DAY 18 ISRAEL IN GAZA PROTECTING ISRAELIS

A MESSAGE OF HOPE FROM DR. JACK VAN IMPE JAN 12,09

We want to continue in our study of the book of Revelation by finishing chapter 1.

Verse 7: Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

This verse announces the Lord's return to earth. Notice that every eye sees Him. That is why this great event is described as the revealing or revelation of Christ and occurs when He comes as the KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (Revelation 19:11-16). Thus, our text is actually a preview of what will happen when He returns with His saints in chapter 19. Isn't it thrilling to know that when the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west (Matthew 24:27), every eye will witness the spectacle of the ages? Notice also that the Israelites-a special group-will observe this momentous event, for they shall look upon [Him] whom they have pierced (Zechariah 12:10).Furthermore, when He comes in power and great glory to smite the nations, all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. This is because He comes for judgment and none will escape. As John envisions the hour when the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints (Jude 14), he victoriously cries, Amen! Amen! The Greek for even so is Amen, and Amen is the Hebrew for even so. John is literally shouting the praise or praises of God in two languages as he says, Amen and Amen, He is coming!

Verse 8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

This text speaks of the eternal Christ. Alpha and Omega are the beginning and ending letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ is saying, I am the beginning and ending of all things. He uses the title I am, which is a verb indicating being, but not becoming. He always was. He was before all things and created all things. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3). For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist (Colossians 1:16,17). He also controls all things by upholding all things by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3), and He will consummate all things as well (see Ephesians 1:10). Yes, Jesus Christ is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending.The terminology, I am... the Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come, expresses Christ's oneness with the Father (see verse 4). In fact, He adds the term, the Almighty, a name used for the Father in connection with His person. This term is used forty-eight times in the Old Testament. This verse clearly refutes the doctrine of anti-trinitarianism, which is anti-God, anti-Christ, and anti-Holy Spirit.

Verse 9: I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

John realizes that he is an old man and highly revered, yet he wants no praise from men for his sufferings. He immediately identifies himself as a brother in Christ and a companion in heartache and suffering. He tells of the tribulation he endured during his incarceration at Patmos, but he rejoices that the other blood-bought sons of God will miss the Tribulation. How true! The Saviour stated: In the world ye shall have tribulation (John 16:33). However, this does not include the Tribulation hour out of which the saints are kept (see Revelation 3:10). John's persecution came because of his devotion to Christ. This is always true when one takes a stand for the Saviour. Jesus said in John 15:18-20, If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Verse 10: I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Beginning with this verse, we enter into the revelation experience with John and observe firsthand all that is presented to him through the remainder of the book.

Joseph A. Seiss says that John was carried forward through the centuries until he saw a vision of the great and terrible day of the Lord-the Tribulation hour. A majority of scholars, however, believe that the phrase, on the Lord's day, refers to the first day of the week. Thus, on Resurrection day-Sunday, the first day of the week-John is visited by the One who had so loved him while on earth-Jesus himself. As He appears, John hears the trumpet-like voice of Christ...

Verse 11: Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Alpha and Omega are the titles we discussed in verse 8. Verse 11 pictures the eternal Christ giving instructions to His beloved servant concerning the seven churches mentioned in verse 4 and to be discussed in chapters 2 and 3. Then, John adds...

Verse 12: And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.

When the trumpet-like voice of Christ sounded in verse 11, John turned to see the voice that spoke to him. This is different! One does not normally see a voice. Yet John turned to see the voice. As he looks in that direction, he sees seven golden candlesticks or lampstands. Verse 20 clearly explains the meaning of verse 12 as follows: The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks [means this:] The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.The fact that the seven churches are pictured as seven lampstands is significant because believers are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). Sad, as we shall see, is the fact that the history of the seven churches often diminished that light. Oh, pray that it shall not be so in your life. Jesus said, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (Matthew 5:16).Now that we have observed verse 12 in light of verse 20, let's take a closer look at the glorious Saviour who appears in the midst of the lampstands or churches.

Verse 13: And [I saw] in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

The Lord is clothed with the garments of the Old Testament high priest because He is risen and in heaven, performing His ministry of intercession. For this reason, he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). Thus, sixty years after Christ's death and resurrection, John sees Him as the High Priest in the heavenlies. Paul also testified to this blessed fact by stating: Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession (Hebrews 4:14). Next our precious Lord is described in detail.

Verse 14: His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

John's description speaks of antiquity and coincides with the vision Daniel had in chapter 7, verses 9 through 13. This Ancient of days, the eternal One, Jesus Christ, is also pictured in terms of whiteness because of His righteousness, for He is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens (Hebrews 7:26). The Greek also emphasizes the fact that His eyes shot out fire. Christ is righteously angry concerning the sin of the churches depicted in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3.

Verse 15: And his feet [were] like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice [was] as the sound of many waters.

Christ's feet picture judgment and relate to the events that take place when He returns to the earth in chapters 19 and 20. His voice as the sound of many waters also depicts judgment.

Verse 16: And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The seven stars of this verse are the angels or messengers of the seven churches (see verse 20), while the two-edged sword is the Word of God as described in Hebrews 4:12: The word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Then the expression, his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength, takes our minds back to the transfiguration scene in Matthew 17:2 and thus pictures the glory of Christ, who is to be the Judge during the Great Tribulation hour, Armageddon, and the Great White Throne assembly of Revelation 20:11-15. Because of it, John is stunned, astonished, and humbled at the experience and cries...

Verse 17: And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Verse 18: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

The sight of Christ glorified was breathtaking, and the one who laid his head upon Jesus at the Last Supper now falls prostrate at His feet. As John falls before his blessed Lord in fear, Jesus lovingly says, Fear not. He is saying the same to us today. In the midst of wars, rumors of wars, heartaches, and death, the blessed Lord says, Let not your heart be troubled (John 14:1). This message to John is from the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the eternal One, Jesus Christ. The One that liveth (resurrection), and was dead (crucifixion) and who cries, behold, I am alive for evermore (ascension), Amen. He also has the keys of hell and of death. Because of this tremendous fact, Christians are not to fear, for through death ... [Christ destroyed] him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14, 15). Not only have we been delivered from the fear of death but from the fear of Hades as well.Let me explain: Hades was the place where the souls and the spirits of all humans went until the cross. Sheol (Old Testament) and Hades (New Testament) were one and the same. In Sheol and Hades were two compartments, one for the wicked and the other for the righteous. In Luke 16:22, 23, the rich man and Lazarus went to their respective places- one to suffering and the other to comfort. The thief on the cross went to the comfort side, or paradise, as promised by Christ when He said, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43). This is where Christ went upon His death (Acts 2:27, 31). There He ministered to His people and led captivity captive (Ephesians 4:8-10), literally releasing them for their entrance into the third heaven of 2 Corinthians 12:2.Presently the comfort side of Hades has been emptied by Him who has the keys of death and Hades (hell), but the torment side is still full. This will be emptied for the Judgment Day when....death and [Hades deliver] up the dead which [are] in them: and they [are] judged... (Revelation 20:13).

Verse 19: Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

This verse gives us the order of the Book of Revelation, which is written chronologically, or as the events happen. One immediately recognizes the three tenses past, present, and future. Write the things which thou hast seen-past, chapter 1; the things which are-present, chapters 2 and 3; and the things which shall be hereafter-future, chapters 4 through 22.

Verse 20: [God explains to John:] The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Since we have discussed the closing verse of this chapter in connection with verse 12, let us move on to the study of the seven candlesticks, or the history of the seven churches, which we will cover in our next newsletter.

Outreach Group Urges Prayer for Israel
http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/515967.aspx

THERES NO THREAT FROM DISENGAGEMENT
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/TV/?act=one&id=3059

HAMAS HIDES WEAPONS UNDER CIVILIAN SINK
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFl51__Q9Gc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5G-3saZDDkM&eurl=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/3&feature=player_embedded

I ALWAYS HAVE TO REMIND SYRIA WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO THEIR DAMASCUS.

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

Israel says shots fired from Syria at Golan troops
Posted Mon Jan 12, 2009 8:44am AEDT

The Israeli army says troops in the Golan Heights came under small arms fire from Syria and that, although no one was hurt, it had complained to the United Nations force that monitors the frontier area.There were a number of bullets fired from Syria at an Israeli army force doing engineering work near the fence, an army spokesman said of the incident on Sunday (local time), which came amid an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has outraged many Arabs.No one was hurt but a vehicle was damaged, he said.Forces in the field are examining the incident and a complaint was sent to UNDOF [United Nations Disengagement Observer Force] which sent a team there. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear.There was no immediate comment from Syria or from UNDOF, the UN force which monitors a usually quiet ceasefire line between Israeli forces on the Golan Heights and Syrian troops.

Israel captured the plateau from Syria in a war in 1967 and later annexed it in a move not recognised internationally. Syria wants the land back and had begun Turkish-mediated indirect peace talks with Israel last year, the closest contact the two sides had had since 2000.Syria said it broke off the talks after Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip on December 27.Israel says it has stepped up security along its borders since the Gaza offensive began.Three rockets fired from Lebanon hit the north of Israel on Friday, although Israeli and Lebanese officials called this an isolated incident which they attributed to Palestinian refugee groups rather than Hezbollah guerrillas.-Reuters

Gaza war shines spotlight on EU foreign policy
HONOR MAHONY 12.01.2009 @ 17:56 CET

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has served to underline weaknesses in EU foreign policy, something that some analysts say will not necessarily be fixed by the bloc's planned new treaty.As the Israeli attacks on the Gaza strip intensified, so too did the number of EU people on mission to the region.
At one stage, Israeli President Shimon Peres had an array of European interlocutors, including three EU foreign ministers, the EU external relations commissioner and the EU's foreign policy chief.In addition, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in the area in an unofficial capacity, but was working on a high-profile solution to the conflict.As the crisis continues, with hundreds of Palestinians already dead, the EU's response has exposed the difficulty it has in being taken seriously in the Middle East in particular and, generally, in responding conclusively to politically-charged crises.The situation has been exacerbated by the fact the Israeli military strikes began under the French Presidency of the EU - which has international diplomatic clout - and continued under the Czech Presidency of the EU, which lacks the same resources.Commenting on Mr Sarkozy's unilateral efforts to resolve the crisis, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said: When everyone conducts one's own mission, it weakens our strategic position.

The messy response has prompted some questions about whether the Lisbon Treaty can salvage Europe's credibility in foreign policy. The new set of rules foresees a permanent president of the European Council, instead of the current six-monthly rotation between the 27 member states ranging from tiny Malta and Luxembourg to heavyweights Germany, France and the UK.It also introduces an EU foreign minister, which supporters of the treaty say will put an end to the merry-go-round in foreign policy.The EU's reponse in the Middle East shows the need for the Treaty of Lisbon and especially the solutions it offers with the president of the European Council and the EU foreign minister, German centre-right MEP Elmar Brok told this website.

