JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER.
1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)
ISAIAH 51:3-4
3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion:(JERUSALEM) he will comfort all her waste places;(FROM NUCLEAR WAR) and he will make her wilderness like Eden,(I BELIEVE THE EZEKIEL-4TH TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT AFTER JESUS RULE FOR THE 1,000 YRS FROM JERUSALEM) and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.(PRAISE TO JESUS IN THE DESERT-COULD BE THE NEW JERUSALEM-4TH TEMPLE BUILT 25 MILES INTO THE DESERT FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT.SINCE EZEKIELS TEMPLE IS WAY TO BIG FOR THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT)
4 Hearken unto me, my people;(ISRAEL) and give ear unto me, O my nation:(ISRAEL) for a law shall proceed from me,(JESUS IN JERUSALEM) and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.(ISRAEL AND THE WORLD)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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
Catalan police said to kill Barcelona van attack terrorist-Suspect was wearing explosives vest; Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, has been target of massive manhunt since deadly vehicle-ramming-By AFP August 21, 2017, 6:34 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BARCELONA, Spain — Spanish police on Monday killed a man who could be Younes Abouyaaqoub, the alleged fugitive driver of a van that mowed down crowds in Barcelona, a source close to the probe said.“They have shot dead a suspect who could be the perpetrator of the attack,” the source, who declined to be named, told AFP.Police in Catalonia confirmed that a man wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt had been killed in Subirats, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from Barcelona, but did not identify him.Abouyaaqoub, 22, is suspected of plowing a van through throngs of tourists and locals on Thursday on the busy Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona, killing 13 people.He fled the scene on foot and stabbed to death a passerby, hijacking his car to escape the city.On Friday morning, other members of a terror cell he belonged to drove their car into pedestrians in the seaside town of Cambrils, with one of them stabbing a woman who later died.All five occupants of the car were shot dead by police, with other members of the 12-man terror cell that organized the attacks detained or believed dead.Abouyaaqoub was the only one still at large.
Upping death toll to 15, police say Spain van attacker hijacked car-Authorities say Pau Perez, a 34-year-old man found stabbed dead in a Ford Focus, was killed by jihadist still at large-By AFP and Times of Israel staff August 21, 2017, 4:38 pm
Spanish authorities on Monday raised the death toll of last week’s terror attacks to 15, confirming that Pau Perez, a 34-year-old man found stabbed dead in a Ford Focus outside Barcelona on Friday, was killed by Younes Abouyaaqoub.Abouyaaqoub, 22, is believed to be the last remaining member of a 12-man terror cell at large.The police had fired at the car as it ran the checkpoint shortly after the Barcelona carnage, and later found Perez stabbed dead in the vehicle.Investigators believe the victim was the owner of the car, which was hijacked by Abouyaaqoub to make his getaway after the Barcelona assault.Spanish police warned Monday that Abouyaaqoub, the suspected driver of a van that mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona, was dangerous and likely armed, as a manhunt for the Moroccan national widened across Europe.The other suspects have been killed by police or detained following last week’s attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils. The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the assaults, believed to be its first in Spain.Describing Abouyaaqoub as around 1.80 meters (five feet, 11 inches) tall, police tweeted four photographs of the man with short black hair, including three pictures in which he was wearing a black and white striped T-shirt.Nous cherchons cette personne comme auteur présumé de l'attaque sur #Ramblas. Il était le conducteur de la fourgonnette. Diffusion maximale pic.twitter.com/mvJ3Y83a3o— Mossos (@mossos) August 21, 2017-He is “dangerous and could be armed,” police in Catalonia said Monday, as officials also announced that they have identified all 15 victims in the assaults.The 15 comprise six Spanish nationals, three Italians, two Portuguese, a Belgian, a Canadian, an American and a British-Australian, he added. Among them two are children, the Catalan regional government’s Justice Minister Carles Mundo said.Spanish authorities were also officially notifying European police Monday of the identity of the suspect to enable the launch of a Europe-wide manhunt.“We have to talk to European police to notify them of the identity because this person… is likely being sought in all European countries,” said Catalonia regional interior minister Joaquim Forn.-Imam’s influence-Investigators seeking to unravel the terror cell have homed in on the small border town of Ripoll, at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains.Several of the suspects including Abouyaaqoub grew up or lived in the town.A Moroccan imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, has also come under scrutiny as he is believed to have radicalized youths in Ripoll.Police raided more homes in Ripoll on Monday, Forn said.Police said the imam had spent time in prison and had once been in contact with a suspect wanted on terrorism charges but was never charged with terror related incidents himself.In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen — a district next to the city’s airport — between January and March 2016.On the other side of Brussels, the Molenbeek suburb has gained notoriety as a hotbed of international jihadists after the Brussels bombings in March 2016 and the Paris attacks in November 2015.In the Moroccan town of M’rirt, relatives of Abouyaaqoub also accused the imam of radicalizing the young man as well as his brother Houssein.