Labutta since a powerful cyclone struck last weekend, a local military official told AFP on Thursday. Labutta sits in the Irrawaddy delta, which bore the brunt of the storm's fury when it struck overnight Friday.Dozens of the 63villages surrounding the town of Labutta have been wiped out, said Tin Win, leader of a ward within the town.So far the estimated death toll in those villages is about 80,000, he told AFP.

US pressing to deliver aid to Myanmar By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer MAY 7,08

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon readied people and equipment for an aid mission to cyclone-stricken Myanmar, but the top U.S. diplomat in the Asian nation said its military junta was paranoid about accepting American help. The U.S. military was putting people and airplanes into position Wednesday in nearby Thailand. But Myanmar's government had not accepted the U.S. offer to send aid, U.S. defense and diplomatic officials said. The top American diplomat in Yangon, Charge d'Affaires Shari Villarosa, said the country's military junta is paranoid about the United States but is not blocking American aid in retaliation for past criticism.It's a very paranoid regime, she told reporters in a conference call. She said lower reaches of the Myanmar regime appear to recognize the magnitude of the problem, but the senior leadership is isolated and has not yet announced a decision on how to handle outside aid, large amounts of which are moving into the area.President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, called the cyclone a humanitarian disaster of enormous proportions.Notably, the White House's language about the junta appears to have grown less confrontational as the scope of the calamity grows.

On Monday, first lady Laura Bush described the junta as very inept on several fronts and accused leaders of failing to give citizens some lifesaving warnings about the storm. President Bush said Tuesday that his message to military rulers was: Let the United States come help you.Hadley put it this way on Wednesday: The junta should please open its doors.He said he would keep his comments limited because he did not want to politicize the matter.The green light has not been given for people to go in, Hadley said. And it is simply going to compound the humanitarian disaster.The White House said Tuesday the U.S. will send more than $3 million to help victims of the cyclone in Myanmar, up from an initial emergency contribution of $250,000.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice joined the growing call for Myanmar's leaders to accept the contributions, regardless of the policies of the donors.It should be a simple matter, Rice told reporters at the State Department. This is not a matter of politics, this is a matter of a humanitarian crisis and it should be a matter that the government of Burma wants to see its people receive the help that is available to them.Her spokesman, Sean McCormack, said the department was asking Myanmar's neighbors and traditional friends, including China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia and Thailand to help make the case for accepting aid.

An Air Force C-130 landed in neighboring Thailand and another was on the way, Air Force spokeswoman Megan Orton said Wednesday at the Pentagon.When they accept, or if they accept — and we know what supplies they need — those planes will be there to transport those, she said.A rapid deployment unit designed to be the first people inserted into an operation already works out of Thailand and is at the ready as well. This is just a positioning of the planes and people, Orton said.There also are Navy ships in the region that have been alerted they could be called to help. But officials were not optimistic.Three U.S. officials said it was possible the Myanmar government would only accept money from the United States and would want to buy its own aid supplies — or that it would accept U.S. assistance only as part of the broader United Nations effort. Villarosa said there were shortages of food and water and that the death toll could hit or exceed 100,000 as humanitarian conditions worsen. She said she met with three ministers this week and is pressing hard to allow U.S. aid into the country. The junta is blocking aid from other nations, and does not appear to be singling out the United States because of the White House focus on human rights and other abuses in Myanmar, she said. Asked if the U.S. would air drop aid without the Myanmar junta's permission, Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said: If you're not asked and it's not requested, it's considered an invasion. Navy and Marine Corps officials said they were in a holding position, awaiting word on whether they would be needed.

The Navy has three ships participating in an exercise in the Gulf of Thailand that could help in any relief effort — the USS Essex, the USS Juneau and the USS Harper's Ferry. The Essex is an amphibious assault ship with 23 helicopters aboard, including 19 capable of lifting cargo from ship to shore, as well as more than 1,500 Marines. One official said that if there is a U.S. relief operation, the Essex group would likely leave some of its assets behind so the multinational exercise can still be held, while moving other equipment forward to help Myanmar. Because it would take the Essex more than four days to get into position, another official said, the Navy is considering sending some of its helicopters ahead. The aircraft would be able to arrive in a matter of hours, and the Essex could follow, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity because that effort was still in the planning stages. The Treasury Department, meanwhile, took action Wednesday to help facilitate the flow of funds for humanitarian assistance to Myanmar. Without this step, sending money to the country is generally prohibited under a U.S. sanctions program. This license will clear the way for additional humanitarian aid to make it to the Burmese people swiftly and efficiently, said Adam Szubin, director of the department's Office of Foreign Assets Control. Associated Press writers Anne Gearan, Matthew Lee, Ben Feller, Jeannine Aversa and Foster Klug contributed to this report.
On the Net: State Department: http://www.state.gov.