He stressed the importance of the people concerned in such situations all calling the same person [in the EU].Commenting on the fact that the EU had two delegations in the Middle East at the same time, Clara O'Donnell, foreign policy expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform, said:The EU is not taken credibly anyway ... and when it does things like that, it does not help.She suggested that the Lisbon treaty will only be an improvement if certain conditions are fulfilled including sorting out the job description of both the foreign minister and the EU president so there is no bickering between the two.Having a serious actor as a foreign minister is really essential she said, adding: of course, it remains to be seen if member states will really put themselves behind this foreign minister.

Antonio Missiroli, director of the European Policy Centre think-tank, also believes the treaty may create new problems in the area of foreign policy, noting that the division of labour between its top players is not clear.

Large country dominance

The discrepancy between the high profile Sarkozy presidency and the current Czech one has prompted speculation that the EU has to be led by politicians from big countries in order to be effective.If you send someone as a spokesperson that people in foreign countries have never heard of, that is not going to help the EU's credibility, said Ms O'Donnell, suggesting that someone such as UK ex-prime minister Tony Blair - whose name has often been touted for the EU president post - would have the necessary political weight to do the job.A seasoned EU commentator said that the Sarkozy stint at the EU helm has made it very difficult to imagine anyone other than a big country politician in the EU president post.However, others say that it is dangerous to make this assumption. A diplomat from a small EU country said: I can see why this is a seductive argument but it is wrong. We simply have to pick a competent person for the job and not just someone based on the size of the country.

Elmar Brok also cautioned against this tendency. If the person is elected for a longer time, then the size of the country will not have such importance.The equality of all member states should not be forgotten, he warned.

Bloggers Uncover Possible CNN Video Fraud
by Maayana Miskin JAN 13,09

(IsraelNN.com) The popular American blog Little Green Footballs (LGF), run by Charles Johnson, has uncovered several discrepancies in a video report from Gaza that purports to show the death and burial of a 12-year-old boy. The video was aired on CNN and Channel 4 news in Britain.The dramatic video shows last-ditch efforts to save the life of young Mahmoud Mashharawi, news anchors said. However, Mahmoud cannot be revived, and the video moves on to show his grieving family and the beginnings of a hasty burial. The video footage was allegedly recorded by none other than Mahmoud's older brother, Ashraf Mashharawi, a freelance photographer in Gaza.

The Mashharawi family claimed that Mahmoud and a 14-year-old cousin were killed by an Israeli drone while playing on their rooftop. Relatives blamed a small guided missile fired by the unmanned drone for the boys' death. Their claim was repeated by news anchors, with a British reporter making the dramatic proclamation that, Israel, equipped with the most technologically advanced guided missiles and video target selection that America can supply had selected, targeted and killed two more children in Gaza.The family did not explain how it was known that a drone was responsible, and no member of the family claimed to have witnessed the attack itself. IDF spokesmen say they are unfamiliar with any such incident.Johnson began questioning the report soon after it aired. It opens with doctors supposedly making frantic efforts to save the child, but as talkbacks on the LGF site pointed out, the doctors were lightly massaging the child's stomach and not frantically pounding his chest as one might expect.

Other members of the site soon raised similar questions, asking why the boy did not appear to be receiving any transfusions or medication while doctors reportedly tried to save him, why the rooftop on which he was allegedly killed appeared damaged over only a small area and why pictures of the boy showed no injury to his face or head while an accompanying CNN report said he had been hit in the head and all over his body by shrapnel.The site's members quickly began demanding that CNN and Ashraf Mashharawi release the original footage that was edited to become the CNN report. The demands were rebuffed by reporter Paul Martin, who first sent Mashharawi's film to Western media. After making statements praising Mashharawi as a professional and respected reporter, Martin contacted the LGF site to defend his video. Martin attacked Johnson and LGF for questioning the footage, saying, No one in their right mind would suggest that any person would allow doctors to play games with a dying or dead younger brother. The idea is bizarre and deeply insulting.... I think a decent apology to Ashraf might be in order.However, Martin's letter raised new questions, as he admitted to having sent the video to major media outlets without actually watching it beforehand. Meanwhile, CNN and other outlets say the video is genuine, a claim they base on Martin's firm support for Mashharawi.Johnson and his supporters have uncovered major cases of news-related fraud in the past. Little Green Footballs was behind the discovery of photo manipulation regarding a story on an Iranian missile test, and also uncovered several photoshopped images and staged pictures from southern Lebanon during the Second Lebanon War. In addition, the site has been the first to break shocking images from anti-Israel and anti-U.S. rallies from across America.

IDF: More than 650 Hamas Terrorists Killed in Gaza
by Maayana Miskin JAN 12,09

(IsraelNN.com) Over 650 armed Hamas terrorists have been killed since the Cast Lead operation in Gaza began more than two weeks ago, senior IDF officials said Monday. Four hundred are known to have been working with Hamas, while at least another 250 of those killed are believed to have been fighting for the terrorist group, they explained.Many of the dead were killed in clashes with IDF ground troops. Fifty were killed on Monday, officers estimated.Approximately 900 residents of Gaza have been killed in the operation. Of the roughly 250 killed who were not members of Hamas, some were members of other terror groups, while others were killed by stray fire, many after leaving their homes despite the fighting.The IDF continued to hit Gaza targets on Monday. Israel Air Force planes hit more than 25 targets, including 10 groups of Hamas terrorists, two of them in moving vehicles. Also hit were mortar shell launchers and launch pads.Soldiers fighting in Gaza have continued to discover tunnels and weapons caches. On Monday, soldiers discovered anti-aircraft missiles and mortar shells, along with guns and smaller bombs. A tunnel was found underneath a house in northern Gaza.Despite the heavy casualties suffered by Gaza terrorists, groups continued to fire rockets at Israeli cities on Monday, hitting Ashkelon and Be'er Sheva along with several smaller towns. The frequency of rocket fire has decreased, however, with terrorists firing just over 20 rockets a day compared to over 70 a day in the first week of the operation.

Bush: Ceasefire if Rockets Stop
by Maayana Miskin JAN 12,09

(IsraelNN.com) United States President George Bush gave support to Israel's Operation Cast Lead on Monday. In his final press conference before leaving office, Bush said Israel has the right to defend itself, and said a ceasefire must mean the complete cessation of rocket attacks from Gaza.Whether or not a ceasefire is possible depends on Palestinian Authority terrorists, Bush said. The choice is Hamas's to make, he told reporters.Bush also criticized European politicians who blame Israel for the conflict, saying many do so in order to gain popularity with anti-Israel nations. America has not sacrificed its principles for popularity, he suggested.If the international community wants fighting in Gaza to end, it must pressure terror-supporting states to stop supplying Hamas with weapons, Bush continued. In addition, the world should help Egypt prevent weapons smuggling to Gaza.Bush defended his own efforts to obtain a diplomatic agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. American officials worked to promote an agreement in various ways, he said, training and equipping PA forces, promoting economic development in PA-controlled areas and supporting PA democracy, according to the US President. He blamed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Al-Qaeda for the current lack of an Israel-PA peace deal.The outgoing president discussed the situation in Iraq, where U.S. troops have succeeded in lowering the level of daily violence. America has done what it can, Bush said, adding that the survival of Iraqi democracy will depend on future US presidents. He mentioned Iran and North Korea as well, terming them still dangerous and still a problem in turn.President Bush will step down on January 20, to be replaced by U.S. President-elect Barack Obama.

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * NOTES FROM CONFERENCE CALL WITH BENJAMIN NETANYAHU Warns of Iran's nightmare scenario By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Jerusalem, Israel, January 12, 2009) -- Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a 25 minute conference call today with conservative bloggers in which I had the opportunity to participate, made it clear that he sees Israel's current war against Hamas in Gaza as a just war, as a proxy war with Radical Muslim leaders in Iran, and very possibly as a prelude to a future war to stop Radicals in Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, an event he described as a nightmare scenario.Israel is pursuing a just war, Netanyahu said early in the discussion. He noted that Hamas is pursuing an illegitimate goal to accomplish the annihilation of the Jewish State and is using illegitimate means, including the firing rockets on innocent civilians.

This is a classic case of justice pitted against injustice and against the forces of darkness, said the Likud leader who when the war began suspended his party's campaign for the February 10th elections. Everyone has to choose which side of the battle he is on? Is this really an isolated local skirmish, asked one blogger, or is there a larger story at work here? Our fight with Hamas, he replied, is with terrorists who have backers in Iran and have shown the willingness to use any methods including firing rockets on innocent civilians….Israel is now the front line in the battle between militant Islam and the rest of the world - witness what has happened [in terms of terrorist attacks in recent years] in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Mumbai, New York, Washington….and there are enormous global consequences. Does Iran have a victory in one of its two forward outposts [the other being Hezbollah]? Israel cannot tolerate an Iranian forward position [in Gaza], he continued, saying that Israel's long-term goal needs to be blocking Iran from becoming the dominant regional power. He also noted that Israel's immediate goal should be…removing the threat by stopping the firing and preventing the resupply of rockets and other weaponry by Hamas.The call was organized by One Jerusalem, an organization founded in the fall of 2000 by former Israeli deputy prime minister Natan Sharansky. One Jerusalem's executive director, Allen Roth, moderated the discussion. I had emailed in a question asking what can Jews, evangelical Christians and others can do to help Israel in the current conflict. Undoubtedly other bloggers emailed in similar questions. This was the second question posed to the former Prime Minister by Allen Roth. The most important thing [friends of Israel can do] is to tell the truth, Netanyahu said. There is a campaign of lies against us, including that Israel started this conflict [they didn't], that Israel is targeting innocent Palestinian civilians [they aren't], that Israel isn't allowing humanitarian aid to enter Gaza to care for innocents who are suffering [they are]. Get the facts straight….the facts do count….the sequence counts.

