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)
DISEASES-ANIMAL TO HUMAN
REVELATION 6:7-8 (500 MILLION DEAD EACH FROM THE 4 JUDGEMENTS)(2 BILLION TOT DEAD HERE)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 billion) of (8 billion) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS)(500 million) and with hunger,(FAMINE)(500 million) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES)(500 million) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE)(500 million).
THE COVID-19 TOTALS.
WORLD OVER ALL CASES 175,411,890 DEAD 3,783,423 AS OF THU JUN 10,21
Likud promises peaceful transition of power, again accuses Bennett of fraud-Party continues to claim Yamina leader ‘hijacked votes from the right,’ falsely compares his actions to US electors switching voters’ choice of president-By TOI staff-jun 10,21-Today, 10:05 pm
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party on Thursday issued a clarification of the premier’s claims of “election fraud” in Israel that made international headlines and drew comparisons to former US president Donald Trump.In an English tweet thread retweeted by the premier, the party for the first time said that Netanyahu is committed to a “peaceful transition of power.”However, his office has refused to state whether the prime minister will be attending the traditional handover ceremony of the premiership on Monday, and a transitional briefing with incoming premier Naftali Bennett has not yet been scheduled, with the government swear-in less than three days away.Bennett is set to become prime minister after he reached a coalition deal with opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party and a wide array of parties aligned against Netanyahu, ranging from the dovish Meretz to the pro-annexation New Hope and the Islamist party Ra’am. Under the agreement, Bennett will serve as prime minister for two years before handing the office to Lapid for the remainder of the term.On Sunday, Netanyahu told a Likud faction meeting, “We are witnesses to the greatest election fraud in the history of the country and in my opinion, the history of democracies.”Those comments and others were picked up by CNN, which published a segment on Wednesday featuring side-by-side footage of Netanyahu and Trump using nearly identical rhetoric to dismiss the validity of election results, to disparage the media, to make claims regarding the existence of a “deep state” and to promise to fight the new government formed to replace them.Likud’s Thursday statement said: “When Prime Minister Netanyahu speaks about ‘election fraud,’ he isn’t referring to the vote-counting process in Israel, in which he has complete confidence.”Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu is on the verge of losing power, and he's not going quietly… loudly denying the legitimacy of his own defeat, as he takes a page out of Donald Trump's playbook. #RollTheTape pic.twitter.com/DAtE3lFeeM — Brianna Keilar (@brikeilarcnn) June 9, 2021-The Likud statement sought to distance Netanyahu from violence such as that exhibited during the January 6 storming of the US capitol.“There is also no question about the peaceful transition of power,” it said. “There always has been a peaceful transfer of power in Israel and there always will be.”However, Likud stood by Netanyahu’s characterization of “election fraud” to describe the formation of the unity government replacing him, saying it accurately depicted Bennett’s breaking of pre-election promises not to form a government with Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and the Islamist Ra’am party.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, speaks with then-defense minister Yamina party leader Naftali Bennett, March 4, 2020. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)-“Bennett hijacked votes from the right and shifted them to the left in direct contradiction to his pledges,” Likud said. “If this isn’t fraud we don’t know what is.”Last year, Netanyahu helped form a government that violated the pre-election promises made by Blue and White chairman Benny Gantz, who had vowed not to sit with Likud chairman.Likud falsely claimed that “Bennett’s actions are akin to US electors unilaterally switching the voters’ choice for president against the will of the electorate.”The American and Israel election systems are very different. Voters do not cast ballots for a prime minister, but for a party, with the Knesset then voting confidence in a prime minister. Parties are in no way obligated to vote for one prime minister over another.Netanyahu’s party has not let up in its attacks on the Yamina chairman and has called on the public to protest against the prospective unity government.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemns rival Naftali Bennett’s newly declared bid to build a unity government with Yair Lapid that would end his 12 years as prime minister, May 30, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/ Pool via AP)-In an interview with the right-wing Channel 20 network earlier this week, Netanyahu called Bennett a serial liar.“The deep state is deep within this government,” Netanyahu said of the nascent coalition set to replace him, using a term for a supposed conspiracy of bureaucrats working against the elected leadership, popularized by Trump during his time in office.Netanyahu repeatedly accused Bennett of lying to the public, calling him at one point a “habitual liar.” And he claimed that the incoming government was “more dangerous” than Israel’s 2005 pullout from Gaza, which he said resulted in Hamas rocket attacks, and the Oslo peace accords that gave the Palestinians limited self-rule in the West Bank.
