KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
LUKE 1:31-32
32 He (JESUS) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:(IN JERUSALEM)
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob (ISRAEL) for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.(THATS RULING FOREVER FROM JERUSALEM JESUS DOES)
ISAIAH 9:6-7
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:(JESUS 1ST COMING) and the government shall be upon his shoulder:(JESUS 2ND COMING AS RULING KING FROM JERUSALEM FOREVER AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION) and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his (JESUS) government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,( IN JERUSALEM) and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
THEY HATE THE STAR OF DAVID.SO LETS GIVE THEM 3.REPRESENTING THE TRINITY.THE FATHER,JESUS THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.ONE GOD (3 OFFICES)
speedymedia.blogspot.com
elcivics.com
freemoviech.com
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) 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 ANIMAL 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.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
In a surprisingly powerful and frank speech at Bar Ilan University,
delivered in a calm and almost informal manner, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu tied between the Palestinian national movement and the Nazi
regime in Germany.At the heart of the oration was the determination that Arab rhetoric
notwithstanding, the “territories” and “settlements” are not the heart
of the territorial conflict between Jews and Arabs – but that the
conflict stems from the historic refusal of the Arabs to accept a Jewish
state.Netanyahu provided quotes and evidence showing that the supreme
leader pf the Palestinian Arabs in the first half of the 20th century,
Mufti Hajj Amin al-Husseini, was actively involved in encouraging Adolf
Hitler and his henchmen in their project of annihilating the Jewish
people.The Jewish-Palestinian conflict began, said the prime minister, in
1921, when Arabs attacked Beit Haolim in Yafo (Jaffa), which housed new
Jewish immigrants. They murdered several Jews, including famed writer
Yosef Haim Brenner."My own grandfather had arrived at Yafo, to the same house, one year
earlier,” said Netanyahu. “This attack was not against territories or
settlements,” he noted. “It was against the immigration of Jews to the
Land of Israel.”The prime minister went on to list Arab pogroms against Jews in 1929 –
when the Jewish community in Hevron was annihilated “with endless
cruelty" – and later in 1936-39. In 1947, the Arabs refused to accept a
partition plan that gave the Jews a state, he said. In 1967, again, Arab
nations formed “a ring of strangulation” around Israel – but then, too,
“there were no territories. There was no occupation. Unless Tel Aviv
and Yafo are occupied.”
Moving on to the present day, Netanyahu noted that he recently heard Iran's representative “muttering half heartedly” about the crimes of the Nazis, and then going on immediately to say that the Jews must not be allowed to use the Nazi issue in order to commit crimes against the Palestinians.The historical truth is the opposite of this presentation, he said.He then began quoting numerous historical sources showing that the Mufti was “one of the initiators of the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe,” and that he was constantly encouraging the Nazi leadership to annihilate the Jews, throughout the war. He cited evidence that the Mufti even visited the gas chambers at Auschwitz with Adolf Eichmann."The Mufti is still a greatly admired figure in the Palestinian national movement," said Netanyahu. "These are the weeds that need to be uprooted," he said. "The root of the conflict is the deep resistance among a hard core of Palestinians to the right of the Jewish people to its own state in Israel."Netanyahu hinted that this is something that the Palestinian negotiators are unwilling to state in the current negotiations, and made it clear that unless they do so – the negotiations cannot succeed.
The Iranian fog
Regarding Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu said: "The position of the international community should be like this: We are ready to reach a diplomatic solution but only one which dismantles Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.”He explained that nuclear disarmament means "no centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium and no plutonium reactor, and as long as Iran has not dismantled from its centrifuges and reactors – do not ease the sanctions. On the contrary – add to them.""The truth is simple and it cuts through the fog they are trying to spread around here,” he explained. “If they want peace they will agree. If they don't want peace, they won't agree. If they dismantle, they'll receive [an easing of sanctions] – if they don't, they won't."
Pope Francis made a historic visit to Assisi on Oct. 4, in part to meet the Franciscans responsible for keeping alive the spiritual legacy of his namesake. Yet it may actually have been a Franciscan the pontiff brought with him who has the greatest imprint on his papacy.The pope was flanked throughout the day by eight prelates who make up his “Council of Cardinals,” recently formalized by a chirograph as the pope’s most important sounding board, who had just wrapped up three days of intense discussions on a wide variety of possible reforms – reorganization of the Roman Curia, changes in the Synod of Bishops, the role of the laity in the church and the Vatican, and the pastoral care of marriage.One of those eight clearly stood out, especially in Assisi: Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who wore his brown Capuchin habit throughout the day rather than the crimson-lined black cassock typically associated with Princes of the Church.Visually, it was a reminder that O’Malley is not only the lone American on the Council of Cardinals, but he’s also the lone Franciscan – and for a pope named Francis, that’s no small matter in terms of the extent to which O’Malley has the pontiff’s ear.There are three reasons why O’Malley is positioned to be among the most important influences on Francis.First, the Catholic Church in the United States is an important force in global Catholic affairs. It’s the fourth largest Catholic country in the world by population, and the largest among affluent Western nations. By European standards it’s comparatively dynamic, with a Mass attendance rate estimated at 25-30 percent across the country, and a wide galaxy of movements and organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, that provide funds and manpower for church activities.Just as Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York once upon a time was the most important American prelate under Pope Pius XII, and Cardinal John O’Connor played the same role under Pope John Paul II, O’Malley is now the “go-to” American under Pope Francis.O’Malley speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese and knows Latin America almost as well as the United States, based on decades of work as a missionary and delivering pastoral care for Hispanics. During one of his many trips across the continent, he stayed in the residence of then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, forming a bond of friendship and trust that’s endured.As a result, when Francis needs a read on American realities, O’Malley is the man he’s most likely to tap.
