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
Report: PM lobbied US to defund UNRWA without
consulting cabinet, security heads-Netanyahu reportedly changed policy,
surprising defense officials, in covertly urging White House to
completely end funding for Palestinian refugee organization-By TOI
staff-4 September 2018
Two weeks ago, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu sent a secret message to the White House urging US
President Donald Trump to cut all funding for UNRWA, the UN agency that
aids Palestinian refugees, without consulting first with his defense
officials, according to a Sunday news report.Four senior Israeli
officials told Channel 10 news that until a few weeks ago, Jerusalem’s
policy was that the US should not cut its funding completely, especially
in the Gaza Strip, due to fears of a humanitarian crisis and the
security issues it could raise.This approach reportedly had the backing
of the Shin Bet security service, the IDF, and the Coordinator of
Government Activities in the Territories, a branch of the Defense
Ministry responsible for liaising with the Palestinians. This was also
the message Jerusalem had consistently conveyed to the White House and
Congress.However, according to the television report, a few weeks ago,
Netanyahu unilaterally decided the best approach would be for the US to
cease funding UNRWA entirely. He conveyed this message to the
administration through Israel’s Ambassador to the US Ron Dermer.The
officials who spoke to Channel 10 said the policy change was made
without consultation with the high-level security cabinet or any serious
discussion with defense officials.“We didn’t understand where this came
from,” one official told the television station.On Friday, the Trump
administration announced it was cutting nearly $300 million in planned
funding for UNRWA, and that it would no longer fund the agency after
decades of support. Instead, it said it would seek other channels by
which to aid the Palestinians.On Saturday, Jerusalem welcomed the US
decision.“Israel supports the US move,” an official in Netanyahu’s
office said on condition of anonymity.“Consolidating the refugee status
of Palestinians is one of the problems that perpetuates the
conflict.”The US administration castigated the UN’s Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) for failed practices, and
indicated that it rejected the criteria by which UNRWA defines
Palestinian refugees, whereby the UN agency confers refugee status not
only on original refugees but on their millions of descendants.The State
Department said in a written statement that the United States “will no
longer commit further funding to this irredeemably flawed operation.”The
US will now work together with other international groups to find a
better model to assist the Palestinians, the statement said.The US
supplied nearly 30 percent of the total budget of the UN Relief and
Works Agency, which provides health care, education, and social services
to Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jordan, Syria, and
Lebanon.Sources in the Israeli defense establishment are said to fear
that Washington’s efforts to weaken UNRWA may strengthen the Hamas
terror group in Gaza and endanger Israel’s security.They have reportedly
said that serious cuts to UNRWA’s budget would create a vacuum in the
provision of basic services in the Strip, where the majority of
residents are dependent on the UN organization. This would be
particularly felt in food shortages and a breakdown of education, which
Hamas could use to strengthen its grip on the coastal enclave.A
spokesman for UNRWA on Sunday said the end of US support will be
“difficult,” but will not cause the UN agency for Palestinian refugees
to close its doors.“It will be difficult, but UNRWA will not abandon its
responsibilities,” Adnan Abu Hasna said in an interview with Hadashot
news. The cut in US aid “will not destroy UNRWA.”Hasna slammed the Trump
administration for blaming UNRWA for perpetuating the Palestinian
refugee issue.“UNRWA is doing its job in accordance with a UN
resolution, if they want to destroy UNRWA, then they should go to the UN
and explain it there,” he said. “If they have a majority, there will be
no more UNRWA.”Hasna said the UN agency provides food and education to
over a million Palestinian in Gaza, and without it, humanitarian
conditions in the Strip would significantly deteriorate.“If there will
be no UNRWA, there will be starvation in Gaza,” he said.
Egypt
says village found in Nile Delta predated pharaohs-Neolithic site
discovered in Tell el-Samara containing food silos, animal bones,
indicating human habitation as early as 5000 BCE-By AP-TOI-4 September
2018
CAIRO — Egypt said Sunday that archaeologists have
unearthed one of the oldest villages ever found in the Nile Delta, with
remains dating back to before the pharaohs.The Antiquities Ministry said
the Neolithic site was discovered in Tell el-Samara, about 140
kilometers (87 miles) north of Cairo.Chief archaeologist Frederic Gio
said his team found silos containing animal bones and food, indicating
human habitation as early as 5000 BCE.That would be some 2,500 years
before the Giza pyramids were built.In recent years, Egypt has touted
discoveries in the hopes of reviving tourism after the unrest that
followed its 2011 popular uprising.
Security
forces arrest Palestinian woman with knife at West Bank
checkpoint-Guards at Qalandiya crossing use pepper spray to subdue
pedestrian who arouses their suspicions-By Stuart Winer-TOI-4 September
2018
Security forces on Sunday detained a Palestinian
woman who was apparently planning to carry out a stabbing attack at a
Jerusalem checkpoint, police said.Guards at the Qalandiya checkpoint
north of the capital stopped a woman who was acting suspiciously. She
had raised suspicion by approaching Israeli guards manning an area meant
for vehicular traffic instead of the pedestrian passageway.When the
women ignored instructions from security guards they used pepper spray
on the suspect, police said. A knife was found in her bag.The suspect,
in her 30s, was from the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Qalandiya,
the statement said.She was taken away for further questioning.There have
been numerous stabbings and attempted stabbings at the checkpoint which
links the Qalandiya camp with Jerusalem. Many of the attackers were
stopped as they walked along the vehicular approach. In some incidents,
security guards opened fire on attackers, wounding or killing them after
they pulled out knives.