7,000-year-old seal impression marks prehistoric site as early trade hub-A twice-stamped little ancient blob of clay discovered in Tel Tsaf — alongside other evidence — leads researchers to deduce a millennia-old complex mercantile exchange-By Amanda Borschel-Dan-JUN 10,21-Today, 8:45 pm
The ancient Beit She’an Valley village of Tel Tsaf may have been a prehistoric commercial mecca, according to a recent article published in the journal Levant.Alongside mounting evidence of organized large-scale agricultural production, a tiny 7,000-year-old blob of clay with geometric patterns — the earliest impressed sealing discovered in the region — is giving academics new insight into what may have been one of the earliest trade hubs and administration centers in the southern Levant.According to Hebrew University Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, the sealing was used on a grain silo door or a commodities sack or vessel much in the manner of a hair placed on a doorjamb — to catch trespassers.“Even today, an electrical meter is sealed with a plomba [lead seal] to see if somebody has opened it and played with the numbers,” Garfkinkel explained to The Times of Israel on Thursday. “It’s an administrative device still used today — like wax and notaries’ stamps.”The clay sealing was uncovered in a Middle Chalcolithic context (5200–4500 BCE) during excavations conducted by Garfinkel and Ariel University’s Prof. David Ben-Shlomo and Dr. Michael Freikman in 2004–2007.According to their recently published article in Levant, “A stamped sealing from Middle Chalcolithic Tel Tsaf: implications for the rise of administrative practices in the Levant,” the Tel Tsaf sealing is “thus far, the earliest known sealing from the southern Levant dated prior to the 4th millennium BCE, with an actual seal impression.”The authors further propose that, taken alongside previously excavated complex agricultural storage systems, the new sealing may be first evidence of a trade hub, or “administrative control of trade and transportation of goods between local communities in the same area.”According to the researchers, the minuscule partially preserved sealing — the original bulla was at least 10 millimeters long and some 6 millimeters wide — is impressed with at least two different seals.The researchers suggest that the use of multiple seals to impress the bulla could be an indication of a much more sophisticated administration than previously thought and “testified to the presence of representatives of two different communities during the transaction, rather than the management of stored goods within the boundaries of the same settlement.”Clay expert Ben-Shlomo told The Times of Israel that the material used for the small seal came from approximately 10 kilometers away from the site. “Potters often travel several kilometers to take clay from a rich site,” he said. “However, it could indicate that Tel Tsaf is possibly a central site to which neighboring smaller sites brought their wares.”
Ariel University Prof. Shlomo Ben-David during a Zoom interview with The Times of Israel, July 2020. (Screenshot)Some 150 plain partial sealings were discovered at the site alongside the impressed piece. Garfinkel said that a possible next step in the research is to identify the origins of these materials as well.
According to Garfinkel, the site at Tel Tsaf is notable for its well-organized very early silos and immense storage capabilities. He said their capacity was such that there was simply too much grain to have been constructed for a single family’s consumption prior to spoilage and it was therefore a reasonable assumption that they were used in trade.