Second, it’s well known that O’Malley himself was a serious contender in the conclave that propelled Bergoglio to the papacy, and for many of the same reasons.He represents a humbler, simpler conception of ecclesiastical leadership. He’s unquestionably orthodox, but a man of the social gospel for whom the poor are a towering pastoral priority. He’s committed to a more collegial vision of the Church, and, like Bergoglio, an outsider to the court dynamics of the Vatican.In July, O’Malley candidly acknowledged in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter that “if the conclave had lasted another day or so, I would have been in great danger” – meaning, of course, that he might have been the one wearing white.The fact that O’Malley had significant support among his brother cardinals certainly is not lost on Francis. It’s undoubtedly a core reason why he named him to the Council of Cardinals, and why he’s disposed to take whatever advice O’Malley gives him seriously.Third, O’Malley is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative voice among the cardinals on the Church’s child sexual abuse scandals, an issue that Francis certainly will have to confront, but one on which he doesn’t bring a great deal of personal experience.As Francis consults widely about his priorities, he will hear repeatedly the importance of turning a page in the fight against clerical abuse. That input will likely nudge the pope to rely even more on O’Malley, who has carried out clean-up operations in three successive dioceses, and who has emerged as a global leader in the effort to reach out to victims, to prevent future abuse, and to respond aggressively when it does occur.Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari recently said in a conversation with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi that he doesn’t believe the Church will ever see a “Francis II.” With O’Malley very much in mind, some observers believe he just may be wrong about that.Francis will be 77 in December, they note, and one logical trajectory of his effort to reinsert the papacy into the College of Bishops would be to follow the lead of Benedict XVI and resign, perhaps when he reaches 80. If so, that would mean stepping aside in late 2016 or early 2017, at which point O’Malley would be just 72, four years younger than Bergoglio when he was elected.The smiling, bearded Capuchin is perhaps the single cardinal most likely to become the “Francis II” Scalfari had in mind.Whether that actually happens is a hypothesis about the future. The empirical reality of the present, however, is that O’Malley is the Franciscan most likely to influence the direction of a pope who is clearly determined to walk in the footsteps of Francis.*John L. Allen is senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and senior Vatican analyst for CNN.
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
LUKE 1:31-32
32 He (JESUS) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:(IN JERUSALEM)
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob (ISRAEL) for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.(THATS RULING FOREVER FROM JERUSALEM JESUS DOES)
ISAIAH 9:6-7
6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:(JESUS 1ST COMING) and the government shall be upon his shoulder:(JESUS 2ND COMING AS RULING KING FROM JERUSALEM FOREVER AT THE END OF THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION) and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his (JESUS) government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,( IN JERUSALEM) and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
THEY HATE THE STAR OF DAVID.SO LETS GIVE THEM 3.REPRESENTING THE TRINITY.THE FATHER,JESUS THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.ONE GOD (3 OFFICES)
speedymedia.blogspot.comelcivics.comfreemoviech.com Star of David Not Allowed on Temple Mount
Cops forced a Magen David Adom volunteer to remove his jacket with the organization’s emblem before entering the Temple Mount.-By Elad Benari-First Publish: 10/7/2013, 4:12 AM-Israelnationalnews
Temple Mount-Flash 90
A volunteer with the Magen David Adom first
aid service was forced on Sunday to remove his jacket with the
organization’s emblem before he was allowed to enter the Temple Mount.
The emblem of Magen David Adom is a red Star of David.The volunteer, Yonatan Tal, recalled the incident in a conversation with Arutz Sheva."I went up to the Temple Mount as I usually
do. The weather was cooler so I put on my jacket [with the Magen David
Adom emblem],” said Tal, who pointed out that the compound had been
packed with tourists. As his turn came to enter, recalled Tal, he was called aside by a police officer
who ordered him to remove his jacket. When Tal asked why he had to
remove his jacket in order to enter the Temple Mount, the officer argued
that this was the procedure.Tal, who refused to accept this answer,
demanded to know if there is a prohibition to ascend the Temple Mount
while wearing a jacket. "He (the officer) tried to avoid answering the
question, but in the end he had to admit that he was ordering me to take
off the jacket because of the red Star of David that is sewn on it.”Tal noted that the order was puzzling,
particularly because of the steps that had been taken by Magen David
Adom to join the Red Cross and thereby receive international
recognition. Furthermore, he noted, as a Magen David Adom volunteer who
resides in the Judea and Samaria community of Beit Hagai, he often
cooperates with the Red Crescent, yet is denied entry to the Temple
Mount because he wears a jacket with Israel’s national symbol.Following the conversation with the officer, Tal told Arutz Sheva,
he was forced to remove his jacket and only got it back when he left
the compound. He called on Israelis to pressure the government to allow
Jewish worship on the Temple Mount.
“If every one of us will devote one morning
once a month and take the time to visit the Temple Mount, it will
certainly change the situation and bring about a normal reality whereby
Jews control the Temple Mount,” he said.Tal’s experience on the Temple Mount is
another example of Israeli police capitulating to the demands of the
Waqf, which was left in charge of the Temple Mount after Israel
liberated it during the 1967 Six Day War.Police, in an attempt to appease the Waqf,
limit the number of Jewish worshippers allowed on the Temple Mount at
one time in order to prevent conflict with Muslim worshippers.Police often close the Mount
to Jews in response to Muslim riots – despite evidence that Muslim
riots have been planned in advance for the specific purpose of forcing
Jews out. Prominent Israeli MKs, such as Moshe Feiglin and Zeev Elkin, have been forced to leave the Temple Mount due to fears of Muslim riots.The Waqf, meanwhile, has removed every sign of ancient Jewish presence at the site and consistently destroys Jewish antiquities on the compound in a direct violation of a ruling by the Supreme Court.