2.3 million Israeli kids back in
class as school year begins-Education minister says start of year
expected to be the 'smoothest' during his tenure, though 80,000 toddlers
to remain home due to daycare strike-By TOI staff-4 September 2018
Some
2,310,000 children and 194,000 teaching instructors returned to school
Sunday morning as Israel kicked off the start of a new school year.Of
the more than 2.3 million students, 167,000 were first graders arriving
at elementary school for the first time, according to Education Ministry
figures, while another 131,000 pupils began their final year of high
school.The Education Ministry said the theme of this school year will be
safeguarding both “unity” and “uniqueness” in Israeli society.“The
state education system is home to all Israeli students. I am the
education minister of 2.3 million students of all varieties: Jews,
Arabs, Druze, Circassians, religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox — they’re
all my children,” Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home) said
in a statement.He said this year’s theme was chosen in light of
“increasing polarization” in Israeli society, which he said could be
addressed through education. He did not address what he believed to be
the cause of that polarization.Speaking Saturday evening at the
ministry’s headquarters ahead of the start of the new school year,
Bennett said he expected it to be the “smoothest opening” of the
academic year since he became education minister in 2015.Still, some
80,000 toddlers stayed at home and missed the first day of the school
year due to a strike by staff at state-run daycare centers over pay.A
number of more localized strikes were also expected at a number of
schools Sunday over various issues, according to the Ynet news site.
Thousands
in Tel Aviv rally against gas platform being built near coast-Activists
say processing facility to be constructed 10 kilometers from the shore
near Caesarea will cause environmental and health damage-By TOI staff-4
September 2018
Over 2,000 people rallied in Tel Aviv
Saturday evening to uge the government to shelve plans for an offshore
gas processing facility slated to be built 10 kilometers from the
coast.Environmentalists, local authorities, and NGOs are waging a
campaign to have the platform moved 125 kilometers (78 miles) away from
the coast, citing environmental and public health concerns.Protesters
led by volunteer group Shomrei Habayit called on Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to “stop the catastrophe”
and reverse the government decision.The protesters say the platform, to
be located off Dor Beach near Caesarea, could cause major air pollution,
and a malfunction at the site could leak toxic byproducts, harming
beaches, marine life and residents living near the coast south of
Haifa.The platform is planned to process gas from the Leviathan offshore
field, a bonanza estimated to hold 22 trillion cubic feet of natural
gas, making it the country’s richest gas find. After extraction, raw
natural gas must be processed to separate the dry gas used by power
plants to run their turbines from two other main components — condensate
and waste water, both of which contain dangerous and carcinogenic
by-products.The Energy Ministry says the close-to-shore platform was
chosen “after many tests, an environmental impact assessment and the
considerations of the security establishment.”Last month, The Times of
Israel learned that the State Comptroller was investigating the
government’s claim that security concerns necessitated the platform
being close to the coast.Shomrei Habayit accused Noble Energy, the US
company developing Leviathan, of having a poor environmental track
record.Activists have pointed to a processing plant for the Tamar gas
field, located 14 kilometers off the coast of Ashkelon, as a harbinger
of what the new platform may bring.Data for 2016, published by the
ministry in November 2017, shows that emissions from Tamar that are
“known or suspected to be carcinogenic” equaled the total of such
emissions from 570 large industrial plants across the country.Activists
have been holding near daily protests at beaches to draw attention to
the cause. However experts say the plan may be too far along to be
reversed.Built in the United States, the processing platform is due to
arrive off-shore in December, and its legs are to be lowered into the
sea the following month 9.7 kilometers (6 miles) from the popular Dor
Beach, north of Caesarea. Production is due to start a year later.Sue
Surkes contributed to this report.
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.
Palestinians
reportedly send intel delegation to Washington for talks with
CIA-Meeting comes despite Ramallah boycotting the Trump administration
for recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel, moving embassy-By TOI
staff-SEP 4,18
A delegation of Palestinian intelligence
officials are in Washington for talks with the CIA, the Axios news site
reported Sunday, marking a rare break in Ramallah’s boycott of US
officials.Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas revealed details
of the delegation’s trip during talks with Israeli Knesset members in a
meeting at his office in Ramallah, Axios reported, citing two
participants in the meeting.The Palestinians have been boycotting the
Trump administration in anger after the US shifted course and recognized
Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December and later moved their
embassy there from Tel Aviv. The Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as
the capital of a future state.The report comes two days after the Trump
administration announced it was cutting all funding for the UN refugee
agency that aids Palestinians.Significantly, the US did not cut aid that
goes to the Palestinian security forces and Abbas told the participants
of the meeting that it is important to him to maintain security
coordination and intelligence sharing with the US.Despite longstanding
tensions with Israel, security coordination between the Palestinian
security forces and the IDF in the West Bank is very close and a key
component of the relationship between the two sides.The delegation to
the US was being lead by Majed Faraj, head of the PA’s General
Intelligence Service, Axios said, noting that he was also in the US to
receive unspecified medical treatment.This is not the first time Faraj
has met with top US officials since the boycott began. Faraj reportedly
met then-CIA director Mike Pompeo in April, shortly before Pompeo became
Secretary of State.Faraj, one of the Abbas’s closest associates, is
considered a friend of Pompeo, and the two reportedly met last year,
after Trump was sworn in as president.The US announced on Friday that it
would cut nearly $300 million in planned funding for the UN’s Relief
and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), castigating the agency
for its practices, and will no longer provide funding at all.The move
announced by the US drew swift condemnation from Palestinians and
warnings from the agency’s administrators.Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a
spokesman for Abbas, said Saturday that the Palestinian leadership was
considering going to the UN General Assembly and Security Council in a
bid to get the US to reverse its decision.A day earlier, he described
the move as a “flagrant assault against the Palestinian people and a
defiance of UN resolutions.”Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
has long called for the agency to be shut down.