A small family could consume up to 1.5 tons of grain a year, Garfinkel explained, but at Tel Tsaf, there were multiple silos, each of which could hold up to 30 tons. Though he cautioned that due to erosion and incomplete excavation, the evidence for the village’s size is only partial, he still argued that the amount of storage space in the grain silos vastly outstripped the residents’ consumption needs.Prof. Yosef Garfinkel, Head of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, at the Khirbet a-Ra‘i excavation, on July 8, 2019. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)-This massive amount of grain, alongside a number of previously discovered exotic items from foreign lands, leads Garfinkel to conclude that grain was being traded for items of prestige.“I think they [the Tel Tsaf settlers] exchanged the grain with exotic artifacts which had become status symbols at the time — all the beads, ceramics, exotic items,” he said. They were purely to exhibit wealth, he said. “They were like diamonds, you cannot eat them, cannot do anything with them… If you’re starving, even with 10 tons of gold, you’ll die.”The very early sealing could, therefore, be indicative of a mercantile exchange.“The appearance of the stamped sealing at Tel Tsaf may reflect the emergence of the need to claim ownership of commodities and to ensure authorized access,” write the authors. And in an era prior to the written word, “It has been proposed that the seals bearing geometric motifs were a means of identifying a person, or a group of people, within the society, or of protecting private property,” the authors write in the article.Meet the Flintstones-Settlement at Tel Tsaf, near the Jordan River and the modern state of Jordan, dates to circa 5200-4700 BCE. The site was initially identified in the 1940s during a Beit She’an Valley archaeological survey.The first detailed excavation took place in 1978-1980, when findings from deep probe trenches suggested that there were two occupation periods at the site: the Pottery Neolithic period and the Early Chalcolithic period. Another set of excavations was undertaken by Garfinkel, et al, between 2004 and 2007, uncovering evidence of Middle and Early Late Chalcolithic settlement. University of Haifa Prof. Danny Rosenberg, who was not part of the study, has been excavating at Tel Tsaf since 2013.Just 4 centimeters long and 1 millimeter thick at the tip, the awl discovered at Tel Tsaf was set in a wooden handle. (Prof. Yosef Garfinkel)-Discovery of large-scale food storage suggests that the ancient people had reached an early formative stage in the development of human society. Excavations at Tel Tsaf have also unearthed well-preserved mudbrick architecture and evidence of long-distance trade. In 2014, archaeologists unveiled a 7,000-year-old copper awl, one of the earliest metal object yet found in the Middle East.Rosenberg told The Time of Israel that there is “much evidence that the site was a hub for long-distance trade.”“Tel Tsaf is unique in its accumulation of wealth and the storage and use of early bureaucracy,” said Rosenberg.Rosenberg said that while his overarching interpretations of the site may differ from those of Garfinkel, he too has noted that the site exhibits an accumulation of wealth — mainly grain — and he sees that the Tel Tsaf community was engaged in far-flung trade, including “contacts with communities far away from Egypt, eastern Jordan, northern Levant and even beyond that.”7,200-year-old animal figurine discovered at Tel Tsaf in the Jordan Valley, July 2018. (courtesy)-“Definitely something is going on and we think that Tsaf is the earliest evidence for increasing complexity if you like, maybe a move from the old Chalcolithic, early Chalcolithic way of life into something which later will be much more pronounced in terms of social complexity — social and economic complexity — that we’ll see in the late Chalcolithic, a few hundred years later,” said Rosenberg.Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
PROOF HALF ON EARTH DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD (8 BILLION ON EARTH)
REVELATION 6:7-8 (8 BILLION- 2 BILLION = 6 BILLION)
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth,(2 BILLION) to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
REVELATION 9:15,18 (6 BILLION - 2 BILLION = 4 BILLION)
15 And the four(DEMONIC WAR) angels were loosed,
18 By these three was the third part of men killed,(2 BILLION) by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMBS)
HALF OF EARTHS POPULATION DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION.(THESE VERSES ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
LUKE 17:34-37 (8 TOTAL BILLION - 4 BILLION DEAD IN TRIB = 4 BILLION TO JESUS KINGDOM) (HALF DIE DURING THE 7 YR TRIBULATION PERIOD JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS)(GOD DOES NOT LIE)(AND NOTICE MOST DIE IN WAR AND DISEASES-NOT COMETS-ASTEROIDS-QUAKES OR TSUNAMIS)
34 I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other shall be left.(half earths population 4 billion die in the 7 yr trib)
35 Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
36 Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
37 And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.(Christians have new bodies,this is the people against Jerusalem during the 7 yr treaty)(Christians bodies are not being eaten by the birds).THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES.BECAUSE NOT HALF OF PEOPLE ON EARTH ARE CHRISTIANS.AND THE CONTEXT IN LUKE 17 IS THE 7 YEAR TRIBULATION OR 7 YR TREATY PERIOD.WHICH IS JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH.NOT 50% RAPTURED TO HEAVEN.
