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)
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
Passover on a submarine-The Hebrew-language media reminds readers about the IDF soldiers operating thousands of kilometers away from home during the holiday-By Adiv Sterman April 10, 2017, 3:44 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
As millions of Israeli Jews prepare to celebrate the holiday of Passover, the front pages of the country’s Hebrew-language newspapers shift their focus Monday to the security men and women who will be spending the Seder away from their homes, patrolling the borders of the Jewish state… and far beyond.Yedioth Ahronoth leads with a piece of photo-journalism on the Israeli Defense Force’s submarine units. Maybe it was the pre-holiday lull that prompted the paper to publish this series of low-resolution, mostly-unexciting pictures taken by soldiers serving in the prestigious navy unit, but still, its a bit hard to discern which feeling exactly Yedioth was attempting to evoke in its readers by presenting these particular photos. In one picture, a gas rig can be seen, and in another, the silhouette of a small ship manned by Israeli Navy SEALS.To its credit, the daily shows another image taken from the viewpoint of a submarine periscope which shows a dolphin jumping above the ocean waves, and that is admittedly kind of cool. Yedioth reporter Tzachi Davush awkwardly adds that the photo-series should serve as a reminder of the sacrifices of the soldiers, who pursue secret missions thousands of miles away, deep underwater, while the rest of the country dines and wines at the Passover table.Israel Hayom on its front page shows what has become an obligatory feature ahead of the Passover, namely, a photo of a band of troops, each chewing on their personal square of matzah. The paper adds that hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to hit the trail, or simply barbecue, in the country’s many national parks and nature reserves over the coming days. The daily concludes with a travel warning, reporting that Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau strongly advises not to head across the southern border to the Sinai, for fear of an attack on tourists by groups associated with the Islamic State.On a different note, the daily reports that Israel is considering a proposal to bring wounded Syrian children to Israel for treatment. The proposal comes in the aftermath of last week’s attack by Syrian regime warplanes on the rebel-held northern province of Idlib. Over 80 people died in the attack, including 27 children, with many of the victims showing symptoms of exposure to the chemical agent sarin. Since 2013, Israel has quietly treated 3,000 Syrian casualties who were spirited across the border into Israel for medical treatment at special field hospitals or in Israeli medical centers.Haaretz’s top story covers Israel’s practice of holding and burying the bodies of Palestinian terrorists within the Jewish state, in order to prevent funerals that could be turned into nationalist rallies. However, according to Haaretz, Israeli authorities have recently admitted that at least seven bodies of Palestinians who committed acts of terror during the second intifada could not be located. The bodies are typically buried by private contractors, and in many cases, not all paperwork is filed.Haaretz reports that of 123 requests for the return of Palestinian terrorists’ bodies to their families — cases that have not yet been resolved — only 2 bodies have been definitely identified. In the past, several Israeli authorities and officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have expressed support for holding on to or significantly delaying the return of attackers’ bodies. The delay is thought to lessen the significance attached to any particular attacker, and so to reduce attendance at the funerals.According to Yedioth, Rod Stewart will host Israeli diva Rita during his show on June 14 date in Tel Aviv. The Yarkon Park concert will be the final performance of Stewart’s “Hits” tour.“I am happy and excited to host Rita at my show in Israel, the rocker told Yedioth. “I’ve heard her singing and I’ve read about her work in Israel and abroad, and I am sure that it will be a pleasure for us to sing and sail together on stage.” As you might have guessed, the two are set to perform Stewart’s famous hit “Sailing,” according to Yedioth. “It is highly flattering and exciting to perform with Stewart, one of the greatest rock stars in history, on the same stage.” Stewart, who recently turned 72 and who has sold more than 100 million copies of his albums over the years, has played in Israel twice before, in 2010 and in 1983, at the height of his career.