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.

Hitting age 60, Israel gets nostalgic for the old days
By MATTI FRIEDMAN – MAY 6,08

JERUSALEM (AP) — As Israel celebrates its 60th birthday, Israelis have their gaze set firmly backward.Turn on the TV and you'll see grainy archive footage and old-timers reminiscing about desert wars and pioneering days on the kibbutz. Radio stations are busy with musical retrospectives and the hottest new CD features contemporary singers covering Israeli favorites from decades past.The love affair with the past comes at a time of unease — Israelis have much to be proud of but aren't sure what they have to look forward to.

It's no secret that in our country the present isn't great and the future is always scary, so if you want to feel good, it's more fun to look back and ignore the problems, said Shaanan Streett, frontman for the Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash. The name roughly translates as the fish is a snake.It's just like when people turn 60, he said. Their relatives throw a party and show slides of them when they were younger and better looking.In one typical anniversary project, a newspaper and television station decided to pay homage to photographs from Israel's history by recreating them with their original participants. One 1949 shot of soldiers jubilantly hoisting an improvised Israeli flag against a backdrop of barren hills became a color photograph of a group of elderly men around a flagpole.The new photographs — deflated, drained of traces of heroism and myth — came across to many as an unintentional tribute to the country's current state of mind.As it celebrates its 60th birthday Thursday, Israel has never been richer or stronger. It has weathered assaults that would have crippled some societies and has even thrived.

But Israelis are increasingly alienated from a political system that suffers from deadlock and corruption and seems devoid of leaders able to garner the public's respect. An end to Israel's conflict with its Arab neighbors, which appeared around the corner a decade ago, is now widely seen as a naive dream. And having jettisoned its Spartan, socialist ideals, the country has yet to agree on a positive vision to replace them.The nostalgia exists because we have an emptiness today — that's the root, said lawyer Eliad Shraga. Shraga, a reserve paratroops officer, fought in Israel's Lebanon invasion in 1982 and then in Israel's war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon two years ago. For nearly two decades, he has headed a group called the Movement for Quality Government in Israel.When I see what's happening with my prime minister, I miss people like David Ben-Gurion and Menachem Begin, like Golda Meir, people who lived in two-room apartments and made do with very little, Shraga said. Even if you didn't agree with them, you knew they were ethical.Less than a week before the anniversary, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was questioned by police on corruption suspicions. The new inquiry is the fifth into Olmert's activities since he took office. Embezzlement allegations forced his finance minister to step down, and another of his political allies was convicted of sexual misconduct. And that's an abbreviated list.When we think about ethics and leadership, it's not just our imagination — things really were different once, Shraga said.

The failure of peace talks with the Palestinians in 2000 and the violence that ensued have left Israelis deeply cynical about prospects for resolving the conflict. Olmert is holding talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but polls have shown that a majority of Israelis doubt anything will come of them.Today, most Israelis don't believe in peace anymore. This wasn't the case when the country turned 50, said historian Tom Segev.While they indulge in nostalgia, most Israelis don't really long for a return to the past, Segev says. They live better today than they ever have, he said, adding: Anyone can leave the country if they want to, but they don't.People don't believe in politicians, they're not interested in the news or in ideology, but in life, he said. There isn't anything more normal than that, and that normalcy is precisely the Zionist dream.In an anniversary poll published in the daily Yediot Ahronot, 91 percent of Israelis said it was fairly good or very good to live in Israel. Those who said life in Israel was fairly bad or very bad numbered only 9 percent. The poll, carried out by the Dahaf Institute, included 500 respondents and had a 4.5 percent margin of error.

Ruth Gefen-Dotan was 23 when Israel was founded, and remembers men on her kibbutz fashioning mortars out of irrigation pipes to battle Arab forces. Over the years, her son and a half-dozen members of her extended family have died in the military.Now 83, she lives at Ayelet Hashachar, a kibbutz in northern Israel. If there is something that has changed for the worse, she said, it's that people put me first instead of us.We have to understand that things are in our hands. Everyone must give what they can, she said.

But that's as nostalgic as Gefen-Dotan allows herself to be.

I look at my kibbutz — it was destroyed in the fighting in 1948, and everything here was yellow and dead. Today I'm sitting in a flowering garden full of children and young people, she said. What am I supposed to miss?