MATTHEW 24:37-42 (THESE ARE JUDGEMENT SCRIPTURES-SURE NOT RAPTURE SCRIPTURES)
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken,(IN WW3 JUDGEMENT) and the other left.
42 Watch therefore:(FOR THE LAST DAYS SIGNS HAPPENING) for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
AMERICA (POLITICAL BABYLON)(NUKED BY SNEAK ATTACK FROM RUSSIA)
IN REVELATION 17 & 18 IS THE DESTRUCTION OF THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL BABYLONS.IF YOU CAN NOT DECERN BETWEEN THE 2 BABYLONS IN REV 17 & 18.YOU WILL JUST THINK THEIR BOTH THE SAME.BUT NO-THERES A RELIGIOUS BABYLON (THE VATICAN IN REV 17)(AND THE POLITICAL BABYLON IN REV 18 (AMERICA OR NEW YORK TO BE EXACT)
ISAIAH 34:10
10 It (AMERICA-POLITICAL BABYLON) shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it for ever and ever.
JEREMIAH 51:29-32 (CYBER ATTACK 1ST)
29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon,(AMERICA-NEW YORK) to make the land of Babylon (AMERICA) a desolation without an inhabitant.
30 The mighty men of Babylon (AMERICA) have forborn to fight, they have remained in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as women: they have burned her dwellingplaces; her bars are broken.
031 One post shall run to meet another, and one messenger to meet another, to shew the king of Babylon (NEW YORK) that his city is taken at one end,
32 And that the passages are stopped,(THE WAR COMPUTERS HACKED OR EMP'D) and the reeds they have burned with fire, and the men of war are affrighted.(DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO)
COMPLETE SILENCE AFTER AN EMP GOES OFF
REVELATION 8:1
1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.
JEREMIAH 50:3,24
3 For out of the north (RUSSIA) there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein: they shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast.
24 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O Babylon,(AMERICA) and thou wast not aware: thou art found, and also caught, because thou hast striven against the LORD. (RUSSIA A SNEAK CYBER,EMP ATTACK,THEN NUKE ATTACK ON AM
EZEKIEL 39:11-22
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)
13 Yea, all the people of the land (OF ISRAEL) shall bury them; and it shall be to them a renown the day that I (GOD-JESUS) shall be glorified, saith the Lord GOD.
14 And they shall sever out men of continual employment,(NUCLEAR ATOMIC BOMB EXPERTS) passing through the land to bury with the passengers those that remain upon the face of the earth, to cleanse it: after the end of seven months shall they search.
15 And the passengers that pass through the land, when any seeth a man’s bone, then shall he set up a sign by it,(WON'T TOUCH IT) till the buriers have buried it (PROPERLY) in the valley of Hamongog.(RUSSIA/ARAB/MUSLIMS NEW BURIEL SITE)(EAST OF THE DEAD SEA IN THE JORDAN VALLEY)
16 And also the name of the city shall be Hamonah. Thus shall they cleanse the land.(OF THE ISRAEL-GOD HATERS)
17 And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl,(500 MILLION MIGRATING BIRDS THREW ISRAEL EVERY SPRING,FALL) 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 THE RUSSIAN/ARAB/MUSLIM ARMIES)
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.
