KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a(MEASURING) reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out,(TO THE WORLD NATIONS) and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.(JERUSALEM DIVIDED BUT THE 3RD TEMPLE ALLOWED TO BE REBUILT)
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 7/16/2013, 2:58 PM-israelnationalnews
Deputy Religions Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan (Bayit Yehudi) voiced his great displeasure Tuesday with the police decision not to allow Jews to pray on the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av, and vowed to change the situation.
"This morning,” he said, “on the fast of Tisha B'Av, the day in which every person in Israel feels the pain of the destruction of the Temple, the ascent of Jews to the Temple Mount, the place where our first and second Temples dwelt, has been forbidden, only because they feared rioting by Muslims."How can it be,” he rhetorically asked, “that in Israel, in the name of the principles of equality and freedom of religion, Jews can be forbidden from ascending to the Temple Mount, the holiest place for Jews, because of a fear of rioting by Muslims? "It is time to change this reality. To stop using various excuses of security and the inability of the police to protect the Jewish citizens,” he determined. "Therefore, I will take action, with the help of G-d, to enstate measures that regulate prayer by Jews on the Temple Mount. This is a complicated step and many obstacles will be placed in its path but the eternal nation does not fear a long road."The situation in which equality and freedom of religion are sacred principles only when talking about other religions, and not when talking about the Jewish majority in the state of Israel, is an absurd one,” he stated.A national debate rages over freedom of religion on the Temple Mount where, despite its supreme importance to Jews worldwide, Jews are subject to draconian limitations, including a ban on praying, due to the presence of an Islamic complex administered by the Waqf Islamic Trust, and threats by Islamist groups.Religious Jews who are allowed to ascend are followed closely by Israeli police and Waqf guards to prevent them from praying, or from carrying out any other religious rituals.Non-Jewish visitors are not subject to such restrictions.
Rabbi Ben-Dahan's comments echoes statements made yesterday by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud-Beyteinu), in which he called for an end to the ban on Jewish prayer in the name of religious freedom.“We are in favor of freedom of religion on the Temple Mount, and that means freedom for all religions,” Danon said,“That includes Jews. We must take steps to ensure that Jews are not only able to visit the Temple Mount, but are also able to pray there. I see no logic in allowing Muslims to pray there, but not Jews. I am committed to this idea."
LIKE I SAID BEFORE.THE JEWS WILL BE DOING ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE.
The European Jewish Association (EJA) on Monday called upon worldwide
Jewish organizations to put aside their differences and unite all their
efforts towards reversing the Polish parliament decision to ban kosher
slaughter.The lower house of the Polish parliament (Sejm) voted on Friday to
reject a government motion to re-legalize the religious practice of
kosher slaughter, provoking outrage in the Jewish community over freedom of religion.The ritual slaughter of animals
was banned by Poland’s Constitutional Court last December after judges
found that it was ‘’incompatible with animal rights legislation.‘’‘’We must unite all our efforts to fight this legislation which can potentially contribute
to Jewish exclusion and to violate Jewish freedom of religion and
worship throughout Europe, specifically in Poland, with all its symbolic
significance to Jewish history, ‘’ said EJA Director General Rabbi
Menachem Margolin, according to the European Jewish Press (EJP).Since the Friday vote, Margolin conducted a series of intensive talks
with Polish leaders and representatives in the EU Parliament, the EJP
reported.In a letter sent to Polish President, Bronisław Komorowski, and
Polish Parliament Marshal (Speaker), Ewa Kopacz, Rabbi Margolin urged
them to meet with members of the Jewish community in order to discuss ways to reversing this decision.According to the EJP, the letter called the Polish Parliament vote ‘’devastating to Jewish welfare and freedom of religion.’’
"Kosher butchering that has been proven scientifically as not crueler than any other method, is essential for sustenance of Jewish life and its ban hurts Jews not only in Poland but across Europe and all over the world," the letter said.Rabbi Margolin also emphasized that the Rabbinical center of Europe (RCE) is already mobilized, with rabbis across Europe arranging meetings with the Polish ambassadors in their respective countries in order to protest the ban."We will fight with resolve, using all the legitimate means at our disposal, in order to assure that no Jewish person will find himself excluded in Poland or in any other European country for simply living according to his or her beliefs,’’ he said.
By Uzi Baruch and Ari Soffer-First Publish: 7/16/2013, 3:09 PM-israelnationalnews
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
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 (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.