LAND FOR PEACE (THE FUTURE 7 YEARS OF HELL ON EARTH)
JOEL 3:2
2 I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people(ISRAEL) and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.(UPROOTED ISRAELIS AND DIVIDED JERUSALEM)(THIS BRINGS ON WW3 BECAUSE JERUSALEM IS DIVIDED,WARNING TO ARABS-MUSLIMS AND THE WORLD).
THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
DANIEL 11:21-23
21 And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries.
23 And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people.
24 He shall enter peaceably even upon the fattest places of the province; and he shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his fathers' fathers; he shall scatter among them the prey, and spoil, and riches: yea, and he shall forecast his devices against the strong holds, even for a time.
DANIEL 9:26-27
26 And after threescore and two weeks(62X7=434 YEARS+7X7=49 YEARS=TOTAL OF 69 WEEKS OR 483 YRS) shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(ROMAN LEADERS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.(THERE HAS TO BE 70 WEEKS OR 490 YRS TO FUFILL THE VISION AND PROPHECY OF DAN 9:24).(THE NEXT VERSE IS THAT 7 YR WEEK OR (70TH FINAL WEEK).
27 And he ( THE ROMAN,EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant (PEACE TREATY) 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 ANIMAL 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.
JEREMIAH 6:14
14 They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
JEREMIAH 8:11
11 For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:3
3 For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
ISAIAH 33:8
8 The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man ceaseth: he hath broken the covenant,(7 YR TREATY) he hath despised the cities, he regardeth no man.(THE WORLD LEADER-WAR MONGER CALLS HIMSELF GOD)
ISAIAH 28:14-19 (THIS IS THE 7 YR TREATY COVENANT OF DANIEL 9:27)
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem.
15 Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17 Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18 And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19 From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report.
Labor MK: Likud should support its own PM on peace
Knesset peace caucus heads to Ramallah Monday for meeting with Abbas amid rising violence in West Bank
October 6, 2013, 6:00 pm
4-The Times of Israel
A
group of 15 MKs from Labor, Shas and Hatnua will travel to Ramallah on
Monday in an effort to boost support for ongoing peace talks, even as
more hawkish MKs called those talks into question amid growing violence in the West Bank.The
Ramallah-bound MKs are members of the Knesset Caucus to Resolve the
Arab-Israeli Conflict, whose previous meeting in the Knesset in late
July, together with Palestinian Authority representatives, marked the
first time the Palestinian flag was raised in Israel’s parliament.“Our message to Abu Mazen [PA President
Mahmoud Abbas] will be that there is a real opportunity here, that the
Israeli side is ready and able to deliver peace,” caucus chair MK Hilik
Bar (Labor) told The Times of Israel on Sunday. “We have a government
that has promised to pursue the two-state solution and a majority in the
Knesset for two states, despite the rhetoric on the right. We want to
show Abu Mazen that we’ll do everything in our power to advance peace,
and the Palestinian Authority has to do the same.”The visit was met with criticism Sunday in the
wake of an alleged terror attack Saturday night in which a
nine-year-old girl in Psagot was wounded over the weekend. That shooting
was the latest in a series of violent incidents perpetrated by
Palestinian assailants that included the killing of two IDF soldiers
last month and violent demonstrations and rock-throwing incidents in
East Jerusalem and several West Bank hot spots.At Sunday’s cabinet meeting, Transportation
Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) called on Bar to cancel the Ramallah visit
“in light of recent events.”Many officials, including Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, several Jewish Home MKs and Deputy Foreign Minister
Ze’ev Elkin, pointed the finger at PA incitement and praise for terrorists as a cause underlying the spate of attacks.Bar said the visit would go ahead as
scheduled. “Every single round of negotiations throughout this peace
process, every attempt to bring peace, brought out terrorists and
inciters and extremists who do their best to harm negotiations and
peace. These people thrive on the conflict and survive through its
continuation. That’s why the leaders have to be responsible and mature
and try to overcome these setbacks and do everything to end this bloody
conflict.”Added Bar: “We’re not achieving anything when
we stop the negotiations because of these horrific, evil attacks. There
have been attacks on Jews for decades. Only a final peace agreement that
ends the conflict will end the attacks.”He said the delegation of MKs would challenge Abbas on the issue.Thirty-three MKs, or one-quarter of the Knesset, attended the July event, including many members from coalition parties.With the exception of Hatnua, no coalition MKs
are joining Monday’s trip. Bar lamented that absence, especially the
lack of Likud MKs.
