TODAY ISRAEL 60 BY OUR CALENDAR

HAPPY 60TH BIRTHDAY ISRAEL, THE MIRACLE FROM GOD.

ISRAEL

Whose Promised Land? Psalm 78:54-55 (ISRAELS)
54 And He brought them to His holy border, This mountain which His right hand had acquired.
55 He also drove out the nations before them,Allotted them an inheritance by survey, And made the tribes of Israel dwell in their tents.

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.

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.

05/12/2008 12:28 ISRAEL
For Israel's 60th anniversary, 13 heads of state in Jerusalem starting tomorrow.Bush will also arrive on Wednesday, for the conference dedicated to the theme of tomorrow. The meeting will allow Peres to present his country's point of view on the threat from Iran. Fears over possible repercussions of the Olmert affair.

Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - Entitled Facing Tomorrow, the conference that opens tomorrow in Jerusalem will be the largest ever held in Israel, with the presence of 13 heads of state or government and 3,500 participants. Organised to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state, the meeting will be attended by George Bush, who is expected on Wednesday, and by the leading authorities of Croatia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia, Mongolia, Togo, Burkina Faso, the prime ministers of Slovakia and Hungary, Spanish foreign minister Miguel Moratinos, and the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia. Intended to face various questions, and not only on the Middle East, the conference is seen in Israel partly as an opportunity to refresh the country's international image, but also as an opportunity for Israeli president Shimon Peres to outline for his guests Jerusalem's point of view on the Iranian threat. The Israeli media are now preoccupied with the possibility that these programmes and plans could be overturned by developments in the accusations of corruption against prime minister Ehud Olmert - which are thought might lead to his resignation - who is supposed to deliver two speeches at the conference.

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.

Aid pledges flood in after China quake disaster Tue May 13, 4:34 PM

HONG KONG (AFP) - Pledges of aid flooded in Tuesday for tens of thousands of survivors of China's earthquake, as officials warned battering rains and a risk of landslides were holding up relief in the worst-hit areas.More than 12,000 people were confirmed killed by the 7.9 magnitude quake which struck Monday in southwestern Sichuan province, a figure expected to rise dramatically with many thousands still buried under rubble.As China mobilised its 2.3 million-strong armed forces to lead the search and rescue effort, Hong Kong spearheaded a global relief drive with an offer amounting to 38 million dollars (24.5 million euros), the lion's share of the 46.5 million dollars pledged worldwide.China's Asian neighbours also put aside historic rivalries to offer help to Beijing, with Japan offering 500 million yen (4.8 million dollars) of blankets, tents and cash aid.Taiwan, which China regards as a renegade province, said it would join the rescue effort, while its president-elect Ma Ying-jeou, who has moved to repair ties with China, donated 200,000 Taiwan dollars (6,500 US) from his own pocket.South Korea put dozens of rescue workers and medical staff on standby, while Australia offered emergency search and rescue help.And as China agreed to scale back the Olympic torch relay in response to the deadly earthquake -- in response to an Internet outcry -- the International Olympic Committee (IOC) pledged one million dollars for relief.

Outside the region, the White House said it was providing 500,000 dollars in emergency relief and could send more aid if needed, while Canada said it was ready to send help.A Russian transport aircraft carrying 30 tonnes of tents and blankets left Moscow Tuesday night for China, news agencies reported.European Union nations said they stand ready to provide humanitarian assistance as soon as conditions permit, while British aid agency Oxfam said it has allocated 1.5 million dollars towards dealing with the quake aftermath.In Geneva the Red Cross said it had allocated some 150,000 euros, while the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it was ready to send aid if China requested it, but stressed that Beijing had a well-trained relief corps at its disposal.In stark contrast to Myanmar where the ruling junta was criticised for its handling of this month's cyclone in the Irrawaddy Delta, Beijing rolled out a mammoth relief effort within hours of the quake.As well as the army deployment, China launched a national blood drive to supply survivors, while private airlines were called in to transport aid, and the Red Cross Society of China appealed to all Chinese for cash donations.But officials said attempts to reach the worst-hit areas were badly disrupted by torrential rain and the sheer scale of the damage, and forecasters warned more rain would increase the risk of landslides in Sichuan in the coming days.While China kept the door open to foreign offers of help, saying it welcomed them, it warned the conditions were not yet ripe to allow foreign rescue teams into the country, citing damage to transport links.International aid experts said it was important for Beijing to be seen to be coping with the disaster alone.For China, in addition to questions of sovereignty, there is the question of national pride, said Pierre Micheletti, head of the medical charity Medecins du Monde (MDM, Doctors of the World).

This is a great country that is about to organise the Olympic Games and which probably has trouble admitting it might need outside countries to help it handle a disaster.Rony Brauman, former head of Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF, Doctors Without Borders), agreed that a natural disaster shines a light on relations between the authorities and the population, between the authorities and the rest of the world.It reveals its skills, or inability to react, he said, adding that the sheer scale of the Chinese relief effort was likely to dwarf the work of most non-governmental teams on the ground.

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.

Rebuilding unlikely in tornado-ravaged Oklahoma town, officials say Tue May 13, 6:29 PM By Murray Evans, The Associated Press

PICHER, Okla. - No government money will be awarded for rebuilding any of the 114 homes levelled by a deadly tornado that tore through one of the country's most polluted areas, state and federal officials said Tuesday on a tour of the region. Saturday's tornado was responsible for seven deaths in Picher. The severe weather killed another 20 people in the Plains and the Southeast. It really is like a small nuclear bomb went off, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said at a news conference. He was joined by David Paulison, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry. The governor asked President George W. Bush on Tuesday to provide a disaster declaration for Ottawa County, which would clear the way for federal assistance to individuals and businesses. Henry's request will be considered quickly, Paulison said. The tornado struck the heart of a federal Superfund site, where a government buyout of homes is underway in an area beset with mine collapses, open shafts, acid water that stains Tar Creek orange and mountains of lead-contaminated waste. Local children have tested with dangerous levels of lead in their blood. The Environmental Protection Agency has begun testing to determine whether the tornado scattered enough mining waste to raise lead levels in the air and soil in the 800-person town, which was once a thriving hub of 20,000 people.