Hamas, he noted, has been firing these rockets for eight years - eight years! Can you imagine what the U.S. would do if 6,000 rockets were fired from Mexico at San Diego? Would the U.S. wait eight years? Would they wait eight months? I don't think they would wait eight minutes to fight back.Netanyahu pointed out that Hamas is launching rockets out of mosques, hospitals, elementary schools, universities -- putting innocent Palestinians in harm's way when Israel seeks to retaliate. We don't deliberately target civilians, though we regret when civilians are injured or killed, he said. That basic fact should be spoken…loud and clear by the friends of Israel and the friends of Jews.Regarding the immediate future of the Arab-Israeli peace process, Netanyahu said the idea that you can have a final settlement….I think that is just not realistic.He noted that he had resigned from the cabinet in 2005 when the government of then-Prime Minister Ariel SharonGaza for free and when it came to any future potential deals with the Palestinians, don't repeat the mistakes of the past. decided to give away

Before there is anymore international talk of Israel ceding territory to the Palestinians, Israel needs to pursue four strategies:

1. Fight Islamic radicals
2. Strengthen Islamic moderates
3. Reestablish security on all of Israel's borders
4. Begin rapid economic development for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza

He was asked if he thought Hamas was holding out for the new administration of Barack Obama, hoping that Obama would put new pressure on Israel to stop fighting and accepting a potentially premature cease fire. I do remember Mr. Obama visited Sderot not long ago and said something to the effect that, If my two girls lived in a home that was rocketed by terrorists, I would do everything in my power to stop it. He added, I think the U.S. has an interest in stopping terrorists wherever they are.Netanyahu said the biggest threat Israel faces is not from Hamas, or even from Hezbollah, but from Radical Islamic terrorists or states possessing nuclear weapons. He described Iran acquiring such weapons of mass destruction as a nightmare scenario, along with militant Islamists seizing control of Pakistan. Though he did not lay out how he would approach the Iran crisis should he be elected Prime Minister, he strongly hinted that time is running out and that the West had to take decisive action before it is too late. Netanyahu concluded by insisting that Israel should do everything can to return Gilad Shalit, the IDF soldier kidnapped by Hamas on June 25, 2006, though he declined to criticize the current Olmert government when asked if Olmert and his team were doing enough to bring Shalit home and to make his return a precondition of a cease fire. Not asked -- unfortunately -- was whether Netanyahu believed Israel's government should fully invade Gaza's urban centers and bring down the Hamas leadership and terror infrastructure once and for all. It would have been useful to get his take on this because at the moment, my read is that the Olmert government is hedging on that decision. True, they have been calling up the Reserves and putting those Reserves into the Gaza theater to bolster the IDF forces already inching their way forward towards Hamas positions. But we have not seen a full scale ground campaign into Gaza's toughest urban centers, the strongholds of the Hamas forces. Instead, the Olmert government seems to be waiting for a deal to emerge with Hamas, Egypt and the international community to bring about a rapid cease fire. Many here in Israel are worried that Olmert will accept a cease fire too quickly, as he did with the Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006. No Israeli parent wants to see another of their sons killed in combat. But scores of Israeli parents are telling me they want to see the whole job done -- Hamas destroyed and the rocket threat squashed once and for all. They do not want to have the nation sacrifice so much in the last sixteen days only to see the threat reemerge all over again. Finish the job, they say. Under the circumstances, I agree.

Listen Now [3 min 41 sec]
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99235472&ft=1&f=1004

U.S. Deflects Israel's Plan For Iran Reactor Attack
by Tom Bowman and Steve Inskeep

Morning Edition, January 12, 2009 · According to a report over the weekend in The New York Times, Israel wanted help from the United States in preparing to strike nuclear facilities in Iran. The Bush Administration turned the request down. Israel was looking for bunker-busting bombs from U.S. officials, and permission to fly over Iraq on the way to Iran.

Petrol bombs hit French synagogue JAN 12,09

No-one was hurt in the synagogue attack in Saint-Denis ,Two petrol bombs have been thrown at a synagogue north of Paris, police have said, days after another French synagogue was attacked. Police in the Seine-Saint-Denis region said no injuries were caused, but a restaurant next door to the synagogue was damaged. Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said the attack was intolerable. The incident came amid tensions in France over the violence between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, now in its 17th day. Ms Alliot-Marie vowed to find and punish those who carried out the attack in Saint-Denis on Sunday. French officials have been keen to stress to Jewish and Muslim community leaders that the unrest in Gaza should not lead to violence in France. Protests against Israel's military action in Gaza attracted more than 100,000people in France during the weekend. In last week's attack, a burning car was rammed into a synagogue in the south-western French city of Toulouse. The car, packed with a petrol bomb, was set alight and then pushed into the synagogue door by a second car. No-one was hurt in that attack.

UN chief wants Gaza conflict halt JAN 13,09

Palestinians have been warned to leave areas close to Hamas facilities
The UN secretary general has implored Israel and Palestinian militants to halt the fighting in Gaza immediately. Ahead of a trip to the region to push for a truce, Ban Ki-moon said too many people had died and there had been too much civilian suffering. His call came as Israeli ground forces and tanks moved deeper into Gaza City, with a BBC producer there saying he could hear shooting from tanks. Nearly 30 rockets or mortars were fired on Israel from Gaza on Monday. Early on Tuesday, the 18th day of the conflict, Israeli troops advanced in the southern and eastern suburbs of Gaza City, backed by artillery and helicopters. The western areas of the city came under shellfire from Israeli gunboats. The Israeli military has denied a Hamas claim that it had destroyed two Israeli tanks. An army spokesman told the BBC that more than 60 targets were targeted by IAF [Israeli Air Force] during the night.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Palestinian militants will keep on feeling Israel's iron fist as long as Hamas fires rockets at Israel. But a senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniya, said the group was approaching victory. After 17 days of this foolish war, Gaza has not been broken and Gaza will not collapse, he said in a televised address from a secret location in Gaza. Since the majority of the Hamas militants are pretty much in hiding in those places, mainly urban places, then we operate in those areas.

Both Hamas and Israel rejected last week's UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Palestinian medical sources say 910 people have been killed in Gaza so far, of whom 292 were children and 75 were women. Israeli officials say 13 Israelis, including three civilians, have been killed. On Monday, casualty reports from Palestinian medics ranged from nine to 26 dead, while Israel said five of its soldiers had been injured, one of them seriously. Israel is preventing international journalists from entering Gaza, making it impossible to independently confirm casualty figures.

Society destroyed

My message is simple, direct and to the point: the fighting must stop, Mr Ban told a news conference in New York ahead of his departure on Tuesday for the Middle East.

Ban Ki-moon calls for an immediate ceasefire
In Gaza, the very foundation of society is being destroyed: people's homes, civic infrastructure, public health facilities and schools.His diplomatic tour will see talks with the leaders of Egypt, Israel and Syria as well as the Palestinian president in Ramallah. However UN officials say he will not be meeting representatives of Hamas, and it is not clear whether he will go to Gaza itself during his week-long trip. Meanwhile reports suggest diplomatic efforts between Egypt and Hamas in Cairo are progressing. After meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair said the elements were in place for a ceasefire agreement. I am hopeful we can put an agreement together but it's going to have to be worked on very hard and it's got to be credible, he told journalists.

All-out push?

On Monday as Israel continued its air and ground offensive, Hamas said it had been involved in fighting with Israeli troops in several districts. There were reports of fierce fighting around Gaza City ahead of the daily three-hour truce to allow aid deliveries to Gaza. Some Israeli reservists are in action on the ground, but the army denied escalating the war to a third phase - an all-out push on Gaza City and other towns. Reservists are reported to be securing areas gained in the fighting.

Impossible situation

The chief military spokesman, Brig Gen Avi Benayahu, said thousands more - who would comprise a new, expanded phase in the ground operation if it was ordered - were still in training and had not been deployed. Israel hopes the scale of its operation will greatly reduce the number of missiles fired from Gaza into southern Israel, while eroding support for Hamas. As the fighting continued, a spokesman for the charity Save the Children said it was impossible for aid workers to do their jobs. We need the violence to stop. We need the attacks to stop. It's only when that happens that we will be able to operate, Benedict Dempsey said. Aid agencies say Gaza's 1.5 million residents are in urgent need of food and medical aid.

Israeli tanks advance more deeply into Gaza
By Nidal al-Mughrabi JAN 13,09

GAZA (Reuters) - Israeli tanks rolled into densely populated parts of the city of Gaza on Tuesday and troops fought intense battles with Hamas militants as world leaders struggled to coax the sides into a ceasefire.Hamas said its forces detonated explosives beneath Israeli armor and fought with Israeli forces backed by helicopter gunships and naval fire in what appeared to be the most ferocious fighting since Israel sent ground troops into Gaza 10 days ago.Explosions and the din of heavy machine gun fire echoed continuously through the Hamas-ruled territory's largest city before dawn. Flashes of light lit up the skies.The Palestinian death toll in the 18 days since Israel launched its air offensive passed 900, including many civilians. Israel has had 10 soldiers killed and three civilians from motars and rockets fired from coastal Gaza.United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed to the region to press for a truce in a week of talks with leaders in Egypt, Israel, Jordan and Syria.My message is simple, direct, and to the point: the fighting must stop. To both sides, I say: Just stop now, Ban told reporters before his departure.

Egypt pursued efforts to broker a ceasefire with Gaza, a territory that sits on its northern border.But Lebanese political sources said Hamas negotiators would on Tuesday reject Cairo's proposals to end the offensive Israel said it launched so as to halt sporadic rocket fire from Gaza that causes few casualties but disrupts life in southern Israel.Hamas's main objections were to a proposed long-term truce and to any ceasefire being put in place before Israel withdrew all its forces from Gaza, one of the Lebanese sources said.Israel has rejected a United Nations Security Council call for a truce but said it was ready to discuss further proposals.

TANKS DEEPER INTO GAZA

Despite a world drive to end the fighting, Israel pressed on with its offensive, sending its tanks into built-up areas in the city of Gaza, the deepest thrust since the attack began.Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Avi Benayahu said on Monday Israel was deeper in the territory. Reserve units had moved in to free up regular troops for the push into the city.We are tightening the encirclement of the city, Brigadier General Eyal Eisenberg told reporters touring Israeli positions on Monday.Three Israeli soldiers were wounded in a friendly fire incident in Gaza on Monday night, the military spokesman said.Violence was also reported in the occupied West Bank, where gunmen shot and wounded four soldiers while shooting at an Israeli vehicle, a military spokesman said.Palestinian medics said at least 913 people in Gaza have been killed in the Israeli attacks launched since December 27 in the territory. The health minister in Gaza's Hamas-run government said close to 400 of those were women and children.The bloodshed has burst open faultlines in the map of Middle East diplomacy, with the Bush administration in its final week standing behind Israel, Europe pressing Israel to call off its attacks and Arab leaders speaking out against the Jewish state.