Islamic State in Sinai claims Passover-eve rocket attack on Israel-Jihadi group’s Egyptian affiliate says it fired missile that hit Negev greenhouse; Israel ramps up warnings of terror attack from the peninsula-By Judah Ari Gross April 10, 2017, 4:24 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
The Islamic State affiliate in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula took responsibility for firing a rocket into southern Israel earlier on Monday.On its official Twitter account, the terror group said “the fighters of the Islamic State have bombed a Jewish settlement in southern Palestine with a Grad rocket.”Just after 11:30 a.m. on Monday morning, the incoming missile alarm known as a “Code Red” sounded in the Negev’s Eshkol region, near Israel’s westernmost edge, at the border with Egypt and the Gaza Strip.After a search of the area, police found the rocket in the community of Yuval, near the Egyptian border, in a greenhouse where tomatoes were being grown. The greenhouse was lightly damaged by the rocket.A 50-year-old man who was nearby when it struck suffered an anxiety attack as a result of the attack, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said.The attack came hours after Israel shut down the Taba Crossing into the Sinai Peninsula, citing information about an imminent terror attack in the area.On Monday morning, in a highly unusual move, the Transportation Ministry shut down the Taba Crossing into the Sinai Peninsula. It is expected to reopen next Tuesday, April 18, with the end of the Passover holiday, but that decision will only be made following a security assessment, the ministry said in a statement.Israelis currently in the Sinai Peninsula will still be able to return from Egypt and are, in fact, encouraged to do so immediately, the ministry said.Thousands of Israelis had been expected to cross into the Sinai Peninsula for the Passover holiday.The decision to forbid that move came a day after two lethal attacks on Egyptian churches by the terrorist group’s so-called Sinai Province.The closure was ordered by Transportation and Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz, after consultation with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and other security officials, according to the ministry’s statement.This was one of the few times the Taba Crossing was shut down since its opening in 1982, following the Israeli-Egyptian peace deal. The crossing was shut down in 2014, following a terror attack on the Egyptian side of the border. It was also closed in 2011 when Israel also assessed there was a high risk of terror attacks.On Sunday, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau released a statement encouraging all Israelis to forgo travel to the restive Sinai Peninsula, where the Islamic State has been waging a bloody war with Egyptian security forces and carrying out attacks against civilians.Two church bombings, one in the city of Tanta and the other in Alexandria, killed at least 43 people earlier on Sunday, with the Islamic State group claiming responsibility.“The fatal terrorist attacks which took place today reflect once again the terror capability of the Islamic State,” the anti-terror bureau said in a statement on Sunday. “In light of the gravity of the threat, the anti-terror bureau advises Israelis currently in the Sinai to leave immediately and return to Israel.”In February, the Islamic State-affiliate, known as the Sinai Province, launched four Grad rockets at the southern city of Eilat. Three were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense battery, while the fourth struck an open field outside the city.
Citing ‘concrete intel’ of terror threat, minister urges Israelis to bolt Sinai-Situation is ‘life-threatening,’ Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz tells the 10,000 Israelis currently vacationing in the peninsula-By Stuart Winer and Judah Ari Gross April 10, 2017, 3:12 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz on Monday said a decision to shutter the main border crossing between Israel and Egypt, along with an urgent call for Israeli tourists to immediately return from vacations in Sinai, was based on sound information about an imminent terror attack by jihadists.Earlier, in a highly unusual move, the Transportation Ministry shut down the Taba Crossing to Israelis trying to enter Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.Israelis currently in the Sinai Peninsula will still be able to return from Egypt — and are being encouraged to do so immediately by the ministry.Katz, who is also intelligence minister, told Israel Radio that the situation in the Sinai Peninsula was now “life-threatening” for Israelis.The minister conceded that closing the crossing would ruin the Passover holiday plans for many Israelis who planned to travel to Sinai’s picturesque beaches during the week-long festival.Some 10,000 Israelis, mostly from Arab towns, are believed to be vacationing in Sinai at the moment.But, Katz stressed, “better to spoil a trip than to endanger lives.”The decision to close the crossing came after consultations with various security officials and a great deal of deliberation, he said.