1-Thanksgiving Scriptures 2-Coastal communities warned of tide peril as storms sweep in. 3-Heavy rain forces evacuations in Va. 4-Papua New Guinea volcano rumbles on after explosive eruption. 5-Israel seals West Bank, Gaza for Jewish holiday. 6-Seizures of dirty bomb materials rise. 7-Egypt:Coptic Christians Decry State Violation of Human Rights. 8-Right of Reply: Diaspora's future depends on Israel. 9-Red tape stifles free trade by the back door. 10-Syria says prepared for Israeli attack.
Thanksgiving Scriptures
For all things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4:15
Being enriched in every thing to all bountifulness, which causeth through us, thanksgiving to God. 2 Corinthians 9:11
For the administration of this service not only supplieth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God; 2 Corinthians 9:12
Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Philippians 4:6
Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.Colossians 2:7
Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Colossians 4:2
For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:1 Timothy 4:4
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.Psalm 95:2
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.Psalm 100:4
Do not be anxious for anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Philippians 4:6
We give Thanks to the ONE AND ONLY GOD OF ISRAEL AND THE WORLD (KING JESUS) OUR SAVIOUR.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Coastal communities warned of tide peril as storms sweep in
SHÂN ROSS
SCOTLAND was on flood alert today as gale force winds and some of the highest tides in 20 years hit the west of the country.
Met Office forecasters warned last night that gusts of up to 60mph and large waves could breach coastal defences today. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) issued flood watches last night for rivers in Edinburgh and across the Lothians with particular emphasis on the mouth of the River Esk at Musselburgh. Other areas at risk are the Firth of Clyde, rivers in Dumfries and Galloway and the Kyle of Sutherland where roads and bridges are likely to subject to flooding. The agency warned a storm surge combined with high tides and winds could lead to flooding in low-lying areas in the west.
The area most likely to be affected in south-west Scotland is beside the River Nith, south of Dumfries, in the village of Kingholm Quay and on the B725 between Kelton and Glencaple. Several ferry sailings face cancellation this weekend. Caledonian MacBrayne said last night that gales had forced the cancellation of the 7pm service from Craignure to Oban and the 5pm Oban to Colonsay ferry.In the Western Isles, drivers were issued with severe weather warnings and told the worst affected area over the next 24 hours was likely to be Stornoway town centre and the southern isles, with gales expected this evening. Western Isles Council is offering sandbags to householders in low-lying properties.
Northern Constabulary advised drivers that the combination of 30-35mph winds and high tides was expected to cause problems in the southern islands. A spokesman said: This may cause some difficulties in the area for motorists. Drivers are urged to take extra care and make extra time available. Last January, a family of five from South Uist were killed when a freak wave hit their cars as the most powerful Atlantic storm in a decade hit the islands with gusts of up to 124mph. The threat of gales prompted the Shetland Coastguard to issue an urgent appeal for help yesterday morning after a fishing vessel, Helenus, became entangled in its fishing gear and needed a tow to Lerwick.
The Ocean Prospect, an oil rig being towed north past Shetland, responded by sending out the Olympic Hercules, an anchor-handling tug, to undertake the nine-hour journey towing the stricken vessel to Lerwick. Despite a lull today caused by a change in wind direction, coastal areas of southern England have been warned they could be at risk of further flooding tomorrow evening. David Rooke, the head of flood defence at the Environment Agency, which covers England and Wales, said: High tides are expected for this weekend, so anyone out near the coast should be aware of any changes in weather conditions. People are advised to follow latest weather forecasts from the Met Office and see our website for the latest flood information.
Heavy rain forces evacuations in Va. By STEVE SZKOTAK, Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. A storm that dropped as much as 9 inches of rain forced the evacuation Saturday of about 100 people in a six-block section of the capital, caused scattered flooding in the southeastern part of the state and likely contributed to the death of two fishermen. Ferry service across the James River was temporarily suspended because of high waters; one ferry returned to service Saturday afternoon. In southeast Virginia's Isle of Wight, officials evacuated about three dozen people and reported widespread flooding after at least 8 inches of rain since Friday.We have more roads out than we can keep track of,said Don Robertson, a spokesman for the county. We have some bridges that are out (and) a lot of flash flood conditions.
The bodies of cousins David F. Dryden, 70, and John W. Dryden, 59, were found Saturday in the Poquoson River where it empties into Chesapeake Bay, the Coast Guard said. Their boat was found capsized Friday night in seas of up to 5 feet and 50 mph wind gusts, Petty Officer Kip Wadlow said.The National Weather Service said rainfall since Friday ranged from 4 to 9 inches as a storm stalled over the state and a band of rain drenched central Virginia to Hampton Roads. Rain was forecast to taper off later Saturday.