CALM SHATTERED
A week of relative calm had suggested peace might be returning, but that was shattered by the street battles into the early hours of Tuesday morning, the bloodiest since more than 50 Mursi supporters were killed a week ago."We were crouched on the ground, we were praying. Suddenly there was shouting. We looked up and the police were on the bridge firing tear gas down on us," said pro-Mursi protester Adel Asman, 42, who was coughing, spitting and pouring Pepsi on his eyes to ease the effect of tear gas.The new cabinet is mainly made up of technocrats and liberals, with an emphasis on resurrecting an economy wrecked by two and a half years of turmoil.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - rich Gulf Arab states happy at the downfall of the Brotherhood - have promised a total of $12 billion in cash, loans and fuel.Investors do not expect major reforms before a permanent government is put in place. The new planning minister, Ashraf al-Arabi, said on Monday that the Arab money would sustain Egypt through its transition and it did not need to restart talks with the International Monetary Fund on a stalled emergency loan.Egypt had sought $4.8 billion in IMF aid last year, but months of talks ran aground with the government unable to agree on cuts in unaffordable subsidies for food and fuel. Arabi's comments could worry investors who want the IMF to prod reform.Ahmed Elmoslmany, spokesman for interim President Adli Mansour, said the authorities expected the Brotherhood and other Islamists to agree to participate in national reconciliation and had offered them positions in the interim cabinet."I am hoping and expecting, and I am in contact with members from the Muslim Brotherhood, and I can see there is an acceptance to the idea," he said.But senior Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagi said the movement had not been offered posts, and would reject them if it had. "We will not see reconciliation unless it's on the basis of ending the military coup," Beltagi said at a square near a Cairo mosque where thousands of Mursi supporters have maintained a vigil into its third week.
BURNS SPURNED?
By sunrise calm had returned. The unrest is more localized than in the days after Mursi was toppled when 92 people died, but Egyptians still worry about the continued unrest.At Tahrir Square, rallying point for anti-Mursi protesters, a Reuters reporter saw teenagers in civilian T-shirts being handed rifles by troops in an armored vehicle. It was not clear if they were civilians or security personnel in plain clothes.The violence took place on the last night of a two-day visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the first senior Washington official to arrive since the army's takeover.Washington, which supports Egypt with $1.5 billion a year mainly for its military, has so far avoided saying whether it regards the military action as a "coup", language that would require it to halt aid.The United States was never comfortable with the rise of Mursi's Brotherhood but had defended his legitimacy as Egypt's first elected leader. Its position has attracted outrage from both sides, which accuse it of meddling in Egypt's affairs."Only Egyptians can determine their future," Burns told reporters at the U.S. embassy on Monday. "I did not come with American solutions. Nor did I come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt."The Islamist Nour Party and the Tamarud anti-Mursi protest movement both said they turned down invitations to meet Burns. A senior State Department official denied Burns had been shunned."I don't think we're losing influence at all," the U.S. official said. "I don't know what meetings he has, but he has seen a range of people in Cairo in the interim government, in civil society ... so it's hard to say he has been spurned by both sides. I don't accept that is the case."At the bridge in the early hours, young men, their mouths covered to protect them from tear gas, threw stones at police and shouted pro-Mursi and anti-military slogans, as well as "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest).Military helicopters hovered overhead and police vans were brought in to quell the trouble. When that didn't work, dozens of riot police moved in. Medics treated men with deep gashes to their eyes and faces nearby."It's the army against the people, these are our soldiers, we have no weapons," said Alaa el-Din, a 34-year-old computer engineer, clutching a laptop during the melee. "The army turned against the Egyptian people."Many of the top Brotherhood figures have been charged with inciting violence, but have not been arrested and are still at large. The public prosecutors' office announced new charges against seven Brotherhood and Islamist leaders on Monday.The fast-paced army-backed "road map" to full civilian rule calls for a new constitution to be hammered out within weeks and put to a referendum, followed by parliamentary elections in about six months and a presidential vote soon after.A former ambassador to the United States has been named foreign minister and a U.S.-educated economist is finance minister. A police general was put in charge of the supply ministry, responsible for the huge distribution system for state-subsidized food and fuel.A musician was named culture minister, an appointment with symbolic overtones: she had been head of the Cairo Opera until she was fired by Mursi's Islamist government two weeks ago, prompting artists and intellectuals to besiege the ministry.(Additional reporting by Tom Finn, Yasmine Saleh, Edmund Blair, Alexander Dziadosz, Shadia Nasralla, Ali Abdelaty, Omar Fahmy, Peter Graff, Patrick Werr and Mike Collett-White in Cairo, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Mike Collett-White and Peter Graff; editing by David Stamp)
By Louis Charbonneau | Reuters – 16 hrs ago-JULY 16,13
'HASTY CONCLUSIONS'
The panel said those exercises were conducted by the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Russia, diplomats said, led the dissenters in rejecting the view that the tests were a clear violation of U.N. sanctions.A Russian delegate explained Moscow's position to the Security Council, saying "hasty conclusions not based on facts must be avoided."A Chinese delegate reiterated Beijing's stance: "We are not in favor of increased new pressure or new sanctions against Iran."U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters, "We're disappointed that the (Iran sanctions) committee was unable in this case to state the obvious.""There is nothing ambiguous about the ban imposed by the Security Council on such ... missile launches," she said. "Most of the Security Council members agree with us on this issue."Quinlan's report also referred to alleged arms embargo violations.Western powers accuse Iran of supplying arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been fighting alongside Assad's troops in Syria to defeat rebels in the civil war there."Several committee members stated that the evidence presented in the report was sufficient to assert that Iran was in violation of its obligations, illustrating a pattern of sanctions evasion through arms smuggling in the Middle East," his report said."Other committee members stated that the lack of stronger evidence as to the provenance of the arms, such as documentation, justified the lack of a definitive conclusion," his report added.Russia and China were the "other committee members" who opposed finding Tehran in clear violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports, council diplomats said.(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Xavier Briand)
By Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon | Reuters – 1 hr 19 mins ago
In facing down the mainly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him, the Syrian leader has received important backing from Shi'ite Iran and from Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon as the war takes on an increasingly sectarian aspect.At the same time, the rebels are plagued by infighting between Islamist groups and members of the more liberal Free Syrian Army, which is backed by the West and some Arab nations.