Israel Celebrates Its 60th Anniversary Amid New-Found Security By Jim Teeple Jerusalem 06 May 2008

One of the most dramatic events of the 20th century was the founding of the modern state of Israel 60 years ago. VOA's Jim Teeple reports that on Israel's 60th birthday many Israelis say they feel more secure and confident about their future than they have in years.

Tourist stroll along Ben Yehuda Street
Ben Yehuda Street is a relaxed place these days. Strollers take time to browse and the area is packed with tourists.A few years ago, Ben Yehuda Street and downtown Jerusalem were no place for strollers. The violence sparked by the second Palestinian revolt or Intifada killed about a thousand Israelis and some four thousand Palestinians. Now for many Israelis - like those who work at Cafe Joe on King George Street - the Intifada is a distant memory. The cafe's new building with large glass windows and outdoor tables could not have been built when suicide bombers struck at will.

Moshe Yeffet, the owner, and Yossi, the manager, say improved security has made them confident about the future. God knows, but we feel comfortable and we feel good about security, but we put our faith in God, Yeffet said.

High walls and checkpoints guarantee their security.

This wall is part of Israel's 700-kilometer security barrier. It runs mostly along the border between Israel and the occupied West Bank. The barrier keeps West Bank Palestinians from entering Jerusalem. Palestinians say the barrier is illegal. And the checkpoints restrict their travel in the West Bank and Israel.

But Israel says the measures have stopped the bombings.

Attacked at birth by Arab armies, the Jewish state has survived against tremendous odds. The country has fought six wars against its Arab neighbors and has peace treaties with only two.

Gershon Cohen
Gershon Cohen runs a small publishing house in Jerusalem. He says from the beginning, although outnumbered, Israelis had the confidence that helped them make history. In 1948, I was 19-years-old and we were in the army in Jerusalem. The Jewish citizens were about 70,000 here, in all of Israel about a half million and we never believed we would lose the war. Now we are seven million. We have a good economy and we are enlarging. That is what I believe and continue to believe it is getting better and better, he said.

Yehezhel Dror
Yehezkel Dror is one of Israel's leading political scientists. He says Israel has achieved much. But the future is far from sure, Israel's achievements are a heroic success. It is hard to find a precedent of a moving population setting up a state and a special type of state. The success of 60 years does not provide enough momentum to choose a future.

Iran could have an impact on Israel's future.

Iran is developing nuclear technology and its President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said Israel should be wiped off the map. Israeli leaders say Iran with a nuclear bomb is out of the question for the Jewish state. Whether Israel makes peace with the Palestinians who live in Arab east Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip could also determine its future.Gershon Cohen says, in any case, Israel is not going away, We want to find a final solution with the Arabs, but if not we have to believe we will win everywhere and everyplace.And so Israelis go about their daily business as if threats do not exist, on land that Jews have considered their homeland for three thousand years. Jews from around the world come here to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem - Judaism's holiest site. Political scientist Yehezkel Dror says Jews who choose to live in Israel share a profound commitment to each other. He says this is perhaps Israel's greatest achievement, It means today that you feel yourself part of the Jewish people and Judaism, and regard yourself as a Jew with commitments to Jews everywhere.

JERUSALEM DIVIDED

ZECHARIAH 12:1-5 King James Bible
1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.
4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness.
5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God.

JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.

ZECHARIAH 14:1-9 King James Bible
1 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4 And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8 And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

An unnoticed prophecy about dividing of Israel Posted: May 07, 2008 1:00 am Eastern By Joseph Farah

There is a Bible story familiar to practically everyone that relates directly to efforts by the international community to divide Israel for the purpose of creating a Palestinian state.

It can be found in 1 Kings 3.

The young king Solomon dreams of a conversation with the Lord in which he asks for wisdom to judge God's people. God grants the desires of Solomon's heart as well as bestowing upon him a long life, great riches and honor.Immediately after Solomon claims this promise with sacrifices, peace offerings and a feast to all his servants, he gets to judge the most famous case of his life.Two harlots come before him – each claiming a baby as their own.

And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear.And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.That's the story everyone knows. But is there special meaning for today in these words? Could this story relate directly to the two-state solution being planned by the internationalist busybodies who seek to split Israel in half? Is it possible that this familiar old Bible story actually contains a prophecy yet to be fulfilled? Assume for the moment that King Solomon in this story represents the King of all creation, the Lord of the universe. The first woman in the story represents the Jewish people. Her baby represents Israel. Let's further assume the second mother represents the Arabs.