The buyout will not prevent federal disaster aid from flowing to the area, Henry said, but the aid will help people relocate, not rebuild homes in the area. Rebuilding here is not going to be a real option, Henry said. Paul Sharbutt, 62, whose home of 40 years was heavily damaged, has been waiting to receive his buyout offer and said he is not looking forward to leaving. To have lived here all your life and built your home, we really hated to move and lose it, let alone to lose it like this, he said. As people in the region struggle to clean up damage and put their lives back together, another spate of severe weather approached. The National Weather Service said that the risk of severe weather was upgraded from slight to moderate for the region Tuesday, but that the main concerns were damaging winds and hail. A lot of elements have to come together to produce tornadoes, and right now it doesn't look like there's going to be an outbreak of tornadoes, said forecaster Daryl Williams with the weather service's Norman office. Even if the latest storms aren't particularly violent, they'll make for a soggy cleanup in towns such as Picher, where Tressie Gilmore and four family members emerged from a pile of debris that used to be their house Saturday evening, shaken but with nothing worse than bruised ribs. On Monday, the 25-year-old joined family and friends in salvaging what they could from what remained of her mother and stepfather's home after the tornado - with winds estimated at 265 to 280 km/h - slammed into Picher. It felt like evil, she said. It didn't feel like Mother Nature. It felt personal.

Canada sending emergency shelters to Myanmar Tue May 13, 6:51 PM

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - Canada will send emergency shelter kits to aid survivors of Myanmar's cyclone, but expressed concern on Tuesday over how much the government there was doing enough to help its own citizens.Canada will send 2,000 kits that can provide emergency shelter for some 10,000 people, with the aid scheduled to be airlifted to Thailand and distributed by the International Red Cross, Canadian officials said.But Ottawa echoed concerns voiced by other countries about how the military junta in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, was handling the disaster that has left more than 1.5 million people struggling to survive.We call upon the Burmese government to move rapidly to meet the immediate needs of the affected communities, rather than pushing forward with the upcoming referendum on the constitution, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier said in a statement.The junta in Myanmar has accepted aid from the outside world but help has only tricked in as the military rulers have made it clear they do not want outsiders distributing it.(Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Rob Wilson)

Israel Museum puts Dead Sea scroll on rare display By MATTI FRIEDMAN, Associated Press Writer MAY 13,08

JERUSALEM - One of the most important Dead Sea scrolls is going on display in Jerusalem this week — more than four decades after it was last seen by the public. The 24-foot scroll with the text of the Bible's Book of Isaiah had been in a dark, temperature-controlled room at the Israel Museum since 1967. It went on display two years earlier, but curators replaced it with a facsimile after noticing new cracks in the calfskin parchment. The museum decided to put the scroll back on show for three months as part of Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations.The priceless manuscript, written by a Judean scribe around 120 B.C., was in a long glass case Tuesday, its neat rows of Hebrew letters distinct and legible. President Bush, visiting Israel this week for the anniversary celebration, will be one of the first to view it.The Isaiah manuscript was the only complete biblical book discovered among the Dead Sea scrolls, one of the great archaeological finds of the 20th century. The ancient documents, which include fragments of the books of the Old Testament and treatises on communal living and apocalyptic war, have shed important light on Judaism and the origins of Christianity.The Book of Isaiah is traditionally attributed to a prophet who lived in the 8th century B.C.In the book, he calls for repentance, warns of impending doom, and — in one of the most famous passages ever written — offers an idyllic vision of the future: They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

Curator Adolfo Roitman called the Isaiah manuscript the gem of the Dead Sea scrolls. It is one of the most important treasures of the Jewish nation, if not the most important, he added.A far smaller fragment of another Dead Sea scroll will be on display at the Jerusalem convention center where Bush will be speaking along with other dignitaries.The segment, also rarely shown, contains the text of Psalm 133, which reads: Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.

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)

Stocks mixed after retail sales report, spiking oil By MADLEN READ, AP Business Writer Tue May 13, 5:39 PM ET

NEW YORK - Wall Street turned in a mixed performance Tuesday after a fresh report on retail sales and a new oil price record told investors the same old story: The economy is hurting and costs are rising, but things could be worse. The Commerce Department's latest report showed that retail sales fell by 0.2 percent in April, as expected. The data did show better-than-expected sales if automobiles are excluded, but indicated Americans are reluctant to make big-ticket purchases — especially as soaring fuel prices cut into demand.The numbers are coming out weak, but the economy's not falling apart, said Alexander Paris, economist and market analyst for Chicago-based Barrington Research. On balance, they were negative, but you'd expect them to be.Oil prices, meanwhile, spiked to a trading record of $126.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after Iranian news services reported Iran is considering a cut to output. They later settled up $1.57 at $125.80.Tuesday's wavering trading in the stock market reflected its ongoing uncertainty about the economy. Brian Gendreau, investment strategist for ING Investment Management, believes investors won't get a clear picture until more data is released in June and July.