“Over the last two years, Younes and Houssein began to radicalize under the influence of this imam,” their grandfather told AFP.A neighbor close to the Abouyaaqoub family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the imam “had recruited Moroccans of Ripoll and planned the attacks.”But Ali Assid, president of the Annour Islamic community that runs the mosque in Ripoll where Satty was preaching, said the imam “never sent a radical message, all he preached was really Islam. If he is behind all that, there he must be showing us one face in the mosque and showing another face outside.”Assid said Satty had parted ways with the mosque in late June after Ramadan, as he wanted a vacation of three months — a request that the group did not agree to.The imam has been missing since Tuesday. On Saturday, police raided his apartment. They have raised the possibility that he died in an explosion on Wednesday evening at a house believed to be the suspects’ bomb factory, where police uncovered a massive cache of 120 gas canisters.-‘One or more attacks’-The suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona,” regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters, revealing that traces of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) — a homemade explosive that is an IS hallmark — had also been found.The suspects accidentally caused an explosion at the house on the eve of Thursday’s attack in Barcelona — an error that likely forced them to modify their plans.Instead, they used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas boulevard as it was thronged with tourists, killing 13 people and injuring about 100.Several hours later, a similar attack in the seaside town of Cambrils left one woman dead. Police shot and killed the five attackers in Cambrils, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts and carrying knives.
Israel condemns Finland terror stabbing, expresses ‘shock’-Foreign Ministry conveys condolences, ‘solidarity’ with victims of Friday attack in port city of Turku-By Times of Israel staff and AFP August 21, 2017, 5:47 pm
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed “shock” at Friday’s deadly stabbing attack in Turku, Finland.“The Israeli government expresses its shock and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in the city of Turku last Friday in which two people were killed and eight wounded,” it said in a statement released Monday.Finland observed a minute of silence on Sunday for the victims of the stabbing attack in the southwestern port city, in what is being investigated as the country’s first-ever terror attack.The Israeli statement went on: “Israel expresses its solidarity with the people of Finland, and sends condolences to the families of those killed and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.”The suspect, an 18-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, was interrogated on Sunday and is due to appear before a judge early Monday to be remanded in custody, police said.At the market square where the attack happened, several hundred people gathered Sunday to hold a minute of silence at 10 a.m.Among those present was Hassan Zubier, a visiting British paramedic who was injured in the attack after coming to the aid of a woman who later died.He arrived directly from the hospital, attending the ceremony in a wheelchair.“I wanted to show my respect to the victims,” he told Swedish daily Aftonbladet before returning to hospital for further treatment.The crowd at the ceremony included emergency workers, city officials and police who formed a ring around a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers.Archbishop Kari Makinen, who heads Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, was also present.“Peace and Love — No Violence Finland” read one note next to a bouquet of flowers.The bells of Turku Cathedral, the country’s largest church, rang out for 15 minutes before falling silent as the crowd bowed its head to remember the victims. Similar ceremonies were held across the country.-Women targeted-Finnish police said Saturday that the attacker deliberately targeted women. His motive was not yet known.All of the victims were women, including the dead, except for two men who tried to fend off the attacker. An Italian, a Swede and a Briton were among the injured.The suspect was shot and wounded by police minutes after he began his rampage on Friday afternoon.The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it had interrogated the suspect on Sunday for the first time, but revealed no details of the outcome. “We do not comment the contents at this point in time.”The suspect is in hospital with a gunshot wound to the thigh.Police arrested four Moroccans linked to the suspect in a raid in the early hours of Saturday, but police said Sunday their involvement in the attack had “not yet been fully established.”The four were cooperating with police in interrogations, investigators said.Officers also carried out searches in a Turku suburb, but said no new arrests had been made.Ahead of the minute’s silence, police reconstructed the crime at the market square as part of their investigation.