Notice the second woman had her baby three days after the first woman. The Jewish state was first created 3,000 years ago. The Arabs are trying, 3,000 years later, to create an Arab Palestinian state where none has previously existed.The Bible tells us in both the Old Testament and the New Testament that one day is like a thousand years to God. There is the reference in Psalms 90:4: For a thousand years in Thy sight are like yesterday when it passes by. And there is the reference in 2 Peter 3:8: But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.So, three days, or 3,000 years, ago the Jewish people gave birth to the nation of Israel. Today, three days, or 3,000 years, later, Palestinian Arabs who are mostly recent migrants to the land with no established history there and no prior national claim arrive and try to steal the baby.It's also worth noting that a tactic used by the Arabs is to sacrifice their own children as suicide bombers in their effort to liberate the land.Further, did they not, perhaps even unknowingly, kill their own baby when they rejected a state of their own with the 1947 partition plan?

Like the first mother, haven't the Jewish people expressed a willingness to give up half the land in a division plan just to keep their precious baby alive? And haven't the Arabs, like the bitter second mother, agreed to the division plan – the splitting of the child in two, knowing it would result only in the death of the baby.If my analogy is true, though, it's not going to happen. The baby will not be killed. Because like King Solomon, God Almighty has already decided the baby belongs to the Jews.

FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
Is Israeli leader hyping breakthrough in negotiations?
Claims come as prime minister questioned in very serious criminal probe May 06, 2008 1:35 pm Eastern By Aaron Klein 2008 WorldNetDaily

Ehud Olmert
JERUSALEM – Is Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hyping declared breakthroughs in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations due to his implication in what is being described as a very serious criminal investigation? That question is being openly asked by pundits here in the Israeli media amid claims by Olmert's office of significant progress on the issue of borders during talks he held yesterday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.Olmert met with Abbas for nearly two hours in Jerusalem yesterday, one day after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israel to lift anti-terror roadblocks in the West Bank.Rice also made statements strongly critical of Jewish construction in the West Bank, most of which the U.S. has slated to become part of a Palestinian state according to negotiations started at last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis conference.Following the Israeli-Palestinian talks, Olmert's spokesmen briefed reporters on major progress achieved mainly on the issue of permanent borders of a future Palestinian state and on joint security arrangements.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for Olmert's office, told the media these were the most serious talks the sides have ever conducted.The reports of negotiation breakthroughs were headline news in Israel.
But the descriptions by Olmert's office were not shared by the Palestinian side.It's not accurate to say there was significant progress or any breakthrough at yesterday's meeting, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told WND.The major issues are still being debated and negotiated, Erekat said.A senior source in the office of chief negotiator Ahmed Qureia told WND things are not moving as we want them.The source, speaking on condition his name be withheld, said the Palestinians were frustrated by a lack of progress during recent talks and were surprised by Israeli claims of significant progress.

Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, told Israel's Haaretz daily newspaper today divisions remains on the border issue, despite an in-depth debate on the topic.Palestinian officials speaking to WND said they were very concerned by a criminal investigation into Olmert that has been reported as serious. The media here has quoted senior law enforcement officials stating the investigation could remove the prime minister from office.The officials said they fear hype about breakthroughs during yesterday's negotiations was an attempt by Olmert to underscore the importance of his remaining in office to continue Israeli-Palestinian talks. That sentiment was shared by scores of Israeli media pundits commenting today on television and radio.The Israeli media has been placed under a total gag order regarding the criminal investigation, but some details emerged that the case involves a U.S. citizen testifying he was involved in bribing Olmert while the politician served as mayor of Jerusalem in the 1990s.Highlighting the seriousness of the charges, Olmert has been questioned twice by the police in recent days. The prime minister strongly denied any wrongdoing.

The New York Post today published some details of the case, including the name of the U.S. citizen, Long Island businessman Morris Talansky.That name was confirmed today by WND, reaching Talansky by cell phone in Jerusalem. Talansky refused to comment on the investigation other than to state he, indeed, is involved.The Post reported Talansky allegedly passed money to Olmert in the '90s. Talansky's name repeatedly appears – sometimes under the nickname The Laundry Man – in logs of financial dealings kept by Olmert's former chief of staff, Shula Zakan, a source told the Post. A source with knowledge of Talansky's business dealings told WND today Olmert served as an advisor and facilitator on Talansky projects, including a failed attempt to build parking garages in Jerusalem. The Post described Talansky as a Long Island mogul and millionaire financier.But several prominent Jewish New York moguls and financiers speaking to WND described Talansky as a wheeler and dealer.He has new projects quite often and is constantly looking for financing, said one top New York financier. Sometimes his projects don't get the funds and then he moves on to another idea.