“At the very least, I’d expect to see MKs from
the Likud, the party of the prime minister who is leading the
negotiations and has committed himself to two states,” he said. “I’m
going to Ramallah as an opposition MK to strengthen the hand of our
prime minister. Bibi [Netanyahu] once said in the Knesset, ‘Give peace a
chance.’ I think that spirit should be reflected in the Likud, to show
Israel is ready for peace. Even if these negotiations fail, it shouldn’t
be because of Israel.” PM gets angry with the Palestinians — in tone, not policy
To the satisfaction of the Israeli right, Netanyahu’s Bar-Ilan 2 speech sounded nasty, but there was no substantive change beneath the bitter rhetoric
October 7, 2013, 1:20 am
9-The Times of Israel
When Dani Dayan, the
international spokesman of the settler movement, really likes a speech
by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, you know that something curious is
going on. Dayan is hell-bent on preventing a Palestinian state while
Netanyahu says he’s fully committed to a two-state solution. But moments
after Netanyahu concluded a major foreign policy address Sunday
evening, Dayan tweeted: “Probably the best speech by Netanyahu as PM.”Netanyahu’s unusually fiery speech,
packed with history lessons that incriminated Palestinian leaders past
and present, signaled a significant shift to the right. Hence Dayan’s
delight. But it would be a mistake to understand the pugnacious rhetoric
as a significant departure from his declared policies, as some analysts
are doing.The prime minister was still at the podium —
he opened a conference at Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for
Strategic Studies — when the first pundits weighed in, saying
that Netanyahu’s Sunday speech “wipes out” his original Bar-Ilan
address. In June 2009, from the same podium, Netanyahu had for the first
time accepted in principle a Palestinian state. “He more or less walked
back the first Bar-Ilan speech tonight,” Haaretz diplomatic
correspondent Barak Ravid opined.
There is a lot one can read into “Bar-Ilan 2,” but a fundamental shift in policy it was not.In “Bar Ilan 1,” after all, Netanyahu had
already cited the recognition of Israel’s Jewish roots as one of the
core conditions for his approval of a Palestinian state. “Even the
moderates among the Palestinians are not ready to say the simplest
things: The State of Israel is the national homeland of the Jewish
People and will remain so,” he said four
years ago. “The fundamental condition for ending the conflict is the
public, binding and sincere Palestinian recognition of Israel as the
national homeland of the Jewish People.”True, since June 14, 2009, Netanyahu has
sometimes placed more stress on the security aspects of a future
agreement with the Palestinians, but he never abandoned or even softened
his demand for recognition of Jewish Israel. In his speech last Tuesday
at the United Nations, the prime minister said very little about the
Palestinian conflict, but that little included a passage in which he
slammed the Palestinian leadership for being unwilling to “to offer the
painful concessions they must make in order to end the conflict. For
peace to be achieved, the Palestinians must finally recognize the Jewish
state, and Israel’s security needs must be met.”In Bar-Ilan 2, Netanyahu focused on history,
positing that the Jewish-Arab conflict began not in 1967 with the
Six-Day War capture of the territories, but in 1921, when Palestinians
attacked Jewish immigrants in Jaffa. He went even further back, talking
at length about how the mufti of Jerusalem cooperated with the Nazis in
the 1940s. He even made a not-so-subtle suggestion that the mufti was
partially responsible for the extermination of European Jewry.And today,
“the Palestinians must abandon their refusal to recognize the right of
the Jewish people to have their national state,” Netanyahu said firmly,
reiterating this demand several times, firmly placing it at the heart of
the current peace negotiations.Yes, it has been a while since we heard
Netanyahu come out so aggressively against the Palestinians. Last week
at the White House, with President Barack Obama at his side, he merely
said that “for peace to endure, it must be based on Israel’s capacity to
defend itself, by itself,” without mentioning recognition. (Obama
supports the requirement; “Palestinians must recognize that Israel will
be a Jewish state,” the visiting president said in March in Jerusalem.) But Netanyahu’s speech Sunday did not mean to
lay out new policies, neither toward the Ramallah nor toward Tehran. His
demand of the Iranians — an end to all enrichment activity — repeated a
position he has stated dozens of times, including at the UN last week,
and again Sunday morning before the weekly cabinet meeting.Why the sudden belligerence? Several reasons.
First of all, Netanyahu just returned from a busy week in the States.
The anti-Iran rhetoric at the UN and the subsequent interview marathon
were the easy part, but little attention has been paid to what he and
Obama discussed concerning the Palestinian issue. (Obama recently announced that
Washington’s foreign policy efforts will primarily “focus on two
particular issues: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, and the
Arab-Israeli conflict.”) In his public remarks, the president said
Monday that both Israelis and Palestinians have been engaging in
“serious conversations,” yet warned that “we have a limited amount of
time to achieve” a peace agreement. While officials in the Prime
Minister’s Office say the meeting with Obama focused on the Iranian
threat, well-informed sources have it that the president devoted at
least half the time to the Palestinian issue, pressuring the Israeli
leader to speed things up.The peace
talks aren’t going well, and Obama — who had met with Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas just before seeing Netanyahu — reportedly told the prime minister to get with the program and start negotiating in earnest.
The Palestinians complain about the slow pace of meetings and Israel’s
refusal to make concrete proposals on a future map. Evidently the prime
minister felt compelled to strike back Sunday night: It’s not Israel’s
fault the talks are stuttering; it’s that Palestinian refusal to
recognize the Jewish people’s right to be sovereign in their ancient
homeland.Secondly, Netanyahu’s confrontational tone
also needs to be seen in a local context: terror attacks are on the
rise, and he is feeling the heat from his right flank. Earlier on
Sunday, the prime minister condemned the “heinous attack” on a nine-year-old girl in the West Bank settlement of Psagot.
“We discern an increase in terrorist attacks recently, and I must say
that as long as the incitement continues in the official Palestinian
media, the Palestinian Authority cannot avoid responsibility for these
events,” he said.In light of this and the killings of two
soldiers two weeks ago, several right-wing members of Netanyahu’s
coalition, including from his Likud party, have demanded he halt the
peace talks. At the very least, they’ve urged him to halt the phased
release of Palestinian security prisoners that form part and parcel of
the ongoing rounds of talks. Netanyahu knows he can’t do either of those
things — not with Obama pushing for an accord within nine months. What
he can do, however, is pander to the right with a speech blaming the
Palestinians for most of what’s wrong. And that’s precisely what he did.