Netanyahu
meets US envoy over Syria, Iran, regional stability-Talks with James
Jeffrey center on 'maintaining Israel's security,' while countering
Iranian influence in the region-By AFP-TOI-4 September 2018
Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Sunday with a US envoy for Syria for
talks on the war-ravaged country and Iran, his office said.Netanyahu
discussed “the situation in Syria and the joint effort to stop Iran’s
terror and aggression” with James Jeffrey, the US special representative
for Syria engagement, said a statement.Ahead of the visit, the US State
Department said Jeffrey, accompanied by US special envoy for Syria Joel
Rayburn, would discuss “maintaining Israel’s security while countering
Iran’s destabilizing activity throughout the region.”Jeffrey and Rayburn
would travel on to Jordan and Turkey, where they would reiterate the US
position against a military offensive in Idlib, the State Department
said.The two “will also address Russia’s specious allegations of
international plans to stage a chemical weapons attack in Syria” in
their meetings across the region, according to the State Department.Iran
is backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his country’s civil war,
along with Russia and Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.Israel has sought
to avoid direct involvement in the conflict, but acknowledges carrying
out dozens of air strikes in Syria to stop what it says are deliveries
of advanced weaponry to its Lebanese enemy Hezbollah, which is backed by
Iran.It has also pledged to prevent its arch foe Iran from entrenching
itself militarily in Syria, and a series of strikes that have killed
Iranians in Syria have been attributed to Israel.Overnight Saturday, a
string of explosions at a military airport near the Syrian capital
reportedly killed two regime fighters and injured 11 others.The Lebanese
al-Meyadeen news outlet, seen as closely linked to the Syrian regime,
claimed that the explosions were the result of an Israeli missile
strike.While Syria confirmed the explosions at Mazzeh, state media
initially said they were caused by a short circuit and not “Israeli
aggression.”Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Jordan
rejects alleged US proposal for confederation with Palestinians-Abbas
appears to warm to idea on condition Israel is involved, but Amman
unwilling to even discuss plan; PA official says scheme has been under
consideration for decades-By TOI staff-4 September 2018
Jordan
on Sunday rejected a proposal, allegedly floated by US administration
officials, calling for the creation of a Palestinian-Jordanian
confederation.Jordanian government spokeswoman Jumana Ghneimat said that
joining the kingdom with the West Bank — the bulk of the area
Palestinians want for a future state and controlled by Israeli since
1967 — is not a matter that is open for discussion.In comments reported
by the Khaberni news agency, Ghneimat said that “discussing the idea of a
confederation with the regions of the West Bank is not possible.”She
clarified that Jordan’s position, which is based on the two-state
solution of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, is fixed and clear.But
Nabil Abu Rudeinah, the official spokesman of the Palestinian Authority
presidency, said that the idea of a confederation has been on the
agenda of the Palestinian leadership since 1984.However, the Palestinian
spokesperson signaled that a two-state solution is a prerequisite for
any future arrangement with Jordan, reported Wafa, the official
Palestinian Authority news agency.Rudeinah added that a decision
regarding a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation is a decision for the
two nations to make.The comments came hours after Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas told a delegation of Israeli peace activists —
including lawmakers — about the US confederation scheme and his support
for it.According to the dovish Peace Now group, a senior delegation of
which met Abbas on Sunday in Ramallah, the Palestinian leader said
senior US administration officials Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt
asked him recently about his opinion on a “confederation with
Jordan.”Abbas allegedly voiced interest in a tripartite confederation
with Jordan and Israel, in what would appear a dramatic departure from
his longstanding insistence on a two-state solution, according the to
Israeli peace activists and a Palestinian official.“‘I said [to Kushner
and Greenblatt]: Yes, I want a three-way confederation with Jordan and
Israel.’ I asked them if the Israelis would agree to such a proposal,” a
statement by Peace Now quoted Abbas as saying.While some Israelis who
are opposed to an independent Palestinian state have long suggested some
kind of confederation, with or without Jordan, the PA has so far clung
to its demand for sovereignty in the framework of a two-state
solution.Despite the confederation suggestion, Abbas said US President
Donald Trump had assured him of his support for a two-state solution.
Abbas said he himself was in favor of a demilitarized Palestinian state
with NATO securing the agreement, according to Peace Now.Mahmoud
al-Habash, Abbas’s religious affairs adviser who was present at the
meeting, confirmed to The Times of Israel the content of the Peace Now
statement.The Prime Minister’s Office and the Foreign Ministry declined
to comment on Abbas’s statements.The US administration also did not
directly comment immediately on the Peace Now report.In a statement on
Sunday evening, Greenblatt said, ”Over the past 19 months we have
probed all relevant parties about many ideas and possibilities.”“The
plan, when released, will reflect ideas that we think are realistic,
fair and implementable that will enhance the lives of the Israeli and
Palestinian people,” Greenblatt continued. “We will not discuss any
specific ideas or private conversations that may or may not have been
had with leaders in the region.”Sunday’s meeting with Abbas was attended
by Peace Now executive director Shaqued Morag, Meretz MK Mossi Raz (a
former Peace Now director), and Zionist Union MK Ksenia
Svetlova.According to the PA’s official Wafa news agency, unnamed “peace
activists” from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud
party attended the meeting as well.Trump officials have said they are
finishing their peace plan and working on rolling it out, but have not
offered any timeline. Details of the plan have remained firmly under
wraps.Palestinian officials have been publicly boycotting the White
House since Trump’s December 6 recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s
capital. However, Abbas’s claim to have spoken with Kushner and
Greenblatt recently appeared to signal that some lines of communication
remain open.Trump has said he does not necessarily endorse a two-state
solution, breaking with decades of US policy and saying in 2017 that he
would back whatever formula both sides decide on.Adam Rasgon contributed
to this report.
Arab MKs rally behind Corbyn, praise his
‘unflinching’ Palestinian support-In letter to Labour leader, who sat on
panels alongside Hamas and supported eradication of Zionism, Joint List
also backs UK party's rejection of IHRA definition of anti-Semitism-By
TOI staff-4 September 2018
Arab Israeli lawmakers from
the Joint (Arab) List on Sunday threw their support behind UK opposition
leader Jeremy Corbyn, praising the Labour party leader for his
“unflinching” support for the Palestinians and backing the British
party’s controversial decision not to adopt a widely accepted
international definition of anti-Semitism.The open letter, published in
Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, saw Joint (Arab) List MKs commend
Corbyn as a “principled leftist leader,” weeks after a series of reports
surfaced underlining his ties to convicted Palestinian terrorists and
days after a former British chief rabbi branded him a dangerous
anti-Semite.“We commend Jeremy Corbyn… for his longstanding solidarity
with all oppressed peoples around the world, including his unflinching
support for the Palestinian people,” wrote MKs Ahmad Tibi, Yousef
Jabareen, Jamal Zahalka, and Masud Ganaim, on behalf of the 13 lawmakers
in the Joint List party.“We stand in solidarity with Jeremy Corbyn and
we recognize him as a principled leftist leader who aspires for peace
and justice and is opposed to all forms of racism, whether directed at
Jews, Palestinians, or any other group.”Two weeks ago, footage surfaced
of Corbyn accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians
during a 2014 rally, as a Hamas flag waved behind him. Corbyn called the
terror group “friends” prior to his election as Labour leader two years
ago, a statement he has since walked back.One of the photos published
recently showed Corbyn hosting a panel featuring senior Hamas officials
in 2012, including members convicted of murdering Israelis in terror
attacks.Earlier in August, the Daily Mail published photos of Corbyn
holding a wreath during a 2014 ceremony at a Tunisian cemetery in which
he appeared to be standing near the graves of Palestinian terrorists
involved in the slaying of 11 Israeli athletes and team members at the
1972 Munich Olympics. The photos appeared to show Corbyn in front of a
plaque honoring members of the Black September terrorist organization,
15 yards (approximately 13 meters) away from the graves of those killed
in a 1985 airstrike. The photos of Corbyn at the cemetery were condemned
by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.Corbyn for years supported and was
active on behalf of the Labour Movement Campaign for Palestine, which
opposed Israel’s existence and called for the eradication of Zionism.