Bizarre 18th century Jewish items seized from archaeology smuggler in Egypt-Collection of artifacts taken from a Saudi citizen; also found, and undated, was a 29-page book written in esoteric ‘Hebrew,’ described as ‘the commandments of Judas Iscariot’ — and illustrated with scorpions-By Amanda Borschel-Dan August 21, 2017, 4:57 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A collection of 18th century Jewish items was seized from archaeology smugglers by Egyptian authorities late last week in a joint operation between the Hurghada Ports Authority and the Egyptian Ports Antiquities Unit of the Ministry of Antiquities.The smugglers attempted to move six Jewish artifacts via the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. According to a report in AhramOnline, Ahmed Al-Rawi, head of the Central Administration of Seized Antiquities Unit at the antiquities ministry, said the seized loot was discovered in the possession of a Saudi citizen. Al-Rawi said the finds were authenticated in accordance with law 117/1983.Included in the trove was a cane with a handle carved in stone which depicts a bearded man wearing a yarmulke.Additionally, five stone reliefs engraved with texts written in Hebrew and other Jewish decorative elements were discovered, according to a Facebook post from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.An additional find in the seized collection was a 29-page Hebrew book described by the Egyptians as “the commandments of Judas Iscariot,” one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. This item was not dated to the 18th century.Two images of pages from the book released by the Ministry of Antiquities include esoteric “Hebrew” text, which appears to be a poor translation from some other language. The pages are black and white and decorated with what could be either scorpions or lobsters. In the center of each page is a poster-like block of text written in disjointed Hebrew.One page is titled “To the level of” and uses Modern Hebrew words, including “matkon” (recipe), which would date the page to within the past 100 years.The second page, which is illustrated by a Greek goddess-like woman holding a menorah triton, roughly reads, “Learn how to rise above things, and this can be done if I weren’t strong,” in a Hebrew one might suspect was written through Google translate.
Russian chief rabbi says EU sanctions won’t harm etrog availability-Berel Lazar says exemption will permit continued export of Italian citrus fruit prized by members of Chabad community-By JTA August 21, 2017, 6:32 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Italian government said that the export of Italy-grown etrog fruits to Russia will not be affected by sanctions imposed by the European Union against Moscow, according Russia’s chief rabbi.The agreement to exempt the export of the citrus fruit, which Jewish communities use during a religious ritual during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, from any sanctions was reached last year and applies also to the June extension of those sanctions, Rabbi Berel Lazar told JTA based on statements from a local government in Italy.Speaking to JTA from the region of Calabria in southern Italy on Friday, Lazar said: “The local government here said that, because this is a religious product, they are going to make sure no sanctions are going to be applied on the etrogim.” He added the etrogim are imported by Russia as a religious article, exempt from taxation.Lazar was born in Milan to a Chabad rabbi, Moshe Lazar, who for the past 50 years has been responsible for supervising the export of etrogs in Calabria to make sure the fruit, which are easily bruised and rendered nonkosher, meet the highest standards. Berel Lazar traveled to Calabria to help his father, who is 83, with the harvest.Followers of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement share a strong preference for the etrogs grown in Calabria, where tens of thousands are picked annually for export in orchards owned by approximately 100 farmers. Etrogs also are grown in Israel and Morocco.Chabad communities are major engines of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union and especially in Russia. The European Union in June extended a list of sanctions on Russia, including on exports and imports, in reaction to Russia’s annexation in 2014 of Crimea, an area that is internationally recognized as belonging to Ukraine.The prospect of sanctions is not the only challenge facing the etrog industry in Calabria. An unexpected frost this winter severely damaged the sensitive etrog trees, destroying approximately 90 percent of the crop, Moshe Lazar told JTA. The shortage means that, this year, fruit that was deemed unfit for export will be picked and exported as long as it is kosher, Moshe Lazar said. Even so, he added, the frost means “there won’t be enough etrogim to go around this Sukkot.” This applies to Russia, too, said Berel Lazar.The shortage has hiked up prices, with a prime Calabria etrog going for approximately $500, according to Rabbi Avraham Wolff of Odessa, Ukraine. “We’re worried that we may not have a Calabria etrog and we’re pulling all possible strings to get at least one,” Wolff said. In previous years, his community was able to purchase five Calabria etrogim ahead of the holiday.“We decided to set up a small fund for buying that Calabria etrog, no matter the price,” he said.Immediately after Sukkot, the prices of Calabria etrogim drop to about $1 a pound, Berel Lazar noted. The local population uses the fruit to make jam.