Netanyahu blames Mideast conflict on refusal to recognize Jewish state
In address at Bar-Ilan University, PM says lasting peace only possible if Palestinian leadership acknowledges Jewish sovereignty
October 6, 2013, 9:56 pm
8-The Times of Israel
In a marked change in emphasis
from a speech at the same podium four years ago, Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Sunday voiced doubt over the possibility of a two-state
solution, citing the Palestinian leadership’s refusal to recognize
Israel as a Jewish state.Speaking
at the 20th anniversary ceremony of Bar-Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat
Center for Strategic Studies, the prime minister placed blame for the
ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Ramallah’s refusal to come to
terms with Israel as a Jewish state.
“The Palestinians must abandon their refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to have their national state,” he said.Netanyahu dismissed claims that Israel’s
presence in the West Bank stood at the heart of the conflict, stating
instead that as long as the Palestinians don’t internalize the Jewish
state’s right to exist, there will not be peace.“In order for the process in which we find
ourselves to be significant… in order for it to have a real chance of
success,” he said, referring to the current rounds of negotiations begun
this summer, “it’s necessary to hear the Palestinian leadership finally
say that it recognizes the right of the Jewish people to a state of its
own, which is the state of Israel.”“I hope that it shall be so, so that we can advance a real solution to the conflict,” continued Netanyahu.The prime minister stated that the conflict
between the Jews and Arabs began not in 1967, when Israel captured the
West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the Six Day War, but in 1921, when
Palestinian Arabs attacked a building in Jaffa that housed Jewish
immigrants.
He also called for Palestinians to give up on
their demand for Palestinian refugees and their descendants to return to
areas now inside Israel. ”The Palestinians must abandon their [demand
for a] right of return,” he said.And he said any agreement would need to
address Israel’s security needs. “After generations of incitement, we
have no confidence that recognition [of Israel] will trickle down to the
Palestinian people. Therefore, we need very strong security
arrangements, and to go forward without blindness.”In 2009, also speaking at Bar-Ilan University,
Netanyahu said that “if we get a guarantee of demilitarization, and if
the Palestinians recognize Israel as the Jewish state, we are ready to
agree to a real peace agreement, a demilitarized Palestinian state side
by side with the Jewish state.”The speech was seen as a major milestone, marking the first time the prime minister openly endorsed a two-state solution.Israel and the Palestinians restarted peace
talks in July, committing themselves to a US-brokered effort to reach a
permanent accord within nine months, though officials said recently
negotiations have become stuck over a number of issues, including land
swaps and recognizing Israel as a Jewish state.Earlier Sunday, Palestinians in Ramallah held a
rally calling for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to pull
out of the talks. In Jerusalem, a number of Israeli politicians also
called for Netanyahu to rethink negotiations after a suspected terror
attack in the settlement of Psagot in which a 9-year-old girl was shot
and slightly injured.
Palestinian rallying against peace talks in Ramallah Sunday. (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/ Flash90)
Netanyahu also addressed the Iranian nuclear
issue, reiterating his distrust of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s
peace overtures to the West at the United Nations and saying Iran
aspires “to rule the entire Middle East” and destroy the state of
Israel.He repeated his insistence that Iran abandon
its uranium enrichment capacity and dismantle its plutonium core, saying
those apparatuses are “not necessary at all for [civilian] nuclear
energy,” and that only a state seeking a bomb would refuse to give them
up.
Netanyahu Ties between Palestinian Leadership, Nazis
In a surprisingly powerful and frank speech, Prime Minister says conflict with Palestinians began in 1921, not 1967.-By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 10/6/2013, 9:41 PM-Israelnationalnews
Netanyahu at Bar Ilan-Flash 90
Moving on to the present day, Netanyahu noted that he recently heard Iran's representative “muttering half heartedly” about the crimes of the Nazis, and then going on immediately to say that the Jews must not be allowed to use the Nazi issue in order to commit crimes against the Palestinians.The historical truth is the opposite of this presentation, he said.He then began quoting numerous historical sources showing that the Mufti was “one of the initiators of the Holocaust of the Jews of Europe,” and that he was constantly encouraging the Nazi leadership to annihilate the Jews, throughout the war. He cited evidence that the Mufti even visited the gas chambers at Auschwitz with Adolf Eichmann."The Mufti is still a greatly admired figure in the Palestinian national movement," said Netanyahu. "These are the weeds that need to be uprooted," he said. "The root of the conflict is the deep resistance among a hard core of Palestinians to the right of the Jewish people to its own state in Israel."Netanyahu hinted that this is something that the Palestinian negotiators are unwilling to state in the current negotiations, and made it clear that unless they do so – the negotiations cannot succeed.
The Iranian fog
Regarding Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu said: "The position of the international community should be like this: We are ready to reach a diplomatic solution but only one which dismantles Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons.”He explained that nuclear disarmament means "no centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium and no plutonium reactor, and as long as Iran has not dismantled from its centrifuges and reactors – do not ease the sanctions. On the contrary – add to them.""The truth is simple and it cuts through the fog they are trying to spread around here,” he explained. “If they want peace they will agree. If they don't want peace, they won't agree. If they dismantle, they'll receive [an easing of sanctions] – if they don't, they won't."
Urging halt to Iran nuke program, Netanyahu signals discord with Obama
Speaking at weekly cabinet meeting, PM insists Tehran must not maintain any enrichment capacity; US would allow peaceful program
October 6, 2013, 4:23 pm
5-The Times of Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu called Sunday for Iran to be kept from having any capability
to enrich uranium, reiterating an Israeli demand that could put him on a
collision course with US efforts to engage Tehran diplomatically.The
statement, before a weekly cabinet meeting, came a day after the Prime
Minister’s Office attempted to paint the US and Israel on the same page
regarding Iran, after US President Barack Obama said the US estimate on a
timeline for Iran to get a bomb was more conservative than Israel’s.