The increasingly fragmented and brutal nature of the war was illustrated by an incident in Homs province, where gunmen loyal to Assad shot dead at least six mediators sent to try to reconcile warring sectarian groups in an area where opposing sides had until now been able to coexist.Residents said the killings on Monday evening in the village of Hajar al-Abyad highlighted the growing challenge of mediating between towns held by rebel groups and those controlled by pro-Assad militias known as "shabbiha".In a separate incident near the Turkish border in the north, Islamist rebel fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front clashed with Kurdish armed men, who generally support the creation of an autonomous region within Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said the fighting broke out after Nusra fighters attacked a Kurdish patrol and took a gunman hostage.The Kurds said they had killed eight Nusra Front militants in what they said was a territorial dispute.
PRESSING CAMPAIGN
Assad's forces are pressing their campaign at a time when the Free Syrian Army has yet to receive weapons promised by Washington but delayed by objections by U.S. lawmakers.A U.S. official said on Monday that the Obama administration had made progress in overcoming these concerns but some details remained unresolved.Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers fear the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamist militants, and would not be enough to tip the balance against the better-equipped Syrian government anyway.Britain, meanwhile, said it would give Syrian rebels equipment to protect themselves against chemical and biological weapons as "a matter of special urgency".Britain has said forces loyal to Assad have made limited use of chemical weapons, which the Syrian government denies.In an attempt at unity, the Syrian opposition now intends to create a 10-member executive council that can to draw together disparate factions into a more structured army with better financing and weapons, Michel Kilo, a senior opposition figure, told Reuters in Paris.In Damascus, the latest fighting comes almost a year after one of the rebels' most spectacular attacks in the capital - a bomb attack last July 18 which killed several of Assad's most senior security officials and led some commentators to predict Assad would soon fall.Abu Nidal, a rebel spokesman in Damascus, said on Tuesday that his fighters were trying to prevent the army advancing further into Qaboun, which it entered on Monday."Rebel reinforcements are entering the area," he told Reuters by Skype. "We expect the army to advance further into the area but they will be stopped."The intensity of the fighting could be seen in footage posted on the internet by opposition activists.The amateur video showed a large grey plume of smoke rising from a densely built residential area of Damascus. Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the capital, can be seen in the background.Text accompanying the footage posted on Tuesday said the smoke came from a ground-to-ground missile fired into Qaboun.
ARMY CHECKPOINT
Elsewhere in the city, nine people including a child were killed at an army checkpoint, the Observatory said in a statement. Quoting activists in the area, the British-based group said they were all shot in the head.It added that mortar bombs were being fired by the army into the southern district of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of central Damascus that has fallen in and out of government and rebel control during the past year.Activists and residents said also that at least five mortar shells hit the Damascus neighborhood of Masaken Barze, injuring several people.Clashes and bombardment were reported by activists in nearly every province on Tuesday, from central Homs city to the northwestern farming province of Idlib to the eastern desert city of Deir al-Zor.In the south of Syria near the Israeli border, the Observatory reported clashes between rebels and government forces in the village of al-Qahtaniya."Initial reports indicate that several fighters in the regime forces were killed, and some armored vehicles were destroyed," the Observatory said.
(Editing by Giles Elgood)
By | Associated Press – 2 hrs 21 mins ago-JULY 16,13
Griffiths also said the institute earlier this year reported to the U.N. a discovery it made of a flight from Cuba to North Korea that travelled via central Africa."Given the history of North Korea, Cuban military cooperation and now this latest seizure, we find this flight more interesting," he said. "After this incident there should be renewed focus on North Korean-Cuban links."Martinelli told RPC the 35 North Koreans on the boat resisted police efforts to take the ship to the Caribbean port of Manzanillo. The crew was later taken into custody.Martinelli said the captain had a heart attack and also tried to commit suicide during the operation.He said authorities had been tipped off some days ago that the ship might be carrying drugs.
___AP writer Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a(MEASURING) reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out,(TO THE WORLD NATIONS) and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.(JERUSALEM DIVIDED BUT THE 3RD TEMPLE ALLOWED TO BE REBUILT)
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
MK Ben Dahan Vows to Enable Temple Mount Prayer
Deputy Religions Minister: How can it be that Jews are forbidden to pray on Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av?
Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan-Flash 90
"This morning,” he said, “on the fast of Tisha B'Av, the day in which every person in Israel feels the pain of the destruction of the Temple, the ascent of Jews to the Temple Mount, the place where our first and second Temples dwelt, has been forbidden, only because they feared rioting by Muslims."How can it be,” he rhetorically asked, “that in Israel, in the name of the principles of equality and freedom of religion, Jews can be forbidden from ascending to the Temple Mount, the holiest place for Jews, because of a fear of rioting by Muslims? "It is time to change this reality. To stop using various excuses of security and the inability of the police to protect the Jewish citizens,” he determined. "Therefore, I will take action, with the help of G-d, to enstate measures that regulate prayer by Jews on the Temple Mount. This is a complicated step and many obstacles will be placed in its path but the eternal nation does not fear a long road."The situation in which equality and freedom of religion are sacred principles only when talking about other religions, and not when talking about the Jewish majority in the state of Israel, is an absurd one,” he stated.A national debate rages over freedom of religion on the Temple Mount where, despite its supreme importance to Jews worldwide, Jews are subject to draconian limitations, including a ban on praying, due to the presence of an Islamic complex administered by the Waqf Islamic Trust, and threats by Islamist groups.Religious Jews who are allowed to ascend are followed closely by Israeli police and Waqf guards to prevent them from praying, or from carrying out any other religious rituals.Non-Jewish visitors are not subject to such restrictions.
Rabbi Ben-Dahan's comments echoes statements made yesterday by Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon (Likud-Beyteinu), in which he called for an end to the ban on Jewish prayer in the name of religious freedom.“We are in favor of freedom of religion on the Temple Mount, and that means freedom for all religions,” Danon said,“That includes Jews. We must take steps to ensure that Jews are not only able to visit the Temple Mount, but are also able to pray there. I see no logic in allowing Muslims to pray there, but not Jews. I am committed to this idea."
LIKE I SAID BEFORE.THE JEWS WILL BE DOING ANIMAL SACRIFICES IN THE REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE.
EJA: Jews Must Unite to Protest Polish Shechita Ban
European Jewish Association calls on Jews worldwide to unite their efforts to reverse decision to ban shechita in Poland--By Rina Tzvi-First Publish: 7/16/2013, 6:00 PM-israelnationalnews
Non- kosher restaurant-israel news photo: Flash 90
"Kosher butchering that has been proven scientifically as not crueler than any other method, is essential for sustenance of Jewish life and its ban hurts Jews not only in Poland but across Europe and all over the world," the letter said.Rabbi Margolin also emphasized that the Rabbinical center of Europe (RCE) is already mobilized, with rabbis across Europe arranging meetings with the Polish ambassadors in their respective countries in order to protest the ban."We will fight with resolve, using all the legitimate means at our disposal, in order to assure that no Jewish person will find himself excluded in Poland or in any other European country for simply living according to his or her beliefs,’’ he said.
Visit the Temple Mount - Online
New website offers a fascinating virtual tour of the holiest, and most politically-charged, site in Israel
Temple Mount-Flash 90
Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount this morning found themselves facing a police barricade, as public figures - including senior government officials - joined the growing chorus of calls for an end to draconian restrictions on Jewish ascent and prayer at Judaism's holiest site.But there is one way for Jews throughout the world to bypass the ban - if only virtually.On the eve of Tisha B'Av, the fast commemorating the destruction of the two holy Temples in Jerusalem, the Lev Ha'uma (Heart of the Nation) Association has launched a fascinating and detailed online tour of the Temple Mount.HarHaKodesh.co.il uses the latest technology to offers a 360-degree virtual tour of the Temple
Mount. Tour "guides" include such high-profile personalities as
the Minister of Housing, Uri Ariel (Jewish Home), a figure well-known
for his years of tireless activism to raise awareness about the
importance of the Temple Mount to the Jewish people.
Other notables include Israeli
researcher and linguist Dr. Avshalom Kor, Jerusalem archaeologist Prof.
Gaby Barkai, Ethiopian-born communal leader Rabbi Sharon Shalom,
"Jerusalem Tours" Instructor Rachel Rock, and others.The site also
grants rare "access" to areas that are off-limits to (physical) Jewish
visitors - either due to restrictions imposed by the Islamic Waqf which administers the site, or, in some cases, due to Jewish religious prohibitions which apply to certain particularly holy parts of the Mount.The Temple Mount is a politically
charged topic, as illustrated by events both on Monday and Tuesday, but
the purpose of the site is educational, not political, say its creators.
Its objectives are to "reconnect the historic and spiritual point of
contact between the Temple Mount to the Jewish people." Minister Uri Ariel was involved with the project from the very beginning, and helped raise support for the initiative:"The media on Tisha B'Av media is full of stories about how people are disgruntled in Tel Aviv that the cafes and restaurants are all closed - and I understand them. "No one taught them, so they don't know anything about the destruction of the Temple.