Another financier, a multimillionaire, rejected the description of Talansky as a financier.Financier? He's the one always looking for financing, he said.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

Oil jumps over $123 on drop in diesel, heating oil supplies By JOHN WILEN, AP Business Writer Wed May 7, 6:11 PM ET

NEW YORK - Oil futures extended their seemingly relentless advance Wednesday, rising to a new record near $124 a barrel as investors captivated by the market's upward momentum looked past the government's report of an increase in crude and gasoline supplies. At the pump, gas prices rose for the first time since last week.

Light, sweet crude for June delivery hit a new trading record of $123.93 in after-hours activity on the New York Mercantile Exchange after settling up $1.69 at a record close of $123.53 a barrel.

Analysts attributed oil's rise to continued buying from the surge that pushed prices past $120 for the first time earlier this week. The fact that prices didn't decline sharply after the inventory report was released signaled to some investors that the market was ripe for another rally.It shows you that this market ... at times just ignores bearish news, said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. It's just momentum.Earlier, oil prices waffled as traders were torn between relief that crude and gasoline supplies are rising and worries about rising demand and falling distillate stockpiles.The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in a weekly report that inventories of distillate fuels, which include diesel and heating oil, fell unexpectedly while gasoline demand rose slightly last week. Traders chose to focus on those numbers and shrug off crude inventories, which rose much more than analysts predicted, and gasoline supplies, which increased when analysts forecast a decline.But the distillate numbers appeared to be merely an excuse for the market to keep surging upward.

Some evidence that investors were buying simply to keep up with the market's momentum came from the fact that a stronger dollar had little or no impact on trading. The dollar's protracted decline against the euro and other foreign currencies has played a major role in oil's rise by attracting investors looking for a hedge against inflation. When the dollar reverses course and strengthens, the effect usually reverses, sending oil prices lower — but not on Wednesday.June heating oil futures rose 9.38 cents to settle at $3.4473 a gallon after earlier rising to a new trading record of $3.4535.At the pump, meanwhile, the average national price of a gallon of regular gas rose Wednesday for the first time since last week, adding 0.8 cent to $3.618, according to a survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Gas prices are back within a cent of the record $3.623 a gallon set last week, and are expected to rise to an average of $3.73 a gallon next month, according to the latest Energy Department forecast.Some analysts predict prices could rise to a national average of $4 in coming weeks; prices are already that high in some areas, including parts of Hawaii and California.Diesel fuel also rose Wednesday, adding half a cent to a national average of $4.242 a gallon, within a penny of the record of $4.251 set May 1. While high gas prices are hitting consumers at the pump, high diesel prices are hurting them in grocery and retail stores.

We must pass some of these costs through to our customers, which ultimately translate(s) into higher prices on the store shelves, said Mike Card, president of trucking firm Combined Transport Inc., of Central Point, Ore., in Senate testimony on Wednesday.Gas prices tend to lag the futures market, and fell slightly in recent days due to a nearly $10 decline in oil prices last week. But crude futures have rebounded sharply since then, and gas prices are responding by also rising. Analysts and the EIA expect gas prices to decline over the summer after peaking in late May or June; that's the pattern gas prices follow most years. Of course, this is anything but a normal year — crude oil prices have nearly doubled in the past 12 months.All bets are off if oil keeps going up, Flynn said. Gas prices could keep rising.In other Nymex trading Wednesday, June gasoline futures rose 1.27 cents to settle at $3.1182 a gallon after earlier rising to their own new trading record of $3.1323, while June natural gas futures rose 17.7 cents to settle at $11.327 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, June Brent crude futures rose $2.01 to settle at $122.32 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

France pledges not to hinder Turkey's EU accession process
07.05.2008 - 09:27 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva

France – one of staunchest opponents of Turkey's EU membership bid –has said it will not hinder the country's accession process during its time at the head of the 27-nation bloc, starting in July.France has no intention of breaking up Turkey's negotiation process, French secretary of state for European affairs Jean-Pierre Jouyet was quoted as saying on Tuesday (6 May) after meeting Turkish foreign minister Ali Babacan in Ankara.France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has repeatedly voiced his opposition to Turkey's EU accession, saying that the country does not belong to Europe.Mr Jouyet underlined, however, that the French presidency of the EU in the second half of this year would be objective, impartial and balanced, according to French news agency AFP.Mr Babacan said he too expected that France's time at the head of the EU would not slow down his country's EU accession process.We expect our accession process to continue normally, without problems, during the French presidency... We expect concrete progress, he told a press conference.Turkey launched EU accession negotiations in 2005, but has so far opened talks on only six out of the 35 chapters needed in order for the accession negotiations to be closed.Its possible membership of the bloc is dividing member states, with France and Germany seen as the main opponents to Turkey's EU bid. They favour offering a pared down version of membership which they call privileged partnership.