“Iran — which has violated all understandings
and misled time and time again, which has declared its intention to
destroy the State of Israel and, of course, has violated other decisions
as well, and which leads terrorism on five continents — must not be
allowed to have an enrichment capability,” Netanyahu declared. “This is
the most important point.”The US and other world powers engaged in talks
with Tehran over its nuclear program have signaled that they would
accept some enrichment for civilian purposes as long as it was under
international supervision. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful
purposes, a claim Israel and much of the West have rejected.Shortly after Iranian President Hassan
Rouhani’s trip to New York in September, during which he met with
Western diplomats on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, US
Secretary of State John Kerry indicated that Iran could potentially
preserve its enrichment capability for a peaceful program.“If it is a peaceful program, and we can all
see that, the whole world sees that, the relationship with Iran can
change dramatically for the better and it can change fast,” Kerry told
CBS’s “60 Minutes.”In Sunday’s meeting, Netanyahu was clear in
his position that sanctions must remain in full force until Iran is
prevented from attaining nuclear weapons. “The sanctions on Iran are
working,” he said. “They are very strong; they are a moment away from
achieving their goal. The sanctions must not be eased before the goal of
dismantling Iran’s enrichment capability, in effect, the ability to
produce nuclear weapons, is achieved.”The US has vowed to keep sanctions in place
until it sees action from the Iranian side, while Tehran has called for
sanctions relief as a starting measure.On Saturday, daylight seemed to open between
Washington and Jerusalem over the pace of Iran’s nuclear program, though
sources in Jerusalem attempted to downplay the discord.Obama, in a wide-ranging interview with the
Associated Press on Saturday, disclosed that US intelligence agencies
believe Iran continues to be a year or more away from having the
capability to make a nuclear weapon. Israel contends that Tehran is on a
faster course and could be just months away from breakout capacity.An official in Netanyahu’s office said
Saturday night that Obama and Netanyahu “see eye to eye on the need to
prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.”“The critical time that the prime minister
refers to is not the time for completing production of a nuclear bomb
but rather the time needed for Iran to complete enriching uranium, which
is the most important component in preparing a nuclear weapon,” he said
regarding the time frame issue.“If Iran decides to complete enriching uranium
it can do so within a few weeks of the start day,” he said on condition
of anonymity, because he is not allowed to discuss the issue with the
media.Israel views a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat
to its very existence, citing Iran’s repeated calls for Israel’s
destruction, its long-range missile program and its support for violent
anti-Israel groups like the Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran insists that its
nuclear program is for civilian use.“There is no reason why Iran, which claims it
wants nuclear energy just for peaceful purposes, should maintain the
ability to enrich uranium, which allows for the development of material
necessary for building a bomb,” the Israeli official said.Rouhani recently delivered a conciliatory
speech at the United Nations in which he said Iran had no intention of
building a nuclear weapon and declared his readiness for new
negotiations with world powers.
At the end of the visit, Rouhani and Obama
held a 15-minute phone call as the Iranian leader was traveling to the
airport. It was the first conversation between the nations’ leaders in
34 years and raised hopes that a breakthrough on the nuclear issue could
portend ties between the United States and Iran.Netanyahu has greeted Rouhani’s outreach with
deep skepticism, expressing fears that Iran will use upcoming nuclear
talks as a ploy to get the world to ease painful economic sanctions
while secretly pressing forward with its nuclear program.On Friday, Netanyahu returned from the United
States, where Iran was the main topic in talks with Obama and his
address at the United Nations.
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.
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.
Egypt: 51 killed in new bout of violence between army, Muslim Brotherhood
More than 240 injured in clashes on 40th anniversary of Yom Kippur War
October 7, 2013, 3:19 am
0-The Times of Israel
CAIRO (AP) — Security forces and
Islamist protesters clashed around the country Sunday, leaving 51
killed, as a national holiday celebrating the military turned to mayhem.
Crowds from Egypt’s two rival camps — supporters of the ousted Islamist
president, Mohammed Morsi, and backers of the military that deposed him
— poured into the streets and turned on each other.Several
neighborhoods of the capital, Cairo, resembled combat zones after
street battles that raged for hours. Morsi supporters fired birdshot and
threw firebombs at police who responded with gunshots and tear gas.
Streets were left strewn with debris, and the air was thick with tear
gas and smoke from burning fires, as the crack of gunfire rang out.An Associated Press photographer saw nine
bodies lying on the floor of a clinic in the Cairo district of Dokki,
scene of some of the heaviest clashes. Most of the bodies had gunshot
wounds to the head or chest.Sunday’s death toll of 51 was the highest on a
single day since August 14 when security forces raided two sit-in
protest camps by Morsi supporters, killing hundreds.Even as fighting continued in the streets, the
military went ahead with lavish celebrations for the holiday marking
the 40th anniversary of the start of the 1973 Mideast war with Israel,
known as the Yom Kippur War.In the evening, a concert was aired live on
state TV from a military-run Cairo stadium where pop stars from Egypt,
Lebanon and the Gulf sang anthems to the army and dancers twirled on
stage before a cheering crowd. Military chief Gen. Abdel-Fattah
el-Sissi, other top brass and interim President Adly Mansour attended
the show.“There are those who think the military can be
broken,” el-Sissi said in an address at the concert. “You see the
Pyramids? The military is like the pyramids, because the Egyptian people
are on its side.”The clashes were the latest chapter in the
turmoil roiling the country since the ouster in February 2011 of
autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The new violence is certain to set back efforts
by the interim, military-backed government to revive the economy,
especially the vital tourism sector, and bring order to the streets of
Cairo, where crime and lawlessness have been rife.Morsi was Egypt’s first civilian and first
freely elected president, succeeding four since the early 1950s who
hailed from a military background. But after a year in office, Morsi was
faced by massive protests demanding his ouster, accusing his Muslim
Brotherhood of taking over power — and on July 3, el-Sissi removed him.The military is now back as the real source of
power in Egypt, and state and independent media have been depicting it
as the country’s savior — with growing calls for el-Sissi to run in the
presidential election due early next year.