They think that the Temple Mount is all about [Arabs] throwing rocks
and provocations by the extreme right. How do expect them to mourn on
Tisha B'Av?"Ariel lamented the state of the Israeli education system when it came to such crucial aspects of Jewish history:"Our education system does not teach them about the destruction of the Temple.
Anyone who visits the Israel Museum and passes through all the
exhibits, could come out not knowing that there ever was a temple! "At the Israel Museum a thousand years of the Temple
has got lost among all the showrooms of Christian art. Thus we have no
museum showing [Jewish] history, exhibiting all the
archaeological findings which describe the role of the Holy Mountain in
the Jewish experience for thousands of years"HarHaKodesh, he explained was a "modest" attempt at rectifying that problem.Ariel expressed hope that the website will help to introduce the topic of the Temple
Mount into the Israeli educational system and wider
public consciousness, and serve as a foundation for entire educational
departments committed to the topic, similar to those which already exist
to educate about the Holocaust and Jewish Diaspora.So, if you don't feel like manning
the barricades and marching to the Temple Mount - here's a somewhat
more convenient way you can "ascend" the Mount.
ISAIAH 17:1,11-14
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
11 In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish: but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow.
12 Woe to the multitude of many people, which make a noise like the noise of the seas; and to the rushing of nations,(USELESS U.N) that make a rushing like the rushing of mighty waters!
13 The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before the whirlwind.
14 And behold at evening tide trouble; and before the morning he is not.(ASSAD) This is the portion of them that spoil us,(ISRAEL) and the lot of them that rob us.
JEREMEIAH 49:23-27
23 Concerning Damascus.(SYRIA) Hamath is confounded, and Arpad: for they have heard evil tidings: they are fainthearted; there is sorrow on the sea;(WAR SHIPS WITH NUKES COMING ON SYRIA) it cannot be quiet.
24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, and fear hath seized on her: anguish and sorrows have taken her, as a woman in travail.
25 How is the city of praise not left, the city of my joy!
26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, and all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the LORD of hosts.
27 And I will kindle a fire (NUKES OR BOMBS) in the wall of Damascus, and it shall consume the palaces of Benhadad.(ASSADS PALACES POSSIBLY IN DAMASCUS)
EGYPT
ISAIAH 19:1-5
1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
2 And I will set the Egyptians against the Egyptians: and they shall fight every one against his brother, and every one against his neighbour; city against city, and kingdom against kingdom.
3 And the spirit of Egypt shall fail in the midst thereof; and I will destroy the counsel thereof: and they shall seek to the idols, and to the charmers, and to them that have familiar spirits, and to the wizards.
4 And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.
5 And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted and dried up.
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 (MUSLIMS) have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,(JORDAN) and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, PALESTINIANS,JORDAN) and the Hagarenes;(EGYPT)
7 Gebal,(HEZZBALLOH,LEBANON) and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA,ARABS,SINAI) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JEREMIAH 47:1-7
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah the prophet against the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN/ARABS) before that Pharaoh smote Gaza.
2 Thus saith the LORD; Behold, waters rise up out of the north,(NORTHERN TSUNAMI POSSIBLY) and shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the land, and all that is therein; the city, and them that dwell therein: then the men shall cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall howl.
3 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong horses,(ISRAELS ARMY) at the rushing of his chariots, and at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers shall not look back to their children for feebleness of hands;(ISRAEL POSSIBLY NUKES GAZA)
4 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Philistines,(PALESTINIAN FAKE ARABS) and to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that remaineth: for the LORD will spoil the Philistines, the remnant of the country of Caphtor.
5 Baldness is come upon Gaza;(NUKED POSSIBLY) Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley: how long wilt thou cut thyself?
6 O thou sword of the LORD, how long will it be ere thou be quiet? put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still.
7 How can it be quiet, seeing the LORD hath given it a charge against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore? (MEDITTERANEAN SEA) there hath he appointed it.