A decisive year
Also speaking in the margins of Tuesday's EU-Turkey meeting, Slovenian foreign minister Dimitrij Rupel, chairing the talks, said this year would be a decisive year for the reform process in Turkey and called on Ankara to fully use it.For his part, EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn also stressed that the negotiations are on track, but their pace could be faster. That depends on ... consistent and far-reaching legal and democratic reforms to create a more open society.He welcomed recent reforms in the country - particularly the recently adopted amendment of a controversial article in the penal code foreseeing up to three years in prison for insulting Turkishness, but said they now needed to be implemented.Mr Rehn also expressed concern that a closure case against Turkey's ruling centre-right Justice and Development party (AKP) could threaten the political stability in the country.

The country's Constitutional Court in March agreed to hear a case filed by Turkey's top prosecutor, aiming to shut down the AKP accused of having become the centre of anti-secular activities.From the point of view of the EU, we want to see Turkey soon overcome this crisis, he said.The EU also said an investigation into the indiscriminate use of force during a crackdown on demonstrating workers in Istanbul on 1 May is needed.

EU DICTATOR (WORLD LEADER)

REVELATION 17:12-13
12 And the ten horns (NATIONS) which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13 These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.

REVELATION 6:1-2
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse:(PEACE) and he that sat on him had a bow;(EU DICTATOR) and a crown was given unto him:(PRESIDENT OF THE EU) and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(MILITARY GENIUS)

REVELATION 13:1-10
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(THE EU AND ITS DICTATOR IS GODLESS)
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(DICTATOR COMES FROM NEW AGE OR OCCULT)
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;(MURDERERD) and his deadly wound was healed:(COMES BACK TO LIFE) and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE WORLD THINKS ITS GOD IN THE FLESH, MESSIAH TO ISRAEL)
4 And they worshipped the dragon (SATAN) which gave power unto the beast:(JEWISH EU DICTATOR) and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?(FALSE RESURRECTION,SATAN BRINGS HIM TO LIFE)
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.(GIVEN WORLD CONTROL FOR 3 1/2YRS)
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God,(HES A GOD HATER) to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.(HES A LIBERAL OR DEMOCRAT,WILL PUT ANYTHING ABOUT GOD DOWN)
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints,(BEHEAD THEM) and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.(WORLD DOMINATION)
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(WORLD DICTATOR)
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.(SAVED CHRISTIANS AND JEWS DIE FOR THEIR FAITH AT THIS TIME,NOW WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE BUT DURING THE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH, PEOPLE WILL BE PUT TO DEATH (BEHEADINGS) FOR THEIR BELIEF IN GOD (JESUS) OR THE BIBLE.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Brussels turns to gods for help with climate change
06.05.2008 - 09:40 CET | By Teresa Küchler

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Brussels officials have turned to religious VIPs to help spread the gospel of an environmentally friendly society and increase awareness of climate change in their parishes, as well as promoting tolerance between different confessions in Europe. Twenty high-level representatives – 19 men and one woman - from European Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations met in Brussels on Monday (5 may) to discuss the sensitive issues of climate change and reconciliation between peoples. The meeting was co-chaired by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Slovenian Prime Minister and current president of the European Council, Janez Jansa, and the president of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Poettering. Mr Barroso told a press conference that churches, mosques and temples could all play an important role in identifying and implementing solutions to the challenge of climate change. Thanks to their moral authority, their outreach and their structure, they are well placed to make a valuable contribution, mobilising our societies for a sustainable future, the president said.Prime Minister Jansa, referring to both the Bible and the Koran, said: Earth was created and given to man, and man has to be respectful of what he has been given, and called for what the late Pope John Paul II described as an ecological conversion.

The success in the fights against climate change relies to a great extent on changes in our habits, in our philosophies in our world outlook and the consumer society that has created superficial needs - needs that justify consumption.Mr Jansa also announced that Slovenia plans to set up a Euro-Mediterranean university that will be a meeting place for students from the Christian, Muslim and Jewish world. The school's charter is to be signed in Ljubljana in June. Bishop Adrianus Van Luyn, the president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (COMECE), suggested that the EU appoint a High Representative for Future Generations.