And in 2011, in an interview with Iran’s PressTV, Corbyn lamented what
he claimed was the BBC’s “bias towards saying that… Israel has a right
to exist.”The Arab MKs’ letter to The Guardian also raised the issue of
the so-called nation-state bill advanced in July, with the elected Arab
parliamentarians accusing the Israeli government of discrimination
against its Arab citizens since 1948.“Palestinian citizens of Israel
have yet to experience a single day of equality, de jure or de facto –
to say nothing of the millions of Palestinians under military occupation
in the West Bank, under siege in the Gaza Strip, and the six million in
exile abroad, prevented from returning to their homeland simply because
they are not Jews,” the letter said.“As part of the Palestinian people,
this has been our lived experience of the Zionist movement since day
one.”Corbyn has also been under fire for his own allegedly anti-Semitic
positions and has been accused of failing to root anti-Semitism out of
the Labour party.He and his party have so far refused to adopt fully the
International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of
anti-Semitism in Labour’s new code of conduct. The Labour leadership has
argued the definition, signed by 31 countries and used by many British
institutions, does not allow for full criticism of Israel’s treatment of
Palestinians.The four clauses rejected by the party relate to unfair
singling out of Israel or questioning the loyalty of Jews who support
Israel.The Joint List MKs said they fully supported the Labour party’s
decision to reject those clauses.“As long as efforts to curb anti-Jewish
sentiment in the UK are focused on combating the disparagement of Jews
merely for their membership in a minority group, they have our full
support. But when some try to force the Labour party into using as its
litmus test a definition of anti-Semitism that goes far beyond
anti-Jewish animus to include anti-Zionism, we must raise our voices and
decry these efforts,” the Arab lawmakers wrote.The National Executive
Committee of the Labour party is due to meet on Tuesday and is expected
to belatedly accept the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism in full
following pressure from the British Jewish community and many current
and past Labour members and lawmakers. However, it is anticipated that
the party may add certain caveats to ensure that Corbyn himself, among
others in Labour, will not be deemed to have breached the definition.The
latest firestorm to engulf the Labour Party followed the revelation
last month of comments made by Corbyn in a 2013 speech at the
Palestinian Return Centre in London, where he said of a group of British
“Zionists”: “They clearly have two problems. One is they don’t want to
study history and, secondly, having lived in this country for a very
long time, probably all their lives, they don’t understand English irony
either.”Former chief rabbi Lord Sacks, responding to those remarks,
accused Corbyn of giving “support to racists, terrorists and dealers of
hate, who want to kill Jews and remove Israel from the map.” The Labour
leader, Sacks said, uses “the language of classic prewar European
antisemitism.” Labour rejected Sacks’ denunciation, calling the rabbi’s
critique absurd and offensive.Israel’s Arab lawmakers recently drew
widespread condemnation over a TV report claiming they had joined forces
with the Palestinians in an attempt to convince the UN to advance a
resolution next month at the UN General Assembly that likens the
quasi-constitutional nation-state legislation — which enshrines Israel’s
status as a Jewish state — to apartheid. That report, which was denied
by all parties ostensibly involved, drew widespread condemnation in
Israel, with one minister calling for the MKs involved to be tried for
treason.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH IN NOAHS DAY(BECAUSE OF SIN,VIOLENCE AND GODLESS PEOPLE)
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
HOSEA 4:1-3
1 Hear
the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a
controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth,
nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
2 By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood.
3
Therefore shall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein
shall languish, with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of
heaven; yea, the fishes of the sea also shall be taken away.
DEUTORONOMY 28:22-24
22
The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and
with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword,
and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until
thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25
And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in
the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC)
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.
FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS
REVELATION 8:7
7
The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with
blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees
was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.
Ottawa universities and colleges prepare for legal cannabis-[CBC]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2018
Students
returning to Ottawa's colleges and universities this fall could find
that their ability to smoke recreational marijuana on campus may depend
on which school they attend.Ontario will allow anyone over the age of 19
to purchase cannabis once it becomes legal next month, but the
provincial government has banned its use in public, restricting anyone
who wants to smoke to private homes.But that won't necessarily include
university residences."In residence, students won't be allowed to
possess marijuana," said David Oladejo, president of the Carleton
University Students Association.Oladejo said the university is still
finalizing its policies around marijuana, which are set to be released
by the end of the month.But one thing is clear: recreational cannabis
won't get the same treatment as tobacco."Right now, there won't be
designated smoking zones on campus like we have for cigarettes," he
said.Not everyone is in favour of that approach."I don't really
understand where they're coming from, disallowing it on campus," said
Omar Moustafa, a first-year Carleton student.Moustafa said he doesn't
smoke, but still feels there's a disconnect between the university's
policies around cigarettes and marijuana."Personally, I think that
cigarettes are more harmful," he said. "So they should be stopping that
more than marijuana."Different policies across campuses-Carleton's
prospective policy differs from the University of Ottawa, which says
students over the age of 19 may be allowed to smoke in their dorm rooms
if the province determines they are considered private homes.The
university also participates in the Council of Ontario Universities Task
Force, which is studying the effects of cannabis on campuses across
Ontario.La Cité collégiale said smoking marijuana will only be allowed
in a specific area of the campus, with the college applying the same
guidelines for the drug as it has for alcohol, drugs and
medications.Algonquin College said it is still finalizing its marijuana
policies. Back at Carleton, first-year international student Philip
Weber is from the Netherlands, where marijuana has been decriminalized
for personal use for decades."That means it's less secretive and a bit
more open for use, and that people are able to talk about it more with
the health risks and also just making sure that there's good quality,"
Weber said.Weber doesn't expect the prohibition of recreational cannabis
on campus will necessarily dissuade anyone from using it, since they
could easily leave campus to light up.But at least one parent applauded
Carleton's policy to ban the drug."[Students are] here for an education
and not to party," said Erica Scott, who has two children attending
university and college in the city."So if they want to do that, fine.