Violence overshadows new Egyptian cabinet; seven killed
By Ulf Laessing and Maggie Fick-JULY 16,13
CAIRO (Reuters) - Seven people were killed and more than 260 wounded when Islamist supporters of Mohamed Mursi
fought opponents of the deposed Egyptian president and security forces,
marking a return of violence that overshadowed the naming of an interim cabinet.Egyptian authorities
rounded up more than 400 people over the fighting which raged through
the night into Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the army removed Mursi in
response to mass demonstrations against him.Interim Prime Minister Hazem el-Beblawi is forming a government to lead Egypt through a "road map" to restore full civilian rule and to tackle a chaotic economy.A spokesman for the interim president said Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood had been offered cabinet posts and would participate in the transition. The Brotherhood, Egypt's leading Islamist movement, dismissed the remarks as lies, saying it would never yield its demand for Mursi's return.Crisis in the Arab world's most populous state, which straddles the
Suez Canal and has a strategic peace treaty with Israel, raises alarm
for its allies in the region and the West.Mursi's removal has bitterly divided Egypt, with thousands of his supporters maintaining a vigil in a Cairo square to demand his return, swelling to tens of thousands for mass demonstrations every few days.Two people were killed at a bridge in central Cairo where police and
local Mursi opponents clashed with some of his supporters who were
blocking a route across the River Nile overnight. Another five were
killed in the Cairo district of Giza, said the head of emergency
services, Mohamed Sultan.Mursi is being held incommunicado at an undisclosed location. He has
not been charged with any crime but the authorities say they are
investigating him over complaints of inciting violence, spying and
wrecking the economy.CALM SHATTERED
A week of relative calm had suggested peace might be returning, but that was shattered by the street battles into the early hours of Tuesday morning, the bloodiest since more than 50 Mursi supporters were killed a week ago."We were crouched on the ground, we were praying. Suddenly there was shouting. We looked up and the police were on the bridge firing tear gas down on us," said pro-Mursi protester Adel Asman, 42, who was coughing, spitting and pouring Pepsi on his eyes to ease the effect of tear gas.The new cabinet is mainly made up of technocrats and liberals, with an emphasis on resurrecting an economy wrecked by two and a half years of turmoil.Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait - rich Gulf Arab states happy at the downfall of the Brotherhood - have promised a total of $12 billion in cash, loans and fuel.Investors do not expect major reforms before a permanent government is put in place. The new planning minister, Ashraf al-Arabi, said on Monday that the Arab money would sustain Egypt through its transition and it did not need to restart talks with the International Monetary Fund on a stalled emergency loan.Egypt had sought $4.8 billion in IMF aid last year, but months of talks ran aground with the government unable to agree on cuts in unaffordable subsidies for food and fuel. Arabi's comments could worry investors who want the IMF to prod reform.Ahmed Elmoslmany, spokesman for interim President Adli Mansour, said the authorities expected the Brotherhood and other Islamists to agree to participate in national reconciliation and had offered them positions in the interim cabinet."I am hoping and expecting, and I am in contact with members from the Muslim Brotherhood, and I can see there is an acceptance to the idea," he said.But senior Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagi said the movement had not been offered posts, and would reject them if it had. "We will not see reconciliation unless it's on the basis of ending the military coup," Beltagi said at a square near a Cairo mosque where thousands of Mursi supporters have maintained a vigil into its third week.
BURNS SPURNED?
By sunrise calm had returned. The unrest is more localized than in the days after Mursi was toppled when 92 people died, but Egyptians still worry about the continued unrest.At Tahrir Square, rallying point for anti-Mursi protesters, a Reuters reporter saw teenagers in civilian T-shirts being handed rifles by troops in an armored vehicle. It was not clear if they were civilians or security personnel in plain clothes.The violence took place on the last night of a two-day visit by U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the first senior Washington official to arrive since the army's takeover.Washington, which supports Egypt with $1.5 billion a year mainly for its military, has so far avoided saying whether it regards the military action as a "coup", language that would require it to halt aid.The United States was never comfortable with the rise of Mursi's Brotherhood but had defended his legitimacy as Egypt's first elected leader. Its position has attracted outrage from both sides, which accuse it of meddling in Egypt's affairs."Only Egyptians can determine their future," Burns told reporters at the U.S. embassy on Monday. "I did not come with American solutions. Nor did I come to lecture anyone. We will not try to impose our model on Egypt."The Islamist Nour Party and the Tamarud anti-Mursi protest movement both said they turned down invitations to meet Burns. A senior State Department official denied Burns had been shunned."I don't think we're losing influence at all," the U.S. official said. "I don't know what meetings he has, but he has seen a range of people in Cairo in the interim government, in civil society ... so it's hard to say he has been spurned by both sides. I don't accept that is the case."At the bridge in the early hours, young men, their mouths covered to protect them from tear gas, threw stones at police and shouted pro-Mursi and anti-military slogans, as well as "Allahu Akbar!" (God is greatest).Military helicopters hovered overhead and police vans were brought in to quell the trouble. When that didn't work, dozens of riot police moved in. Medics treated men with deep gashes to their eyes and faces nearby."It's the army against the people, these are our soldiers, we have no weapons," said Alaa el-Din, a 34-year-old computer engineer, clutching a laptop during the melee. "The army turned against the Egyptian people."Many of the top Brotherhood figures have been charged with inciting violence, but have not been arrested and are still at large. The public prosecutors' office announced new charges against seven Brotherhood and Islamist leaders on Monday.The fast-paced army-backed "road map" to full civilian rule calls for a new constitution to be hammered out within weeks and put to a referendum, followed by parliamentary elections in about six months and a presidential vote soon after.A former ambassador to the United States has been named foreign minister and a U.S.