I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.
The United Nations
nuclear watchdog on Friday narrowly voted down an Arab League resolution
to single out Israel for criticism over its alleged nuclear arsenal.The
bid, against which the US spoke out this week, reflects mounting
frustration in the Arab world over the deferment of an international
conference on the banning of atomic arms in the region, Reuters reported Friday.The International Atomic Energy
Agency rejected the initiative by a vote of 51 to 43 at its annual
meeting in Vienna. 32 nations abstained.Had the resolution been passed by
the IAEA, Israel would have been called upon to sign on to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and submit to agency scrutiny of its nuclear
facilities.After the vote, Deputy Foreign
Minister Zeev Elkin congratulated ministry employees and the Prime
Minister’s Office, who worked incessantly in recent days to make sure
the resolution would fail.“I am glad that common sense
prevailed and that the nations of the world rejected the proposal, which
was designed to attack Israel, ” he said, adding, “The whole world must
understand that the main task before the IAEA and the international
community is to stop the Iranian nuclear program.”Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, who
heads the Arab League group at the IAEA, was quoted as saying Friday
that the vote would show the world that “Israel is not playing a
constructive role.”The Arab initiative was part of
mounting international pressure on Israel to relinquish — or at least
admit to possessing — weapons of mass destruction. The heightened
interest in the Jewish state’s alleged nuclear, chemical and biological weapons
comes amid indications from Iran that it’s ready to show flexibility in
nuclear talks, and in the wake of a Russian-brokered deal that would
see Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons shipped off and
eventually destroyed.A similar version of the resolution
was narrowly passed four years ago at the IAEA, but its implementation
was postponed due to pressure from Western governments. In 2011 and
2012, Arab member states refrained from pushing the initiative fearing
it would harm attempts to convene an international conference to rid the
Middle East of WMDs.
On Thursday, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said that Assad’s decision to amass chemical weapons was
“in response to Israel’s nuclear capabilities” and that “Israel has
technological superiority and doesn’t need nuclear weapons.”According to a report in the September/October issue of
the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Israel possesses a stockpile of
80 nuclear warheads, all of which were produced by 2004, when Israel
froze all production.Israel’s nuclear program has long
been shrouded in secrecy, with the country maintaining a policy of
ambiguity while refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Previous estimates have put the
number of warheads in Israel’s possession at up to 400. According to
foreign reports, Israel’s military has the capacity to deliver a nuclear
payload via a variety of methods, including ballistic missiles,
aircraft, and submarine-launched cruise missiles.
Temple Mount: Is it worth fighting for?
In 1967 Moshe Dayan shocked much
of the Jewish world as well as the Muslim world when he handed the keys
to the Temple Mount to the Islamic Waqf.He
did this on his own, without consulting with the Knesset, without
consulting with then Prime Minister, Levi Eshkol, and without a care as
to the sentiments of the Jewish nation.Moshe Dayan was likewise instrumental in
sustaining the continuation of the ban against Jewish prayer on Haram
esh-Sharif. This compound was our Har Habayit, our Temple Mount during
ancient times.
Since that dark day in 1967, the Muslims have
made a concerted effort to claim Jerusalem’s holy sites as Muslim sites
albeit lacking theological and historical proof. They completely ignore
the history and ancientness of the site.
Gen Moshe Dayan (on left) with Haim Bar Lev and Levi Eshkol (photo courtesy Illan Bruner, Israel National Photo collection)
Their motivation, roused by their objective to
de-legitimize the Jewish connection to the land and city is further
enabled by the passivity of the Israeli leadership. The Waqf has
systematically engaged in construction atop the Temple Mount and have
thrown out valuable antiquities that date back to the Beit Hamikdash,
the Jewish Temple. From the Mosques on Temple Mount, Muslim clerics
throughout the years instigate frequent violent rioting against Jewish
worshipers below at the Kotel.All this with nary a sound from the Knesset.Renowned Israeli archeologist, Dr. Eilat Mazar
of the Hebrew University and the Shalem Center, has labored for years
against the Waqf’s wanton destruction of ancient Jewish artifacts with
little success. She with a team of archeologists currently sift through
the dirt from the Mount deposited as garbage by the Islamic Waqf, and
indeed have come up with major finds dating back to the Jewish people at
the time of the first temple.
(photo courtesy Biblical Archeological Society)
What may not be known to many is that as the
Six Day War continued to progress in Israel’s favor, Prime Minister Levi
Eshkol made plans for the eventual takeover of Mount Moriah – the
Temple Mount. He formulated a plan in which the management of that holy
site would be led by a committee of Muslims, Christians and Jewish
clerics in order to safeguard the freedom of prayer for each of the
three faiths.
The mosques would remain unharmed.Moshe Dayan ruined the Prime Minister’s plans
and sustained the status quo that only one of those three faiths was
allowed to pray at the holy site.While considered a national war hero, Moshe
Dayan, nevertheless snubbed his nose at a miracle witnessed by the
entire world that was almost 2000 years in the making. Prime Minister
Eshkol felt powerless against Moshe Dayan, the great war hero… The
great war hero who groundlessly and irrationally feared the building of
the Third Temple.
To this day, Jewish visitation to the Temple
Mount is limited, and even when permission is granted, members of the
Jewish nation are forbidden to pray there.Why has this shameful and abominable policy
continued throughout the years, throughout the successive governments,
left wing and right wing alike? For the same reason Europe is falling
today…The fear of raising the ire of the Muslims. It is a fear that
hides behind an inane banner of political correctness that can only be
defined as outrageously absurd. And the successive governments of the
State of Israel, snubbing the divine gift – the rebirth of its nation,
against all odds – in its own land, joins the rest of the “free” world
in its uncontainable tsunami of fear.Indeed, like the rest of the world, the
Israeli leadership falls on its knees paralyzed by a panic of violent
Muslim retribution should we take a stand for what is the very core of
our spiritual existence.The Temple Mount is where God has chosen to
rest his Shechina, HIS divine spirit. It is sacred ground. And in this
Divine Spirit is the essence to the Torah, and hence the essence of the
Jewish nation.And yet, the real players in the Israeli
government who are for the most part spiritually bankrupt, cower at the
mere threat of an Arab riot should we have the “audacity” to pray at our
most holy site. The Israeli government is quick to blink at the first
stone thrown by an Islamic terrorist incensed at Jews praying anywhere
near the Temple Mount and shamefully abandons its nation’s heritage,
its birthright.Yes, Islamic violence is unnerving, daunting
and terrifying. Who has not read about this diabolical political cult’s
chilling atrocities against their own people, let alone against whom
they consider “non-believers?” Who has not seen the horrifying images
of their evil? Who is still unaware of the rampant, unbridled
malevolence that rages from the many echelons of Islam? Be that as it may, the State of Israel – the nation of Israel, is not without resources.Why are we cowering? The struggle for Har Habayit, the Temple Mount
is not about the control of one level of religious Jewish practice over
another. It is not of factional substance. The Temple Mount is about
who we are, what we are, how we came to be and why we came to be the
Jewish Nation. The Temple Mount is our legacy. It is inseparable from
the heart of our people. It is the very bastion of our faith that is
4000 years strong.And we are giving voice to maniacal,
blood-thirsty Jihadists to define limits to our religious worship? To
forbid us to utter a prayer as we stand on hallowed ground? To move our
lips? Are we to continue the pathetic stance of sanctioning the theft of
what is inherently ours? If this is so, how pitiable we have become.Now is not the time to set our weapons down for plowshares. A bitter pill to swallow, for sure.But, some things are just worth fighting for, dammit.