Off campus is perfect. But when you're on campus, you're here for one
reason — and that's to get your education."
Large wildfire in northwest B.C. not expected to grow further: wildfire service-[The Canadian Press]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2018
PRINCE
GEORGE, B.C. — The BC Wildfire Service says precipitation and
favourable weather have allowed it to contain one of the province's
largest active wildfires, more than a month after it was initially
discovered.After growing to more than 900 square kilometres, the fire
burning near Shovel Lake in northwestern B.C. was hit with scattered
showers overnight, and Claire Allen of the BC Wildfire Service said any
further growth is unlikely."We're not under control yet, seeing as there
is still a lot of internal activity and a lot of work for crews to do
over the next few weeks here," Allen said Sunday.That work includes
clearing up hotspots, perimeter patrols and assessing
potentially-dangerous tree falls.The nights in the northwest part of
B.C. are becoming quite cool and dropping to near-freezing levels, which
Allen said reduces their burning window considerably, though the turn
of seasons does not necessarily mean the end of the wildfire season."The
winds do tend to pick up in the fall so that's something we're watching
quite closely," she added.Apart from potential gusts, Sunday's forecast
in the area was favourable, with highs in the mid to upper teens and
plenty of moisture in the air with a humidity index of nearly 40 per
cent.This comes after winds gusting up to 60 kilometres per hour hit the
blaze on Friday, which did not push the fire past the established
containment lines.Allen said as the season ends, the importance of
establishing containment lines ahead of a fire front is considerably
lessened, and firefighters can change their tactics to match the lowered
fire activity."Fire behaviour generally becomes reduced this time of
year, so our crews are able to do a bit more direct attack," she said
from the fire centre in Prince George, B.C.Allen said they have not seen
as much torching in the area, where trees burn from the bottom up and
resemble a torch, but noted that as autumn nears, deciduous trees will
shed their leaves and create a different problem.She said deciduous
leaves tend to hold more moisture in the summer and can act as natural
barrier for ground fires, but as the leaves dry and tumble from their
branches, they can act as fuel for smouldering ground fires."We'll be
watching that in case it kicks up additional surface ground fires and
have crews respond to that," she said, adding she expected firefighters
would have another few weeks left before that could become a
problem.Several evacuation alerts in the area were rescinded on Aug. 31,
though further evacuation orders and alerts in the area will remain in
effect.On Sunday, an alert issued for 872 properties by the district of
Fort St. James, a municipality due northeast of the wildfire, was fully
rescinded.Allen said there is no longer a threat to any structures near
the Shovel Lake wildfire and Fort St. James, and that while the wildfire
service could confirm the blaze was man-made, the exact cause of the
fire was still under investigation by the Prince George Fire Centre.An
area restriction for public safety will remain in place for the wildfire
near Shovel Lake until at least noon on Sept. 15. — By Spencer Harwood
in Vancouver (follow him on Twitter @SpenceHarwood) Spencer Harwood, The
Canadian Press.
WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)
EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18
WORLD TERRORISM
OH
BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN
ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE
MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE
REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND
LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).
GENESIS 6:11-13
11
The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with
violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)(HAMAS IN HEBREW IS VIOLENCE)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13
And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the
earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM)(HAMAS) through them; and,
behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11
And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with
child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF
THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And
he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS)
man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be
against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against
him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL
ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his
brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)
ISAIAH 14:12-14
12
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the
morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine
heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars
of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the
sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF
THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)
JOHN 16:2
2
They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM
MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)
Iraq’s Sadr
and Abadi form biggest parliamentary bloc-As the largest bloc it would
be tasked by the president to form the government;Western-backed Abadi
could remain as prime minister-By AFP-TOI-SEP 4,18
BAGHDAD,
Iraq — Sixteen political groupings in Iraq, including those of
nationalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and outgoing Prime Minister
Haider al-Abadi, late Sunday reached an accord to create the biggest
bloc in parliament, capable of forming a new government.A close aide to
Abadi told AFP that the bloc consists of 177 deputies, which is more
than half of the 329 lawmakers elected in legislative polls.As the
largest bloc it would be tasked by the president to form the
government.Iraq’s political system is designed to ensure that no one
person or party can dominate in order to avoid any return of a
dictatorship following the ouster of strongman Saddam Hussein.The accord
came just several hours before the first session of the Iraqi
parliament which was elected in May.Abadi, backed by the West, who came
in third in the elections with 42 seats, could possibly remain in his
post.According to a copy of the list of signatories to the new accord
seen by AFP, it includes Sadr’s alliance with communists which won the
most seats in the election (54 seats).On Monday, parliament will hold
its inaugural session during which it must elect a speaker —
traditionally a member of Iraq’s Sunni Muslim community — as well two
deputy speakers.Parliamentarians will then have 30 days to elect a new
president for the country, a position that goes to a member of the
Kurdish minority with at least two-thirds of the vote.Kurdish parties
have yet to officially announce candidates for the top but largely
symbolic post of president.The new president will then have 15 days to
task the biggest parliamentary bloc to form a new government.The new
coalition accord also includes the Wataniya list of outgoing secular
vice president Iyad Allawi (21 seats) as a signatory along with several
Sunni lists as well as Shiite cleric Ammar al-Hakim’s Al-Hikma list (19
seats).