Oregon highway overpasses eclipsed by anti-Semitic banners-Travelers heading to view solar event greeted with ‘UNJEW HUMANITY’ and ‘Jewish Financing Available’-By JTA August 20, 2017, 10:15 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Signs with anti-Semitic messages were hung on highway overpasses in Oregon, which is welcoming visitors hoping to experience Monday’s rare solar eclipse.The banners were hung on two northbound highways, which were heavily traveled by California tourists heading to the state to get a better view of the celestial event, according to local reports.The banners read, “UNJEW HUMANITY,” “Eclipse Whitey,” and “Jewish Financing Available,” the Oregon Statesman Journal reported on Saturday. They were taken down later on Saturday.Beth Dershowitz of Sacramento told the Oregonian in an email that the banners upset her, her husband Michael, and their children during their family road trip on Saturday. She said her husband took photos of the banners to show state transportation officials.Oregon eclipse tourists greeted by Anti-Semitic banners on overpass https://t.co/XMlBESwCbm pic.twitter.com/DDY85AuAaB— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) August 19, 2017-“I cannot believe that we still have to face this vicious anti-Semitism in such a public place in 2017,” she wrote. “We want to expose this hatred so people stop pretending like it isn’t happening in our own backyards.”In June, a sign blaming Jews for the September 11 attacks was hung from a pedestrian bridge over an interstate highway in Portland, Oregon.
3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion:(JERUSALEM) he will comfort all her waste places;(FROM NUCLEAR WAR) and he will make her wilderness like Eden,(I BELIEVE THE EZEKIEL-4TH TEMPLE WILL BE BUILT 25 MILES FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT AFTER JESUS RULE FOR THE 1,000 YRS FROM JERUSALEM) and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.(PRAISE TO JESUS IN THE DESERT-COULD BE THE NEW JERUSALEM-4TH TEMPLE BUILT 25 MILES INTO THE DESERT FROM THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT.SINCE EZEKIELS TEMPLE IS WAY TO BIG FOR THE CURRENT TEMPLE MOUNT)
4 Hearken unto me, my people;(ISRAEL) and give ear unto me, O my nation:(ISRAEL) for a law shall proceed from me,(JESUS IN JERUSALEM) and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people.(ISRAEL AND THE WORLD)
LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)
JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)
ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)
EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.
ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
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
Catalan police said to kill Barcelona van attack terrorist-Suspect was wearing explosives vest; Younes Abouyaaqoub, 22, has been target of massive manhunt since deadly vehicle-ramming-By AFP August 21, 2017, 6:34 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
BARCELONA, Spain — Spanish police on Monday killed a man who could be Younes Abouyaaqoub, the alleged fugitive driver of a van that mowed down crowds in Barcelona, a source close to the probe said.“They have shot dead a suspect who could be the perpetrator of the attack,” the source, who declined to be named, told AFP.Police in Catalonia confirmed that a man wearing what appeared to be a suicide belt had been killed in Subirats, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) away from Barcelona, but did not identify him.Abouyaaqoub, 22, is suspected of plowing a van through throngs of tourists and locals on Thursday on the busy Las Ramblas boulevard in Barcelona, killing 13 people.He fled the scene on foot and stabbed to death a passerby, hijacking his car to escape the city.On Friday morning, other members of a terror cell he belonged to drove their car into pedestrians in the seaside town of Cambrils, with one of them stabbing a woman who later died.All five occupants of the car were shot dead by police, with other members of the 12-man terror cell that organized the attacks detained or believed dead.Abouyaaqoub was the only one still at large.