Israeli forces manhandle EU diplomats, seize West Bank aid
By Noah Browning-sept 21,13-yahoonews
KHIRBET AL-MAKHUL, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers manhandled
European diplomats on Friday and seized a truck full of tents and
emergency aid they had been trying to deliver to Palestinians whose
homes were demolished this week.A Reuters reporter saw soldiers throw sound grenades at a group of
diplomats, aid workers and locals in the occupied West Bank, and yank a
French diplomat out of the truck before driving away with its contents."They dragged me out of the truck and forced me to the ground with
no regard for my diplomatic immunity," French diplomat Marion Castaing
said."This is how international law is being respected here," she said, covered with dust.The Israeli army and police declined to comment.
Locals said Khirbet Al-Makhul was home to about 120 people. The army
demolished their ramshackle houses, stables and a kindergarten on
Monday after Israel's high court ruled that they did not have proper
building permits.Despite losing their property, the inhabitants have refused to leave
the land, where, they say, their families have lived for generations
along with their flocks of sheep.Israeli soldiers stopped the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) delivering emergency aid on Tuesday and on Wednesday IRCS
staff managed to put up some tents but the army forced them to take the
shelters down.Diplomats from France, Britain, Spain, Ireland, Australia and the
European Union's political office, turned up on Friday with more
supplies. As soon as they arrived, about a dozen Israeli army jeeps
converged on them, and soldiers told them not to unload their truck."It's shocking and outrageous. We will report these actions to our
governments," said one EU diplomat, who declined to be named because he
did not have authorization to talk to the media."(Our presence here) is a clear matter of international humanitarian
law. By the Geneva Convention, an occupying power needs to see to the
needs of people under occupation. These people aren't being protected,"
he said.In scuffles between soldiers and locals, several villagers were
detained and an elderly Palestinian man fainted and was taken for
medical treatment to a nearby ambulance.The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
said in a statement that Makhul was the third Bedouin community to be
demolished by the Israelis in the West Bank and adjacent Jerusalem
municipality since August.Palestinians have accused the Israeli authorities of progressively
taking their historical grazing lands, either earmarking it for military
use or handing it over to the Israelis whose settlements dot the West
Bank.
Israelis and Palestinians resumed direct peace talks last month
after a three-year hiatus. Palestinian officials have expressed serious
doubts about the prospects of a breakthrough."What the Israelis are doing is not helpful to the negotiations.
Under any circumstances, talks or not, they're obligated to respect
international law," the unnamed EU diplomat said.(Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Louise Ireland)
WH confirms: Obama to meet with Abbas
Leaders will discuss recently relaunched peace talks; no plans for US president to meet Hasan Rouhani
WASHINGTON — President Barack
Obama plans to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the
sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly next week. The meeting
will occur just days before Obama hosts Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu at the White House.Obama’s
deputy national security adviser, Ben Rhodes, said the subject of
Tuesday’s meeting with Abbas will be recently relaunched peace talks
between the Palestinians and the Israelis. Netanyahu will be at the
White House on Sept. 30. In recent weeks, Secretary of State John Kerry
has also met with both leaders.Rhodes said Obama on Tuesday will meet with
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, with whom he will discuss the influx
of refugees to Lebanon from the Syrian civil war. He said Obama will
meet Monday with Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan.
Speaking to the possibility that Obama will
meet with newly-elected Iranian President Hasan Rouhani in New York,
Rhodes reiterated that there was no one-on-one scheduled between the two
leaders.Rouhani’s recent comments regarding Iran’s nuclear program and rapprochement with the West were not enough, according to the official.“We’re gonna make judgments based on the actions of the Iranian government, not just their words,” Rhodes said.
Pope seeks historic easing of rigid Catholic doctrine
Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere
2 hours ago-sept 20,13-yahoonews
VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Francis has urged a break with the
Catholic Church's harsh "obsession" with divorce, gays, contraception
and abortion, in an interview signalling a dramatic shift in the
Vatican's tone.The Argentine pope has brought a series of fresh
perspectives to the notoriously rigid Church since his election in
March, and his latest remarks on some of its key doctrines sent shock
waves around the world."Revolutionary words", remarked Italy's biggest
newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday, while the International Herald
Tribune's front page headline read: "Bluntly, Pope pushes shift in
church."In the 30-page interview published in Jesuit journals on
Thursday, the pope urged "mercy" and understanding for those who often
feel most discriminated against by the Church."We cannot insist only on
issues related to abortion, gay marriage and the use of contraceptive
methods. This is not possible. I have not spoken much about these
things, and I was reprimanded for that," Francis said.The pope said that
when these issues were discussed, they had to be put in context."The
dogmatic and moral teachings of the Church are not all equivalent. The
Church's pastoral ministry cannot be obsessed with the transmission of a
disjointed multitude of doctrines to be imposed insistently."We have to
find a new balance. Otherwise even the moral edifice of the Church is
likely to fall like a house of cards, losing the freshness and fragrance
of the Gospel."Francis -- who has shown a strong reformist drive in his
first few months in office -- said the Church needed more than anything
to be able to "heal wounds".On homosexuality he said the Church "does
not want to" condemn gays, and that "it is not possible to interfere
spiritually in the life of a person".The 76-year-old pope stressed that
the Church's official position had not changed, but said that it should
"always keep in mind the individual".The interview was published after
the pope on Monday called for "another way" of treating divorcees who
remarry -- a thorny issue since Catholics who wed a second time are
currently not allowed to receive Holy Communion at mass.In Thursday's
interview, he also said the Church should be more merciful and welcoming
towards women who had undergone abortions.The confessional "is not a
torture chamber", added the pope, saying priests should be neither too
rigid nor too lax in their approach to the sacrament.The remarks show a
marked shift from his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI
hardline defence of the Church's strict doctrines."Francis distinguishes
between the sin and the sinner. He says that homosexuals are not
inferior or different to others, the choice of how to live one's
homosexuality being one of the mysteries of man," read an editorial by
historian Lucetta Scaraffia in the Vatican daily Osservatore Romano."His
Christianity is not a rigid puritanism without heart," she wrote in
another Italian daily.Marco Politi, biographer of Benedict XVI noted "a
break" with the former pope's way of thinking."Francis says: Church
doctrine is what it is. It is useless to keep repeating the same things.
What is important is to enter people's personal lives."Swiss Catholic
priest and theologian Hans Kueng wrote in the daily La Repubblica that
he hoped the pope would seek concrete reforms, "permitting sacrament for
the divorced who have remarried, the abolition of celibacy for priests,
and female priesthood.It remains to be seen whether Francis' views will
translate to deeper change however.Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio,
president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, on Friday
explained that the Church distinguished between homosexuality "which is
something negative" and the homosexual person "who has all our
affection".And while he has called for understanding for the women who
undergo abortion, Francis strongly condemned the act in a visit to
gynaecologists on Friday."Every child not born, but condemned to
abortion, possesses the face of the Lord who, before even being born and
then after his birth, experienced rejection by the world."Francis'
papacy -- he is the first Jesuit pope and the first from South America
-- has marked a series of breaks with Vatican tradition.The pope has
become known for his humility and concern for the poor, and has reached
out to non-believers and those in other religions. He regularly picks up
the phone to call ordinary people who write to him.