We're going to go through a period where the markets are going to focus on the macro-data, and any adverse piece of news about the credit markets, he said. It will be a trendless market until the uncertainties about a contraction in economic activity are resolved.
According to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, turmoil in financial markets has eased somewhat. He noted during his speech in Atlanta that the markets for certain mortgage-backed securities, such as those backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as some fixed-rate mortgages and corporate debt have improved. He did say, though, that the situation remains far from normal.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 44.13, or 0.34 percent, to 12,832.18, having soared 130 points on Monday.Broader indexes closed mixed. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.54, or 0.04 percent, to 1,403.04, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 6.63, or 0.27 percent, to 2,495.12.The technology-heavy Nasdaq got a boost as Yahoo Inc. rose after CNBC reported billionaire investor Carl Icahn was considering a proxy fight to try to push Yahoo back into merger discussions with Microsoft Corp.Yahoo rose $1.30, or 5.2 percent, to $26.56.

Government bond prices fell as the Treasury market focused on the better-than-expected details in the retail sales report. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.91 percent from 3.80 percent late Monday.The Commerce Department also reported that businesses added to their inventories in March by the smallest amount in a year. Inventories edged up a tiny 0.1 percent in March, the smallest advance since they were basically flat in March 2007.In corporate news, investors examined a number of high-profile acquisitions, including Hewlett-Packard Co.'s offer to buy Electronic Data Systems Corp. for $12.6 billion. The deal to combine Hewlett-Packard with EDS will create the second-largest technology services provider behind International Business Machines Corp.EDS shares added 26 cents to $24.34, while Hewlett-Packard fell $2.56, or 5.5 percent, to $44.27.

Office supply retailer Staples Inc. raised its hostile bid to acquire Dutch rival Corporate Express NL by 10 percent. Corporate Express said it is willing to consider the deal, and Staples rose 48cents, or 2.2 percent, to $22.44.And investors got another read on the consumer after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailers, reported first-quarter profit above Wall Street predictions but also forecasted that the current quarter will come in below expectations.Wal-Mart fell $1.37, or 2.4 percent, to $56.65. Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. said its preliminary results show homebuilding revenue fell 30 percent in its fiscal second quarter amid a weak spring selling season. The company also expects to continue to face challenging times ahead, given soft conditions in most markets. Shares shed 10 cents to $22.97.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 3.62, or 0.49 percent, to 736.85. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by about 8 to 7 on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 3.86 billion shares, up from 3.27 billion shares Monday. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.53 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.14 percent, Germany's DAX index rose 0.34 percent, and France's CAC-40 rose 0.45 percent. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

OZONE DEPLETION

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

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

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

Heat wave could bring flooding to B.C. Interior MAY 13,08

CALGARY (CBC) - While many British Columbians are looking forward to the heat wave forecasted to roll in just in time for the upcoming long weekend, for Interior residents, it could be a mixed blessing.The unseasonably cool spring weather has left a heavy snow pack still covering many mountains slopes, and now the province is warning the coming heat wave could lead to flooding in some interior areas.Doug Lindquist, a meteorologist with Environment Canada in Kelowna, said the heat expected later this week could break records.By Thursday, we are well into the warm air, and temperatures will approach the high 20s. We are looking at the low 30s for Friday, Saturday and probably even Sunday.Alan Chapman, with the river forecast centre in Victoria, told CBC News the snow in the mountains will melt rapidly once the hot sunny weather arrives.Certainly we do expect, with the kinds of temperatures we are expecting, we will see flooding in the valleys and smaller creeks. It maybe fairly widespread, he said.Anyone planning to go camping this long weekend should be cautious, Chapman warned.Don't camp along the rivers. The rivers can rise very rapidly overnight, he said.The warm weather expected just in time for the Victoria Day long weekend is not likely to last, according to CBC meteorologist Claire Martin, because of the La Nina weather pattern, which is bringing predominantly cool wet weather to the West Coast.

June and July, it [La Nina] is still around, so don't put any hopes up for a really nice end to spring and a nice summer. I just don't think it's going to happen, she said.Last month was the coldest April in nearly 40 years, with temperatures two to three degrees cooler than normal.It is turning out to be a very typical La Nina spring, Martin said. La Nina tends to cool us off and it has done so quite dramatically.Victoria had a record 12.2 centimetres of snowfall in April, compared to the previous record of 7.1 centimetres set in 1955.The temperature in Kelowna dropped to -11 C on April 21, a record low for that day.But warmer weather this weekend is a relief to gardeners after an unusually chilly April, said Scott Pearce of GardenWorks.There's no question people are taking their time planting the tender plants, he said.

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.

Sudan: 200 died in Darfur rebel raid near Khartoum By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer MAY 13,08

KHARTOUM, Sudan - More that 200 people were killed in fighting around Sudan's capital over the weekend, the defense minister announced Tuesday in the first official comment on casualties during the assault by Darfur rebels. Gen. Abdul Rahim Mohammed Hussein told parliament that the attackers sent by the rebel Justice and Equality Movement suffered a crushing defeat, with at least two-thirds of the their 180 vehicles destroyed, according to the official SUNA news agency.Sudanese were shocked by the rebel assault on the outskirts of Khartoum, hundreds of miles from their bases in the west. The raid was the closest that Darfur's rebels have gotten to the seat of the government.The defense minister said 93 soldiers and 13 policemen died in the weekend fighting in Khartoum's twin city, Omdurman, along with 30 civilians. He said 90 rebel bodies had been found so far, but more were scattered outside the city.The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned the rebel attack. In a statement, the council urged restraint by all parties, and in particular warns that no retaliatory action should be taken against civilian populations.

The general said his troops had been prepared to fight the rebels far from the city, but he charged that the army's location was revealed by huge numbers of fifth columnists from factions trying to undermine the government.The rebels admitted they had been defeated but promised further attacks on the capital unless the government deals with the festering situation in Darfur, where 200,000 people have died in a conflict that began five years ago.