Upping death toll to 15, police say Spain van attacker hijacked car-Authorities say Pau Perez, a 34-year-old man found stabbed dead in a Ford Focus, was killed by jihadist still at large-By AFP and Times of Israel staff August 21, 2017, 4:38 pm
Spanish authorities on Monday raised the death toll of last week’s terror attacks to 15, confirming that Pau Perez, a 34-year-old man found stabbed dead in a Ford Focus outside Barcelona on Friday, was killed by Younes Abouyaaqoub.Abouyaaqoub, 22, is believed to be the last remaining member of a 12-man terror cell at large.The police had fired at the car as it ran the checkpoint shortly after the Barcelona carnage, and later found Perez stabbed dead in the vehicle.Investigators believe the victim was the owner of the car, which was hijacked by Abouyaaqoub to make his getaway after the Barcelona assault.Spanish police warned Monday that Abouyaaqoub, the suspected driver of a van that mowed down pedestrians in Barcelona, was dangerous and likely armed, as a manhunt for the Moroccan national widened across Europe.The other suspects have been killed by police or detained following last week’s attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils. The Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for the assaults, believed to be its first in Spain.Describing Abouyaaqoub as around 1.80 meters (five feet, 11 inches) tall, police tweeted four photographs of the man with short black hair, including three pictures in which he was wearing a black and white striped T-shirt.Nous cherchons cette personne comme auteur présumé de l'attaque sur #Ramblas. Il était le conducteur de la fourgonnette. Diffusion maximale pic.twitter.com/mvJ3Y83a3o— Mossos (@mossos) August 21, 2017-He is “dangerous and could be armed,” police in Catalonia said Monday, as officials also announced that they have identified all 15 victims in the assaults.The 15 comprise six Spanish nationals, three Italians, two Portuguese, a Belgian, a Canadian, an American and a British-Australian, he added. Among them two are children, the Catalan regional government’s Justice Minister Carles Mundo said.Spanish authorities were also officially notifying European police Monday of the identity of the suspect to enable the launch of a Europe-wide manhunt.“We have to talk to European police to notify them of the identity because this person… is likely being sought in all European countries,” said Catalonia regional interior minister Joaquim Forn.-Imam’s influence-Investigators seeking to unravel the terror cell have homed in on the small border town of Ripoll, at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains.Several of the suspects including Abouyaaqoub grew up or lived in the town.A Moroccan imam, Abdelbaki Es Satty, has also come under scrutiny as he is believed to have radicalized youths in Ripoll.Police raided more homes in Ripoll on Monday, Forn said.Police said the imam had spent time in prison and had once been in contact with a suspect wanted on terrorism charges but was never charged with terror related incidents himself.In Belgium, the mayor of the Vilvorde region told AFP that Satty spent time in the Brussels suburb of Machelen — a district next to the city’s airport — between January and March 2016.On the other side of Brussels, the Molenbeek suburb has gained notoriety as a hotbed of international jihadists after the Brussels bombings in March 2016 and the Paris attacks in November 2015.In the Moroccan town of M’rirt, relatives of Abouyaaqoub also accused the imam of radicalizing the young man as well as his brother Houssein.“Over the last two years, Younes and Houssein began to radicalize under the influence of this imam,” their grandfather told AFP.A neighbor close to the Abouyaaqoub family, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the imam “had recruited Moroccans of Ripoll and planned the attacks.”But Ali Assid, president of the Annour Islamic community that runs the mosque in Ripoll where Satty was preaching, said the imam “never sent a radical message, all he preached was really Islam. If he is behind all that, there he must be showing us one face in the mosque and showing another face outside.”Assid said Satty had parted ways with the mosque in late June after Ramadan, as he wanted a vacation of three months — a request that the group did not agree to.The imam has been missing since Tuesday. On Saturday, police raided his apartment. They have raised the possibility that he died in an explosion on Wednesday evening at a house believed to be the suspects’ bomb factory, where police uncovered a massive cache of 120 gas canisters.-‘One or more attacks’-The suspected jihadists had been preparing bombs for “one or more attacks in Barcelona,” regional police chief Josep Lluis Trapero told reporters, revealing that traces of triacetone triperoxide (TATP) — a homemade explosive that is an IS hallmark — had also been found.The suspects accidentally caused an explosion at the house on the eve of Thursday’s attack in Barcelona — an error that likely forced them to modify their plans.Instead, they used a vehicle to smash into crowds on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas boulevard as it was thronged with tourists, killing 13 people and injuring about 100.Several hours later, a similar attack in the seaside town of Cambrils left one woman dead. Police shot and killed the five attackers in Cambrils, some of whom were wearing fake explosive belts and carrying knives.