09/20/2013 VATICAN INSIDER
Francis makes key new appointments
The Vatican hierarchy changes
Francis has started building his team of trusted collaborators.
Cardinal Mauro Piacenza is being transferred to the Apostolic
Penitentiary
Marco TosattiromeTomorrow morning the Holy See will announce two
important changes in the Curia. The Prefect of the Clergy, Cardinal
Mauro Piacenza, is leaving the post to which he was appointed by
Benedict XVI three years ago. Croatian archbishop Nikola Eterovic, who
has been Secretary of the Synod of Bishops for more than nine years, is
being replaced by Lorenzo Baldisseri, the Secretary of the College of
Cardinals. Cardinal Piacenza will take over as Penitentiary Major of the
Apostolic Penitentiary, currently held by Portuguese cardinal Manuel
Monteiro de Castro. The cassocked diplomat Archbishop Beniamino Stella
has been appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy. He is
currently President of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the
training school of the Holy See’s future Nuncios. Stella has been
president of the Academy since 2007. Nikola Eterovic has been appointed
as Nuncio to Germany. Mgr. Crociata, who is currently Secretary Generalo
f the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI), is expected to be appointed
Military Ordinary of Italy.The changes are taking place a short time before
Francis’ meeting with the international team of eight cardinals who are
supposed to be advising the Pope on the reform of the Church’s
structures. The meeting has been scheduled for the beginning of October.
This the first big change the Pope has made to the system inherited
from Benedict XVI, other than the appointment of Archbishop Pietro
Parolin as Vatican Secretary of State, replacing Tarcisio Bertone.The reasons for these changes are not given, as
per protocol. They are a papal prerogative. Mauro Piacenza started
working for the Congregation for the Clergy in 1990, before he was
nominated President of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural
Heritage of the Church and returned to the Congregation for the Clergy
as Secretary, when the Brazilian Claudio Hummes was Prefect. Hummes drew
in significant support for Francis in the Conclave that elected him
Pope. Piacenza took over from Hummes in 2010 when Hummes reached the age
limit for his position.For a month or so now, the Congregation for the
Clergy has also been overseeing the Seminaries, with visits to the
institutions, particularly those in Rome, starting straight away. In
recent years, the Congregation has published a new Directory for the
ministry and life of priests, as well as texts to mark the 50th
anniversary of Vatican II, which aimed to correct distorted
interpretations of the Council. The Congregation has also stressed the
importance of the spiritual dimension of priesthood over the
hierarchical and administrative aspects.Genoan cardinal Mauro Piacenza was highly esteemed
both by Benedict XVI and his Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, for his efficiency and in-depth knowledge of how the
Congregation worked and its problems, as well as for his traditionalist
ecclesiastical line of thought. His successor, Beniamino Stella, has a
strong diplomatic background: Between 1987 and 2007 he served in various
Nunciatures across the world, before being called to Rome to oversee
the training of the Pope’s future ambassadors. So does the new Secretary
of the Synod, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri. These changes seem to
indicate that Pope Francis has chosen to appoint two of “his own people”
to the positions he considers crucial for the actions he plans to take
in the future.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS) 26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)
THE FIRST JUDGEMENT OF THE EARTH STARTED WITH WATER-IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THE LAST GENERATION WILL BE HAVING FLOODING GENESIS 7:6-12 6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. 7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons’ wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of every thing that creepeth upon the earth, 9 There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. GOD PROMISED BY A RAINBOW-THE EARTH WOULD NEVER BE DESTROYED TOTALLY WITH A FLOOD AGAIN.BUT FLOODIING IS A SIGN OF JUDGEMENT.
Returning Coloradans find sickening flood damage
MANUEL VALDES and P. SOLOMON BANDA
7 hours ago-sept 20,13-yahoonews
LYONS, Colo. (AP) — Coloradans who ventured back into the
flood-ravaged town of Lyons found scenes of stomach-churning
destruction, with dozens of homes destroyed, family keepsakes missing,
food spoiling and mud everywhere."It's just sickening," said
Gloria Simpson, whose family salvaged some of her grandmother's
hand-made quilts Thursday from her 81-year-old father's home. They found
some family photos, but others were nowhere to be found.The
number of dead rose to seven, with three others missing and presumed
dead. But the number of unaccounted-for people dropped to about 80,
thanks to rescues, restored communications and door-to-door searches.Rescue
operations tapered off and the state began to turn its attention to
finding homes for the displaced, restoring basic services and figuring
out how to repair hundreds of miles of roads and dozens of bridges."Right
now we're just moving from the life-saving mode to the life-sustaining
mode," said Kevin Kline, director of the Colorado Division of Homeland
Security and Emergency Management.Kline said it was too early to estimate the dollar damage but added, "It's going to be big."The damage spans 17 counties and nearly 2,000 square miles.Gov.
John Hickenlooper said the state's reconstruction effort would be
overseen by Jerre Stead, executive chairman of the global information
company IHS Inc.With dustings of snow already on the highest
mountains, a new group within the state Transportation Department will
focus on repairing and reconstructing as much of the state highway
system as possible by Dec. 1.Under tight security, hundreds of
Lyons evacuees were given two hours to check on their homes Thursday. On
Sept. 12, the St. Vrain River destroyed dozens of homes, a trailer
park, two bridges and sections of roads in the picturesque town of 1,600
framed by sandstone cliffs.Darren
Horwitz saw boulders, broken glass and dislodged propane tanks strewn
around Lyons. His truck and sailboat that he parked at a friend's mobile
home had been swept away."When you get there, the shock sets in," he said.
Bob
Ruthrauff, 84, found his home intact, but food was rotting in his
refrigerator because electricity had been cut off. He spent his two
hours getting rid of the spoilage but was grateful. "We're very lucky.
We came home to a dry home," Ruthrauff said.Utility poles were
toppled and power lines were in tangles. Work crews cleared debris and
tried to restore power, water and sewer service.E. coli has been
found in the town's drinking water and it could be two to six months
before the town is livable for most, the Longmont Times-Call reported
(http://bit.ly/16jVjRb). However, residents willing to rough it will be
allowed to stay.
Millions
of gallons of sewage have been released around the state because of
septic systems and sewer lines torn out by flood waters and flooded
waste treatment plants, said Steve Gunderson, director of the state's
water quality control division. People in some communities have had to
boil their water. So far, there have been no reports of illness from the
dirty water but Gunderson acknowledged that people might not trace
their illness back to the water.Flooding along the South Platte River pushed into western Nebraska but caused little initial damage.Amtrak
said its Chicago-to-San Francisco California Zephyr train will detour
through Wyoming until early October because of flood damage to its route
in Colorado. Buses will take passengers to some of the train's normal
stops in Colorado and Utah until repairs are completed.The White House said Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill, will visit Colorado on Monday.