Duterte in Israel: sorry for calling Obama ‘son of a
whore,’ but backs rape joke-The controversial Philippine president
starts his three-day visit to the country with a speech to Filipino
workers in Jerusalem-By TOI staff and Agencies-SEP 4,18
Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte, kicked off his Israel visit with a typically
controversial speech to Filipino workers in Jerusalem, where he
apologized to Barack Obama for calling him a “son of a whore” and
defended a recent rape joke.Duterte, 73, arrived in Israel earlier
Sunday for a visit that has drawn widespread condemnation, given his
human rights record and his recent comparison of himself to
Hitler.Duterte was met at Ben Gurion Airport by Communication Minister
Ayoub Kara of the governing Likud party, before heading off to Jerusalem
to meet with some 1,400 Filipinos.The meeting was closed to Israeli
journalists, but reporters travelling with Duterte said that he gave a
rambling talk of more than an hour, during which aids frequently tried
to get him to tone down his colorful language.During the speech, Duterte
apologized to former US President Barack Obama for calling him a “son
of a whore” in 2016 ahead of a planned meeting where he warned he would
not be lectured by Obama over concerns about a brutal war on crime that
had then claimed more than 2,400 lives in the Philippines.“You must be
respectful. Do not just throw away questions and statements. Son of a
whore, I will curse you in that forum,” Duterte told reporters when
asked about his message for Obama.“I am sorry for uttering those words,”
Duterte said Sunday in Jerusalem, according to a reporter with the
Manila Bulletin. It was not immediately clear why he chose to address
the Obama insult during his Israel visit. He also told Obama he had
forgiven him too.The president also defended his recent remarks in which
he said there would be many rape cases in a Philippine city “if there
were many beautiful women.”Duterte told the crowd he was joking, but
also said he was just exercising his right to freedom of speech in a
democracy.Duterte justifies his Davao rape joke, cites democracy,
freedom of expression-— Pia Gutierrez (@pia_gutierrez) September 2,
2018-There are some 30,000 thousand Filipinos working in Israel, mostly
as caregivers and Duterte told them that Israel was the only country in
the Middle East where their human rights were respected.The rights of
the Filipino caretakers was expected to be one of the key issues in
talks with Israel, alongside bolstering bilateral ties in a various of
areas, including trade and defense.Duterte tells OFWs in Israel that
they are "far better here" compared to OFWs in other Middle Eastern
countries where they experience abuse. @argyllcyrus_MB— Argyll Cyrus
(@argyllcyrus_MB) September 2, 2018-He is scheduled to lunch with Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, meet other top officials, and
visit the country’s Holocaust memorial. He is also expected to sign a
major oil deal and view an arms display.Duterte’s forces are accused of
killing thousands in anti-drug raids since he took office in 2016. He
drew outrage that year when he compared his anti-drug campaign to the
Holocaust and himself to Adolf Hitler, saying he would be “happy to
slaughter” three million addicts as the Nazi leader slaughtered the
Jews. He later apologized.Israeli human rights activists plan to protest
the visit and have encouraged President Reuven Rivlin not to host
Duterte.Manila currently acknowledges almost 5,000 deaths and 50,000
arrests in Duterte’s drug war; human rights groups put the figures far
higher, and say most of those dead are the urban poor. The Reuters news
agency has published a series of exposés that indicate Duterte’s police
have summarily executed hundreds of alleged drug dealers — shooting them
in the head and heart at close range.For Duterte, the visit may be most
significant for his drive to seek weapons deals outside of the
US.According to the Kan state broadcaster, Duterte is bringing with him a
delegation of 400, including top army and police officials, some of
whom are expected to visit Israeli army bases.Duterte has been very open
about his proclivity for Israeli arms, having said publicly that he
prefers them over the weapons manufactured in other countries.“On the
matter of arms, I said, do not buy from anyone except from Israel,” he
said in 2016.The US and Canada have both had military hardware deals
fall apart with the Philippines due to concerns over Duterte’s drug war.
But so far, sales with Israel have gone smoothly.The Philippines
emerged as a significant new customer in 2017 for Israel, with sales of
radar and anti-tank equipment worth $21 million.Israel is among the
world’s top arms dealers, with nearly 60 percent of its defense exports
going to the Asia Pacific region, according to Israeli Defense Ministry
data.One of the key events of trip will be a visit to a memorial
dedicated to his country’s efforts to save Jews persecuted by the
Nazis.On Wednesday, Duterte is set to lay a wreath at the “Open Doors”
Monument in Rishon LeZion’s Holocaust Memorial Park. Contrary to some
media reports, he will not inaugurate the monument, as it was unveiled
back in 2009.The monument commemorates the Philippine’s “open doors”
policy in 1939. At the time, most countries opposed Jewish immigration,
but then president Manuel L. Quezon (who held office from 1935-44)
allowed the issuance of 10,000 visas to persecuted Jews. Due to the
outbreak of World War II and the Japanese invasion, only some 1,300 Jews
actually reached safety in Philippines.Though the two countries have
enjoyed strong ties since establishing diplomatic relations some 60
years ago, Duterte’s government has rebuffed rumors that it may seek to
relocate its embassy to Jerusalem, as the US did earlier this year.