Iran warships sail through Atlantic, said heading for US-sanctioned Venezuela-Vessels departed in May from Iran’s southern port, says deputy army chief, describing their mission as navy’s longest, most challenging voyage yet-By Isabel Debre and Jon Gambrell-JUN 10,21-Today, 8:20 pm
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An Iranian destroyer and support vessel are now sailing in the Atlantic Ocean in a rare mission far from the Islamic Republic, Iran’s state TV reported on Thursday, without offering the vessels’ final destination.The trip by the new domestically built destroyer, Sahand, and the intelligence-gathering vessel, Makran, comes amid US media reports, citing anonymous American officials, saying the ships were bound for Venezuela. The Associated Press could not immediately confirm the ships’ destination.The vessels departed last month from Iran’s southern port of Bandar Abbas, said Adm. Habibollah Sayyari, Iran’s deputy army chief. He described their mission as the Iranian navy’s longest and most challenging voyage yet, without elaborating.Iranian state TV released a short clip of the destroyer cruising through the Atlantic’s rough seas. The video was likely shot from the Makran, a converted commercial oil tanker with a mobile launch platform for helicopters.“The Navy is improving its seafaring capacity and proving its long-term durability in unfavorable seas and the Atlantic’s unfavorable weather conditions,” Sayyari said, adding that the warships would not call at any country’s port during the mission.Images from Maxar Technologies, dated April 28, appear to show seven Iranian fast-attack craft typically associated with its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard on the deck of the Makran. Satellite images from Planet Labs Inc. suggest it left a port at Bandar Abbas sometime after April 29. It was not immediately clear where the Makran and the destroyer are now.The website Politico first reported in late May, citing anonymous officials, that the ships’ final destination may be Venezuela. Iran maintains close ties to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, and has shipped gasoline and other products to the country amid a US sanctions campaign targeting fuel-starved Caracas. Venezuela is believed to have paid Iran, under US sanctions of its own, for the shipments.A top aide to Maduro has denied press reports that the ships will dock there. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive geopolitical issues.During a news conference on May 31, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh declined to say where the Makran was going.“Iran is always present in international waters and it has this right based on international law and it can be present in international waters,” he said. “No country is able to violate this right, and I warn that no one makes miscalculations. Those who sit in glass houses should be careful.”The fast-attack craft aboard the Makran are the type that the Guard used in its tense encounters with US warships in the Persian Gulf and its narrow mouth, the Strait of Hormuz. It was not immediately clear what Venezuela’s plans would be for those ships.“If the boats are delivered, they may form the core of an asymmetrical warfare force within Venezuela’s armed forces,” the US Naval Institute said in an earlier published analysis. “This could be focused on disrupting shipping as a means of countering superior naval forces. Shipping routes to and from the Panama Canal are near the Venezuelan coast.”Earlier this month, fires sank Iran’s largest warship, the 207-meter (679-foot) Kharg, which was used to resupply other ships in the fleet at sea and conduct training exercises. Officials offered no cause for the blaze, which followed a series of mysterious explosions that began in 2019 targeting commercial ships in Mideast waterways.The unusual voyage comes ahead of Iran’s June 18 presidential election, which will see voters select a successor for the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani.
After outcry, Omar insists she wasn’t equating US, Israel with terror groups-Progressive congresswoman hits back, after 12 Jewish colleagues label as ‘offensive’ her demand for war crimes accountability in Afghanistan and Gaza-By Jacob Magid-jun 10,21-Today, 10:35 pm
Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar on Thursday hit back against criticism from Jewish colleagues who accused her of equating the US and Israel with Hamas and the Taliban.“It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for ‘clarification’ and not just call,” Omar tweeted. “The Islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable.”Her post linked to a statement signed by 12 Jewish Democrats who said Ilhan’s grouping of the US and Israel with the Taliban and Hamas in remarks about pursuing war crimes prosecutions gave “cover to terrorist groups.”In a subsequent statement on Thursday, Omar said: “On Monday, I asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken about ongoing International Criminal Court investigations. To be clear: the conversation was about accountability for specific incidents regarding those ICC cases, not a moral comparison between Hamas and the Taliban and the US and Israel.“I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems,” she added. She did not tweet the statement.Rep. @IlhanMN puts out a statement clarifying her remarks earlier this week: "I was in no way equating terrorist organizations with democratic countries with well-established judicial systems. pic.twitter.com/5hlpo8tkdP — Nicholas Wu (@nicholaswu12) June 10, 2021-Omar had posted footage on Monday of her questioning US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing over the Biden administration’s opposition to International Criminal Court investigations in Afghanistan, Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza.“We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity,” she wrote. “We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban,” she wrote in the post that included the HFAC hearing footage.We must have the same level of accountability and justice for all victims of crimes against humanity.We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the U.S., Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban.I asked @SecBlinken where people are supposed to go for justice. pic.twitter.com/tUtxW5cIow — Rep. Ilhan Omar (@Ilhan) June 7, 2021The tweet drew sharp criticism from centrist and rightist pro-Israel groups and Israeli officials, as well as Republicans and conservative media.The matter also became the focus of a Wednesday meeting of the unofficial caucus of 25 Jewish Democrats in the House, which had been convened to discuss the recent uptick in antisemitism, but was steered by Rep. Brad Schneider to focus on Omar.Almost half of the caucus agreed to back a statement calling Omar’s comparison as “offensive as it is misguided… ignoring the differences between democracies governed by the rule of law and contemptible organizations that engage in terrorism at best discredits one’s intended argument and at worst reflects deep-seated prejudice.” It’s shameful for colleagues who call me when they need my support to now put out a statement asking for “clarification” and not just call.The islamophobic tropes in this statement are offensive. The constant harassment & silencing from the signers of this letter is unbearable. https://t.co/37dy2UduW0 — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 10, 2021-The United States and Israel are imperfect and, like all democracies, at times deserving of critique, but false equivalencies give cover to terrorist groups,” the statement continued. “We urge Congresswoman Omar to clarify her words placing the US and Israel in the same category as Hamas and the Taliban.”Joining Schneider in backing the statement were Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts; Ted Deutch, Lois Frankel, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida; Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey; Elaine Luria of Virginia; Kathy Manning of North Carolina; Jerry Nadler of New York; Kim Schrier of Washington; Brad Sherman of California; and Dean Phillips of Minnesota, whose Minneapolis area district neighbors Omar’s.TW: Every time I speak out on human rights I am inundated with death threats. Here is one we just got.“Muslims are terrorists. And she is a raghead n*****. And every anti-American communist piece of s*** that works for her, I hope you get what’s f***ing coming for you.” pic.twitter.com/Kid7qUgZDZ — Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) June 10, 2021-Sources said the frustration was unanimous among the caucus members with Omar’s comment, but how to address it was not. Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, a leading progressive, appeared to be hesitant, but did not outright oppose a statement, the sources said.While Omar came under fire from all directions, several progressive Democrats spoke out in her defense.“Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus,” tweeted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “They have no concept for the danger they put her in by skipping private conversations & leaping to fueling targeted news cycles around her.”“Stop attacking @IlhanMN. Stop attacking us,” tweeted Rep. Cori Bush. “I’m not surprised when Republicans attack Black women for standing up for human rights. But when it’s Democrats, it’s especially hurtful. We’re your colleagues. Talk to us directly. Enough with the anti-Blackness and Islamophobia.”“Stop the bad faith attempts to take @IlhanMN’s words out of context. She called a simple question,” wrote Rep. Ayana Pressley. “The ICC exists to investigate and exact recourse when human rights are violated. Imagine if Congress was as outraged by what Palestinians endure daily.”JTA contributed to this report.