Sunday’s holiday was an opportunity for
Egypt’s leaders to further fan the pro-military fervor sweeping the
country since the coup. But the holiday was also a chance for Morsi’s
Muslim Brotherhood and its Islamist allies to show that they are
surviving a fierce crackdown that has jailed more than 2,000 from their
ranks since the coup.Thousands of their backers held marches in
various parts of Cairo, while at the same time crowds in support of the
military took to the streets. In some cases, the two sides set upon each
other, pelting each other with rocks and firebombs.The Health Ministry reported 51 people killed
nationwide, with at least 40 of them in Cairo, and more than 240
injured. The Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, said
423 Morsi supporters were detained across the nation.“It is now crystal clear that the coup is a
nightmare for Egypt and its people and is trying so hard to tear the
fabric of this nation,” a coalition grouping the Brotherhood and its
allies said in a statement.“At the time when festivities are arranged for
one section of the population, they call on Egyptians to dance on the
dead bodies of their compatriots who oppose the coup,” it said, calling
for a rally in Tahrir Square on Friday.The scene of Sunday’s fighting in Cairo
contrasted sharply with a carnival-like mood in the city’s central
Tahrir Square, where thousands of supporters of the military waved
Egyptian flags, blew whistles and touted posters of el-Sissi. Adding to
the festivities, a military band in green jackets and off-white pants
played, and men spun in whirling dervish-style dances. Demonstrators distributed petitions demanding that el-Sissi run for president.“We cannot find a man who can run the country
at this stage except for him (el-Sissi),” said aspiring actress Wafaa
el-Sharqawi, who was distributing the el-Sissi petition in Tahrir. “Can
we possibly have a civilian president who is weaker than his defense
minister?”Soldiers barricaded entrances to central
Tahrir Square with barbed wire and armored personnel vehicles to guard
it against possible attempts by Morsi supporters to enter the plaza,
Egypt’s most prominent political stage since it was the epicenter of the
anti-Mubarak uprising nearly three years ago.
Metal detectors were installed at the
entrances and demonstrators pouring into the square were searched by
troops. Army helicopters flew low over the square, with Egypt’s red,
white and black flag trailing. Some two dozen F-16 jet-fighters staged a
celebratory flight over Cairo in late morning, ushering in the
commemoration of the 1973 war.At 2 p.m. — the time the war began in 1973 —
church bells tolled and chants of “Allahu akbar,” or “God is greatest,”
blared from mosques in parts of Cairo.Still, not all in the square were enthused about the military.Moamen Mahmoud, a 23-year-old student, was in
Tahrir on Sunday and mused about the ironies of the shifting sands of
Egypt’s politics in the past 2 ½ years. He said he took part in the 2011
uprising and in subsequent protests against the military’s direct rule
of the country for some 17 months after Mubarak’s fall.“I came here today because I cannot miss an
occasion like this, but sadly the revolutionaries are not here. I was
here once chanting against military rule and now look at this. We forgot
the principles of the revolution,” he said.“Those who criticized the Brotherhood
supporters for hoisting Morsi posters are now doing the same with
el-Sissi’s posters,” said Mahmoud Badawi, a 27-year-old university
graduate who is opposed to the July 3 coup. “Throughout history,
military rule is corrupt.”The climax of the day’s festivities was the
extravaganza at the military-owned stadium in the eastern part of Cairo,
attended by el-Sissi and kicked off with a dazzling display of
fireworks.El-Sissi’s predecessor, Field Marshal Hussein
Tantawi, was among those attending the ceremony, making his first public
appearance since Morsi removed him and his chief of staff, Sami Anan,
in August last year. Tantawi served Hosni Mubarak as defense minister
for 20 years and took over the reins of the country when his mentor was
ousted in a 2011 uprising.Anan, who has presidential ambitions, was not present.Also in attendance was Gihan Sadat, widow of
the late Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, revered as the country’s 1973
war hero and the architect of his country’s peace treaty six years
later.
10/ 5/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
The Franciscan most likely to influence Francis
Sean O'Malley
Sean O'Malley is not only the lone American on the Council of Cardinals, but he’s also the lone Franciscan
John L. Allen Jr.*Pope Francis made a historic visit to Assisi on Oct. 4, in part to meet the Franciscans responsible for keeping alive the spiritual legacy of his namesake. Yet it may actually have been a Franciscan the pontiff brought with him who has the greatest imprint on his papacy.The pope was flanked throughout the day by eight prelates who make up his “Council of Cardinals,” recently formalized by a chirograph as the pope’s most important sounding board, who had just wrapped up three days of intense discussions on a wide variety of possible reforms – reorganization of the Roman Curia, changes in the Synod of Bishops, the role of the laity in the church and the Vatican, and the pastoral care of marriage.One of those eight clearly stood out, especially in Assisi: Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who wore his brown Capuchin habit throughout the day rather than the crimson-lined black cassock typically associated with Princes of the Church.Visually, it was a reminder that O’Malley is not only the lone American on the Council of Cardinals, but he’s also the lone Franciscan – and for a pope named Francis, that’s no small matter in terms of the extent to which O’Malley has the pontiff’s ear.There are three reasons why O’Malley is positioned to be among the most important influences on Francis.First, the Catholic Church in the United States is an important force in global Catholic affairs. It’s the fourth largest Catholic country in the world by population, and the largest among affluent Western nations. By European standards it’s comparatively dynamic, with a Mass attendance rate estimated at 25-30 percent across the country, and a wide galaxy of movements and organizations, such as the Knights of Columbus, that provide funds and manpower for church activities.Just as Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York once upon a time was the most important American prelate under Pope Pius XII, and Cardinal John O’Connor played the same role under Pope John Paul II, O’Malley is now the “go-to” American under Pope Francis.O’Malley speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese and knows Latin America almost as well as the United States, based on decades of work as a missionary and delivering pastoral care for Hispanics. During one of his many trips across the continent, he stayed in the residence of then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, forming a bond of friendship and trust that’s endured.As a result, when Francis needs a read on American realities, O’Malley is the man he’s most likely to tap.