-educated economist is finance minister. A police general was put in charge of the supply ministry, responsible for the huge distribution system for state-subsidized food and fuel.A musician was named culture minister, an appointment with symbolic overtones: she had been head of the Cairo Opera until she was fired by Mursi's Islamist government two weeks ago, prompting artists and intellectuals to besiege the ministry.(Additional reporting by Tom Finn, Yasmine Saleh, Edmund Blair, Alexander Dziadosz, Shadia Nasralla, Ali Abdelaty, Omar Fahmy, Peter Graff, Patrick Werr and Mike Collett-White in Cairo, Yusri Mohamed in Ismailia and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Writing by Mike Collett-White and Peter Graff; editing by David Stamp)
Russia, China block U.N. condemnation of Iran missile tests
By Louis Charbonneau | Reuters – 16 hrs ago-JULY 16,13- View PhotoReuters/Reuters - A new medium-range missile is fired from a naval ship during Velayat-90 war game on Sea of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz in southern Iran January 1, 2012. REUTERS/Jamejamonline/Ebrahim N
By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. Security Council committee is split over whether Iran's missile tests last year violated U.N. sanctions imposed on Tehran because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, Australia's U.N. envoy said on Monday.That division effectively rules out any expansion of sanctions
against Tehran over the tests for the time being, U.N. envoys said on
condition of anonymity.Diplomats said it was Russia,
backed by China, that refused to declare Tehran's missile launches a
violation of the U.N. restrictions, as a U.N. Panel of Experts on Iran
said was the case.The rift on the Iran sanctions
committee, which consists of all 15 Security Council members,
highlights the difficulties Western powers face in persuading Russia and
China to join them in keeping up the pressure on Tehran to halt banned
nuclear and missile work.Iran rejects allegations by the United States, European powers and
their allies that it is developing an atomic weapons capability. It says
the U.N. sanctions against it are illegal and refuses to comply with
them.As long as the sanctions committee
remains divided, it will be difficult for the Security Council to add
names of any Iranian individuals or entities linked to the missile
tests, Security Council diplomats said on condition of anonymity.Australia's U.N. Ambassador Gary Quinlan, chairman of the Iran sanctions committee,
told the council that "a number of committee members expressed the view
... that the launches constituted a clear violation of (U.N. sanctions)
and that therefore all member states should redouble their efforts to
implement ballistic missile-related sanctions on Iran.""At this stage some committee members cannot share this view," he added in his latest three-month report to the council.The tests involved the launch of Iranian Shahab missiles in July 2012 during the "Great Prophet 7" military exercises."These included launches of the Shahab 1 and 3, Zelzal, Fateh-110
and Tondar missiles, as well as an anti-ship ballistic missile, the
Khalij Fars," the Iran Panel of Experts said in its May report to the
Iran sanctions committee.'HASTY CONCLUSIONS'
The panel said those exercises were conducted by the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.Russia, diplomats said, led the dissenters in rejecting the view that the tests were a clear violation of U.N. sanctions.A Russian delegate explained Moscow's position to the Security Council, saying "hasty conclusions not based on facts must be avoided."A Chinese delegate reiterated Beijing's stance: "We are not in favor of increased new pressure or new sanctions against Iran."U.S. Ambassador Rosemary DiCarlo told reporters, "We're disappointed that the (Iran sanctions) committee was unable in this case to state the obvious.""There is nothing ambiguous about the ban imposed by the Security Council on such ... missile launches," she said. "Most of the Security Council members agree with us on this issue."Quinlan's report also referred to alleged arms embargo violations.Western powers accuse Iran of supplying arms to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah, which has been fighting alongside Assad's troops in Syria to defeat rebels in the civil war there."Several committee members stated that the evidence presented in the report was sufficient to assert that Iran was in violation of its obligations, illustrating a pattern of sanctions evasion through arms smuggling in the Middle East," his report said."Other committee members stated that the lack of stronger evidence as to the provenance of the arms, such as documentation, justified the lack of a definitive conclusion," his report added.Russia and China were the "other committee members" who opposed finding Tehran in clear violation of the U.N. ban on Iranian arms exports, council diplomats said.(Reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by Xavier Briand)
Syria rebels reinforce key suburb in Damascus battle
By Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon | Reuters – 1 hr 19 mins ago
By Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon-JULY 16,13
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels poured reinforcements into a key Damascus
suburb on Tuesday in an attempt to push back government troops who have
renewed their campaign to secure the capital and build on battlefield
gains elsewhere in the country.Fighting centered on Qaboun, a rebel-held district where Syrian
troops backed by tanks and artillery had made inroads on Monday as part
of efforts to consolidate control over Damascus, President Bashar al-Assad's power base.After two years of rebel gains in a war that has cost more than
90,000 lives, the tide has turned somewhat for Assad's forces, allowing
them to seize the city of Qusair last month and press on with a campaign
to link Damascus to Assad's coastal strongholds.In facing down the mainly Sunni rebels seeking to oust him, the Syrian leader has received important backing from Shi'ite Iran and from Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters from Lebanon as the war takes on an increasingly sectarian aspect.At the same time, the rebels are plagued by infighting between Islamist groups and members of the more liberal Free Syrian Army, which is backed by the West and some Arab nations.