SAUDIS ACCUSE ISRAEL

On Monday, Saudi Arabia, an oil power and one of several Arab governments whose pro-American stance is far from popular with its people, accused Israel of racist extermination.It said it hoped Bush's successor Barack Obama would work swiftly to resolve the 60-year-old Palestinian issue.Bush said on Monday it was up to Hamas, which won a 2006 parliamentary election and seized control of Gaza 18 months ago, to end the misery of the enclave's 1.5 million people.I'm for a sustainable ceasefire, and a definition of sustainable ceasefire is Hamas stops firing rockets into Israel ...I happen to believe the choice is Hamas's to make, Bush said.Bush said Israel had a right to defend itself but he hoped it would continue to be mindful of innocent folks and help expedite the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

Human rights groups report shortages of vital supplies including water, in Gaza, due to the fighting. A fuel shortage has brought frequent power blackouts. Israel has permitted almost daily truck shipments of food and medicine.Israeli leaders, facing a February 10 election, have given few clues on how long they would continue the offensive. Analysts have cited Obama's coming inauguration on January20 as a factor pushing for an end to the fighting.Hamas rejects Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state, and opposes U.S.-backed peace talks with Israel conducted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007,

Hamas negotiators returned to Cairo late on Monday after consulting the leadership in exile in Damascus.Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's leader in Gaza, said the group would negotiate a truce but only if Israel pulled back all its forces and ended a Gaza blockade.A Lebanese source close to Hamas said the group wanted a truce for a limited time and objected to the presence of any foreign observers at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.Israel says any ceasefire must halt Hamas rocket fire and wants measures to stop Hamas from rearming via tunnels under the Egypt-Gaza border, in an area known as the Philadelphi corridor.(Additional reporting by Adam Entous, Ori Lewis, Alastair Macdonald, Luke Baker, Alistair Lyon, Jeffrey Heller and Joseph Nasr in Jerusalem, Wafa Amr in Ramallah, Dan Williams in Gaza and Alaa Shahine in Cairo; Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan, editing by Angus MacSwan)

Israeli leader warns Hamas of iron fist By IBRAHIM BARZAK and CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA, Associated Press Writers – Mon Jan 12, 9:38 pm ET

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Israeli troops advanced into Gaza suburbs for the first time early Tuesday, residents said, hours after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Islamic militants of an iron fist unless they agree to Israel's terms to end the fighting. Hamas showed no signs of wavering, however, with its leader, Ismail Haniyeh, saying the militants were closer to victory.Despite the tough words, Egypt said it was making slow but sure progress in brokering a truce, and special Mideast envoy Tony Blair said elements were in place for a cease-fire.Sounds of the battle could be heard clearly before dawn Tuesday around the city of 400,0000 as the Israeli forces, backed by artillery and attack helicopters, moved into neighborhoods east and south of Gaza City. Israeli gunboats shelled the coast from the west.The Palestinian residents told The Associated Press that Israeli tanks rolled into public areas of the Tel Hawwa neighborhood, pushing back militants. Tens of thousands of Palestinians live in apartment buildings in the neighborhood south of Gaza City.

One of the residents, Khader Mussa, 35, told The Associated Press by telephone that he saw two apartment buildings on fire. He said he was huddling in the basement of his building with 25 other people, including his pregnant wife and his parents. The gates of hell have opened,he said.God help us.Several other buildings were on fire, witnesses said, including a lumberyard. Thick smoke blanketed the area.The Israeli military confirmed that a battle was in progress but gave no details.On Monday, as diplomats struggled for traction in truce efforts, Olmert stood within Hamas rocket range and said Israel would only end military operations if Hamas stops rocketing Israel, as it has done for years, and is unable to rearm after combat subsides.

Anything else will be met with the Israeli people's iron fist, Olmert said. We will continue to strike with full strength, with full force until there is quiet and rearmament stops.As he spoke in Ashkelon, Israeli tanks, gunboats and warplanes hammered suspected hiding places of Hamas operatives who control the poor, densely populated territory just across the border. The Israeli military said Hamas fired about 20 rockets at Israel on Monday, fewer than previous days.Just a few hours earlier, a rocket hit a house in Ashkelon but caused no casualties. Olmert addressed regional mayors in the relative safety of the basement of a public building during his two-hour visit.Later, he tempered his tough talk, saying: I really hope that the efforts we are making with the Egyptians these days will ripen to a result that will enable us to end the fighting.Ashkelon is 10 miles from the border with Gaza. The Israeli military says Hamas has Iranian-supplied rockets that can reach 25 miles into southern Israel.Meanwhile, Gaza's Hamas prime minister insisted on an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and the opening of blockaded border crossings as part of any truce.As we are in the middle of this crisis, we tell our people we, God willing, are closer to victory. All the blood that is being shed will not go to waste, Haniyeh said on Hamas Al Aqsa television. But he said the group was also pursuing a diplomatic track to end the conflict that will not close.Haniyeh sat a desk in a room with a Palestinian flag and a Quran in the background. His location was unclear; Israeli airstrikes have targeted militant chiefs, and most are in hiding.

The fighting began Dec. 27 and has killed more than 900 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, according to Palestinian medical officials. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have been killed.Inside Gaza, an Israeli battalion commander identified only as Lt. Col. Yehuda said Monday that troops had not met significant resistance and had found several houses booby-trapped either with regular explosives, or by sealing the windows and doors and opening cooking gas valves. A couple of days ago, an armed squad popped up from a tunnel that was concealed by a nearby building. We took them out with tank fire and a bulldozer, he said. In another incident, the commander said, his men spotted a suicide bomber on a bicycle.

He ran off to take cover in a building, presumably to draw us in, Yehuda said. We demolished the building on top of him with a bulldozer.Brig. Gen. Eyal Eisenberg said troops were tightening the encirclement of Gaza City and were constantly on the move.The comments by Yehuda and Eisenberg were approved by Israeli military censors. They spoke to a small group of reporters who accompanied Israeli units inside Gaza. Israeli forces have not allowed journalists to enter Gaza to cover the war. Israeli warplanes pounded suspected Hamas positions in Gaza City, and navy gunboats fired at least 25 shells. Smoke billowed over buildings. At least 20 Palestinians died Monday, some of them from wounds suffered on previous days, Gaza health officials said. A girl, a doctor and a Hamas militant were killed in the northern Gaza Strip, said Basim Abu Wardeh, head of Kamal Adwan hospital. The doctor rushed to evacuate the wounded from a building where two airstrikes had taken place and was killed by a third, Abu Wardeh said. Four other medics were injured, one critically. The Israeli military said four soldiers were injured, one seriously, in what an initial inquiry concluded was a friendly fire incident in northern Gaza. Israel has sent reserve units into Gaza to help thousands of ground forces already in the territory, and fighting has persisted despite a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a cease-fire. Egypt has assumed a role as mediator between Israel and Hamas. Talks are progressing slowly but surely because each party wants to score some points, Hossam Zaki, the spokesman for Egypt's Foreign Ministry, told the British Broadcasting Corp. We would like to be able to bridge some gaps and then proceed immediately to a cease-fire.

Zaki, however, said Egypt could not provide certain guarantees that Israelis seek, such as a halt to rocket fire. We'll enhance our efforts, but this is not an issue between Israel and Egypt, Zaki told the BBC. It is an issue between Israel and Gaza, and this is something that will have to be worked out, as the (U.N.) Security Council says, in Gaza.Much of the diplomacy focuses on an area of southern Gaza just across the Egyptian border known as the Philadelphi corridor that serves as a weapons smuggling route, making Egypt critical to both sides in any deal. The name of the corridor is an Israel military label. Israel wants those routes sealed and monitored as part of any peace deal, and has been bombing tunnels that run under that border. I think the elements of an agreement for the immediate cease-fire are there, Blair said in Cairo. He added that, while more work needed to be done, he hoped to see a cease-fire in the coming days.Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad planned to travel Tuesday to Egypt for talks. In Paris, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said European military observers should be sent to Gaza to monitor any eventual cease-fire. Israel's chief military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Avi Benayahu, said the fighting was difficult and complex and that Hamas militants were setting boobytraps and firing missiles from the rooftops of civilian homes. There is a whole city built underground in Gaza. Lots of big weapons warehouses, Benayahu said. Soldiers also uncovered a tunnel dug inside Gaza that led 300 yards into Israel, he said. In Monday's fighting, the army said it carried out more than 25 airstrikes, hitting squads of gunmen, mortar launchers and two vehicles carrying Hamas militants. It said ground troops came under fire from militants in a mosque. An Israeli aircraft attacked the squad, and Israeli troops then took over the mosque, confiscating rockets and mortar shells. With Israeli troops surrounding Gaza's main population centers, Israeli leaders have said the operation is close to achieving its goals. Security officials say they have killed hundreds of Hamas fighters, including top commanders, but there has been no way to confirm the claims.

Aid agencies said they have resumed relief operations in Gaza, but fighting still prevents them from evacuating the sickest people and reaching all those who need help. International aid groups, however, say Israel is not doing enough to protect Palestinian civilians as well as aid workers. As many 88 percent of Gaza's residents now require food aid, up from 80 percent before the war, said Helene Gayle, president of the international aid agency CARE. The three-hour lull in fighting that Israel allows for humanitarian aid to move around Gaza is not sufficient, she said.
Barzak reported from Gaza City; Torchia from Jerusalem. Carley Petesch in New York and Eliane Engeler contributed to this report.

Israel objects to Spanish PM presence at anti-war rally
LEIGH PHILLIPS 12.01.2009 @ 17:43 CET

As Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos lands in the Middle East to support a proposed Franco-Egyptian peace plan, a minor diplomatic row has broken out between Madrid and Tel Aviv over the presence of Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero at an anti-war protest over the weekend.On Saturday (10 January), Mr Zapatero addressed a demonstration in Ourense, Galicia, calling the Jewish state's actions excessive and saying: It is my duty to call on Israel to implement an immediate cease-fire. Spanish PM Zapatero criticised Israel's actions in Gaza as excessive (Photo: The Council of the European Union)The rally, as with others throughout the country, had been organised by NGOs, trade unions and the prime minister's own Socialist Workers' Party, the PSOE.At a similar demonstration in Madrid, the main banner read We will stop the genocide, while some protesters later threw stones at the Israeli embassy. The deputy general secretary of the PSOE, Jose Blanco, said that it had put objections to the wording of the banner, but that he had to be present nevertheless.

On Sunday, the Israeli embassy issued a statement regretting the presence of members of the governing party at anti-war protests and saying that people demonstrating applied a double standard to Israel.Israel's ambassador to Spain, Rafael Schutz, on Monday criticised Mr Zapatero's words as unfair, saying in an interview with Cadena Ser: Nobody says anything in Spain about rocket attacks from Hamas.Mr Schutz however rejected the idea that the prime minister's words would result in a diplomatic conflict between the two countries.The ambassador said that he wanted to separate relations with the government from what had happened during the demonstration in Madrid.Demonstrations are one thing and dialogue is another, he said, adding that he recognised that Mr Zapatero had maintained an authentic preoccupation with the situation prior to the launch of the offensive, and that he truly wants to contribute a solution to the conflict.Spanish foreign minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a former European Union Middle East envoy, landed in the region on Monday to push foward the Franco-Egyptian ceasefire proposal.He was to speak to his Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, in Tel Aviv, and later head to Cairo, Damascus and the West Bank.