JCC
hoax bomber’s mental state clouds relationship between crime and
punishment-20-year-old's tough treatment at hands of guards appears to
be based on his rap sheet, but raises questions about whether his autism
is being accounted for-By Jacob Magid-TOI-SEP 4,18
For
most inmates at Ramle’s Ayalon Prison, visitation hours are held in an
open, cafeteria-like room where detainees sit beside their loved ones
and hug them goodbye at the session’s end.But for M. — a 20-year-old
Israeli-American convicted in June of hoaxing US JCCs and other targets
around the world with thousands of bomb threats — visits take place on
separate sides of a glass divider, where he can speak to his parents
through a corded telephone.Such precautions aren’t taken for just any
prisoner. The threats made by M. — whose name remains under gag order
and is instead referred to in many Israeli broadcasts as the “Ashkelon
Hacker” — led to numerous school evacuations, to planes making emergency
landings, to fighter jets scrambling. In some cases, he allegedly
threatened to execute children he claimed to be holding hostage.I
accompanied the detainee’s parents to their weekly visit Thursday
morning expecting to meet that M. But the young man waiting behind the
glass window could not have been more different from the suspect you
might have imagined after reading his rap sheet.M. has autism.While
every case is unique and many prefer to say that no one is defined by
their diagnosis, for M.’s parents this is the first thing they want you
to understand about their child.The moment M. saw us from the other side
of the glass, he began to wave in that manner only young children do,
using just his wrist.As the 20-year-old slowly began opening up about
his treatment inside the prison, though, it became clear why he didn’t
look more happy to see us.The 30-minute visit revealed the
until-now-hidden result of actions taken by an Israeli legal system
that, M.’s parents argue, is bent on demonstrating that it will show no
mercy in dealing with their son for generating such havoc around the
globe.If that means placing a 20-year-old diagnosed with a severe
developmental disorder in a maximum-security prison, so be it.Crying out
in pain-So there sat M. — alone on the other side of the glass,
uncuffed for the first time in hours — opposite his parents, who spoke
to him through a pair of telephones as three armed guards looked on.“How
are you, M.?” asked his worried-sick mother, S. (the names of his
parents have been gagged as well).“I’m okay,” her son responded
solemnly. “They’ve improved my conditions over the past few days” —
guards had began cuffing him with his hands in front instead of behind
his back.“How’s your wrist?” asked S. “Show it to me. Does it still
hurt??”The young man lifted his wrist to show largely faded marks that
he claimed were caused by one of the prison guards who twisted it while
he was still shackled, digging the metal cuffs into his skin and, his
parents believe, causing a bone to break.That incident had taken place
two weeks earlier, when a pair of probation officers paid a visit to the
prison to prepare a report on M. that will be presented at his
sentencing hearing on October 9.M.’s father, G., asked him to recall
what had happened, and the detainee reluctantly complied.He said the
officers had asked him to explain why he had committed such crimes. “I
told them because I wanted others to have fun,” M. said, in a line
consistent with the defense he gave throughout the trial, suggesting he
did not comprehend the gravity of his actions.Evidently unsatisfied with
the answer, M. recalled how the observing guards cuffed his hands
behind his back and began to twist. “I cried out in pain,” he said.G.
and S. told me that their son has repeatedly asked to see a doctor, but
has been refused. They filed a police complaint against the guard, but
he has remained assigned to M.-A bad birthday-Last Saturday, M. turned
20. His parents had planned to wish him a happy birthday during their
daily call, but the phone never rang. When it finally did, two days
later, M. told his father that he had spent most of his birthday tied to
his bed.Sitting at a cafe near the prison following our Thursday visit,
G. played a recording of the phone call in which his son shared how he
had been afraid of receiving another beating from the same officer who
had hurt his wrist. When the guards came to his cell for their nightly
inspection on Friday — a day before his birthday — M. asked if he could
go to the “pillow room,” where inmates at risk of self-harm are
sometimes placed.After he was refused, M. recalled to his father how he
told the guards he was going to hurt himself.“He doesn’t understand the
consequences of making such threats,” G. said, while also clarifying
that his son has indeed tried to take his own life on a number of
occasions. The prison, in turn, has placed a guard with him for close to
24 hours a day, according to the father.But apparently that precaution
wasn’t enough; M. said he spent the next 18 hours, from 9:30 p.m. to
3:30 p.m. the next day, tied to his bed — “like Jesus Christ,” his
mother piped up, as she shook her head in disbelief.“If they keep him in
there any longer, he’s going to die,” said S., shaking in her seat in
the coffee shop, as she lamented the guards’ refusal to let him out of
his cell for more than 30 minutes a day.Not eating since 8:42-Back at
Ayalon, G. asked his son if he could recall other recent instances of
abuse at the hands of the guards.M. began to get agitated. “Can we talk
about something else?” he pleaded.That “something else” ended up somehow
being me. M.’s demeanor changed almost instantly at the opportunity to
talk to a new face.He inquisitively asked where I was from and what I do
for a living. On three occasions while his mother was asking him
questions, he asked her to pass the phone back to me — a stranger he had
never met before.His parents were concerned the presence of a reporter
might spook the guards, so I was told to refrain from asking questions
about the charges against M., or from conducting the conversation as an
interview.I asked M. how he kept up his spirits behind bars.“I’m hopeful
that I will be released soon,” he said simply.In an attempt to keep the
conversation light, I asked the young man what his favorite foods are
at the prison canteen.“I don’t plan on buying any on Sunday, because I
plan to go on a hunger strike again,” M. replied clearly.His father
explained that M. had carried out the measure at the end of the previous
week, for four days.M. specified that he had stopped eating “at 8:42”
p.m. last Wednesday evening, providing a level of detail common for
someone with his condition.M. recalled how, by Monday morning, the
effects of the hunger strike had overwhelmed his body and he began
eating again, But, as his father had relayed to The Times of Israel last
week, the 20-year-old said he planned to go on a hunger strike once
more.“Until they improve my conditions,” said M.-What remorse? The young
man stuttered often and spoke with a lisp. During our post-visit stop
at the nearby Ramle cafe, his parents explained that those are among the
more benign effects of a brain tumor which, they argue, has played no
small role in clouding M.’s judgment over the years.S. said that the
tumor’s symptoms have grown more severe since her son was incarcerated
nearly a year and a half ago, but the prison has refused to let him see a
neurologist.Medical records documenting the tumor were presented to the
court by the defense during the trial, but they went unmentioned in the
verdict; as did testimonies from over 10 psychiatric experts brought
forward by the defense, who argued that M. should not be held
responsible for his actions.The final ruling against M. even left out a
court-ordered report in which a clinical psychiatrist from the Welfare
Ministry concluded that he “could not distinguish between good and
evil.”Ultimately, Judge Zvi Gurfinkel acknowledged M.’s autism
diagnosis, but concluded that it did not serve as a “warranty” absolving
him from responsibility.Among other things, the ruling relied on a line
that the Tel Aviv district psychiatrist included in his report on
behalf of the state, in which he quoted M. as telling him, “I realize
that this isn’t a game, and I’m sorry.”M.’s parents have utterly
rejected the possibility that their son could have made such an
admission.Citing an interview he and his wife gave to The Times of
Israel the month after his son’s arrest, G. asserted that “M. does not
know how to apologize. He doesn’t understand what remorse is.”The
detainee’s attorney, Yoram Sheftel, said he had asked for proof that the
admission had been given, but was told that the district psychiatrist
had lost the notes from the relevant evaluation.M.’s parents said they
plan on raising the various omissions from Gurfinkel’s “illegitimate”
ruling at a Supreme Court appeal that will be filed immediately after
sentencing is handed down.Nobody is asking who paid M.’G. called the
trial “one big conspiracy,” arguing that the state’s haste in
prosecuting came in lieu of asking the difficult questions involved in
his son’s case.The father asserted that M. had not been phoning in bomb
threats entirely on his own volition. Rather, the young man had posted a
price list for his intimidation services online. Using bitcoin,
customers could commission the threat of a “massacre at a private home”
for the equivalent of $40, a call threatening a “school massacre” for
$80, and a bomb threat against a plane for $500.G. noted how his son
never did anything with the money — further proof, he believes, of M.’s
hazy motivations in carrying out the crimes.While being careful not to
excuse any of his son’s actions, G. pointed out that “nobody is asking
who paid M.”“Everyone is satisfied with pinning the entire thing on a
boy with autism and ignoring the fact that there are people behind every
one of those requests,” he charged.While declining to elaborate, G.