Super Typhoon Usagi closes in on Taiwan and Philippines
.
yahoonews-sept 21,13
HONG KONG (AFP) - Super Typhoon Usagi, the most powerful
cyclone of 2013 so far, was closing in on Taiwan and the Philippines on
Saturday, packing gusts of nearly 300 kilometres (185 miles) per hour
and bringing storm surge and torrential rain.Usagi, which intensified
dramatically into a super typhoon in the early hours of Friday, is to
roar through the Luzon Strait dividing the Philippines and Taiwan on
Saturday morning as it barrels towards Hong Kong and the Chinese
coast.Taiwan's southern tip is set to be clipped by the storm's
northeast quadrant, typically home to a tropical cyclone's most powerful
winds.The US Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in a bulletin
issued at 11.00 pm Friday (1500 GMT Friday) that Usagi was packing
sustained winds of 130 knots (240 kph, 150 mph), with gusts of up to 160
knots (296kph, 185mph), making it the equivalent of a strong category
four Atlantic hurricane."It is the strongest typhoon in the west Pacific
region this year," a weather forecaster at the Taiwan Central Weather
Bureau told AFP on Friday. Meteorologists have described Usagi as the
most powerful tropical cyclone to form in 2013 so far.The bureau said in
a bulletin early Saturday that the storm was moving west northwest at
19 kilometres an hour.Taiwan's defence ministry Friday deployed more
than 1,600 soldiers in "high risk" areas prone to flooding and
landslides while placing 24,000 others on standby. Philippine
authorities on Friday evacuated some 240 people in the northern
agricultural province of Tarlac, while ferries were restricted to their
ports, stranding travellers.A signal four alert was issued for the
Batanes island group in the extreme north of the country, warning large
trees could be uprooted, plantations flattened and power and
communications infrastructure knocked out.Emergency relief services were
also put on heightened alert, with the Red Cross already stockpiling
first aid kits and food packs in some areas."Damage to affected
communities can be very heavy," the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical
and Astronomical Services Administration said. "The situation is
potentially very destructive to communities. All travel and outdoor
activities should be cancelled."The country's National Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Council said Usagi would cause intense rainfall
of 10-20 millimetres per hour within a 700-kilometre range.In China,
nearly 23,000 fishing boats took shelter in Fujian province ahead of the
storm, state media reported early Saturday, while more than 4,000
people living in coastal fish farms were evacuated.China's
meteorological authority upgraded its warning for the typhoon to orange,
the second highest, state news agency Xinhua said late Friday.Hong Kong
officials warned of worsening weather in the southern Chinese
territory. "Weather will deteriorate significantly with strengthening
winds and rough seas," the Hong Kong observatory said. Its tropical
cyclone track map showed the storm would hit the city after 8:00 pm
(1200 GMT) on Sunday.The typhoon is expected to be downgraded to
"severe" by the time it makes landfall in the territory, according to
the observatory -- still enough to stop metro and ferry services and
curtail air travel.
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.
AMOS 1:5 5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
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)
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.
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.
DANIEL 11:40-43 40 And at the time of the end shall the king of the south ( EGYPT) push at him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) and the king of the north (RUSSIA AND MUSLIM HORDES OF EZEK 38+39) shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. 41 He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown: but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.(JORDAN) 42 He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries: and the land of Egypt shall not escape. 43 But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt: and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps.
JOEL 2:3,20,30-31 3 A fire(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS-MUSLIMS) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them,(BEFORE THE NUKE GOES OFF) and behind them a desolate wilderness;(AFTER THE ATOMIC BOMB GOES OFF) yea, and nothing shall escape them.(EVERYTHING NUKED) 20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,ARAB,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate,(SIBERIAN DESERT) with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL) 30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB) 31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
JEREMIAH 8:7 7 Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times;(MIGRATION TIME) and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming;(IN MIGRATION SEASON) but my people know not the judgment of the LORD.(WW3 MIGRATING BIRDS EAT ISRAELS ENEMIES FLESH AND BLOOD)
US-Russia Syria deal props up Assad
Without
a decisive Western intervention, Syria’s beleaguered rebels are dealt a
huge psychological blow, further fanning the war of attrition’s flames
BEIRUT (AP) — For Syria’s
divided and beleaguered rebels, the creeping realization that there will
not be a decisive Western military intervention on their behalf is a
huge psychological blow. President Bashar Assad’s regime has gained
strength, largely because the world community is concerned that if he is
toppled the result may be an Islamist Syria in the grip of al-Qaeda.
The immediate result has been an uptick this week in fighting between
moderate and jihadi rebels. The long-term outcome is likely to be a
prolonged war of attrition that continues the slow destruction of Syria
as a coherent state and further fans the flames of sectarian hatred and
extremism in a turbulent Middle East. Only two weeks ago, the Obama
administration appeared poised to launch a US military strike against
the Syrian regime in response to the Aug 21 chemical weapons attack it
says was launched by Assad’s forces, killing hundreds of civilians in
opposition-controlled areas near Damascus. President Barack Obama
reversed course after an ambitious agreement between the US and Russia
calling for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons program within a
week, and for all its components to be removed from the country or
destroyed by mid-2014. Assad immediately signed on, and on Friday sent
the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons an “initial
declaration” outlining Syria’s weapons program. The agreement abruptly
reshuffled the cards, baffling opposition forces who had held out hope
that US-led strikes would help tip the scales in the country’s deadly
stalemate. The conflict, now in its third year, has killed more than
100,000 people and uprooted millions of people from their homes. Obama
warned in August 2012 that any deployment of the Syrian government’s
chemical weapons stockpiles was a “red line” that would bring harsh
consequences. Now, the realization that even a sarin attack the US says
killed more than 1,400 people would not trigger military action has left
rebels feeling bitter and powerless, and is likely to strengthen
extremist trends in rebel ranks. While the US and Russia, a staunch
Assad ally, have stepped up efforts to hold a peace conference for
Syria, the Russian deal makes it less likely the Syrian sides will agree
to talk. Opposition forces say the agreement effectively legitimizes
Assad’s regime, at least until mid-2014 when chemical weapons stockpiles
are supposed to have been destroyed. Presidential elections are due
around the same time, and Assad has suggested he may run again. “This
deal puts the regime front and center in the international diplomatic
process,” said Randa Slim, a scholar at the Washington-based Middle East
Institute. That makes it less likely Assad will feel the need to engage
in issues dealing with a political transition. “It also pushes the
armed opposition groups away from seeking a deal that they believe will
not favor them in this present configuration of Syrian actors,” she
said. Opposition forces say that by agreeing to relinquish his chemical
weapons stockpile, Assad successfully removed the threat of US military
action while giving up very little in exchange. Unlike the regime’s
warplanes, which have pushed back rebel advances and pummeled
opposition-held territory, chemical weapons are not seen as crucial to
the regime’s survival or military strategy. The focus on diplomacy,
which is likely to drag out the war, bolsters the jihadi narrative that
the West is not interested in a rebel victory after all. “Assad has been
rewarded for using chemical weapons, rather than being punished,” said
veteran Syrian opposition figure Kamal Labwani. “It is a depraved
decision that will reflect in more extremism on the ground,” he said,
pointing to the rapid proliferation of al-Qaeda militants and the uptick
in rebel infighting in the past week. On Wednesday, gunmen from the
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaeda offshoot, overran a
town near the border with Turkey after raging battles during which they
expelled fighters from the mainstream Western-backed Free Syrian Army.