JEM might have lost the Khartoum battle and pulled out in dignity ... but it has not lost the war, the group's deputy chairman, Mahmoud Suleiman, said in a statement given to The Associated Press on Tuesday.Life was gradually returning to normal Tuesday, with banks, shops and markets open for business for the first time since the attack. Checkpoints remained in place, however, as troops searched for any rebels remaining in the city, including their leader, Khalil Ibrahim.The government doubled its bounty for Ibrahim on Tuesday to nearly $250,000 for anyone contributing to the rebel leader's arrest.State media reported the reward was 500 million new Sudanese pounds, which is the equivalent of $246 million, but Bakri Mullah, secretary-general of the External Information Office, explained to the AP that the reward was actually in old Sudanese pounds, or about $246,000.Sudan re-valued its currency more than a year ago and the new pound is worth 1,000 times the old one.According to witnesses cited by the New York-based Human Rights Watch, at least 100 people had been arrested at checkpoints and in house-to-house searches since the attack, as security forces look for suspected rebels.Given Khartoum's record of abuse, there is grave cause for concern about the fate of those detained, Georgette Gagnon, the group's Africa director, said in a statement late Monday.

In a telephone interview with the AP on Monday, Ibrahim vowed to keep up his offensive, saying he can exhaust the army by fighting it across Africa's largest nation. He said he was in Omdurman with his troops.Ibrahim's movement has emerged as the most effective rebel group in Darfur, where ethnic Africans took up arms against the Arab-dominated government in 2003 to fight discrimination. The conflict has displaced more than 2.5 million people.

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).

Dublin launches EU treaty yes campaign
13.05.2008 - 09:07 CET | By Honor Mahony

The Irish government has launched its campaign in favour of the EU treaty with the new prime minister, Brian Cowen, calling for a yes vote in next month's referendum.It would be a very backward step to resign from the strategic political positioning we have established in 35 years of (EU) membership, Mr Cowen said on Monday (12 May). It would have very serious implications.The government push comes as the most recent poll, by the Sunday Business Post, put the yes camp in front with 38 percent, the no side on 28 percent and don't knows at 34 percent.This represents a better showing for the yes side than two weeks ago, when a poll by the same newspaper put the yes and no vote at 35 and 31 percent, respectively. The undecided remained static.To tackle modern forces such as globalisation, climate change and cross-border crime, countries cannot stand alone; and for us this means that we need an EU which has the structures, policies and procedures capable of having an impact, said Mr Cowen.The prime minister, who only came into office earlier this month, hit out at the no side for what he said was its attempts to distort the contents of the treaty.The referendum, now formally confirmed for 12 June, is set to be the first major challenge of his leadership.The Referendum Commission, tasked with informing citizens about the EU treaty, has a budget of €5 million, while the slogan of Fianna Fail, the main governing party, is "Good for Ireland, Good for Europe.

Ireland is the only EU member state to have a referendum on the new treaty and the government is coming under enormous pressure to secure a yes vote, with all 27 countries needed to ratify the document for it to come into force.Analysts suggest that much will depend on voter turnout among the 3-million-strong electorate. A low turn-out could result in a no vote, they say, while a higher turnout is set to work more in favour of the yes camp.

EU, US take on demands to remove red tape in trans-Atlantic trade The Associated PressPublished: May 12, 2008

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU and American officials meet in Brussels on Tuesday to debate how to cut bureaucracy and boost an economic relationship that — despite the hype about emerging giants such as China — remains by far the world's most significant.Two-way trade between the U.S. and the EU reached US$1.6 billion (€1 billion) a day last year, but businesses on both sides complain about red tape holding them back.For instance, Europeans have not been eating American chicken for 11 years due to an EU import ban that costs U.S. poultry producers US$180 million (€117 million) a year in lost sales. From the other direction, U.S. red tape delays the shipping of low-voltage products such as laptops and shavers, costing producers $120 million (€77.7 million) a year.And both EU and U.S. companies pay tens of millions of dollars (euros) just to comply with duplicate rules on accounting or measures to protect shipments from terrorists.U.S. investments in Ireland alone (US$83 billion; €54 billion) exceed those in China, Russia, Brazil and India (US$73 billion; €47 billion). EU investments in the U.S. soared to US$1.3 trillion (€840 billion) in 2006, triple their mid-1990s level. Today, Germany alone invests more in the U.S. Southeastern states than the 27-nation EU does in China.

Today in Business with Reuters
Icahn said to weigh Yahoo proxy fightU.S. Congress votes to stop stockpiling oilU.S. oil refiners see profits sink as consumption fallsEurope, the world's biggest consumer market with close to 500 million people, is also by far the most profitable region for American multinationals. In 2006, the income of U.S. affiliates in Europe was nearly three times as large as total earnings from Latin America and more than double those in Asia.An enduring irritant facing Daniel Price, U.S. President George W. Bush's economic adviser, and EU Industry Commissioner Guenther Verheugen in Tuesday's talks will be the EU ban on U.S. chicken imports.Imposed in 1997, it reflects European concerns that the American practice of washing chickens in a chlorine solution threatens public health and the environment. EU food safety experts have since toned down that view, triggering expectations the chicken ban may soon go.

Unlocking more trans-Atlantic trade, investments and demand, says Adrian van den Hoven, head of international relations at BusinessEurope, the EU business lobby, is possible with better regulation through only minor adjustments.This would be most welcome in the EU, whose exports to the U.S. have taken a beating as the dollar fell in value. Euro-zone exports to the United States fell 3 percent in 2007 as the weak dollar made German cars and French champagne more expensive there.Ahead of Tuesday's meeting, an alliance of EU and U.S. businesses — armed with a study by Johns Hopkins University's Center for Trans-Atlantic Relations — said ending regulatory hurdles will generate €6.5 billion (US$10 billion) in annual cost savings and market growth.The study said the trans-Atlantic economy generates US$4 trillion (€2.6 trillion) in total commercial sales. It valued U.S. exports to Europe last year at US$250 billion (€160 billion) and imports at US$350 billion (€225 billion).Removing restrictions on airline ownership in the United States, alone, could boost trans-Atlantic air travel by 24 percent, says the report.It estimates integrating EU and U.S. securities markets will boost trading by 50 percent and aligning the car industries — among other things through uniform crash testing — will cut the cost of passenger vehicles and trucks by 7 percent.