Irish poll shows majority support for Lisbon Treaty
ANDREW WILLIS 12.01.2009 @ 09:20 CET

A new poll suggests that a majority of Irish voters may back the Lisbon Treaty in a second referendum set to be held this year. The Sunday Independent / Quantum Research survey carried out last Friday showed that 55 percent of the 500 people asked would support the treaty while 37 percent said they would oppose it and 15 percent said they were undecided. These latest figures showed a strong rise in support (plus 16%) for the charter when compared to a survey carried out by the same newspaper in December. Those saying they would vote against the treaty decreased by seven percent.The poll comes after EU leaders in December agreed to give Ireland guarantees that the treaty would not affect issues such as tax and neutrality.

Ireland's deteriorating economy is likely to be an important factor behind the change of heart, with many still shocked and angered by last week's announcement that 1,900 jobs at the Dell plant in Limerick are to be transferred to Poland. The poll also shows a steep decline in support for the government and Prime Minister Brian Cowen and a corresponding rise in support for opposition parties and in particular Labour leader Eamon Gilmore. The Irish statistics office said that the estimated unemployment rate has now reached 8.3 percent, up 0.5 percent from last November. This figure is likely to worsen over the coming months with one of the state's largest employers, Waterford Wedgewood, calling in the receivers last week.

Meanwhile, leader of the anti-Lisbon Libertas party Declan Ganley suffered a setback over the weekend in Prague where talks broke down surrounding proposals to run candidates under the Libertas banner. Instead Petr Mach, who had been in discussions with Mr Ganley, is to found the Free Citizens' Party in the Czech capital today (12 January), also campaigning on an anti-Lisbon ticket. Mr Mach, an economist and close associate of eurosceptic Czech President Vaclav Klaus, said he wanted to concentrate on national rather than EU politics. I tried to explain to him that setting up parties is a different thing than setting up businesses. If he has a business he can set up subsidiaries and he would then be the main shareholder of it. It is different with political parties, Mr Mach told the Irish Times. But Mr Ganley, who ran a successful campaign against the EU treaty in the run-up to the June Irish referendum, says he will continue with his plan to set up a Libertas branch in the Czech Republic. Petr Mach is a Eurosceptic and I am not, he said.

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH
http://www.pmw.org.il/

YAHOO NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video

MIDEAST CONFLICT NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/1874;_ylt=A0wNcxFdg6xIgbkAwD6z174F

ABC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2461

FOX NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3074

FOX BUSINESS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3045

AP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2529

BBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2918

REUTERS VIDEO NEWS
http://news.yahoo.com/video/2704

AFP NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3091

CNBC NEWS VIDEO
http://news.yahoo.com/video/3245

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

WORLD MARKET RESULTS
http://money.cnn.com/data/world_markets/

HALF HOUR DOW RESULTS TUE JAN 13,2009

09:30 AM -6.40
10:00 AM +21.27
10:30 AM -3.03
11:00 AM +3.19
11:30 AM +1.67
12:00 PM +15.13
12:30 PM -5.38
01:00 PM -23.34
01:30 PM -36.88
02:00 PM -74.23
02:30 PM -86.02
03:00 PM -38.71
03:30 PM -45.32
04:00 PM -25.41 8448.56

S&P 500 871.79 +1.53

NASDAQ 1546.46 +7.67

GOLD 821.80 +0.80

OIL 38.52 +0.93

TSE 300 8957.45 +164.12

CDNX 868.90 -9.45

S&P/TSX/60 540.71 +10.04

MORNING,NEWS,STATS

Dow -33 points at 4 minutes of trading today.
Dow -35 points at low.
Dow +9 points at high.
Dow Down for the 5th straight day to start trading.
S&P,Nasdaq down for 4th of 5 at start of trading.
Oil $37.42 and Gold $823.80 at start of trading today.
YEAR TO DATE
Dow -3.24%
S&P -3.34%
Nasdaq -1.28%

AFTERNOON,NEWS,STATS

Dow -35 at low.
Dow +22 at high.
NYSE STATS Advances 1340,Declines 1482,Unchanged 108,New Highs 3,New Lows 13.
NASDAQ STATS Advances 1285,Declines 968,Unchanged 184.

FINANCIALS BANK STOCKS TEST LOWS,MAIN ISSUES:
-Have stocks adequately discounted Q4 losses.
-Capital raising.
FINANCIALS THIS YEAR
-Bank of America -22%.
-JPMorgan Chase -20%.
-Fifth third Bancorp -20%.
-Wells Fargo -19%.
-Citigroup -18%.
Barclay's to cut 2,100 jobs in Investment Unit.

SPENDING LIKE ITS 1936
NEW FRUGALITY CONSUMER SHIFT
87% only buy sale items.
66% buy needs not wants.
43% decrease spending.
30.5% pay with cash more often.

WRAPUP,NEWS,STATS

Dow -89 points at low.
Dow +22 points at high.
Dow -0.4% today.Volume 299,518,996.00
Dow down 5 straight days.
S&P +0.2% today.Volume N/a.
Nasdaq +0.4% today.Volume 1,780,013,734.00
S&P,Nasdaq 2nd gain day in last 5.
Stocks end mixed.
YEAR TO DATE
Dow -3.74%
S&P -3.48%
Nasdaq -1.94%

GLOBALISATION - WHAT IS IT?
http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/globalization/

GLOBALISATION
http://youthink.worldbank.org/multimedia/gallery/globalization/slideshow_
globalization2007.php

TRADE - WHAT IS IT?
http://youthink.worldbank.org/issues/trade/

REGIONS EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB1
REGIONS EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB2
REGIONS LATIN AMERICA AND CARRIBEAN
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB3
REGIONS MIDEAST,NORTH AFRICA
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB4
REGIONS SOUTH ASIA
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB5
REGIONS SUB-SAHARA,AFRICA
http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ext/GMIS/gdmis.do?siteId=2&menuId=LNAV01REGSUB6

IRAN MOVED BILLIONS VIA US
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/10/business/worldbusiness/10bank.html

IMF chief warns about deepening global slowdown JAN 13,09

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The International Monetary Fund is predicting a deepening slowdown in global growth in 2009, the organization's director said Tuesday during a visit to Hungary.An IMF study to be released soon will show a sharp decrease in its forecasts for global growth compared with predictions made in October.The world economic outlook for 2009 will not look good, IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said after meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany and other government officials.Strauss-Kahn did not mention any specific figures on how much slower the global economies were expected to be.He said Hungary is adhering to pledges of reforms and austerity measures made last year when it received a huge financial bailout.Hungary is doing as well as possible in a difficult world, Strauss-Kahn said. I want to commend the government for what has been done.Strauss-Kahn also urged Hungary to continue with structural reforms so that it is ready for the economic turnaround and can achieve sustained growth when it happens.Hungary received a $25.1 billion standby loan in October from the IMF, the World Bank and the European Union after investors lost confidence in the country's ability to make debt payments.Strauss-Kahn said Hungary was right to appeal to the Washington-based IMF and the other institutions for help at a very early stage, adding that the country's end-2008 macroeconomic figures were in line with IMF expectations.

Hungary's currency slumped to near all-time lows against the euro Monday and early Tuesday reportedly because of market rumors that Strauss-Kahn's visit was necessary because Hungary was straying from the measures agreed to with its international lenders.Asked about the forint, Strauss-Kahn said he felt that the measures taken in the last months by the government with IMF and EU support had helped to stabilize the currency.So, beside a general issue of volatility of the exchange rate, I don't see any reason to worry about the forint today, Strauss-Kahn said.

Oil rises on Saudi rhetoric,The world's top oil producer says it will further cut production to help buoy prices. By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer January 13, 2009: 9:40 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices edged higher Tuesday morning, after falling for six days in a row, amid reports that Saudi Arabia will aggressively cut production. Light, sweet crude for February delivery was up 36 cents to $37.96 a barrel. Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil producer, plans to reduce output even further than its previous target, according to published reports. The kingdom has already lowered supply this month to 8 million barrels per day as part of OPEC's agreement to reduce overall supplies by a record amount from Jan. 1.Members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have been scaling back production in an attempt to put a floor under the rapidly declining price of oil.I think the Saudi's are trying to single-handedly support the price of oil, said Amanda Kurzendoerfer, a commodities analyst at Summit Energy, adding that the country is large enough to impact on oil prices.Still, the market remains concerned about weak demand for oil and gasoline as the global economy continues to deteriorate. The price of oil lost more than half its value in 2008 and suffered a staggering decline of more than $100 a barrel from its peak last summer.The market is worried that the continuing global slowdown will have a negative impact on demand, said Andrew Lebow, a broker at energy futures trading firm MF Global in New York. Don't expect $4 gas anytime soon.Does the country need a big gas tax? The case for a quick recovery.

Spain receives downgrading warning from ratings agency
ANDREW WILLIS Today JAN 13,09 @ 09:20 CET

Spain became the third Eurozone country to receive a warning from ratings agency Standard & Poor's on Monday (12 January) in a further sign of Europe's economic malaise. Last Friday, both Ireland and Greece also received warnings from the ratings agency, a development that threatens to make government borrowing for the three states more expensive at a time when governments are increasingly turning to money markets to bolster diminishing tax returns. The Financial Times reports that other countries could also see themselves subject to similar warnings in the coming days or weeks as countries take on record debt levels, in part caused by new spending programmes intended to counteract the ongoing economic crisis. Italy, with a debt-to-GDP ratio of 104 per cent is seen as particularly vulnerable. So too Portugal, which is currently running a current account deficit of 12 per cent.

Figures announced last week show Spain's industrial output for November to be down 15.1 per cent on the previous year, the biggest fall on record. This, coupled with the country's now three million people currently out of work, highlights the predicament facing the Socialist government led by Jose Luis Zapatero. In a sign of the growing divergence between Eurozone economies, the ten-year bond spread between Spain and Germany (the difference in yields offered on government bonds) reached nearly a full percentage point, a record since the launch of the euro. Monday's Le Figaro newspaper reports current head of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker as saying he feels the Eurozone economy will continue to face tough times over the course of 2009 and 2010 and will only start emerging from the recession in 2011 or 2012.He also stressed the importance of government pressure on banks to restart lending, a vital stop on the road towards the Eurozone's economic recovery.