The fighting died down Thursday after a cease-fire was reached with the
extremists, who have sought to expand their influence across
opposition-held territory in the country’s north. Syria’s main
opposition group in exile, the Syrian National Coalition, issued a
strongly worded statement saying the jihadis’ push to establish an
Islamic state undermines the rebels’ struggle for a free Syria. Labwani
said the world is now witnessing the birth of an “Islamic, extremist
state capable of destabilizing countries from Pakistan to North Africa.”
“We are the biggest losers in all of this, the people who held up the
banner of democracy, civil society and freedom,” Labwani said. Bruce
Hoffman, director of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown
University, said Syria has become more central than Iraq to al-Qaeda’s
brand. “It brings al-Qaeda within striking distance of the United
States’ three biggest allies in the region: Turkey, Jordan, and Israel,”
he said. As for the rebel infighting, he said that any suggestion the
rebels would purge their ranks of extremists was “wishful thinking.”
Nizar al-Hrakey, the Coalition’s representative in Doha, Qatar, said the
US retreat from military action proves there isn’t a genuine will by
the international community to remove Assad, for lack of alternatives.
The US and Russia, he charged, have given Assad’s regime new life “at
the expense of the Syrian people’s blood.” Marie Harf, deputy
spokeswoman for the US State Department, sought to debunk such
accusations. “Clearly the regime has responsibilities here … mainly the
responsibility to acknowledge their weapons and the stockpiles, and to
provide security for inspectors to actually inspect them and ultimately
remove them for destruction,” she said this week in Washington. “But
that doesn’t mean Assad gets to stay.” AP writer Raphael Satter
contributed to this report from London.
Syria provides first details of its chemical weapons
Hague-based watchdog confirms, ‘We have received part of the verification and we expect more’
Syria reportedly submitted details of its chemical weapons arsenal to a Hague-based watchdog on Friday.
“We
have received part of the verification and we expect more,” a spokesman
for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said,
according to Reuters.A UN diplomat, speaking on condition of
anonymity, confirmed the transfer of information, saying, “It’s quite
long … and being translated.”Syria is believed to possess around 1,000 tons
of chemical toxins, and has agreed to destroy them under a joint
Russian-US proposal designed to avert a US military strike.Earlier this week, a Saudi newspaper published a report based on Syrian opposition sources that the Assad regime is smuggling chemical weapons to Hezbollah through tunnels connecting Syrian and Lebanese villages.According to the Wednesday report in the
Al-Watan daily, the move is part of a drive by the regime to remove its
chemical weapons stockpiles from Syrian territory before the arrival of
international observers as part of the Russia-US agreement aimed at
stripping Syria of its non-conventional arms.The Al-Watan report could not be confirmed by
other sources and appeared in a Saudi establishment daily staunchly
supportive of the Syrian opposition, which has called for a Western
military strike against Syria.The regime has chosen three destinations for
its weapons, the daily claimed: Iraq, under the supervision of Iran’s
Al-Quds Force and with the agreement of Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki;
Hezbollah in Lebanon; and Russian warships docked in Syria. Previously,
the transfer of the internationally banned weapons was undertaken using
vegetable trucks, Al-Watan reported.Salim Idris, the commander of the opposition
Free Syrian Army, has claimed numerous times over the past week that the
Assad regime is busy hiding its chemical weapons in Lebanon, Iraq and
in multiple locations throughout Syria.On Monday, Free Syrian Army spokesman Fahed
Al-Masri claimed that the Assad regime completed two transfers of
chemical weapons to Hezbollah three months ago, storing the weapons in
four locations in northern and central Lebanon.“We have video recordings and irrefutable documents proving the truth of this,” Al-Masri said.However, Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan, head of IDF
Northern Command, said Wednesday that Israel now believes Hezbollah does
not want Assad’s chemical weapons.Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, Golan said that
in exchange for sending troops to help Assad against the rebels,
Hezbollah requested advanced munitions such as anti-aircraft and
ground-to-ground missiles, which could change the balance of power
vis-a-vis the IDF, but “as far as we can tell, they don’t want” chemical
weapons.Israel has conducted airstrikes inside Syria
at least three times this year, in what sources said were attempts to
block shipments of advanced weaponry to Hezbollah.On Thursday, US Secretary of State John Kerry
said that the US knows that the Assad regime possesses sarin gas, and
that there’s not a shred of evidence that the opposition does. Sarin is
believed to have been used in the attack on a Damascus suburb on August
21 in which over 1,400 people were killed, according to US figures.“There’s no indication – none – that the
opposition is in possession [of the gas] or has launched a CW variant of
these [122 -millimeter] rockets,” Kerry said at a State Department press briefing Thursday.Russia has consistently maintained that the
rebels are behind that chemical attack and that it will present proof of
such to the UN Security Council.“This isn’t complicated. When we say we know
what is true, we meant it. We have a definitive UN report strengthening
case,” Kerry said.“The world can decide whether it was used by
the regime, which has used chemical weapons before, the regime which had
the rockets and the weapons, or whether the opposition secretly went
unnoticed into territory they don’t control to fire rockets they don’t
have containing sarin that they don’t possess to kill their own people.
And then without even being noticed, they just disassembled it all and
packed up and got out of the center of Damascus, controlled by Assad,”
said the secretary of state.He stressed that the UN Security Council must
be prepared to act next week on Syria, that it must stand up and speak
out against the use of chemical weapons.“Time is short. Let’s not spend time debating
what we already know. We have to recognize that world is watching to see
whether we can avoid military action, A complete removal of the
chemical weapons is possible through peaceful means.”The Russian-US agreement reached last week,
which aims to have Syria’s WMD cache destroyed by mid-2014, “clearly
said it must be enforceable, it must be as soon as possible, it must be
real,” said Kerry.“We need a binding resolution to achieve that
goal. We must make the Geneva deal meaningful. We have an important goal
in New York and we have to achieve it as rapidly as possible,” said the
secretary of state.“This fight about Syria’s chemical weapon is
not a game. It’s real. It’s important that this Geneva agreement be
enforced,” he stressed.On Tuesday, US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power also said that the UN report points to Assad.“The technical details of the UN report make
clear that only the regime could have carried out this large-scale
chemical weapons attack.”“One type of munition, 122mm rockets, were
found to have been used in the attack, a type associated with “previous
regime attacks,” Power said, adding that “we have not observed the
opposition manufacturing or using this style of rocket.”