Who was not invited?
On the second topic of the meeting, Reconciliation through Intercultural Dialogue, President Barroso underlined the importance of combining freedom of expression and respect for other faiths, in an attempt to sooth both Islamic outrage in recent years and others' fear of Islam. Islam today is part of Europe. One should not see Islam as outside Europe. We already have an important presence of Islam and Muslims among our citizens, Mr Barroso said, adding that the inter-faith dialogue proved that the preachers of a clash of civilisations are wrong.The grand mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Dr Mustafa Ceric pointed to the EU's policy on Turkey.

Following this logic, Europe has to prove that Islam is part of Europe by not delaying the acceptance of Turkey to the EU, the cleric said. Others criticised the invitation list for Monday's inter-faith meeting.Flanked by a female priest colleague, Swedish archbishop Anders Weyrud [Lutheran] told EUobserver he was disappointed there was only one woman among the religious dignitaries, pastor Letizia Tomassone, the vice-president of the federation of evangelical churches of Italy, who had also raised the point during the inter-religious meeting. We have neglected both nature and women, that was one of the messages we tried to get across at this meeting, the archbishop said. From its headquarters just across the street from the inter-religious meeting, a spokesperson from the church of scientology, a faith that is growing rapidly in Europe, told EUobserver that Brussels should also look at minority religions in Europe when deciding who to put on the invitation list for upcoming meetings. We want to have an open and transparent dialogue with the institutions, just as with the leaders who were invited to the [European] commission today. It has to be a full dialogue, with minority religions also represented, and not a selective dialogue, Mr Fabio Amicarelli said.

Meanwhile some MEPs have in the past questioned the presence of religious figures in strictly political fora in Brussels. The parliament's Party Working Group on the Separation of Religion and Politics in a letter to Hans-Gert Poettering last year wrote: It is unbecoming for any of the EU institutions to provide an exclusive platform to any particular grouping, including religions, in particular as the majority of European citizens are not religious or no longer practice their religion.Thus millions of individual citizens do not have a voice in the dialogue, the letter concluded.
According to a recent Eurobarometer survey, some 48 percent of European citizens claim to be non-confessional.

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.

MEDVEDEV TAKES OVER PRESIDENCY OF RUSSIA.
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=7722357&ch=4226714&src=news

Russia's Medvedev takes power and pledges freedom By Michael Stott and Oleg Shchedrov Wed May 7, 4:44 PM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Dmitry Medvedev was sworn in as Russian president on Wednesday and nominated his predecessor Vladimir Putin as prime minister, ushering in an unprecedented period of dual rule. Medvedev, a 42-year-old former corporate lawyer and longtime Putin ally, stressed freedom and the rule of law in his first remarks after taking the oath of office in a solemn, emotional ceremony in the Kremlin's glittering St Andrew's Hall.I believe my most important aims will be to protect civil and economic freedoms, he told guests at the inauguration, broadcast live on state television.We must fight for a true respect of the law and overcome legal nihilism, which seriously hampers modern development.Shortly afterwards, the government led by Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov followed protocol by resigning. This cleared the way for Medvedev to nominate Putin as prime minister as the carefully choreographed transition unfolded.The new leader, who arrived at the Kremlin alone in an armored black stretch Mercedes limousine flanked by 11 motorcycle outriders, inherits a booming $1.3 trillion economy fuelled by high oil prices -- and a sobering set of challenges.

They include rampant corruption, rising inflation, a falling population, sickly industry and agriculture and increasingly tense relations with former Soviet neighbors and the West.A White House spokeswoman said U.S. President George W. Bush wished Medvedev well in his new role and was looking forward to working with him. The two leaders will probably meet at the Group of Eight summit in Japan this summer, she said.Putin has been accused by domestic critics and Western governments of trampling on human rights and reining in freedoms won after the collapse of Soviet communism in the 1990s. He has reasserted the state's grip on the Russian economy and business.Before Medvedev was sworn in, a somber-looking Putin entered the Kremlin alone, bid farewell to the presidential guard and thanked the Russian people for their trust over his two four-year terms.Putin encouraged his audience to support Medvedev, saying his policies had proved right.During the inauguration ceremony in the Grand Kremlin Palace, stirring passages from Russian composers Tchaikovsky and Glinka were meshed with pomp and circumstance for the event, which was designed in the 1990s to evoke the imperial power of Russia's past and bury memories of its drab Soviet period.Patriarch Alexiy II, head of the Russian Orthodox Church, then led a service in the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Annunciation to bless the new president. Medvedev was later handed the codes that control Russia's nuclear weapons.Putin named Medvedev as his preferred successor last December, ensuring his overwhelming victory in the March polls. The two men have worked together since the early 1990s.