“It is based on intelligence information and warnings.”The minister explained that there was “concrete information” of planned attacks by a Sinai branch of the Islamic State group that would target Israeli tourists, and noted that earlier Monday a rocket fired from Sinai hit Israel’s southern region.The rocket caused no injuries or damage.Egyptian authorities have also been notified of the closure, Katz said.In a statement, the Transportation Ministry clarified that “this is first and foremost a security-intelligence decision that was made following information that indicates intent by the Sinai branch of IS, whose activity has intensified in recent months, to attack tourists, and is also the result of the attacks and the state of emergency in Egypt.”The pressure on IS in Syria and Iraq has increased the group’s motivation to carry out attacks in other arenas, the ministry said, referring to a coalition of forces battling to defeat the jihadist extremists in those countries.“Prior to the decision, there were repeated assessments of the situation and repeated consultations over the past few days because of the desire to not burden those civilians who planned to travel [to Sinai],” the ministry continued. “However, in view of the information and the severity of the threat it was decided that it would be better to spoil trips than endanger life.”The crossing into Egypt will be closed from Monday morning. It is expected to reopen next Tuesday, April 18, with the end of the Passover holiday, but only after a new security assessment concludes that it is safe to do so, the ministry said.The closure was ordered by Katz after consultation with Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and other security officials.The decision came a day after two deadly attacks on Egyptian Coptic churches by IS’s affiliate “Sinai Province.”The bombings in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria killed at least 43 people on Sunday. Islamic State claimed responsibility.Monday’s closure was not entirely unexpected. It came a day after the Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office released its own statement urging Israelis to forgo travel to the restive peninsula.Agencies and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Egypt’s Christians bury dead after church bombings-Sissi declares state of emergency; Rivlin offers condolences to Egyptian people, says attack won’t undermine inter-religious harmony-By AP and Times of Israel staff April 10, 2017, 4:10 pm
Egyptian Christians were burying their dead on Monday, a day after Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 45 people in coordinated attacks targeting Palm Sunday services in two cities.Women wailed as caskets marked with the word “martyr” were brought into the Mar Amina church in the coastal city of Alexandria, the footage broadcast on several Egyptian channels.Coptic priests, boy scouts, and mourners carrying flowers joined a procession into the church, the pace set by a beat of snare drums.At least 17 people were killed at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, the historic seat of Christendom in Egypt. Another suicide attack killed at least 28 people inside St. George’s Church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta, the Health Ministry said, updating an earlier toll. IS claimed both bombings.Rev. Danial Maher, of the Tanta church, lost his 23-year-old son, Beshoy, who was among six deacons killed in the attack. He recalled watching his son wearing white vestments and singing at the service. “He was like an angel,” he said.Pictures of Maher, sitting helplessly in blood-stained vestments after the attack, were widely circulated online. He buried his son late Sunday.The attacks led President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to declare a state of emergency, amid fears that IS militants, who have been battling security forces in the Sinai Peninsula for years, are shifting their focus to Egypt’s Coptic minority, one of the oldest Christian communities in the Middle East. In December, a massive church bombing killed 30 people in Cairo, and a series of killings in the Sinai have caused hundreds to flee to safer areas.President Reuven Rivlin offered his condolences to Egypt, saying that “even such despicable acts of terrorism against minority groups that seek to divide will not diminish the strong spirit of the Egyptian nation or prevent unity and harmonious coexistence between the different religious and ethnic groups in your country.”“The Egyptian nation knows how to withstand those enemies and to continue its firm stand against such vicious terrorism,” Rivlin said.The state of emergency awaited approval by parliament, a foregone conclusion since the legislature is packed with el-Sissi’s supporters, and the Cabinet declared that it had gone into effect at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT).It will likely allow for arrests without warrants, swifter prosecution of suspects, and special, fast-track courts. Authorities have been waging a sweeping crackdown on dissent for years, however, so it was unclear if anything would change on the ground.The Palm Sunday attacks, the single deadliest day for Christians in decades, rattled the community and prompted messages of support from abroad, including from Pope Francis, who is set to visit Egypt in the coming weeks, and President Donald Trump.Israel meanwhile closed its Taba border crossing to Egypt after its anti-terrorism office warned of an “imminent” militant attack there, underlining fears of more violence. The closure comes hours before the start of the Passover holiday.Southern Sinai, which has seen little of the violence plaguing the northern part of the peninsula, is a popular tourist destination.