Russian Muslim clerics warn of unrest over ban of translation of Koran
By Alissa de Carbonnel-sept 21,13-yahoonews
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's senior Islamic clerics warned the
country's leaders on Friday unrest could erupt in Muslim communities in
Russia and beyond if a court decision ordering the destruction of a
interpretive translation of Koran is not overturned.Tuesday's ruling by a court in Novorossiysk, a city in southern
Russia, ordered the widely read text outlawed under a Russian
anti-extremism law that rights activists say has been abused by local
officials out of prejudice or to persecute groups frowned upon by the
dominant Russian Orthodox Church.Rights campaigners said that the decision, which will apply
nationwide unless it is overturned on appeal, comes dangerously close to
banning the Koran itself.Russia's Council of Muftis sounded the alarm in an open letter on
Friday to President Vladimir Putin, who has frequently called for unity
among the leading faiths and warned that ethnic tension could tear
Russia apart."Russian Muslims are very strongly indignant over such an outrageous
decision," Rushan Abbyasov, the deputy head of the council, which has
close ties with the Kremlin, told Reuters.If the ruling is acted on, the cleric warned: "There will be unrest
... not only in Russia but all over the world, we are talking about the
destruction of the Koran."
In the letter to Putin, the council drew a parallel with violence in
the Middle East and Afghanistan over the actions of an American pastor,
Terry Jones, who threatened to burn the Koran on September 11, 2010.
"Is it necessary to discuss how the destruction of books, especially
sacred religious books, has been received in Russia in the past?" it
said."We recall how the burning of just a few copies of the Holy Koran by
a crazy American pastor elicited a firm protest not just from Russian
Muslims but from our entire society, in solidarity with the stormy and
longlasting anger of the global Muslim community and all people of
goodwill," it said.A lawyer representing the text's author, Azeri theologian Elmir
Kuliyev, said he will appeal the ruling, which calls for the text to be
banned and copies of it "destroyed"."This is pure idiocy. Some local prosecutor sent this material to a
local court and they together decided to ban a holy book," lawyer Murat
Musayev, who has one month to appeal the ruling, told Reuters."On the one hand there is freedom of religion in Russia, on the other they are banning fundamental religious texts."Experts say the more than decade-old translation by Kuliyev is a
respected scholarly work, one of four translations of the Koran into
Russian."This is one step away from banning the Koran," said Akhmed
Yarlikapov, an expert on Islam with the Russian Academy of Sciences."This is a very high quality translation," he said. "The banning of
Kuliyev's translation is utterly unprofessional, you could ban the Bible
just as easily because it also has passages that talk about the
spilling of blood."
BLACKLIST
Putin has championed the dominant Russian Orthodox Church as a moral
compass but has also called for a multicultural Russian identity and
emphasized the need to avoid religious strife in a country with a Muslim
minority estimated at about 15 percent.The government is fighting against a persistent Islamist insurgency
in the North Caucasus, spawned by separatist wars in Chechnya, and
tension between ethnic Russians and Muslim minorities have led to
outbursts of violence across the country.Since Russia's anti-extremism law was passed in 2002, with the
purpose of curbing potential militant threats, over 2,000 publications
have been placed on a blacklist posted on the Justice Ministry's
website.The inclusion of some texts, such as the Russian edition of the
diaries of Nazi Germany's propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Adolf
Hitler's "Mein Kampf", has won praise from human rights campaigners.But critics say too many innocuous works have been added,
threatening the rights of minority groups. Analysts say the abuse stems
from vague wording in the law and procedures that empowering local
official in a flawed justice system.Once a court anywhere in Russia judges a text extremist, it is automatically added to the nationwide blacklist.Among the controversial materials included are the books of Turkish
theologian Said Nursi, another of Kuliyev's works, a hadith collection
of the sayings of the prophet Muhammad and Jehovah's Witnesses' basic
texts."The way that the extremism law works is this kind of unstoppable
mechanism that allows very junior courts to ban what they like," said
Geraldine Fagan, an expert and author of a book on Russian religious
policy."This is quite a momentous case. It could be the case that turns
everything around and triggers a reversal of the general tendency,
although that would surprise me," Fagan said."There doesn't seem to be any political will whatsoever to stop this from happening despite very high level criticism."(Editing by Sonya Hepinstal.
KING JESUS IS COMING FOR US ANY TIME NOW. THE RAPTURE. BE PREPARED TO GO.
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.
AMOS 1:5
5 I will break also the bar of Damascus, and cut off the inhabitant
from the plain of Aven, and him that holdeth the sceptre from the house
of Eden:(IRAQ) and the people of Syria shall go into captivity unto
Kir,(JORDAN) saith the LORD.
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)
Arab states push UN to condemn Israeli nuclear policy
Move comes amid mounting pressure on the Jewish state to relinquish its alleged weapons of mass destruction
The Arab League will
press forward with an initiative that would see Israel singled out for
criticism over its alleged nuclear arsenal at a meeting of the United
Nations’ nuclear watchdog this week.The
bid, which the US tried to stymie this week, reflects mounting
frustration in the Arab world over the deferment of an international
conference on the banning of atomic arms in the region, Reuters reported Friday.If the resolution is passed by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, Israel will be called upon to sign
on to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and submit to IAEA scrutiny
of its nuclear facilities.Diplomats were expecting the vote to be close, Reuters said.Ambassador Ramzy Ezzeldin Ramzy, who
heads the Arab League group at the IAEA, was quoted as saying that the
vote would show the world that “Israel is not playing a constructive
role.”The Arab initiative is part of
mounting international pressure on Israel to relinquish — or at least
admit to possessing — weapons of mass destruction. The heightened
interest in the Jewish state’s alleged nuclear, chemical and biological weapons
comes amid indications from Iran that it’s ready to show flexibility in
nuclear talks, and in the wake of a Russian-brokered deal that would
see Syrian President Bashar Assad’s chemical weapons shipped off and
eventually destroyed.On Thursday, Russian President
Vladimir Putin said that Assad’s decision to amass chemical weapons was
“in response to Israel’s nuclear capabilities” and that “Israel has
technological superiority and doesn’t need nuclear weapons.”According to a report in the September/October issue of
the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Israel possesses a stockpile of
80 nuclear warheads, all of which were produced by 2004, when Israel
froze all production.Israel’s nuclear program has long
been shrouded in secrecy, with the country maintaining a policy of
ambiguity while refusing to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.Previous estimates have put the
number of warheads in Israel’s possession at up to 400. According to
foreign reports, Israel’s military has the capacity to deliver a nuclear
payload via a variety of methods, including ballistic missiles,
aircraft, and submarine-launched cruise missiles.
Thomas R. Dew was a president of
the College of William & Mary. He was also an eloquent defender of
immorality. “Look to the slaveholding population of the country,” he
wrote in 1832 while a professor at the university, “and you every where
find them characterized by noble and elevated sentiments, by humane and
virtuous feelings.”Clearly,
even a professorship and some rhetorical skill don’t guarantee ideas
that merit thoughtful debate. There is, after all, an entire website
dedicated to “Scholars for 9/11 Truth,” and yet The New York Times
has not once published an op-ed by the Texas A&M professor emeritus
who expresses doubt that Boeing 767s were flown into the Twin Towers,
or by the University of Colorado mathematics professor who similarly
sees a conspiracy in the events of September 11. Their ideas are simply
beyond the pale.Nor has The New York Times offered
space in its coveted opinion pages for debate about whether the Islamic
Republic of Pakistan, which is entangled in border disputes and burdened
by extremism, should be annulled, folded back into India from which it
was carved. Indeed, it’s hard to imagine the newspaper promoting
arguments in favor of the elimination of any recognized, democratic
country. Such ideas, too, are beyond the pale. Except, of course, when
it comes to Israel.Not for the first time, The Times has published what amounts to a call for the destruction of the Jewish state. The latest piece,
which appears on the cover of the Sept. 15 Sunday Review section and is
written by University of Pennsylvania professor Ian Lustick, argues the
current state of Israel should be replaced by a unitary country that
includes its neighbors in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.The column is not all that different than an op-ed the newspaper published a few years ago by Muammar Qaddafi. And while that New York Times contributor is now remembered as a ranting
madman who butchered his own people, and although Lustick is most
definitely neither of those, the only real difference between their
pieces is that Qaddafi’s op-ed calling for an end to Israel is less
long-winded than Lustick’s 2431-word piece, is more coherent, and at
least sounds more moderate.