The increasingly fragmented and brutal nature of the war was illustrated by an incident in Homs province, where gunmen loyal to Assad shot dead at least six mediators sent to try to reconcile warring sectarian groups in an area where opposing sides had until now been able to coexist.Residents said the killings on Monday evening in the village of Hajar al-Abyad highlighted the growing challenge of mediating between towns held by rebel groups and those controlled by pro-Assad militias known as "shabbiha".In a separate incident near the Turkish border in the north, Islamist rebel fighters from the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front clashed with Kurdish armed men, who generally support the creation of an autonomous region within Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a pro-opposition monitoring group, said the fighting broke out after Nusra fighters attacked a Kurdish patrol and took a gunman hostage.The Kurds said they had killed eight Nusra Front militants in what they said was a territorial dispute.
PRESSING CAMPAIGN
Assad's forces are pressing their campaign at a time when the Free Syrian Army has yet to receive weapons promised by Washington but delayed by objections by U.S. lawmakers.A U.S. official said on Monday that the Obama administration had made progress in overcoming these concerns but some details remained unresolved.Both Republican and Democratic lawmakers fear the weapons could end up in the hands of Islamist militants, and would not be enough to tip the balance against the better-equipped Syrian government anyway.Britain, meanwhile, said it would give Syrian rebels equipment to protect themselves against chemical and biological weapons as "a matter of special urgency".Britain has said forces loyal to Assad have made limited use of chemical weapons, which the Syrian government denies.In an attempt at unity, the Syrian opposition now intends to create a 10-member executive council that can to draw together disparate factions into a more structured army with better financing and weapons, Michel Kilo, a senior opposition figure, told Reuters in Paris.In Damascus, the latest fighting comes almost a year after one of the rebels' most spectacular attacks in the capital - a bomb attack last July 18 which killed several of Assad's most senior security officials and led some commentators to predict Assad would soon fall.Abu Nidal, a rebel spokesman in Damascus, said on Tuesday that his fighters were trying to prevent the army advancing further into Qaboun, which it entered on Monday."Rebel reinforcements are entering the area," he told Reuters by Skype. "We expect the army to advance further into the area but they will be stopped."The intensity of the fighting could be seen in footage posted on the internet by opposition activists.The amateur video showed a large grey plume of smoke rising from a densely built residential area of Damascus. Mount Qasioun, which overlooks the capital, can be seen in the background.Text accompanying the footage posted on Tuesday said the smoke came from a ground-to-ground missile fired into Qaboun.
ARMY CHECKPOINT
Elsewhere in the city, nine people including a child were killed at an army checkpoint, the Observatory said in a statement. Quoting activists in the area, the British-based group said they were all shot in the head.It added that mortar bombs were being fired by the army into the southern district of Yarmouk, a Palestinian refugee camp on the edge of central Damascus that has fallen in and out of government and rebel control during the past year.Activists and residents said also that at least five mortar shells hit the Damascus neighborhood of Masaken Barze, injuring several people.Clashes and bombardment were reported by activists in nearly every province on Tuesday, from central Homs city to the northwestern farming province of Idlib to the eastern desert city of Deir al-Zor.In the south of Syria near the Israeli border, the Observatory reported clashes between rebels and government forces in the village of al-Qahtaniya."Initial reports indicate that several fighters in the regime forces were killed, and some armored vehicles were destroyed," the Observatory said.
(Editing by Giles Elgood)
Panama seizes North Korean ship
By | Associated Press – 2 hrs 21 mins ago-JULY 16,13
PANAMA CITY (AP) —
Panama's president said the country has seized a North Korean-flagged
ship carrying what appeared to be ballistic missiles and other arms that
had set sail from Cuba.Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli told RPC radio on Monday that the ship had been headed for North Korea.
There were no immediate details on the quantity of arms aboard.Martinelli
said the undeclared military cargo appeared to include missiles and
non-conventional arms. He said the ship was violating United Nations
resolutions against arms trafficking.Earlier, the president said on his Twitter account that the arms were "hidden in containers underneath the cargo of sugar."He offered no details but posted a photo of what appeared to be a
green tubular object sitting inside a cargo container or the ship's
hold.Hugh Griffiths, an arms trafficking expert at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, said the seized ship is called Chong Chon Gang and has been on the institute's suspect list for some time.He said the ship had been caught before for trafficking narcotics and
small arms ammunition. It was stopped in 2010 in the Ukraine and was
attacked by pirates 400 miles off the coast of Somalia in 2009.Griffiths' institute has also been interested in the ship because of a
stop it made in 2009 in Tartus — a Syrian port city hosting a Russian
naval base.Griffiths also said the institute earlier this year reported to the U.N. a discovery it made of a flight from Cuba to North Korea that travelled via central Africa."Given the history of North Korea, Cuban military cooperation and now this latest seizure, we find this flight more interesting," he said. "After this incident there should be renewed focus on North Korean-Cuban links."Martinelli told RPC the 35 North Koreans on the boat resisted police efforts to take the ship to the Caribbean port of Manzanillo. The crew was later taken into custody.Martinelli said the captain had a heart attack and also tried to commit suicide during the operation.He said authorities had been tipped off some days ago that the ship might be carrying drugs.
___AP writer Malin Rising in Stockholm contributed to this report.