MIGRATING BIRDS IN ISRAEL EATS HUMANS FLESH FOR COMING AGAINST ISRAEL-JERUSALEM
EZEKIEL 39:11-12,18
11 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog (RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS) a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers (EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN JORDAN VALLEY) on the east of the sea: and it shall stop the noses of the passengers: and there shall they bury Gog (RUSSIAN) and all his multitude:(ARAB/MUSLIM HORDE) and they shall call it The valley of Hamongog.(BURIEL SITE OF THE 300 MILLION,RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS)
12 And seven months shall the house of Israel be burying of them, that they may cleanse the land.(OF ISRAEL)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
EZEKIEL 39:17-21
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood.(OF RUSSIAN/ISLAMIC HORDES AGAINST ISRAEL)
18 Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
19 And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you.
20 Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.
21 And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them.
22 So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day and forward.
REVELATION 19:17-18
17 And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;(AGAINST ALL NATIONS ARMIES THAT COME AGAINST JERUSALEM AND ISRAEL)
18 That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.
EZEKIEL 38:1-7
1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog,(RULER) the land of Magog,(RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal,(TOBOLSK) and prophesy against him,
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:TOBOLSK)
4 And I (GOD) will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE RUSSIA-MUSLIMS TO MARCH) and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
5 Persia,(IRAN,IRAQ) Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
6 Gomer,(GERMANY) and all his bands; the house of Togarmah (TURKEY) of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.(AFRICAN MUSLIMS,SUDAN,TUNESIA ETC)
7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.
EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back,(RUSSIA-ARAB MUSLIM ISRAEL HATERS) and leave but the sixth part of thee,(5/6TH OR 300 MILLION DEAD RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIMS I BELIEVE) and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.
Assad backers Iran, Russia threaten US after missile strike-Joint center in Syria run by Moscow, Tehran and Hezbollah vows in future they will ‘respond with force,’ says US retaliation ‘crossed red line’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies April 9, 2017, 6:45 pm
A command center jointly operated by Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other groups supporting the Syrian regime issued a statement Sunday condemning the recent US missile strike on a Syrian airbase and threatening to respond if such attacks continue.“The aggression against Syria oversteps all red lines. We will react firmly to any aggression against Syria and to any infringement of red lines, whoever carries them out,” read a statement from the Syria-based joint operations room.“The United States knows very well our ability to react,” said the statement published on the website of Al-Watan, a daily newspaper close to the regime.The threat came in response to a US strike on Thursday, ordered by US President Donald Trump, which was retaliation for a deadly chemical weapons attack Tuesday in the northern Syrian province of Idlib that left at least 86 people dead, including 27 children, and allegedly employed the nerve agent sarin.Footage of people and children choking on the gas prompted outrage across the globe.“We condemn any attack targeting civilians and also condemn what happened in Khan Sheikhoun, even if we are convinced it was a premeditated act by certain countries and organisations to serve as a pretext to attack Syria,” Sunday’s statement added.Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani by phone on Sunday, during which they agreed that the US strike was a violation of international law.“We denounce the US missile strike on Syria and regard it as a flagrant violation of an independent country’s sovereignty (and) a measure that needs to be addressed and condemned in the UN Security Council,” Rouhani said, according to Iranian media.A US official said 59 precision guided Tomahawk missiles hit the regime-held Shayrat Airfield, north of the Syrian capital Damascus, from which Washington believes Tuesday’s deadly attack was launched.US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson denied in an interview on CBS’s “Face the Nation” that the strikes signaled an overhaul of American policy, saying its priority remained to defeat Islamic State militants in the Middle East. The strike was the first time American forces targeted a Syrian government installation in the course of the war. US Treasury officials say they are preparing sanctions in response to the chemical weapons attack, though the Syrian government is already buried under US sanctions.Tillerson will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow later this week. Moscow has been a steadfast ally of the Syrian government and has defended it against claims of chemical weapons use in front of the UN Security Council.Both Russia and Iran previously condemned the US missile strike.On Friday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian President Vladimir Putin-Putin considers the US strike as an “aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international norms,” according to Russian agencies.Washington said that Russian military officials in Syria were informed of the strike beforehand in order to avoid casualties that could prompt a broader crisis.“The Syrian army does not have any chemical weapon stockpiles,” added Peskov. “The fact of destruction of all chemical weapon stockpiles of the Syrian armed forces was recorded and confirmed by the (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons).”On Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said that “terrorists” were applauding Trump for launching the missile strike.“This man who is now in office in America claimed that he wanted to fight terrorism but today all terrorists in Syria are celebrating the US attack,” Rouhani said in a speech aired by state television.“Why have you attacked the Syrian army which is at war with terrorists? Under what law or authority did you launch your missiles at this independent country?”Rouhani also called his Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad in order to reaffirm Iran’s support for the Syrian regime, his office said Sunday.Despite Russia and Iran’s condemnation of Thursday’s missile strike, many US allies have expressed support for the move.On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike was the appropriate “moral” response to the chemical weapons attack.“Israel fully supports the American attack on Syria,” Netanyahu said before the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem. “They did this for moral reasons in light of the difficult scenes from Idlib and also to make it clear that there is a price for using chemical weapons.”