In Richmond's Battery Park, police went door-to-door to more than 40 homes and apartment buildings to enforce the city-ordered evacuation. A month ago, the area was flooded during Tropical Depression Ernesto, causing $9 million in property damage and the condemnation of 68 properties. More than 250 homes were evacuated then.The latest evacuation involved approximately 100 residents, said Britt Drewes, a spokeswoman for the Department of Public Works. An emergency shelter was opened.These residents are so sad to see this again, Drewes said. When the rain started, everybody cringed. There's just frustration.
The flooding is partly the result of a broken sewer main that fouled the flood waters and brought vermin and snakes into some residents homes during Ernesto. Forty million gallons of water a day is being pumped from the neighborhood, but that doesn't keep up with the rain, Drewes said.At this point, the water is still very high,she reported before noon Saturday.Repairs to the sewer pipe are complicated because it is under a former landfill about a mile from the urban neighborhood.
EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
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) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Papua New Guinea volcano rumbles on after explosive eruption
SYDNEY (AFP) A volcano in Papua New Guinea erupted for a second day but the rumbling peak was calming down and thousands of residents who fled were expected to return, an official said. Ash, steam and lava were still pouring from the Mount Tavurvur volcano after an awe-inspiring eruption on Saturday, said vulcanologist Steve Sanders of PNG's Volcano Observatory in Rabaul on the island of New Britain.
There were one or two explosions early this morning, he told AFP in a telephone interview.There are lava flows coming out to west and northeast, steaming where they are entering the sea.But the flow of ash was much reduced, with gentle emissions of steam and ash billowing out, he said.The gas-rich material erupted yesterday and today gas-poor lava is coming out quietly.
Sanders said shockwaves from the explosions during Saturday's eruption blew out windows at the observatory about 12 kilometres (seven miles) away.The shockwaves also rattled and broke windows in the town as a plume of ash rose some 18 kilometres into the air, sending 2,000 residents fleeing 12 years after Rabaul was largely destroyed in another eruption.Sanders said there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, and he expected people to move back home quite soon.Most people were accustomed to ash emissions, although Saturday's eruption was the biggest since 1997, he said.Yesterday was pretty awe-inspiring because of the blast effect as the magma reached the surface with big explosions and shockwaves,he said.
But Sanders said he believed major new eruptions were unlikely.The lava flows may go on for a few days, and ash emissions for a few weeks, but it's unlikely to be explosive, he said.Winds had dispersed much of the ash and it was not more than a centimetre thick where it had settled in the town.Hotelier Bruce Alexander had expressed concerns that there would be looting overnight after people evacuated their homes, but a guest told AFP by phone Sunday that it had been very quiet.They handled it very well, there was a strong police presence. The dust has settled and the sun's coming out,said Ray van Zuyden.In 1994, major eruptions of the 688-metre (2,270-foot) Tavurvur and nearby Mount Vulcan destroyed much of Rabaul, and while loss of life was minimal due to a quick evacuation, looters ransacked the town.
GENESIS 1:14
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY ON THESE FEAST DAYS)
Israel seals West Bank, Gaza for Jewish holiday Fri Oct 6, 9:06 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - The Israeli military has imposed a total closure on the Palestinian territories for security reasons ahead of the seven-day Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. The army said Friday the closure would be imposed from Friday afternoon and would be lifted after an additional security assessment.Sukkot ends on October 15.
More than 7,000 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip will be able to enter Israel for work and religious reasons, the army also announced.Israel routinely orders total closures on the Palestinian territories during national holidays and religious festivals.Scuffles broke out at the south entrance to annexed east Jerusalem when 300 Palestinians tried to push past a checkpoint in order to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the second Friday in Ramadan, police said.Border guards fired off stun grenades in order to disperse the crowd although no casualties were reported.Around 100,000 Muslim worshippers took part in Friday prayers at the flashpoint compound, which is the third holiest site in world Islam.
WORLD TERRORISM
GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with 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 through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
2 PETER 2:5
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
2 PETER 3:7
7 But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men
LEVITICUS 26:16
16 I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint over you( sudden) terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart: and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.
GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.
ISAIAH 33:1,18-19 Woe to thee that spoilest,(destroys) and thou wast not spoiled;(destroyed) and dealest treacherously, and they dealt not treacherously with thee! when thou shalt cease to spoil,(destroy) thou shalt be spoiled;(destroyed) and when thou shalt make an end to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
18 Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? where is the receiver? where is he that counted the towers?
19 Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, that thou canst not understand.
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.
Grant Jeffrey talks about the terrorist groups using dirty bombs in his new book The NEXT WORLD WAR.