Second, it’s well known that O’Malley himself was a serious contender in the conclave that propelled Bergoglio to the papacy, and for many of the same reasons.He represents a humbler, simpler conception of ecclesiastical leadership. He’s unquestionably orthodox, but a man of the social gospel for whom the poor are a towering pastoral priority. He’s committed to a more collegial vision of the Church, and, like Bergoglio, an outsider to the court dynamics of the Vatican.In July, O’Malley candidly acknowledged in an interview with the National Catholic Reporter that “if the conclave had lasted another day or so, I would have been in great danger” – meaning, of course, that he might have been the one wearing white.The fact that O’Malley had significant support among his brother cardinals certainly is not lost on Francis. It’s undoubtedly a core reason why he named him to the Council of Cardinals, and why he’s disposed to take whatever advice O’Malley gives him seriously.Third, O’Malley is widely acknowledged as the most authoritative voice among the cardinals on the Church’s child sexual abuse scandals, an issue that Francis certainly will have to confront, but one on which he doesn’t bring a great deal of personal experience.As Francis consults widely about his priorities, he will hear repeatedly the importance of turning a page in the fight against clerical abuse. That input will likely nudge the pope to rely even more on O’Malley, who has carried out clean-up operations in three successive dioceses, and who has emerged as a global leader in the effort to reach out to victims, to prevent future abuse, and to respond aggressively when it does occur.Italian journalist Eugenio Scalfari recently said in a conversation with Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi that he doesn’t believe the Church will ever see a “Francis II.” With O’Malley very much in mind, some observers believe he just may be wrong about that.Francis will be 77 in December, they note, and one logical trajectory of his effort to reinsert the papacy into the College of Bishops would be to follow the lead of Benedict XVI and resign, perhaps when he reaches 80. If so, that would mean stepping aside in late 2016 or early 2017, at which point O’Malley would be just 72, four years younger than Bergoglio when he was elected.The smiling, bearded Capuchin is perhaps the single cardinal most likely to become the “Francis II” Scalfari had in mind.Whether that actually happens is a hypothesis about the future. The empirical reality of the present, however, is that O’Malley is the Franciscan most likely to influence the direction of a pope who is clearly determined to walk in the footsteps of Francis.*John L. Allen is senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter and senior Vatican analyst for CNN.
EU launches anti-trust case against Gazprom
04.10.13 @ 08:18
BRUSSELS - The EU has started legal
action against Russian energy giant Gazprom, the bloc's competition
chief said on Thursday (3 October).Speaking at an event to mark European Competition Day in Lithuanian
capital Vilnius, EU competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia confirmed
that the EU executive had started to draw up a formal charge sheet
against the firm.He refused to speculate on the time frame of the case, which comes
against a backdrop of increased tensions between Russia and the EU over
Russian pressure on former Soviet states to eschew EU integration."It would be premature to anticipate when the next steps would be
taken in this investigation, but we have now moved to the phase of
preparing a statement of objections," he said.But a statement published by the Lithuanian government the same day
revealed that the commission would complete its work by spring 2014.Almunia confirmed that the investigation covers Bulgaria, the Czech republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.The development is a significant victory for Lithuania, whose
complaint on alleged Gazprom price-gouging prompted the launch of the EU
enquiry back in 2011.The Baltic country has made EU energy policy in general key priority of its six month presidency of the EU.Its Prime Minister, Algirdas Butkevicius, on Thursday described the EU move as being “of crucial importance” to his country.The anti-Gazprom claims say it is abusing its dominant market
position to demand extortionate prices for gas and preventing countries
from diversifying their energy supply.
Lithuania says it pays 35 percent more than Germany for gas under its contract with Gazprom.For its part, the energy giant has said that it has received no formal communication from the EU executive and has made no attempt to offer concessions in a bid to reach a settlement.Under EU rules, Gazprom, whose turnover hit 4.76 trillion roubles (€109 billion) in 2012, could face a fine of up to 10 percent of their annual revenues.
The €1.1 billion fine levied on software giant Intel in 2009 is, as yet, the largest single antitrust fine imposed by the EU.
Lithuania says it pays 35 percent more than Germany for gas under its contract with Gazprom.For its part, the energy giant has said that it has received no formal communication from the EU executive and has made no attempt to offer concessions in a bid to reach a settlement.Under EU rules, Gazprom, whose turnover hit 4.76 trillion roubles (€109 billion) in 2012, could face a fine of up to 10 percent of their annual revenues.
The €1.1 billion fine levied on software giant Intel in 2009 is, as yet, the largest single antitrust fine imposed by the EU.