Regulation of ratings agencies

European commissioner for the internal market Charlie McCreevy said on Monday that regulation of ratings agencies such as S&P, Moody's and Fitch should be centralised at the European Union level. Under his current proposal, currently being debated by the European Parliament, ratings agencies would have to be registered to operate in the 27 member states, and subject to day-to-day supervision and inspections Reuters reports. Supervision of the agencies would be carried out jointly by national regulators and the Committee of European Securities Regulators – a forum for all national regulators in the EU. Mr McCreevy blames ratings agencies for failing to spot the danger behind financial products such as US sub-prime mortgages.Such mortgages were frequently repackaged into complex financial products that received high credit ratings and sold on to European investors. The commissioner's plan for further centralisation of credit agency regulation is unlikely to be passed by the European Parliament and member state governments without amendments however. Jean-Paul Gauzes, the French centre-right MEP charged with steering the bill though the European Parliament, says he wants key changes and Reuters says a number of member states are concerned about a potential loss of influence over the agencies.

Oil falls to near $37 on gloomy demand outlook By ALEX KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer JAN 13,09

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell to near $37 a barrel Tuesday in Asia on expectations crude demand will weaken amid a severe global economic slowdown.Light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 45 cents at $37.14 a barrel by midday in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Crude prices have fallen more than 25 percent since reaching just above $50 a barrel last week as traders returned from the holiday break to find evidence of falling manufacturing and consumer spending across the globe.The February contract fell 8 percent on Monday, or $3.24, to settle at $37.59 after Alcoa Inc., the world's third-largest aluminum company, reported a quarterly loss of $1.19 billion.Alcoa, the first component of the Dow Jones industrial average to post results, said last week it plans to lay off about 13percent of its global work force by the end of 2009 amid sinking prices and demand for the metal.The Dow fell 1.5 percent Monday and has dropped 3.5 percent this year.

The negative sentiment we're seeing reflects the broad international macroeconomic outlook, which is considerably weaker, and what that means for energy consumption, said David Moore, commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

Prices have fallen despite continued fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Israeli troops advanced into Gaza suburbs for the first time Tuesday, after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned Islamic militants of an iron fist unless they agree to Israel's terms to end the fighting.About 900 Palestinians and 13 Israelis have died since the conflict started on Dec. 27.After initially spurring a jump in oil prices, the Gaza conflict has been largely ignored by traders because it hasn't affected major supplies and no oil-rich Middle East neighbors have become directly involved.

The impact on oil supply is obviously limited, Moore said.Prices of futures contracts for later this year are higher than the February contract on investor expectations that announced production cuts of 4.2 million barrels a day since September by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will begin to reduce global supply.The May contract trades at $49.50 a barrel.There's some wariness that the OPEC actions may cause markets to tighten up, said Moore, who expects oil to average $55 a barrel this year.In other Nymex trading, gasoline futures were steady at $1.08 a gallon. Heating oil gained 0.51 cent to $1.48 a gallon while natural gas for February delivery was steady at $5.54 per 1,000 cubic feet.In London, February Brent crude rose 4 cents to $42.95 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Asian markets sink as investors ready for earnings By STEPHEN WRIGHT, AP Business Writer JAN 13,09

BANGKOK, Thailand – Most Asian markets retreated Tuesday, led by a steep fall in Japan, as commodities stocks followed oil prices lower and a bleak outlook for earnings hit iconic exporters such as Sony Corp.Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average tumbled 392.26 points, or 4.4 percent, to 8,444.54, catching up with Asia's losses on Monday after being closed for a holiday but also undermined by strength in the yen.Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 0.1 percent at 13,980.91 and South Korea's Kospi gained 0.8 percent to 1,165.52. But Australia's index slipped 0.8 percent and Shanghai's market traded 1.6 percent lower amid news that China's trade slump worsened in December as exports fell at their fastest rate in a decade.The overall mood is still cautious. There is no rush to buy stocks, said Francis Lun, general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd. in Hong Kong, who expects the Hang Seng index to fall to as low as 13,000 this month. The outlook for the market is not good.On Wall Street, stocks fell Monday as investors braced for the latest U.S. earnings season amid fears the financial crisis and the recession are hurting corporate profits more than previously expected.The Dow Jones industrial average fell 125.21 points, or 1.5 percent, to end at 8,473.97. Broader stock indicators also declined, with the Standard & Poor's 500 index shedding 20.09, or 2.3 percent, to 870.26.

In Tokyo, Sony Corp. dived 8 percent after media reports said the company will post a 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) operating loss this fiscal year through March, its first since 1995. The company declined to comment.Profits at the electronics exporter have been hurt by a stronger yen, which erodes overseas earnings, and waning demand as the global economic slump unfolds.The dollar slipped to 89.26 yen Tuesday. A year ago the dollar was buying about 108 yen.Japan's automakers, already forecasting sharply lower earnings as demand for new cars evaporates, continued to slide. Top automaker Toyota Motor Corp. sank 6 percent and Honda Motor Co. dropped 6.3 percent.Lower oil and metals prices hit energy and commodity stocks around the region. Japanese energy exporter Inpex Corp. tumbled 8.2 percent while in Australia, BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining company, fell 2 percent. Rival Rio Tinto slipped 3 percent.Light, sweet crude for February delivery was down 56 cents at $37.03 a barrel by early afternoon in Singapore in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange on expectations crude demand will weaken amid a severe global economic slowdown.Crude prices have fallen more than 25 percent since reaching just above $50 a barrel last week.Associated Press Writer Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this story.

Stocks tumble as oil falls on economic worries By SARA LEPRO and TIM PARADIS, AP Business Writer – Mon Jan 12, 5:41 pm ET

NEW YORK – Wall Street extended last week's slide Monday as investors worried that the quarterly results companies begin releasing this week will signal the economy is in worse shape than feared.Oil prices helped fuel the pessimism, tumbling 8 percent to a new low for the year as investors bet economic weakness would curb demand. Wall Street normally welcomes falling oil as a boost for consumers who pay less to put gas in their car, but steep drops can touch off deeper fears about the overall economy.Stocks have sold off since a short-lived rally that started the year crumbled under worries about the economy. With so many unknowns about when the economy might recover, analysts say most investors prefer to wait until they get a better read on companies' quarterly numbers and, more important, their forecasts for the year.Wall Street is expecting fourth-quarter and full-year earnings will be particularly bleak, especially after several companies warned last week that they are being hit hard by the recession. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc., which last week announced it would slash production, fell again Monday after an analyst lowered his rating on the stock. Alcoa said after the market closed that it lost $1.19 billion during its fourth quarter as demand for aluminum plunged.Financial stocks also declined as investors looked to Citigroup Inc. and Morgan Stanley, which could announce a deal as soon as Wednesday to combine their brokerage operations. The potential tie-up underscores the troubles some banks are still having with tattered balance sheets, and a prominent analyst said Citigroup might still need to raise cash. Comments from President-elect Barack Obama that he would consider using some of the remaining money from the government's $700 billion bailout fund added to investors' nervousness about the financial sector.

I think that the biggest concern right now is the economy and whether this thing is going to get worse or it's going to get better, said Bernie McGinn, chief executive of McGinn Investment Management.The intensity of the fear that permeated the market and provoked the heavy selling of September, October and November has lessened, McGinn said, but investors are still hesitant to flood back into the market. Monday's decline came on light volume, indicating an absence of buyers, not a rush of sellers.The level of anxiety and the level of fear has moderated some, but it sure as heck hasn't turned into optimism, McGinn said.According to preliminary calculations, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 125.21, or 1.46 percent, to 8,473.97 after being down as much as 178 in the final hour of trading.Broader stock indicators also declined. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 20.09, or 2.26 percent, to 870.26, and the Nasdaq composite index fell 32.80, or 2.09 percent, to 1,538.79.The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 12.50, or 2.60 percent, to 468.80.Declining issues outpaced advancers by nearly 4 to 1 on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to 1.31 billion shares compared with 1.16 billion traded Friday.The market's slide came after its worst week since November. The Standard & Poor's 500 index slid 4.5 percent. Still, the index ended Friday up 18 percent from an 11-year closing low that occurred Nov. 20. So some decline hasn't been unexpected.

Stocks fell Friday after the Labor Department reported the nation's unemployment rate jumped to a 16-year high of 7.2 percent in December. The rise in unemployment has raised concerns about the health of consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the nation's economic activity.Bond prices were mixed Monday. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, fell to 2.31 percent from 2.40 percent late Friday. The yield on the three-month T-bill, considered one of the safest investments, was slightly lower from Friday at 0.06 percent.The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell.

Light, sweet crude fell $3.24 to settle at $37.59 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.Many investors aren't willing to place big bets on the market until they get a better sense of corporate forecasts for 2009. Analysts predict many more companies will be forced to reduce or withdraw their forecasts for the year given how much uncertainty remains about when the economy might start to recover.

There will probably be some reductions in guidance or some watering down of guidance, said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics. That is probably going to prove to be a bit unnerving.Wall Street also was somewhat anxious about comments from Obama. He said Monday he will fundamentally change the way the remaining $350 billion of the financial bailout fund is allocated. He said some relief would be directed toward housing and small business. That added to investors' unease about financial stocks, analysts said. Anything that takes away from buying distressed securities is perceived as a negative for the financials, said Richard Campagna, chief investment officer at Provident Investment Counsel. It's just more uncertainty.
Obama on Monday asked President George W. Bush to request the money so that it can be at the ready when Obama takes office next week. Bush agreed to notify Congress.