But never mind the tone and the drone of
Lustick’s piece. And never mind the weakness of both the dictator and
the professor’s arguments. The more important issue is that The New York Times
seems intent on putting the very idea of Israel’s continued existence,
the idea of real and functional Jewish national self-determination, up
for debate. In effect, the newspaper has repeatedly raised the question
of whether we should rewind history and return the Jewish people to the
dark era in which being a Jew meant everywhere being an ethnic minority,
subject to the decisions of often-hostile majorities. And it’s not only
Jews who stand to suffer. Hussein Ibish and Saliba Sarsar, both
affiliated with the American Task Force on Palestine, say
Lustick’s views are “harmful” in that they encourage “an open-ended
struggle in pursuit of impossible goals” and “reflect dangerous
phantasms and fanaticism.”In short, Lustick wants to discourage peace negotiations that most
Jewish and Arab Israelis support, and instead have the world sit back,
watch the bloodshed he says is inevitable, and hope for the
disappearance of the Jewish state. This should be beyond the pale.
The central problem isn’t that Lustick’s
argumentation is weak (though it certainly is). It is that his argument
is immoral. It is time that editorial page editor Andrew Rosenthal use
the discretion that his office practices every day in sorting through
hundreds of op-ed submissions, and desist from promoting this unjust
idea.
That being said, let’s have a closer look at Lustick’s arguments.His bottom line is that the idea of separate
Jewish and Palestinian states is an “illusion.” Lustick seems to
understand that the Jewish majority in Israel will not volunteer to
become a minority, especially in a region where xenophobic Arab leaders
have long encouraged anti-Jewish attitudes, warfare and terrorism. And
he surely knows that most of the world recognizes Israel. (The German
chancellor said this just a few days ago: “For those who share my view
that the Jews as a people have a right to self-determination, Zionism as
a national movement of the Jewish people is the embodiment of this very
right which its opponents want to deny.”)This is why the professor, notwithstanding his
own argument that a two-state solution should be opposed because it is
not “plausible,” devotes so much of his op-ed to arguing that sometimes
in international affairs “the impossible suddenly becomes probable.” He
tells readers that “history offers many such lessons,” citing the
division of warring Britain and Ireland into two states, and the
separation of the ethnically distinct France and Algeria into two
sovereign countries, and the breakup of multi-ethnic Yugoslavia, and the
end of the Soviet project that had tried and ultimately failed to
encapsulate several diverse republics into one state.Maybe Lustick doesn’t realize how thoroughly
the history lesson destroys his case for joining two distinct,
adversarial nations into one state. So he continues.Readers, he argues, should consider what they
“see vividly” across the Middle East. What they see, we know, is
horrific bloodshed in Syria, where the unified state has fractured and
where Sunnis, Alawites and Christians live in fear of each other. They
see a Lebanon, a country in which an internationally designated
terrorist group holds veto power, and which barely manages to withstand
the centrifugal forces that have separated Shiite, Sunni and Christian
Lebanese into violent enemies. They see car bombs exploding seemingly
every day in Iraq, where the two main branches of Islam fail to coexist.
And he continues to make his case: “Strong
Islamist trends make a fundamentalist Palestine more likely than a small
state under a secular government,” he writes. But the Jews of Israel
should intertwine their fates with, and put their futures in the hands
of, these very fundamentalists? We’ve seen in Egypt and elsewhere what
fundamentalist Islamism envisions for non-Muslims. Just one day after The New York Times gave Lustick his platform, the newspaper reported that
an Islamist-dominated village in Egypt has “witnessed the most horrific
sectarian violence in Egypt” since power changed hands a few months
ago. A 1,650-year-old monastery, the villages churches dozens of
Christian homes have “been burned or ransacked.” A Christian resident
was recently murdered and dragged through the streets.And still, Lustick’s piece concludes by urging
those with a stake in negotiations, the Israelis and the Palestinians,
to “see and then adapt to the world as it is.” Yes, he’s referring to
the same world in which Arab Sudan was separated from non‑Arab South
Sudan to spare the sides continued bloodshed.To be fair, the author is right about one
thing. There are observers who question the likelihood of a negotiated
two-state solution. But if he agrees with them (he does), and if he
wants dazzling geopolitical change (he does), what would make more
sense: Watching while “blood” and “conflict” and “magic,” which Lustick
envisions as a prerequisite to his one-state Utopia, does or does
not fuse Israel and the Palestinian Authority into a single peaceful
country, or joining the Gaza Strip and Egypt, two regions that overlap
ethnically, religiously and culturally and which once coexisted with
little dissent under the same rule? He doesn’t consider this option.
This isn’t to recommend a Gaza-Egypt union, but merely to point out that
even if one accepts Lustick’s gloomy diagnosis, his prescription does
not necessarily follow.
And things aren’t actually all that gloomy. Realist professor Efraim Inbar recently made the case that the country looks to have a bright future:
Despite not everything being
perfect in the Holy Land, long term prospects seem bright. Israel is a
vibrant democracy that prospers and maintains strong social cohesion.
Its international status has improved while support in the United
States, its main ally and still the foremost international power, has
remained very high. Moreover, the Jewish state is widely recognized as
an entrenched reality, even by its Arab and Muslim rivals. It has built a
mighty military machine that can parry all regional threats, and the
IDF remains the most capable military in the region with the motivation,
equipment, and training to overmatch the conventional capabilities of
any regional challenger. Israel has managed to contain terrorist
activities and has built an effective shield against missiles.
Inbar concluded that “While peace is desirable, it is not a necessary condition for survival.”
Lustick’s dire prognosis also depends on
misinformation. Israel’s version of two states, he insists, envisions
“huge Jewish settlements, crisscrossed by Jewish-only access roads.” But
this is utter nonsense. The West Bank is not currently crisscrossed by
Jewish-only roads, and no credible Israeli proponent of a two-state
solution calls for creating such roads, either in Israel or in a future
Palestinian state. Lustick has seemingly dug up the old canard that
describes roads on which Israeli Jews, Muslims and Christians can freely
travel, but to which Palestinians have restricted access, as being
Jewish only. Major media organizations that have made that mistake have
subsequently published corrections.But again, the key problem isn’t Lustick’s
ridiculous argumentation or his dangerous vision, both of which he is
entitled to, and both of which he has shared before. The real issue is with The New York Times decision-making. As Shmuel Rosner correctly pointed out,
is the foolish idea that the disenfranchisement of the Jewish people is
up for debate is “based solely on the fact that a widely read and
respectable publication has decided to print it.” It is an extremist
concept that the newspaper is trying to push into the mainstream.Times opinion editors will surely
protest that they publish diverse views, and that they don’t necessarily
agree with what is published. To some extent this
is true. But this boilerplate defense does not justify the publication
of anything and everything. No op-eds have made the case that the
slaying of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School was actually a
“false-flag” conspiracy. None have promoted female genital mutilation.