An issue of rising concern for Washington is EU legislation that, as of 2009, will require the registration of chemicals to see how safe they are. U.S. manufacturers call this exceedingly burdensome and especially fear an EU law banning cosmetics containing ingredients that have been tested on animals.EU and American businesses want the EU and the U.S. to adopt a common stance on chemical safety and animal testing issues.

French foreign minister upbeat after Mediterranean Union talks MAY 12,08

ALGIERS (AFP) — French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday he had held very promising discussions with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the creation of a Mediterranean Union.We clarified a number of directions which, I think, from France's perspective, are very promising and I hope that President Bouteflika shares my feelings, Kouchner said after the two met in Algiers.Bouteflika not only asked questions but brought answers to questions and problems between Algeria and France, he added.Press reports here said Algeria was seeking clarification of the Mediterranean Union project to be announced officially on July 13 by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at a summit of Mediterranean candidates eligible to join the proposed new bloc.The European Union project, which has met with a cool welcome from some of France's EU partners, aims to improve trade, transport and energy links between southern European countries and nations around the Mediterranean including Morocco, Syria, Israel and Turkey.Algeria has particular reservations about Sarkozy's attitude to Iran and policy on Israel, the independent newspaper Al Watan said.Mr Kouchner's talks in Algiers aim primarily to overcome Algerian reservations, it said, describing the Kouchner mission as a difficult gamble.

The independent newspaper Djazair News said Algeria would impose three conditions for joining the Mediterranean Union: France's acknowledgement of crimes it committed during its colonial rule in Algeria, a lasting and equitable solution to the dispute over the Western Sahara, and a just solution to the Palestinian question.It was not logical that Israel should be a member of a Mediterranean Union while it is the cause of Middle East problems, the newspaper said.Kouchner said the new union should and would be different from the Barcelona Process, an existing EU framework for political, economic and social ties around the Mediterranean basin, which has regularly been thwarted by confrontation between Israel and Arab countries.Sarkozy is determined to advance the new union when he takes over the rotating EU presidency in July.Kouchner also met Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci during his one-day visit.

LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)

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.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.

DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.

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

DANIEL 11:36-40
36 And the king shall do according to his will;(EU PRESIDENT) and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS A EUROPEAN JEW) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(HES A MILITARY GINIUS) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds (CONTROL HEZBOLLAH,AL-QUAIDA MURDERERS ETC) with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south(EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR PROTECTING ISRAELS SECURITY) and the king of the north(RUSSIA) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.

ISAIAH 26:21
21 For, behold, the LORD cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain.(WW3,1/2 earths population die).

ISAIAH 13:6-13 KJV
6 Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty.
7 Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:(FROM FRIGHT)
8 And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.
9 Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.
10 For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.
11 And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.
12 I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir.
13 Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.

ISAIAH 24:17-23 KJV
17 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth.
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.
19 The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly.
20 The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again.
21 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the LORD shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.
22 And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited.
23 Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the LORD of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.

Bush heads back to Mideast amid fading peace hopes By Matt Spetalnick Tue May 13, 8:13 PM ET

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE (Reuters) - President George W. Bush headed back to the Middle East on Tuesday facing broad skepticism over his chances of securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before he leaves office in less than nine months. His second trip to the region this year will begin in Israel where celebrations of its 60th anniversary have been marred by a bribery scandal surrounding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that could topple him and disrupt the peace process.Bush also will be mindful of another crisis brewing next door in Lebanon, where a power struggle between the pro-Western government in Beirut and Iranian-backed Hezbollah could deal a further blow to U.S. efforts to stabilize the Middle East.

With the clock ticking down on his administration, Bush will nudge Israelis and Palestinians to advance their faltering negotiations as he tries to salvage a foreign policy legacy encompassing more than the unpopular war in Iraq.But expectations for progress remain low.It's hard to remember a less auspicious time to pursue Arab-Israeli peacemaking than right now, said Jon Alterman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. The politics on the ground are absolutely miserable.

Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed at a U.S.-hosted conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November to try to reach a peace treaty, including an agreement on Palestinian statehood, by year's end.Since then, talks have bogged down over Israeli settlement expansion plans in the occupied West Bank and violence in and around the Gaza Strip, where Hamas cross-border rocket fire has drawn a tough Israeli military response.Speaking to reporters on Air Force One en route to the Middle East, U.S. national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Bush was still confident an Israeli-Palestinian deal could be reached before the end of his term in January.He thinks it still can be done. It's obviously hard . ... There's limited time left, but I think we believe the parties are making progress, Hadley said.Increasingly pessimistic about Bush's efforts, Israelis and Palestinians alike are starting to look past him to his successor who will be picked in the November election.

SCANDAL OVERHANGS PEACE PROCESS

Further clouding peace hopes are questions about Olmert's future. The prime minister, who meets Bush on Wednesday, is facing widespread calls to resign over allegations he took bribes from a wealthy U.S. businessman. Although he has denied wrongdoing, he has pledged to quit if indicted.Playing down the potential fallout, Bush told an Israeli television station that while he considered Olmert an honest man, his vision for peace would remain the same.