Amid growing US criticism, families of Palestinian terrorists seek larger payments-Relatives of ‘martyrs’ want allowance they are paid by PLO to be linked to cost of living-By Times of Israel staff April 10, 2017, 3:51 pm
Families of Palestinian terrorists receiving monthly payments from the Palestine Liberation Organization are pushing for an increase, amid growing pressure from the United States and other donor countries on the Palestinian Authority to end the practice.The monthly payments, which totaled $173 million in 2016, are doled out to relatives of “martyrs” — the families of terrorists who have murdered Israelis, as well as those wounded or killed in any confrontation with Israelis.Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham reintroduced legislation in March that would cut US funding to the PA if it continues to provide monetary support to the families of those who commit acts of terror against Israelis and others.Since 2011, these monthly allowances have been a fixed sum.According to Muhammad Sbeihat, the Secretary-General of the National Association of the Martyrs’ Families of Palestine, a non-governmental umbrella group, members of his organization are asking for the payments to be linked to the cost of living in the Palestinian Territories, which would raise them “slightly.”“In the upcoming period, the allowances of the martyrs’ families will be linked to the cost of living index, which will cause an improvement in these allowances, if only slightly,” Sbeihat said last Tuesday at an event for “martyr” families in Tulkarem, according to a translation in a Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report published Sunday.The PMW report described Sbeihat’s group as “the PLO organization” dealing with the PA’s payments to ‘Martyrs’ families, and said the PA “is now raising the payments to the ‘martyrs’ families.”However Sbeihat, in a phone interview with The Times of Israel on Monday, confirmed that members of his group are asking for an increased monthly sum, but denied his organization was an official PLO group and said no new policy had yet been enacted by the PA.“We are not an official group. We are a public group. We do not decide anything,” he said. “There is no official decision,” he added.Currently there are around 35,100 families in the West Bank and Gaza receiving payments from the PLO — the $173 million paid out in 2016.In addition, the PLO gives monthly payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and their families. In 2016 the PLO budgeted $137.45 million for payments to prisoners.The bill reintroduced in March by Graham, the Taylor Force Act, was first submitted last year by Graham with former Indiana Republican Sen. Dan Coats and Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt. It was referred to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time, but never came up for a vote.The legislation is named after former US army officer Taylor Force, who was stabbed to death in March 2016 by a Palestinian terrorist while visiting Tel Aviv.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is slated to visit US President Donald Trump later this month. The two are expected to discuss relaunching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been frozen since 2014.In an opinion piece published in the Washington Post April 6, Ghaith al-Omari, a former adviser to Abbas and the Palestinian negotiating team, and David Makovsky, a former senior adviser to the US special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, argued the PLO must change its payment policy, including to show the current US administration it is serious about making peace.Payments should be immediately halted, for example, to any “Palestinian who deliberately shoots, stabs or rams an Israeli with murderous intent,” they wrote.The “Palestinians argue that the bulk of these prisoners and ‘martyrs’ are political prisoners and innocent bystanders,” the two noted. They urged, therefore, that the PLO, controlled largely by Abbas, immediately cease payments in “clear-cut” cases of murder or attempted murder of Israelis.“Further audit would be needed to determine which cases would be entitled to receive special assistance if they — or any — were found to be nonviolent prisoners,” they argued. “Destitute family members can still receive regular assistance, as can any other Palestinians in need, but they should not receive preferential treatment in a way that rewards acts of terrorism.”