Iran rejects UN report it is stalling on answering queries on nuclear sites-Envoy to International Atomic Energy Agency says that claim is ‘counterproductive’ and ‘deeply disappointing’ to Tehran, warns attitude could become an ‘obstacle’ in negotiations-By AFP-jun 10,21-Today, 9:08 pm
VIENNA, Austria — Iran accused the UN nuclear agency on Thursday of having taken “a counterproductive approach” after its head said Tehran had not clarified queries over possible undeclared nuclear activity.Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voiced concern in a report to its members that Iran had not clarified the long-outstanding queries.The regular report comes at a delicate time when world powers are meeting to bring the US back to the Iran nuclear deal and Tehran back into compliance with it.The 2015 landmark accord has been hanging by a thread since the US left it in 2018 and re-imposed sanctions, leading Tehran to step up its nuclear activities long curtailed by the deal.Iran Ambassador Kazem Gharib Abadi told the IAEA’s board of governors’ meeting that the latest agency report is “not credible,” calling it “deeply disappointing.”Iran insists that it is cooperating with the IAEA as it seeks clarity on several undeclared Iranian sites where nuclear activity may have taken place, mostly in the early 2000s.“The secretariat has taken a counterproductive approach at the expense of its own credibility,” he said, warning that this “could turn into an obstacle for future goodwill interactions between the two sides.”IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi told reporters on Monday that it was “becoming increasingly difficult” to extend a temporary inspections arrangement with Iran.In February, Tehran suspended some IAEA inspections, leading the agency to negotiate continued, though reduced access.The latest understanding runs out on June 24.A joint statement by France, Germany, and the UK to the board of governors on Wednesday supported the IAEA’s work.“In limiting IAEA access, Iran makes it harder for the international community to assure themselves that Iran’s activities remain exclusively peaceful,” it said.The US also urged Iran in a statement to the board to “fully cooperate.”Negotiators are expected to resume their talks in two downtown Vienna luxury hotels on Saturday to revive the 2015 accord, according to diplomats.Representatives from Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, and Iran — all party to the deal — have been meeting since early April.Negotiators from the US are also taking part indirectly in the EU-chaired discussions.Diplomats are hoping to conclude the negotiations before Iran’s presidential election on June 18.
Violence erupts at Old City flashpoint as far right’s Ben Gvir holds protest-Controversy-courting lawmaker carries Israeli flag to Damascus Gate after police ban him from marching through Muslim Quarter; at least 5 arrested; Hamas issues warning-By TOI staff-JUN 10,21-Today, 8:36 pm
Clashes broke out Thursday afternoon between East Jerusalem protesters and Israel Police, as far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir marched to the flashpoint Damascus Gate entrance to the Old City. Ben Gvir waved an Israeli flag at the site, in what he said was a personal protest, after police banned him from parading through the Muslim Quarter to reach the Temple Mount.At least five people were arrested, as hundreds of people were reported to take part in scuffles between Arabs and Ben Gvir’s Jewish supporters. One of those arrested reportedly snatched an Israeli flag from the hands of a Ben Gvir supporter.Police used riot dispersal means, including flashbangs against protesters. There were no immediate reports of injuries.Last month, clashes on the Temple Mount and around the Damascus Gate spiraled into a major confrontation between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip. The fighting ended with a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers.After Ben Gvir’s visit, and amid the rioting that followed, the Hamas military wing issued a statement saying that it was watching the developments closely.“The Al-Qassam Brigades and the leadership of the resistance are closely following the provocative and aggressive actions by the usurpers and their leaders in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the group said in a statement. “They warn against harming Al-Aqsa, and salute her free defenders in Jerusalem for their confrontation and resistance of the desecration of Al-Aqsa and the aggression against it.”Ben Gvir went to the gate after the High Court of Justice earlier rejected his appeal against a decision by police to stop him from marching through the Muslim Quarter. Police were concerned the march could reignite violence in the city and beyond. Ben Gvir had planned to march in protest of the postponement by authorities of a much larger annual flag march through the Old City by nationalist Jewish groups.That march had been scheduled for Thursday, and is now expected to take place on Tuesday — as long as organizers and police can agree on its route.Police seen during clashes with protesters following a visit of right-wing Religious Zionism party lawmaker MK Itamar Ben Gvir at the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, on June 10, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)-Ben Gvir, of the Religious Zionism party, has repeatedly been accused of deliberately stoking unrest.Under heavy security from Border Police, Ben Gvir stood at Damascus Gate and demanded that Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai resign for “surrendering to terror.”He said he had come to protest the “disgrace” that “a member of the Knesset cannot walk through the Old City” and called the ban against him a “surrender to terror by the police chief, complete subservience.”Having said that he would not confront the police, Ben Gvir nonetheless slammed the force’s decision to prevent him from heading for the Temple Mount.