There is concern, however, that Olmert's resignation would trigger new Israeli elections, putting peace efforts on hold.Bush is pressing ahead anyway, although critics still view it as too little, too late after years of neglecting the conflict. He made his first trip as president to Israel and the West Bank in January but came away with little to show for it.The two sides remain so far apart that Bush has no plans to bring the leaders together during his visit.Many Israelis are ready to welcome Bush to their 60th birthday celebration, seeing him as the best ally the Jewish state has had in the White House, whereas much of the Arab world doubts his ability to be an even-handed peace broker. Palestinians hold out little hope that Bush will show sensitivity to their perspective -- that the creation of a Jewish homeland in 1948 meant the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Arab residents.

Hadley told reporters, We are going to Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the state of Israel and that is a great event. But that resulted in hardship for many of the Palestinian people.Asked if Bush might make a speech about that, Hadley said: Let's see what he says. He's got some speaking opportunities.Bush will stay out of the Palestinian areas and instead hold talks with Abbas at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday. Like Olmert, Abbas is weak at home. He governs only in the West Bank while Hamas Islamists control Gaza. Also on Bush's agenda in Egypt is a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who faces an armed challenge from Hezbollah. Bush has had little success stabilizing Lebanon as part of his democracy push in the Middle East. Bush will stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday and again try to coax King Abdullah to help curb record oil prices, an appeal likely to fall on deaf ears. (Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Eric Walsh)

Rice says Mideast peace improbable, not impossible By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent Tue May 13, 8:02 PM ET

JERUSALEM - Ahead of a visit to the Middle East, President Bush expressed some optimism that an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would be struck before his term ends while holding out little hope for a major breakthrough when he arrives in Israel on Wednesday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday reaching such a deal within the next eight months might be improbable but it's not impossible.Bush left the White House late Tuesday afternoon on the trip that will first take him to attend ceremonies in Jerusalem marking the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish state. He also will go to Saudi Arabia where he promises to press King Abdullah to increase oil production to ease soaring costs on consumers. Bush made a similar plea in January but it was ignored.

As Bush prepared to leave Washington, Senate Democrats introduced a resolution that would block $1.4 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia unless Riyadh agrees to increase its oil production by 1 million barrels per day.The Democrats said they introduced the measure to coincide with Bush's trip to send a message to Saudi Arabia that it should pump more oil to reduce the cost of gas for Americans.We are saying to the Saudis, If you aren't helping us, why should we be helping you? said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

The move might be largely symbolic. Congress usually has 30 days to block international arms deals once notified by the administration, and all of the sales in question were announced long ago. Still, Schumer said that Congress still has the right to intervene because the weapons have not been delivered.The president's final stop will be at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he will meet over two days with a handful of leaders: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Iraqi leaders. Bush also is scheduled to meet with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, but that is in doubt now after clashes between the U.S.-backed government in Beirut and Hezbollah-led opposition.In an interview on Tuesday with Politico and Yahoo News, Bush said that while a grand peace between Israel and the Palestinians looks distant at this point, the big challenge in the 21st century is to advance freedom in the Middle East, for our security.Americans at home ought to care for the advance of free societies throughout the Middle East, he said. After all, this is the center of anti-Americanism and hatred.

He also criticized former President Carter's recent approach to the Middle East, suggesting it was one of blame Israel for every problem.Bush, in an earlier interview with BBC Arabic, said he was still optimistic that his goal of a peace agreement before he leaves office in January 2009 was obtainable.I think we can, I really do, Bush said. We're going to work hard for that end. Look, it's hard, I understand that.In a separate interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Bush said the United States cannot impose peace in the Middle East.I will come not as somebody who demands, but somebody who encourages, Bush said. He said, I'm not running for the Nobel Peace Prize; I'm just trying to be a guy to use the influence of the United States to move the process along.

Bush said the peace negotiations would not be derailed by the corruption probe of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the fifth investigation into his conduct since he became prime minister two years ago. Olmert has said he will resign if indicted.This is not an Olmert plan; this is a plan of a government, Bush told Haaretz.

It's a legal matter inside the system; the system will deal with it. ... And having said that, my relations with the prime minister have been nothing but excellent, Bush said. I found him to be an honest guy. He loves his family, he's easy to talk to, he's a strategic thinker. And so we'll see what happens.Negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian officials are being conducted in secret. Rice said it was a misperception that not that much is going on in the political negotiations. Her language was tempered, however. I'm also a big believer that nothing is really impossible, she said in an interview conducted Monday and aired Tuesday on CBS' The Early Show.It might be improbable but it's not impossible.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley suggested that Bush might acknowledge the Palestinian role when marking the Jewish state's birthday. We are going to Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, and that is a great event, he said. We also recognize that resulted in hardship for many Palestinian people.

White House press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday that the two sides have been doing a lot of good work behind the scenes, out of the glare of the spotlight and away from the microphones, which has helped them make some halting progress.It's sluggish, that's true, she said. They have very complex issues to deal with, with decades of conflict that have built up. And if this was easy, it would have been solved a long time ago.Echoing Rice, Perino said, I would put it this way ... while it's exceedingly difficult, it's not impossible. She said the U.S. did not anticipate any major breakthroughs this week but that Bush believes his one-on-one meetings are the best way to make progress. On Lebanon, Hadley said that Rice will be seeking to rally international support for the U.S.-backed government in the coming days after recent clashes with Hezbollah-led opposition. Bush and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal have accused Iran of exacerbating the situation by supporting Hezbollah. Obviously, we are also going to talk to various countries about additional pressure that can be put on Syria and Iran because in our view they are what is behind this, said Hadley, indicating that a starting point might be the coming U.N. Security Council meeting in New York. There is obviously more to do.Regarding the possibility of more sanctions, Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams said: We'll see what happens in New York.