Sweden holds minute of silence for truck attack victims-Suspect reportedly confessed to plowing car into Stockholm crowd on order of the Islamic State-By Pia OHLIN April 10, 2017, 5:22 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL
STOCKHOLD, Sweden (AFP) — Swedes observed a minute of silence across the country on Monday for the victims of last week’s truck attack by a Uzbek man whom police believe was a jihadist sympathizer.A huge crowd gathered solemnly outside the Ahlens department store at the corner of the Drottninggatan pedestrian street, where a stolen beer truck plowed down shoppers before slamming into the store’s facade, killing four people and injuring 15.Media reports said the suspect had confessed, claiming he had been ordered by the Islamic State group to carry out the attack against “infidels.”Under grey and rainy skies, the crowd observed a minute of silence at noon (1000 GMT), many visibly moved with tears streaming down their cheeks as a sea of flowers and candles covered the ground.“I just want to cry, many died here. For nothing,” said Fadi Mdalal, from Syria, who was among those at the scene.The four dead were two Swedes, one of them an 11-year-old girl, a British man, and a Belgian woman.Many people thanked and hugged police officers guarding the scene, some offering them flowers, for their widely-praised response to the attack.At the same time, an official ceremony was held outside Stockholm’s City Hall, attended by Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, King Carl XVI Gustaf and most of the royal family, and Stockholm mayor Karin Wanngard.“We will never give in to violence. We will never let terror prevail,” Wanngard said. “Stockholm will remain an open and tolerant city.”To the families of the victims, Lofven said: “You are not alone, we are thinking of you. All of Sweden stands with you.”The motive of Friday’s attack remains unknown, but the method resembled previous rampages using vehicles in Nice, Berlin and London, all of them claimed by IS.Police are continuing their investigation into the main suspect, identified as a 39-year-old Uzbek who went underground when he received a deportation order after his permanent residency application was rejected last year.Swedish media have named him as Rakhmat Akilov, a construction worker and father of four.The far-right Sweden Democratic party blasted the authorities’ failure to deport the suspect.“It’s a huge scandal if it’s true,” party leader Jimmie Akesson told the Aftonbladet daily. His party won almost 13 percent of votes in the 2014 legislative election.“We need to detain people when there is a risk they will go underground, and there appear to be around 10,000 to 15,000 cases,” Akesson said.However, Swedish police commissioner Dan Eliasson said “there was nothing in the system that indicated (the suspect) would do something like what he did on Friday.”But he admitted the Swedish authorities were struggling to deport the estimated 12,000 people who have gone underground after being denied the right to stay.The country of 10 million people took in 244,000 asylum seekers in 2014 and 2015, the highest per capita number in Europe.On Sunday, the prime minister, who has beefed up border controls, also expressed “frustration”, saying: “If someone has been rejected, they have to leave the country.”Arrested several hours after the attack, the suspect was to be formally remanded in custody by Tuesday at the latest.The Uzbek national had expressed “sympathies for extremist organizations, including the Islamic State,” senior police official Jonas Hysing told reporters.The suspect has confessed to the crime and said he was “pleased with what he had done”, the Aftonbladet and Expressen dailies reported.“I mowed down the infidels,” he said, according to Aftonbladet, citing unidentified sources close to the investigation.The suspect reportedly said he had received an “order” directly from IS to carry out the attack.“The bombings in Syria have to end,” he allegedly said.Police would not confirm whether he had confessed. But police commissioner Dan Eliasson said investigators were sure they had the truck driver, based on “discussions we’ve had with him.”According to police, components were found in the stolen truck that could be used to make a “dangerous” object.On Sunday, a second suspect was formally placed under arrest, Stockholm district court judge Helga Hullman told AFP, refusing to disclose any links between the two suspects.“It can take up to a year to finish the investigation,” the head of national police operations, Mats Lofving, said Monday.