Israel condemns Finland terror stabbing, expresses ‘shock’-Foreign Ministry conveys condolences, ‘solidarity’ with victims of Friday attack in port city of Turku-By Times of Israel staff and AFP August 21, 2017, 5:47 pm
The Israeli Foreign Ministry on Monday expressed “shock” at Friday’s deadly stabbing attack in Turku, Finland.“The Israeli government expresses its shock and strongly condemns the terrorist attack in the city of Turku last Friday in which two people were killed and eight wounded,” it said in a statement released Monday.Finland observed a minute of silence on Sunday for the victims of the stabbing attack in the southwestern port city, in what is being investigated as the country’s first-ever terror attack.The Israeli statement went on: “Israel expresses its solidarity with the people of Finland, and sends condolences to the families of those killed and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured.”The suspect, an 18-year-old Moroccan asylum seeker, was interrogated on Sunday and is due to appear before a judge early Monday to be remanded in custody, police said.At the market square where the attack happened, several hundred people gathered Sunday to hold a minute of silence at 10 a.m.Among those present was Hassan Zubier, a visiting British paramedic who was injured in the attack after coming to the aid of a woman who later died.He arrived directly from the hospital, attending the ceremony in a wheelchair.“I wanted to show my respect to the victims,” he told Swedish daily Aftonbladet before returning to hospital for further treatment.The crowd at the ceremony included emergency workers, city officials and police who formed a ring around a makeshift memorial of candles and flowers.Archbishop Kari Makinen, who heads Finland’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, was also present.“Peace and Love — No Violence Finland” read one note next to a bouquet of flowers.The bells of Turku Cathedral, the country’s largest church, rang out for 15 minutes before falling silent as the crowd bowed its head to remember the victims. Similar ceremonies were held across the country.-Women targeted-Finnish police said Saturday that the attacker deliberately targeted women. His motive was not yet known.All of the victims were women, including the dead, except for two men who tried to fend off the attacker. An Italian, a Swede and a Briton were among the injured.The suspect was shot and wounded by police minutes after he began his rampage on Friday afternoon.The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said it had interrogated the suspect on Sunday for the first time, but revealed no details of the outcome. “We do not comment the contents at this point in time.”The suspect is in hospital with a gunshot wound to the thigh.Police arrested four Moroccans linked to the suspect in a raid in the early hours of Saturday, but police said Sunday their involvement in the attack had “not yet been fully established.”The four were cooperating with police in interrogations, investigators said.Officers also carried out searches in a Turku suburb, but said no new arrests had been made.Ahead of the minute’s silence, police reconstructed the crime at the market square as part of their investigation.
Bizarre 18th century Jewish items seized from archaeology smuggler in Egypt-Collection of artifacts taken from a Saudi citizen; also found, and undated, was a 29-page book written in esoteric ‘Hebrew,’ described as ‘the commandments of Judas Iscariot’ — and illustrated with scorpions-By Amanda Borschel-Dan August 21, 2017, 4:57 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
A collection of 18th century Jewish items was seized from archaeology smugglers by Egyptian authorities late last week in a joint operation between the Hurghada Ports Authority and the Egyptian Ports Antiquities Unit of the Ministry of Antiquities.The smugglers attempted to move six Jewish artifacts via the Red Sea resort city of Hurghada. According to a report in AhramOnline, Ahmed Al-Rawi, head of the Central Administration of Seized Antiquities Unit at the antiquities ministry, said the seized loot was discovered in the possession of a Saudi citizen. Al-Rawi said the finds were authenticated in accordance with law 117/1983.Included in the trove was a cane with a handle carved in stone which depicts a bearded man wearing a yarmulke.Additionally, five stone reliefs engraved with texts written in Hebrew and other Jewish decorative elements were discovered, according to a Facebook post from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.An additional find in the seized collection was a 29-page Hebrew book described by the Egyptians as “the commandments of Judas Iscariot,” one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. This item was not dated to the 18th century.Two images of pages from the book released by the Ministry of Antiquities include esoteric “Hebrew” text, which appears to be a poor translation from some other language. The pages are black and white and decorated with what could be either scorpions or lobsters. In the center of each page is a poster-like block of text written in disjointed Hebrew.One page is titled “To the level of” and uses Modern Hebrew words, including “matkon” (recipe), which would date the page to within the past 100 years.The second page, which is illustrated by a Greek goddess-like woman holding a menorah triton, roughly reads, “Learn how to rise above things, and this can be done if I weren’t strong,” in a Hebrew one might suspect was written through Google translate.