By a Nearly 2-to-1 Margin, Israelis Want Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Resign By Larry Derfner Tue May 13, 5:37 PM ET

JERUSALEM--George W. Bush, Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev, Henry Kissinger, and a crowd of other heavyweights are coming to town this week for Israel's 60th birthday, but in a sense they have all been upstaged by Morris Talansky. The 77-year-old Long Island businessman and fundraiser is at the center of the corruption scandal that hangs over Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's future, Bush's visit, the birthday gathering of stars, and Israel's looming decision for war or peace with Palestinians in Gaza.Talansky is suspected by police of illegally funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Olmert before Olmert became prime minister two years ago. On Monday, fraud squad detectives raided Jerusalem City Hall looking for evidence in the files from Olmert's 1993-2003 mayoral term. The next day, they raided the government's Ministry of Industry and Trade, which Olmert headed from 2003 to 2006.Talansky and the prime minister have admitted that large amounts of cash changed hands between them, but both deny having done anything illegal, with Olmert saying the money was donations for his campaign, not his own pocket. I never took a penny for myself, he told a news conference.But by a nearly 3-to-1 margin, Israelis don't believe him, and by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, they want him to resign, according to a survey this week by Mina Tzemach, Israel's leading opinion pollster. With four other corruption investigations pending against him, Olmert has promised to resign if indicted.

However, since the wheels of justice in Israel turn slowly, his most immediately pressing challenge is political rather than legal, and Tzemach's poll didn't make it any easier. The numbers showed that under Olmert's leadership, his Kadima party would be blown away in elections by the right-wing Likud, yet if Olmert were replaced by the popular Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Kadima would win. Livni has not declared for Olmert's job, but Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu has, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak is waiting for his chance.Bush probably didn't do Olmert any favors, either, in an Oval Office interview he gave to Israeli journalists on the eve of his trip. Declining to comment on the substance of Olmert's legal matter and describing him as an honest guy with whom he had nothing but excellent relations, the president still made clear his view that Olmert wasn't indispensable to the peace process--or irreplaceable. Hoping on his visit to spur the prime minister and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas toward agreement on the outline, or definition, of a Palestinian state-to-be, Bush said, This is not an Olmert plan. This is a plan of a government. Tzipi Livni is handling the negotiations. Ehud Barak is involved.

Olmert's gathering troubles make these talks about a shelf agreement--essentially an agreement in principle to act as a spur to further, more detailed talks--even more irrelevant than before, if that's possible. Abbas remains as powerless as ever while Olmert, whose government would most likely fall if he signed any agreement that Abbas would ever accept, has suddenly become even weaker than usual.This is a glaring obstacle now that Hamas and several smaller Palestinian militant groups in Gaza have agreed to an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire with Israel, a plan that Olmert just sent back to Egypt with his objections. In itself, the killing of two Israelis by Gazan rockets in the past week makes it harder for Olmert to sell a cease-fire agreement to an angry, distrustful Israeli public, and on top of this, the corruption investigation leaves him tapped out of political capital.After Bush heads out on Friday for the remainder of his Middle East trip, Olmert faces the decision of silencing the rockets by a cease-fire with the hated Hamas or by a ground invasion of the teeming, well-armed Gaza Strip. With fraud detectives on his tail, Olmert, 62, will be attempting quite a feat of compartmentalization, one more daunting than an Israeli prime minister should be obliged to perform.

Israel PM says agreements reached with Palestinians by Ron Bousso Tue May 13, 4:06 PM ET

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that real progress had been made in talks with the Palestinians and understandings and agreements have been reached on very important matters. The discussions we are conducting with the Palestinian Authority are serious and very significant, Olmert said on the eve of a visit to Israel by US President George W. Bush.We are making real progress and understandings and agreements have been reached on very important matters, although not on all of them.
Olmert said he hoped a comprehensive agreement could be reached with the Palestinians although he made no explicit mention of the January 2009 target date set by Bush.I hope an agreement between us will be reached, the realization of which will be gradual and in accordance with the roadmap, he said.

The latter was a reference to a five-year-old internationally drafted peace blueprint which sets out a phased path to peace starting with an Israeli commitment to halt settlement expansion in the occupied territories and a Palestinian commitment to improve security.When the two sides relaunched formal peace negotiations at a US-hosted peace conference in November, they agreed to do so on the basis of the roadmap.This agreement will ensure the future of the state of Israel as a Jewish nation, with full American and international backing, and will be an Israeli-Palestinian agreement which will also receive the blessing of the Arab world, Olmert added.The Israeli premier identified the biggest challenge ahead in the peace negotiations as the future borders of the Jewish state.

I am convinced that the greatest and most important challenge we face today in the State of Israel, and according to which the future will be set, is the challenge of determining the permanent borders of the state of Israel in the framework of peace accords with our neighbours, which will be recognized by the entire international community, he said.I have often said in the past that we must strive to achieve an agreed-upon separation between the two peoples who live in the Land of Israel (Biblical Israel -- historic Palestine), based on two nations -- a Jewish nation and a Palestinian nation, living side-by-side in peace, security and good relations.The Israeli government has made clear that it wants to retain sovereignty over major Jewish settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank, including annexed Arab east Jerusalem, under any peace deal.Olmert said that Israel was also keen to forge ahead with peace deals with neighbouring Arab states. So far only Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties with Israel.Achieving peace agreements with other Arab countries is also very important for our future, he said.

It goes without saying that in order to open a promising horizon for Israel's tomorrow, we must make every effort to moderate, and later on to dismantle and remove the serious security threats which darken our skies.Peace negotiations with Syria have been frozen for the past seven years after Israrel baulked at Damscus's demands for the return of the whole of the strategic Golan Heights right down to the shores of the Sea of Galilee -- Israel's main water source.

But Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev revealed earlier this month that preliminary work had been carried out on resuming the talks.We don't just want to restart only a process of negotiations, we want to start a political dialogue, he told reporters.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Security Council
12 May 2008

Statement to Security Council meeting on securing peace and development: the role of the United Nations in supporting security sector reform
Thank you, Mr. President.
Distinguished delegates,

It is an honour to join you for this discussion on the United Nations role in security sector reform.

This issue is of special importance to the responsibility of the UN, and of this Council in particular, for maintaining international peace and security.

I am grateful to you, Mr. President and the Government of the United Kingdom for bringing us together for this important and timely debate. I also very much appreciate the tireless efforts of the Governments of Slovakia and South Africa in promoting this discussion.

Excellencies,

This month, we mark the 60th anniversary of United Nations peacekeeping. Maintaining international peace and security remains a daunting challenge for our Organization. Despite our efforts over these six decades, conflict and violence continue to pose a threat to nations and peoples.

Unquestionably, Member States remain central providers of security for States and their populations; this is their sovereign right and responsibility, as is the work to reform their security sectors. It is, however, the responsibility of the United Nations to determine how we can best support Member States in delivering enduring security through effective institutions.

Excellencies,

In February 2007, I addressed this Council for the first time on security sector reform. The term is a relatively new one. But in practice, the UN's experience in this area goes back decades, spanning a range of activities and UN Departments, Offices, Funds and Programmes.

As early as 1989, the UN was tasked with supporting a newly independent Namibia in developing preliminary structures for its armed forces. Since the early 1990s, our peace operations have assisted national authorities in establishing new policing institutions, and in strengthening the capacity and integrity of defence structures. In Angola and Mozambique, our mandates included support for the integration, reform and training of armed forces, and partnerships with bilateral donors in coordination and delivery.

From El Salvador and Cambodia in the past to Liberia and Sierra Leone today, the UN has assisted parties in security reform in the context of good offices, mediation and peacekeeping operations. From Guatemala to Afghanistan, from Burundi to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our experience in mediating and implementing peace agreements shows that if these agreements are to succeed and endure, the work to reform security institutions needs to be addressed from the outset.

In other words, the UN has rich and varied experience in what has come to be known as security sector reform. And yet, too often, we have remained an ad hoc partner for national and international stakeholders.

What has been lacking is a common framework and a coherent system-wide approach. Despite our hands-on record, we have only limited institutional structures to guide engagement on the ground. We need to strengthen our ability to provide consistent, well-coordinated and high-quality technical advice, during peace processes and in peacekeeping, peacebuilding and development. We need to make our approach less piecemeal and more holistic.

That is why, at the request of the Security Council and General Assembly, I issued a report in February entitled “Securing peace and development: the role of the United Nations in supporting security sector reform”. As many of you know, it was the product of broad consultations with Member States, regional groupings and organizations, as well as research centres, academic institutions and NGOs. It was also subject to wide-ranging consultations within the United Nations system, both at Headquarters and in the field.

The starting point for the report is a broad discussion of the concept, underscoring its linkages to many important processes. It makes clear that in any context, security reform must be approached both strategically and holistically. On one level, it is a highly specialized field. On another level, it is obviously linked to budgetary questions, economic development, good governance and sound public management. On yet another level, it requires prudent, measured and consistent steps, as well as a well-functioning understanding with the full range of national stakeholders and partners.

The report before you therefore defines security sector reform as a process of assessment, review and implementation, as well as monitoring and evaluation, led by national authorities. The goal is strengthening the effective and accountable security of a State and its people, underpinned by respect for human rights and the rule of law.

Allow me to underscore a few key principles that will guide our approach. These reflect the discussions of Member States in the Security Council and General Assembly.

First and foremost, the UN should engage in security sector reform at the request of national Governments, or in response to Security Council mandates and General Assembly resolutions.

Second, Member States are the primary providers of security, and national ownership is the cornerstone of our approach. As the Security Council noted last year, it is the sovereign right and primary responsibility of the country concerned to determine the national approach and priorities of security sector reform.

Third, the UN should work in collaboration with key international partners. Such partnerships are vital in ensuring expertise and resources. This is imperative already at the outset of any peace negotiation and mediation, as successful security sector reform is a necessary precursor of any peacekeeping exit strategy, and ultimately, of economic and social development.

Fourth, the UN approach must be flexible and tailored to the individual country, region or environment. States and societies define and pursue security according to their particular context, history, culture and needs. There can be no rigid one size-fits-all.

Finally, our approach must be gender sensitive and consistent with international law, with particular attention to sexual and gender-based violence. We must help ensure that the security sector assumes its responsibility in eradicating the unspeakable epidemic of violence against women that has become the common aftermath of conflict.

Excellencies,

Member States have recognized the need for a coherent system-wide approach to security sector reform, and the need to avoid duplication by creating new frameworks. Let us therefore focus, as a first priority, on professionalizing our approach.

My report proposes a number of straightforward and pragmatic measures:

-Developing UN technical guidelines and training in the area of SSR;

-Strengthening field capacity as well as capabilities and expertise for central backstopping;

-Enhancing coordination and delivery of SSR support;

-And establishing a compact SSR Support Unit at Headquarters, to serve the whole United Nations, in particular peace

operations.

These priorities represent the minimum we must do to enhance our performance. But beyond these, developing effective and accountable security institutions -- including those responsible for the provision of justice -- is more than just a goal. It is our shared obligation, especially in countries recovering from conflict.

It is an obligation intricately linked to our capacity to respond rapidly and decisively in times of crisis, and to address long-term perspectives. It is central to our ability to create an inter-related system of rapidly deployable capabilities, operating under the United Nations Charter. This is why I warmly welcome the Council's intention to debate this strategic issue later this month, with the participation of the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom.

Mr. President, Excellencies, I am grateful for your commitment to our collective endeavour to strengthen the United Nations' role in security sector reform.

Thank you very much.