None have revived the outrageous debate about the right to freedom for
blacks in America. And none should revive the old debate about the right
of the Jewish people to determine their own destiny in their ancestral
homeland.In other words — at least when it comes to
issues that don’t involve the world’s one, small Jewish-majority country
— free speech is not conflated with desirable speech. Arguments in The New York Times
normally fall within the bounds of good taste and basic decency, and
this guideline must be applied to the conversation about Israel, too.
Rouhani’s Jewish MP escort to UN has blasted ‘inhuman’ Israel
Siamak Moreh Sedgh, set to accompany the Iranian president to New York, repeatedly distanced himself from the Jewish state
The Jewish parliament member set to accompany Iranian President Hasan Rouhani to a UN summit in New York next week is a critic of Israel who has dubbed its treatment of Palestinians “inhuman.”Siamak
Moreh Sedgh, a medical doctor and the sole Jewish member of Iran’s
290-strong Majlis (parliament), told Reuters in May 2008 that Iran’s
Jewish community would not mark Israel’s 60th anniversary.“We are in complete disagreement with the
behavior of Israel,” Moreh Sedgh told the news agency, adding that in
Gaza Israel displayed “anti-human behavior… they kill innocent people.”Prior to his selection as the Jewish
representative to parliament in March 2008, Moreh Sedgh headed the
country’s Jewish community, estimated at 9,000 according to a 2012
census. Five seats in parliament are reserved for Iran’s recognized
religious minorities — one for a Jew, two for Christians and two for
Zoroastrians.In an interview with Russia Today in 2010, Moreh
Sedgh denied that anti-Semitism existed in Iran, claiming it was a
uniquely European phenomenon. He highlighted the affiliation of the
country’s Jews to Iranian culture, noting that he had served 12 months
at the front during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.“Jews are safe in Iran. That’s true. Nobody
needs guards. There has never been a single instance of anti-Semitism in
Iranian society. This phenomenon belongs to the European, Christian
world. There is no anti-Semitic sentiment in Iran. We have no attacks on
synagogues or cemeteries as happens in Paris. Just so you know, there
are 15 synagogues in Tehran,” he said.Raz Zimmt, an Iran expert at Tel Aviv
University’s Alliance Center for Iranian Studies, said this would not be
the first time representatives of Iran’s religious minorities accompany
the president to the UN gathering. In 2009, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad brought
along the five minority parliamentarians with him to the summit.“This is supposed to express [Iran's] so-called tolerance toward religious minorities,” Zimmt told The Times of Israel.In the 1990s, Moreh Sedgh’s predecessor Morris Moatamed accompanied then-parliament speaker Mehdi Karroubi to New York.
Iranian president offers to broker peace in Syria
In
Washington Post op-ed, Rouhani says America’s post-9/11 foreign policy
has failed and should give way to ‘constructive interaction’
Iranian President
Hasan Rouhani said that his country wished to be involved in negotiating
an end to “heartbreaking violence” in the civil war between the Syrian
rebels and President Bashar Assad.“We must create an atmosphere where peoples of the region can decide their own fates,” Rouhani wrote in an op-ed carried by The Washington Post Thursday.
“As part of this, I announce my government’s readiness to help
facilitate dialogue between the Syrian government and the opposition.”The opinion piece, essentially a
plea for more regional cooperation interspersed with subtle jabs at the
US for the supposed failure of its foreign policy, echoed some of the
points recently made by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also
appealed directly to the American people in a widely circulated op-ed.Rouhani’s proposal to enter the
diplomatic fray vis-Ã -vis Syria comes amid increasing calls for dialogue
toward curbing violence that has killed over 100,000 over
two-and-a-half years of war. On Thursday, Syria’s deputy prime minister
announced that the fighting had reached a stalemate and said Assad would
call for dialogue at an upcoming conference.“Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side,” Qadri Jamil told the Guardian. “This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.”In his opinion piece, Rouhani
reiterated that Iran “strongly condemns” the chemical attacks that
spurred a Russia-brokered deal to remove and eventually destroy Assad’s
chemical weapons. The uproar in the wake of a devastating August 21
chemical attack outside Damascus gave rise to that deal, as well as
pervasive calls for dialogue between the Assad regime and the
opposition.That kind of dialogue, Rouhani
hinted, stood in stark contrast to Washington’s tendency to wield force
to influence regional conflicts. US foreign policy in the wake of the
September 11 attacks, according to the Iranian president, had largely
failed to attain its objectives.“Sadly, unilateralism often
continues to overshadow constructive approaches,” he wrote. “Security is
pursued at the expense of the insecurity of others, with disastrous
consequences. More than a decade and two wars after 9/11, al-Qaeda and
other militant extremists continue to wreak havoc… In Iraq, 10 years
after the American-led invasion, dozens still lose their lives to
violence every day. Afghanistan endures similar, endemic bloodshed.“The unilateral approach, which
glorifies brute force and breeds violence, is clearly incapable of
solving issues we all face, such as terrorism and extremism. I say ‘all’
because nobody is immune to extremist-fueled violence, even though it
might rage thousands of miles away. Americans woke up to this reality 12
years ago.”Addressing his country’s ongoing
nuclear standoff with the West, Rouhani urged the US and its allies to
engage in “constructive interaction” and focus not “on how to prevent
things from getting worse [but] about how to make things better.”Rouhani, who is considered by many to be more moderate than his combative predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is reported to have assented to a scaled-back nuclear program in
exchange for reduced sanctions against his country. There have also
been rumors of a possible meeting between him and Obama on the sidelines
of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a possibility that the White House has not ruled out.Rouhani’s tone toward Israel has been less conciliatory.In an interview with the NBC aired Thursday,
he accused Israel of doing “injustice to the people of the Middle East
and… [bringing] instability to the region with its war-mongering
policies.”Asked about criticism from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
Iran’s policies and plans, Rouhani said he didn’t understand how an
“occupier” nation could be in a position to lecture another country.Rouhani said Israel “shouldn’t allow itself to give speeches about a democratically and freely elected government.”He sidestepped a question about
whether the Holocaust was real. And he said that his authority is
genuine and lasting, even though Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei is known to control all matters of state, including nuclear.Asked by network correspondent Ann
Curry about statements that Ahmadinejad had made questioning the
Holocaust, Rouhani said only, “I’m not a historian. I’m a politician.
What is important for us is that the countries of the region and the
people grow closer to each other and that they are able to prevent
aggression and injustice.”
“What we wish for in this region is
rule by the will of the people,” he said. “We believe in the ballot box.
We do not seek war with any country. We seek peace and friendship among
the nations of the region.”In the wide-ranging question-and-answer session of which the first part was aired Wednesday night, Rouhani said that Iran has “never pursued or sought a nuclear bomb and we are not going to do so.”