Investors are also awaiting more details of Obama's stimulus package, which includes big tax cuts and has an estimated price tag of nearly $800 billion. Among stocks, Alcoa fell 75 cents, or 6.9 percent, to $10.06. Chevron Corp. fell $2, or 2.8 percent, to $70.82 on the decline in oil. Citigroup dropped $1.15, or 17 percent, to $5.60, after falling as much as 20 percent on the day. Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Meredith Whitney wrote in a note Monday that while the deal with Morgan Stanley will provide some near-term capital relief, more likely will be needed. Citi was by far the steepest decliner among the 30 stocks that make up the Dow industrials. Morgan Stanley fell 27 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $18.79. Overseas, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.50 percent, Germany's DAX index fell 1.34 percent, and France's CAC-40 lost 1.62 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index dropped 2.83 percent. Japan's market was closed for a national holiday. On the Net: New York Stock Exchange: http://www.nyse.com
Nasdaq Stock Market: http://www.nasdaq.com

Russia to Send Trial Gas Flows to EU Jan. 13, Focus on Balkans
By Lucian Kim and Yuriy Humber

Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Russia will resume the flow of natural gas to the European Union tomorrow, with a focus on Balkan clients, said OAO Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller. The Moscow-based gas export monopoly will send the first “trial” shipments of Russian gas via the Orlovka station in Ukraine for transmission to the Balkans region, Miller told Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at a meeting today. Gas passes through Orlovko to Romania, where pipelines can take it further south to Bulgaria. Russia and Ukraine earlier signed a natural-gas monitoring deal that may pave the way for the resumption of flows to the European Union by tomorrow morning, president of the European Commission Jose Barroso said today in Brussels. The cutoff had disrupted supplies to at least 20 European countries, with the Balkans the hardest hit. Russia will not tolerate its gas being siphoned off by the transit nation of Ukraine for any reason, Putin told Miller. Should this occur, Russia will cut gas flow by the same amount, Miller said. To contact the reporters on this story: Yuriy Humber in Moscow at yhumber@bloomberg.net; Lucian Kim in Moscow at lkim3@bloomberg.net

Pratibha Patil calls for restructuring IMF, World Bank

Chennai, Jan 9 : President Pratibha Patil has called for restructuring the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on a broad basis as, she said, the global economy is integrated.We need to have a more participative and inclusive financial architecture for the management of the global economy that can be more responsive in preventing the recurrence of such economic crises in future, Patil said at the valedictory session of the seventh Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here Friday.

According to her, sustainable economic growth is far too important to be left entirely to the market.The absence of regulation can and does create hazards. We have to create better regulatory systems and best practices in the management of capital markets as well as in fiscal policy.She said the growth impetus of the Indian economy comes from its large domestic market and urged NRIs to benefit from this by investing in the country.The president also urged the ministry of overseas Indian affairs to explore the possibility of instituting a separate set of awards from next year to recognise the contribution of Indian workers abroad.She presented the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award and the citation to thirteen people of Indian origin for their achievements.--- IANS

Bank Of England Policymaker Predicts Unprecedented Dollar Collapse
Prophecy News Watch JAN 12,09

The long-held assumption that US assets - particularly government bonds - are a safe haven will soon be overturned as investors lose their patience with the world's biggest economy, according to Willem Buiter.Professor Buiter, a former Monetary Policy Committee member who is now at the London School of Economics, said this increasing disenchantment would result in an exodus of foreign cash from the US.The warning comes despite the dollar having strengthened significantly against other major currencies, including sterling and the euro, after hitting historic lows last year. It will reignite fears about the currency's prospects, as well as sparking fears about the sustainability of President-Elect Barack Obama's mooted plans for a Keynesian-style increase in public spending to pull the US out of recession.Writing on his blog , Prof Buiter said: There will, before long (my best guess is between two and five years from now) be a global dumping of US dollar assets, including US government assets. Old habits die hard. The US dollar and US Treasury bills and bonds are still viewed as a safe haven by many. But learning takes place.

He said that the dollar had been kept elevated in recent years by what some called dark matter or American alpha - an assumption that the US could earn more on its overseas investments than foreign investors could make on their American assets. However, this notion had been gradually dismantled in recent years, before being dealt a fatal blow by the current financial crisis, he said.He said investors would, rightly, suspect that the US would have to generate major inflation to whittle away its debt and this dollar collapse means that the US has less leeway for major spending plans than politicians realise.

AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)

EZEKIEL 39:21
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.

ISAIAH 18:1-2
1 Woe to the land shadowing with wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia:
2 That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, even in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters, saying, Go, ye swift messengers, to a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!

JEREMIAH 50:11,37,12
11 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow as bulls;(BACKSLIDERS)
37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, and upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of her; and they shall become as women: a sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed.(A NATION OF MINGLED PEOPLE)
12 Your mother shall be sore confounded; she that bare you shall be ashamed:(MOTHER ENGLAND) behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.

JEREMIAH 51:13,7,53
13 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.
7 Babylon hath been a golden cup in the LORD's hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad.
53 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, and though she should fortify the height of her strength, yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the LORD.

REVELATION 18:3,5,7
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
7 How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.

JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK ATTACK)

REVELATION 18:10
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.

Cybergeddon fear stalks US: FBI

Cyber attacks pose the greatest threat to the United States after nuclear war and weapons of mass destruction -- and they are increasingly hard to prevent, FBI experts said Tuesday.Shawn Henry, assistant director of the FBI's cyber division, told a conference in New York that computer attacks pose the biggest risk from a national security perspective, other than a weapon of mass destruction or a bomb in one of our major cities.Other than a nuclear device or some other type of destructive weapon, the threat to our infrastructure, the threat to our intelligence, the threat to our computer network is the most critical threat we face, he added.US experts warn of cybergeddon, in which an advanced economy -- where almost everything of importance is linked to or controlled by computers -- falls prey to hackers, with catastrophic results.Michael Balboni, deputy secretary for public safety in New York state, described a huge threat out there against everything from banking institutions to municipal water systems and dams.Henry said terrorist groups aim for an online 9/11, inflicting the same kind of damage on our country, on all our countries, on all our networks, as they did in 2001 by flying planes into buildings.A web attack of that scale has not yet happened in the United States but computer hacking -- once something of a sport for brilliant delinquents --is rapidly evolving around the world as a weapon of war.Russian hackers allegedly mounted huge assaults on Internet networks in Estonia and Georgia last year, while Palestinian sympathizers have orchestrated attacks against hundreds of Israeli websites in the last few days.Evan Kohlmann, an investigator with Global Terror Alert, based in Washington, said websites and social networking tools already allow underground Islamist leaders and militant organizations to recruit and communicate in safety worldwide.

Jihadist websites can be destroyed, but you knock one out and another pops up the next day.More efforts are being made to infiltrate the sites and disrupt the clandestine networks, Kohlmann said.In response, young militants are learning how to code software, or they are getting help from freelance experts, including those in Russia, who may well have nothing to do with Islamist causes.Right now, we're at the cusp of this, Kohlmann said.Financial cyber criminals, who use the Internet to steal identities, siphon billions of dollars, and sometimes paralyze businesses, are also becoming more sophisticated.It used to be we'd chase people around, literally carrying duffel bags of cash, said Donald Codling, the FBI's cyber unit liaison with the Department of Homeland Security.Nowadays the guy can use his SIM chip and he can move money all over the world and his confederates can withdraw that money from an ATM in a currency of his or her choice. It's extraordinarily difficult for us to catch them.Codling, like other cyber crime fighters, expressed grudging admiration for the skills of his foes, who he said are highly motivated and often a step ahead.

We're seeing that the folks on the cutting edge of this tend to be the bad guys. There's a financial reason for them to be good at this, he said.Christopher Painter, an FBI specialist focused on building international cooperation, described another basic weakness in the fight for cyber security: the threat is largely invisible and therefore not always taken seriously.It's not like a fire, he said. It's hard to get your head around the threat. We often discover a company has been attacked and we tell them that and they don't know.

Vatican may join EU anti-terrorism body By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press Writer Sat Jan 10, 2:17 pm ET

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican is considering whether to join the European Union's anti-terrorism body, Eurojust, in a bid to increase security, an official said Saturday.

Vatican City's chief prosecutor, Nicola Picardi, said the increased threat of international terrorism required new forms of cooperation among countries.In October, the Vatican successfully joined Interpol, and the Vatican's Gendarmeria has been attending meetings of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe since 2006, he said.While only 492 people live in Vatican City, some 18 million pilgrims and tourists pass through Bernini's splendid colonnade to enter St. Peter's Basilica or visit the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican Museums each year.As a result, crime does happen here — Pope John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in St. Peter's Square 1981.Nowadays, though, the most serious crimes usually involve petty theft. Since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, however, security measures have been significantly beefed up, with visitors now required to pass through metal detectors to enter the Basilica and attend audiences with the pope.Picardi, the Vatican's so-called promoter of justice, proposed the Eurojust membership as he outlined the state of law and order in the tribunals of the Vatican city-state during a ceremony to start the Vatican's judicial year.He said joining Eurojust would be another important step in the fight against terrorism, both at home and abroad.The Hague-based Eurojust was established in 2002 and includes senior investigators and prosecutors from each EU member state. The aim is to facilitate cooperation among members.In another proposal, Picardi said the Vatican needed a specific law to deal with drug dealing. Someone was brought before the Vatican tribunal in 2008 on charges of drug possession and sale, and there was no law on the books to deal with it, he said.Picardi said he didn't want the loophole to turn the city-state into a zona franca for the sale and possession of drugs.

He offered no details on the case in question.

Vatican City is practically a world of its own, albeit one that is encompassed in 108acres (44 hectares). In addition to its own security forces — including the fancy-suited Swiss Guards — the Vatican has its own supermarket, pharmacy and post office. There are Vatican plumbers, a Vatican phone book, Vatican medical services, firefighters, gas pumps, courts, a mint, license plates, helicopter pad and even a train station.Most of these services are for the city-state's 492 residents, employees or those with some Vatican connection.The Vatican also has a vast diplomatic corps overseas, and has observer status at the United Nations.

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 RUSSIA-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.

Russia wants warships stationed around the world
Sun Jan 4, 2009 9:11am EST
]
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's military leaders approved a plan by the navy on Sunday to station warships permanently in friendly ports across the globe.Underfunded since the 1991 break up of the Soviet Union, the Russian navy has been reasserting itself over the last year by chasing Somali pirates around the coast of east Africa and steaming across the Atlantic to visit allies in South America.The General Staff has given its position on this issue and it fully supports the position of the (Navy's) main committee, deputy chief of staff Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told RIA Novosti news agency.A resurgent navy has become central to a strategy for Russia -- which enjoyed a decade of economic revival from 1998 -- to project itself in foreign affairs.In August a Russian diplomat said the navy was to make more use of a Syrian Mediterranean Sea port. Last month a Russian warship cruised off Cuba after visiting South America for the first time since 1991.Nogovitsyn said Russia was directly negotiating with foreign governments to station warships at bases around the world permanently, although he declined to give exact details.Nobody can predict where problems could flare up, he said. What we need are permanent bases, but these are very costly. They need to be considered very carefully.RIA Novosti wrote that the Russian navy was already in negotiations to build a permanent Black Sea Port in the Russia-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia.(Writing by James Kilner; Editing by Charles Dick)

JUST AS I FIGURED SADDAM SHIPPED THE WMD TO SYRIA BEFORE AMERICA CAME IN,IN 2003.