The former KGB spy will retain major political influence both in his new role as prime minister and as head of the ruling United Russia party which controls parliament. Putin remains by far Russia's most popular politician.Hello bosses. You are all bosses here and I am not, Putin told party leaders at a meeting in the Kremlin after Medvedev was sworn in.United Russia parliamentary boss Boris Gryzlov said the party would support his candidacy as premier. Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov said his party would vote against.

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Putin has said he sees no problem working with Medvedev, with whom he says he shares common views on Russia's future. But their double-headed government has alarmed many Russians, who are accustomed to a single strong leader. They question how the arrangement would work in a crisis. Putin's opponents don't think there will be a problem but interestingly, it's Putin's allies who are the most worried about what could go wrong, one Western ambassador said.

Analysts await Medvedev's first appointments for clues about whether he will be his own man or rely on Putin's allies. Top posts in the presidential administration and the FSB spy service will be particularly closely scrutinized. Some Russia-watchers believe Medvedev's past as chief of the giant state gas company Gazprom and head of the presidential administration shows he has the right stuff for the Kremlin. The media are all immensely underestimating Medvedev and making the same mistake as they made eight years ago, said Florian Fenner, managing partner at UFG Asset Management which has $1.8 billion in Russian assets. The only real issue they have is inflation. Cabinet names are expected to come after Putin's nomination as prime minister is confirmed by parliament on Thursday. (Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Jon Boyle)

May 6, 2008 23:35 | Updated May 7, 2008 16:57
Israel: Iran could have nukes by '09
By YAAKOV KATZ AND HERB KEINON Print Subscribe

With Iran racing forward with its nuclear program, Israel now believes the Islamic Republic will master centrifuge technology and be able to begin enriching uranium on a military scale this year, The Jerusalem Post has learned. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, visits the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 322 kilometers south of the capital Teheran, Iran.
Photo: AP.Slideshow: Pictures of the week The new assessment moves up Israel's forecasts on Teheran's nuclear program by almost a full year - from 2009 to the end of 2008. According to the new timeline, Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the middle of next year.

Iran, a senior defense official said on Tuesday, had encountered numerous technical obstacles on its way to enriching uranium but was now on track to master the technology needed to enrich uranium within six months. Israel is also concerned that Teheran is developing a cruise missile that can evade interception by the Arrow, the IDF's anti-ballistic missile defense system. Iran is suspected of having smuggled Ukrainian X-55 cruise missiles and using them as models for an independent, domestic project. A cruise missile, which flies at low altitudes to dodge radar detection and interception, could be used to carry a nuclear warhead. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that Israel had the ability to create the tools needed to ensure its continued existence. Hinting at Iran, Olmert said that nothing in the world could undermine or bring an end to Israel's existence. In a speech to a Keren Hayesod group, Olmert said, I am asking that you take this with you and tell it to your communities everywhere - the people of Israel are strong, the State of Israel is strong, there is no enemy that can destroy us.We will not place ourselves in a position where anyone will, in an effective manner, threaten us with destruction, because if there was one thing that has changed since the establishment of the State of Israel 60 years ago until today, it is not that here the Jews are safe in every situation, in every condition and that there will not be any dangers, Olmert said. There are also dangers here, like in many other places.

But here, my friends, the Jewish people can fight, and when it needs to, it fights, and when it fights, it wins.Last week, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said during a visit to the US that Teheran would likely achieve control of the technology to enrich uranium for an atomic bomb within a year. In the past, the consensus in the intelligence community was that Iran had encountered technical difficulties with fuel enrichment and that its attainment of nuclear capability was much further off, Mofaz said, but a recent IDF Military Intelligence assessment showed that the Islamic Republic could go nuclear before the end of the decade.

Also Tuesday, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer warned that more nations would follow the examples of Iran and North Korea and work to develop nuclear weapons. He said that the possibility that Syria was building a weapons-capable nuclear reactor before the IAF destroyed it on September 6 showed that NATO must find an answer to ballistic missile threats. The nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea threaten to set in motion a domino effect that will be difficult to contain, de Hoop Scheffer said in a speech at a missile defense conference at the Czech Foreign Ministry. If there is a serious suspicion that in Syria there was a facility in the making, it only increases the arguments... for finding a collective answer to a ballistic missile defense threat, the NATO chief said.

CIA Director Michael Hayden said last month that the alleged Syrian nuclear reactor would have produced enough plutonium for one or two bombs within a year of becoming operational. The number of states that possess ballistic missiles is already growing, slowly and surely, de Hoop Scheffer said. The proliferation of ballistic missiles is a reality that concerns us all.AP contributed to this report.