said that the public would be made aware of the names “in the near
future.”“This has destroyed our lives,” the father said at the coffee
shop; yet it was clear that the two of them were not done fighting.-Life
is beautiful? The insistence on remaining hopeful was also apparent in
the manner in which they ended their visit with M.In the final minutes,
S. started telling her son about a young man named Ben Megarry, a
19-year-old with autism, who was similarly convicted of phoning in
nearly two dozen hoax bomb threats to schools in the UK.But the British
version of the story saw Megarry avoid jail time, instead receiving a
sentence of two years’ probation, along with 70 hours of community
service.The case was similar to that of M., featuring a young man
wreaking havoc from his own bedroom, while seemingly unable to
comprehend the consequences of his actions.“I wanted to give him a
reason to be hopeful,” S. recalled after the visit, though, at the time,
it didn’t seem clear that M. had understood.As the parents exchanged
some final words with their son, a guard entered the room and began
shouting at them. “I’ve already told you 20 times to finish up, and
you’ve been ignoring me,” he barked.G. and S. looked at each other in
shock, as neither of them had heard the guard attempt to get their
attention more than once.“I plan on passing this along to the
higher-ups,” the guard said. G. and S. did not say a word, fearful of
further upsetting a guard who could easily be among those responsible
for their son later in the day.Rushing their goodbyes, the parents
placed their palms on the glass, as M. did the same on the other side.As
they walked out, they sneaked one last glance through the window, to
see their son being cuffed and ushered away by guards in the opposite
direction.Just above that window hung a finger-painting with the phrase
“Life is beautiful.” At best, it could have been a tactless reference to
life on their side of the glass, though hopefully they didn’t notice
it.Responding to claims of mistreatment of M. by Ayalon Prison guards,
the Israel Prisons Service (IPS) issued the following statement:“The
course of [M.’s] detention has been characterized by complex behavior,
including attempts at self-harm, violence against others, property
damage, and repeated attempts to escape legal custody. In addition,
during the course of his detention, the detainee continued to use the
public telephone to harm public safety.“In order to protect him as well
as the public order, strict security guidelines were issued, which
balanced the IPS’s obligation to hold him in legal custody… along with
the need to take his special circumstance fully into account. Throughout
his detention, many attempts have been made to integrate him into
therapeutic processes, but the detainee has not cooperated. It should
also be clarified that the detainee’s family’s requests are handled
professionally and on a daily basis. At the same time, investigations
conducted as a result of these inquiries — including ones by external
agents — have not found fault, or evidence of their claim.”For their
part, G. and S. responded with the following statement:“The IPS and the
State of Israel have ignored the recommendations of medical experts who
have stated that M.’s place is not in prison, but rather in a
rehabilitative institutional process. As a result, they exercise
excessive force and violence [against M.], which they whitewash in an
alarmingly professional manner. Each of our claims has not been
investigated and instead has been closed in a fashion typical of a Third
World country. We, his parents, fear for his life.”
Syrian state media says electrical fault behind airbase blasts-[Reuters]-YAHOONEWS-September 4, 2018
BEIRUT
(Reuters) - An electrical fault caused a series of loud blasts early on
Sunday near a military airbase outside the Syrian capital Damascus, a
Syrian military source cited by state media and an Iranian official
said.An official in the regional alliance backing Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad and a Britain-based war monitor had earlier attributed
the blasts to Israeli missile strikes.The state media cited a military
source as saying there was no "Israeli aggression" directed at the
Mezzeh airbase near Damascus, after the sound of explosions was heard
across the Syrian capital.There was no immediate comment from
Israel.Iran's state news agency IRNA quoted an unnamed Iranian military
official based in Syria as saying that the blast was caused by "an
electrical short-circuit in an ammunition depot" on the outskirts of
Damascus.The official in the regional pro-Assad alliance had said the
blasts were caused by Israeli missile fire from across the Golan Heights
frontier between the two countries and by Syrian air defenses
responding.A war monitor, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also
attributed the blasts to Israeli strikes, and said the blasts led to
deaths and injuries.Israel has previously acknowledged having carried
out air strikes in Syria aimed at degrading the capacity of Iran and its
allies, including Lebanon's Shi'ite Hezbollah group, which are backing
Assad in the country's seven-year civil war.In May, it said it attacked
nearly all of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria after Iranian
forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time in the
most extensive military exchange ever between the two
adversaries.(Reporting By Angus McDowall and Laila Bassam in Beirut,
Mohamed el Sharif in Cairo, and the Dubai newsroom; Editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