Former Saddam advisor says Iraq had WMDs By Eleanor Evans Staff Writer ! eleanore@nwanews.com Posted on Monday, January 12, 2009

Daily Record photograph by David Frank Dempsey Georges Sada, former Iraqi Air Force General and advisor to Saddam Hussein, told listeners that Iraq's weapons of mass destruction were shipped into Syria in 2002. ROGERS - A former advisor to Saddam Hussein told the congregation of a local church that weapons of mass destruction not only existed, but were transported to Syria before the invasion of Iraq. Georges Sada, retired general officer of the Iraqi Air Force, spoke at Rogers First Church of the Nazarene on Sunday morning to discuss his relationship with Hussein from his rise to power in the late 1960s until the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Sada retired from the Air Force in 1986 but was asked to return for the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. He was imprisoned in 1991 for refusing to execute prisoners of war, and discharged from the Air Force. On Sunday, said he saw firsthand evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There was a time when Saddam possessed chemical weapons. I am so sorry that Americans and many in authority said there were never weapons of mass destruction, he said. Sada said that in 2002, Iraq sent humanitarian aid by air and ground to Syria following a natural disaster. During this time, all weapons of mass destruction were flown to Damascus during this time - prior to the invasion. However, the Duelfer report, released by the Iraq Survey Group in 2004, found no evidence of any program to ship weapons to Syria. Sada said he believes the occupation of Iraq was also the right thing to do. He explained that Saddam was urged to leave the country or face an occupation. It was only when Saddam refused to leave that action was taken. Iraq in 2003 was liberated, he said. All steps of peace were taken for war not to happen.It's been a hard road, Sada said, and there is still much work to be done. It was very tough; the country was completely destroyed ... freedom was given to the Iraqis on a gold platter. Instead of loving each other, they are killing each other.

Resisting Reform in the Arab World
By Marwan Muasher | Saturday, January 10, 2009

Despite some increases in political freedoms, Arab governments have largely failed to encourage accountability and transparency in their political systems. The World Bank's Marwan Muasher talks about governance in the Arab world — and how the ruling elite has managed to stay in power to this day.Arab governments — both conservative and progressive — equally have largely ignored or resisted political reform in their societies. Though ad hoc programs to expand certain political freedoms had been undertaken here and there, no Arab country could claim a systematic process of political reform that would encourage the kind of political and civil development necessary to the infrastructure of a democratic society.

Waiting for democracy

Arab governments have offered three arguments for not making political development a priority — a policy deficiency that placed the Arab region near the bottom of all the regions in the globe on the democracy scale. Civil society became, and remains, a bad word in many parts of the Arab region. Foremost among the reasons was the Arab-Israeli conflict, which, they contended, rendered all other challenges secondary — which is like claiming you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. No voice can be higher than that of the battle [for liberation] (La sawt ya’loo fawqa sawt al-ma’araka) was the slogan raised by President Nasser in Egypt. Democracy could and should wait, thus, until a resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict brought about fuller stomachs and happier days, the argument went.

An unpopular discussion

Even then opposition parties did not raise political reform or democratization as a major issue, instead basing their opposition on the government's position regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict. There was no healthy debate in the public sphere, thus making it easier on governments to dismiss the issue of democracy altogether.

Threatened by political parties

Later, and particularly after the Iranian revolution and the rise of political Islam, a new argument materialized: political party development in the Arab world threatened to strengthen Islamist parties, most of which were alleged to be radical and armed. A whole generation was raised on the notion that allegiance to the country meant allegiance to the party, system or leader — and that diversity, critical thinking and individual differences were treasonous. This development, leaders contended, would invite regional instability, an argument buttressed by the experience of Algeria, where the Islamist party won a majority of parliament seats in 1992 but was prevented from taking power by the army. A violent civil war ensued, resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands of Algerians. A third reason had to do with the sequencing of reform. Lacking a moderate middle class that could form the nucleus of a healthy political reform process, Arab governments argued that economic reforms had to precede political reforms. This argument, however, ignored the fact that economic reform was unlikely to be successful without institutions that consolidated good governance, a solid system of checks and balances, an independent judiciary and a free press.

Economic reform

In fact, where economic reform has occurred it has often proceeded with little transparency and has led to corruption that has discouraged domestic or foreign investors, thereby failing, in most instances, to improve peoples’ economic well-being or create a substantial middle class. In the words of the 2004 UN Arab Human Development Report, the argument of bread before freedom has practically meant that most Arabs have risked losing out on both.

Patriarch knows best

Nevertheless Arab regimes took an almost collective, if unstated, decision actively to discourage, if not prevent, political party development in Arab countries.
Arab states lack an institutionalized system of checks and balances that can ensure healthy social, economic and political development of society. Civil society became, and remains, a bad word in many parts of the Arab region. The patriarchal ruling elite continued to claim a monopoly on knowing what was best for Arab people when it came to steering Arab countries out of imperialist rule, leading the economic growth process and solving the Arab-Israeli conflict without compromising Arab rights.
Everything else, including democracy, had to wait. And it did. The Arab regimes’ opposition to political pluralism met the acceptance of the international community concerned with preserving regional stability to ensure a steady oil supply and was equally agreeable to many Arab citizens throughout the region.

Cautious of the United States

Consequently, democracy was blocked not exclusively for internal reasons. The external environment was also not conducive to reform. It was only after September 11, 2001, that the West began to believe that Arab political stagnation had been detrimental to its own interests and started actively to champion reform.

Problems on the rise

By then, however, American prestige in the region had fallen so far — mostly thanks to the United States’ apparent double standards toward Israel and the Arabs — that after September 11, 2001, many believed that American enthusiasm for reform was cynical, No Arab country could claim a systematic process of political reform that would encourage the kind of political and civil development necessary to the infrastructure of a democratic society. inspired by its own security interests rather than a genuine concern for the Arab countries or a fundamental ethical desire to advance democratic principles. The lack of gradual, serious political reform process in the Arab states has had three almost predictable results: increasing corruption among the ruling elite, the suppression of any attempt to develop national, democratic, nonreligious parties, and the intimidation and de-politicization of the Arab street. Unchecked by any competing interests and power groups, ruling elites have grown increasingly nontransparent. The Transparency International Corruptions Perceptions Index of 2005 lists 12 Arab countries (together with the Palestinian Authority) with a score of 70 or more (one being the best) out of 158 countries included.

A growing elite class

Without a free press, opposition parties or a vibrant civil society, the privileges of the elite expanded — and their interest in protecting them grew in tandem. Self-aggrandizement superseded loyalty to the state and merit as a virtue. The absence of real national democratic and nonreligious parties that might have served as alternatives to religious parties and organizations allowed religious groups — sometimes with the encouragement of the ruling regimes — to fill the political and social void.

Islamic groups gain support

The religious parties dominated the public sphere alongside Arab governments. More important, over decades they developed a vast network of social services, augmenting the services the state was able — or unable — to provide. Although nationalist parties in particular paid lip service to democracy and freedom, they were in fact the worst abusers of both. Unimpeded by countervailing voices, religious groups delivered a resonant message about the efficacy of religion as state policy and through their philanthropy and social services constructed a broad and deep support base. By the time some Arab regimes were ready to contemplate political reforms in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, religious groups — especially the Islamists — had had a decades-long head start over other groups, which in any case, had difficulty emerging. This is largely due to the intimidation and de-politicization of the Arab street, which is the third consequence of Arab regimes’ policies.

Afraid of government

A study conducted by the Center for Strategic Studies at the University in Jordan showed that a full 74.6% of Jordanians are reluctant to criticize their government for fear of retribution. Further, 94.8% said that they did not belong to any political party and 94.2% stated that they had no intention of joining a political party. All of these factors have converged to impede the process of reform in the Arab world. But these are not the only ones.

How to build a nation

Most important is that the postcolonial nationalist political parties have not been democratic. The argument of these parties after independence was that nation-building superseded democracy, deftly ignoring the fact that democracy is a main pillar of nation-building. Lacking a moderate middle class that could form the nucleus of a healthy political reform process, Arab governments argued that economic reforms had to precede political reforms. Thus, the Nasserites in Egypt, the Baathists in Syria and Iraq, and the nationalists in Tunisia and Algeria all used nation-building or the Arab-Israeli conflict (the security argument) as pretexts for suppressing freedoms and opposing the development of political parties that could threaten their standing. The argument at first was convincing to many, particularly when these post-independence parties delivered on certain economic and social programs such as land reform and equality for women.

Against diversity?

Opposition to such policies was branded as disloyalty — to Arab causes, to the state or to the party. The culture of allegiance — in monarchies and republics — meant that diversity was a bad word. Both were equally guilty of focusing their attention not on systems but on leaders — the emergence of ideologies or systems outside the cults of personality were discouraged when possible, repressed when necessary.

No checks and balances

Although nationalist parties in particular paid lip service to democracy and freedom, they were in fact the worst abusers of both. Consequently, modern Arab states lack a key foundation of modern statehood: an institutionalized system of checks and balances that can ensure healthy social, economic and political development of society which also limits the power of any one group.

Dangerous principles

At the same time, these systems failed to deliver on either economic development or solving the Arab-Israeli conflict. The result was the emergence of Islamic parties, in some instances increasingly radical, who held out the promise of good governance and their own strategy for regional conflict resolution. Where economic reform has occurred it has often proceeded with little transparency and has led to corruption that has discouraged domestic or foreign investors. The Arab world is a mosaic of ethnic and religious communities, all sharing the same language, history and civilizations. There are Muslims, Sunnis, Shiites, and other schools of jurisprudence, Christians of all denominations, and Jews. There are Arabs, Kurds, Armenians, Circassians, Chechens and Berbers. Instead of regarding diversity as a source of strength, the public was taught that differences must be suppressed in service of the larger common goals of all Arabs. Arabs grew to think monolithically, one-dimensionally. Critical thinking was neither valued nor taught, and truths were always absolute rather than relative. A whole generation was raised on the notion that allegiance to the country meant allegiance to the party, system or leader — and that diversity, critical thinking and individual differences were treasonous.

NATO, US Army Websites Hacked by Palestinian Supporters
12 January 2009, Monday

A Turkish group supporting the Palestinian cause in the Middle East conflict has defaced websites of NATO and the US Army. Photo by zone-h.org
Two websites maintained by NATO and the US Army have been defaced by the Turkish group Agd_Scorp/Peace Crew as a protest against the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The news was reported by the Zone-h website, which monitors digital warfare.

The website of the Military District of Washington of the US Army mdw.army.mil, and of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly www.nato-pa.int have been defaced with messages in Turkish and English supporting the Intifada and the Palestinian cause in the Middle East. Stop attacks u israel and usa ! you cursed nations ! one day muslims will clean the world from you, the defacer's message in English reads. The attacker reported Political reasons as attack motivation and SQL Injection as attack methodology.