“The very fact that an MK in Israel cannot march in the Old City is a surrender to Hamas and terrorism; it is a victory of terrorism,” Ben Gvir charged. “Of course, we will not give up Jerusalem, we will not give up the Old City. ““These terrorists,” he said as he pointed at Arab protesters who gathered to demonstrate against his visit, “make threats, Israel surrenders, and the person who brought this upon us is the police chief.”“I will not fold. The police chief is a failure and he needs to go. I will remain in Jerusalem,” Ben Gvir said.Far-right Religious Zionism party MK Itamar Ben Gvir visits the Damascus Gate of the Old City of Jerusalem, on June 10, 2021. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)-The ban against Ben Gvir, which Channel 12 news said on Wednesday constituted an unprecedented removal of an MK’s immunity rights, was endorsed by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud) on Wednesday night asked Mandelblit to reconsider.The high-level security cabinet on Tuesday evening announced the contentious flag march planned in Jerusalem would be permitted to take place in one week, if police approve the route.Police had initially refused to authorize the event, which was set to follow a path through the Old City’s Damascus Gate entrance and Muslim Quarter, concerned of the potential for the parade to inflame tensions in the city and spark a fresh wave of unrest there, and potentially in other locations.The Hamas terror group had warned of “consequences” if the march passed through Damascus Gate.The original flag march on May 10 was stopped short by rocket fire from Hamas at Jerusalem during the unrest last month, which sparked an 11-day bout of intense fighting.The Temple Mount is the holiest place in Judaism, as the site of the biblical Temples. It is the site of the third-holiest shrine in Islam, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and has been a frequent flashpoint of violence.Israel captured the Temple Mount and Jerusalem’s Old City in the 1967 Six Day War and extended sovereignty throughout Jerusalem. However, it allowed the Jordanian Waqf to continue to maintain religious authority atop the mount, where Jews are allowed to visit under numerous restrictions, but not to pray.
Hamas honors Al Jazeera for ‘highly professional’ coverage of Gaza conflict-On visit to temporary Gaza bureau of Qatar-funded agency after old office was leveled by IDF, terror group officials present certificate, laud outlet’s ‘high level of nationalism’-By TOI staff-JUN 10,21-Today, 6:27 pm
A Hamas delegation paid a visit to the temporary bureau of Al Jazeera in Gaza Thursday, lauding the Qatari news agency for its coverage of the recent conflict between Israel and terror groups in the coastal enclave.The visit, one of what Hamas said was a series by its officials to honor media outlets for their coverage, featured the presentation to the Al Jazeera team of a certificate marking appreciation for coverage of what Hamas called the “Sword of Jerusalem” battle.Hamas deputy chief in Gaza Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera reporters that they “demonstrated their belonging to the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people,” according to a statement from the group.“What distinguishes the Palestinian journalist [from others] is that he has a national message,” Hayya said. “We saw a high level of nationalism and a national tone in Al Jazeera’s coverage.”The senior Hamas official also lauded the agency’s “high professionalism” and noted the sacrifice of its reporters, whose office was leveled by the IDF on the fifth day of the 11-day conflict. Israel says Hamas had been using several offices in the al-Jaala media tower, including one where operatives were working on technology that could jam the Iron Dome missile defense system.The Associated Press also worked from the building, the destruction of which led to intense international criticism.All occupants were warned by Israel to evacuate ahead of time, and no one was hurt.Hayya also used the opportunity to praise Al Jazeera journalist Givara Budeiri, who was detained by Israeli forces last week while covering protests in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, where Palestinian families are under threat of eviction. Police said Budeiri participated in riots at the scene, though he denied the claim.Separately on Wednesday, Al Jazeera announced that it had been targeted in successive hacking attempts over the past several days, adding that it managed to fend them off.Al Jazeera’s websites and platforms experienced “continued electronic attacks aimed at accessing, disrupting and controlling some of the news platforms” from Saturday to Tuesday, the network said in a statement picked up by Reuters.“Al Jazeera’s service provider was able to monitor and fend off all the hacking attacks and prevent them from achieving their goal,” the network added.It claimed that the cyberattacks peaked on Sunday ahead of the premiere of a documentary detailing indirect negotiations taking place between Israel and Hamas, including a voice recording purportedly of an Israeli soldier held prisoner in Gaza, which was widely regarded as fake.The Qatari news agency has long been accused of having an anti-Israeli, anti-American slant in its coverage.