Russian chief rabbi says EU sanctions won’t harm etrog availability-Berel Lazar says exemption will permit continued export of Italian citrus fruit prized by members of Chabad community-By JTA August 21, 2017, 6:32 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Italian government said that the export of Italy-grown etrog fruits to Russia will not be affected by sanctions imposed by the European Union against Moscow, according Russia’s chief rabbi.The agreement to exempt the export of the citrus fruit, which Jewish communities use during a religious ritual during the week-long holiday of Sukkot, from any sanctions was reached last year and applies also to the June extension of those sanctions, Rabbi Berel Lazar told JTA based on statements from a local government in Italy.Speaking to JTA from the region of Calabria in southern Italy on Friday, Lazar said: “The local government here said that, because this is a religious product, they are going to make sure no sanctions are going to be applied on the etrogim.” He added the etrogim are imported by Russia as a religious article, exempt from taxation.Lazar was born in Milan to a Chabad rabbi, Moshe Lazar, who for the past 50 years has been responsible for supervising the export of etrogs in Calabria to make sure the fruit, which are easily bruised and rendered nonkosher, meet the highest standards. Berel Lazar traveled to Calabria to help his father, who is 83, with the harvest.Followers of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic movement share a strong preference for the etrogs grown in Calabria, where tens of thousands are picked annually for export in orchards owned by approximately 100 farmers. Etrogs also are grown in Israel and Morocco.Chabad communities are major engines of Jewish life in the former Soviet Union and especially in Russia. The European Union in June extended a list of sanctions on Russia, including on exports and imports, in reaction to Russia’s annexation in 2014 of Crimea, an area that is internationally recognized as belonging to Ukraine.The prospect of sanctions is not the only challenge facing the etrog industry in Calabria. An unexpected frost this winter severely damaged the sensitive etrog trees, destroying approximately 90 percent of the crop, Moshe Lazar told JTA. The shortage means that, this year, fruit that was deemed unfit for export will be picked and exported as long as it is kosher, Moshe Lazar said. Even so, he added, the frost means “there won’t be enough etrogim to go around this Sukkot.” This applies to Russia, too, said Berel Lazar.The shortage has hiked up prices, with a prime Calabria etrog going for approximately $500, according to Rabbi Avraham Wolff of Odessa, Ukraine. “We’re worried that we may not have a Calabria etrog and we’re pulling all possible strings to get at least one,” Wolff said. In previous years, his community was able to purchase five Calabria etrogim ahead of the holiday.“We decided to set up a small fund for buying that Calabria etrog, no matter the price,” he said.Immediately after Sukkot, the prices of Calabria etrogim drop to about $1 a pound, Berel Lazar noted. The local population uses the fruit to make jam.
Oregon highway overpasses eclipsed by anti-Semitic banners-Travelers heading to view solar event greeted with ‘UNJEW HUMANITY’ and ‘Jewish Financing Available’-By JTA August 20, 2017, 10:15 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Signs with anti-Semitic messages were hung on highway overpasses in Oregon, which is welcoming visitors hoping to experience Monday’s rare solar eclipse.The banners were hung on two northbound highways, which were heavily traveled by California tourists heading to the state to get a better view of the celestial event, according to local reports.The banners read, “UNJEW HUMANITY,” “Eclipse Whitey,” and “Jewish Financing Available,” the Oregon Statesman Journal reported on Saturday. They were taken down later on Saturday.Beth Dershowitz of Sacramento told the Oregonian in an email that the banners upset her, her husband Michael, and their children during their family road trip on Saturday. She said her husband took photos of the banners to show state transportation officials.Oregon eclipse tourists greeted by Anti-Semitic banners on overpass https://t.co/XMlBESwCbm pic.twitter.com/DDY85AuAaB— The Oregonian (@Oregonian) August 19, 2017-“I cannot believe that we still have to face this vicious anti-Semitism in such a public place in 2017,” she wrote. “We want to expose this hatred so people stop pretending like it isn’t happening in our own backyards.”In June, a sign blaming Jews for the September 11 attacks was hung from a pedestrian bridge over an interstate highway in Portland, Oregon.