Seizures of dirty bomb materials rise
VIENNA, Oct. 6 (UPI) The International Atomic Energy Agency reportedly has found a sharp rise in seizures of smuggled radioactive materials that can be use to make dirty bombs. The Times of London, quoting IAEA figures, says such seizures, mostly in Europe, had doubled in the past four years. The report says there have been more than 300 instances of smugglers caught in such trafficking activities since 2002. The disclosure comes at a time when al-Qaida is reportedly is intensifying its efforts to obtain a radioactive device. The Times said that last year Western security agencies foiled 16 attempts to smuggle plutonium or uranium and that in other instances small quantities of highly enriched uranium were reported missing. Experts say the smugglers are eyeing hospital X-ray equipment and laboratory supplies as a source of radioactive material.
Investigators fear smugglers are only interested in making money and would have no concern selling the materials to terrorist groups, The Times report said. IAEA's Olli Heinonen said while weapons-grade nuclear material smuggling may be rare, there are serious concerns about other sources. A dirty bomb is something that needs to be taken seriously. We need to be prepared for anything because anything could happen, he told The Times.
PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS
REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.
REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
Egypt: Coptic Christians Decry State Violation of Human Rights
Catholic Information Service for Africa (Nairobi),October 6, 2006,Washington, DC
Islamic terrorists and Egyptian state security continue to attack and persecute Coptic Christians in the largely Muslim north African nation, a Coptic organization says.The Catholic News Service reports that the American Coptic Union (ACU) claims in a recent letter that human rights abuses against the Copts have been escalating since September 11, 2001, and the Egyptian government has not responded with any protection. ACU is a nonprofit organization that represents Coptic people in the US and Egypt.The daily horrors of shame-rape, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, and forced conversion, particularly in the southern part of Upper Egypt, are seriously eroding the Copts' economic, social, and religious existence,says the letter to the American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ahead of her meeting with the Egyptian government.
Despite the good relationship and numerous calls by President George W. Bush to President Hosni Mubarak, the daily life of the Copts continues to deteriorate, the letter says.While the Egypt government continues to isolate its Coptic population, it has never discussed the constitutional rights of Egypt's Christians nor has it legislated any new laws or presidential decrees to ensure human rights for the Copts,it reads.
In fact, human rights activists are often harassed, attacked and falsely imprisoned. ACU says it has documented and reported many of these crimes, which the Egyptian government has ignored. The letter tells of the case of Mary Bulak, a Coptic mother, whose two minor daughters were kidnapped, raped, and forcefully converted to Islam in 2003.
ACU also pointed out that the 2004 murder of human rights lawyer Sabry Zaky has been ignored by officials and remains unsolved.The 2006 CIA World Factbook estimates that nearly 7 million, or 9 per cent, of the ethnic Egyptian population is Coptic, making it the largest Christian community in the Arab world. The term Coptic refers to an ethno-religious group made up of Orthodox, Catholic, and some Protestant Christians originating in Egypt.© 2006 Catholic Information Service for Africa.
ISRAEL ON EARTH DURING TRIBULATION 7 YR PEACE TREATY
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ROMANS 11:28
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
Oct. 8, 2006 2:27
Right of Reply: Diaspora's future depends on Israel
By BINYAMIN NETANYAHU
On Friday, The Jerusalem Post published a story that incorrectly claimed that I stated in a closed meeting that there is no future for Jewish life in the Diaspora.I neither said nor believe that. What I said was that there is no future for Jewish life in the Diaspora without the State of Israel. Israel not only guarantees the life of the Jews living in the Jewish state, it also gives focus, purpose and
identity to Jewish people everywhere. That is why I believe that without a state of Israel, Diaspora Jewry will be dealt a fatal blow.
The importance of Israel to the collective destiny of the Jewish people should be obvious to anyone with a sense of history. The fact is that had there been a Jewish state before World War II, there would have been no Holocaust. It is equally true that had there not been a Jewish state after the Holocaust, there would be many fewer Jews in the world today.
Simply look at the numbers. In 1948, there were 12 million Jews in the world, with only 600,000 (5% of world Jewry) in our embryonic state. With even a slow population growth rate over the last 60 years, world Jewry should have at least doubled.
Unfortunately it hasn't. Growth has remained flat because we have lost countless Jews in the Diaspora to assimilation and intermarriage. Though there are roughly the same number of Jews in the world today as there were 60 years ago, now almost six
million Jews (well over 40% of world Jewry) live in Israel. In fact, this year, the Jewish community in Israel became the largest Jewish community in the world for the first time in nearly two millennia. Still, the centrality of Israel is not merely due to the fact that the physical center of collective Jewish life has shifted here. Israel also continues to play an important role in the life of Diaspora Jewry. Many Diaspora Jews work tirelessly to strengthen their own communities connection to Israel, recognizing that in doing so they not only are supporting the only Jewish state we have but also strengthening their own Jewish communities. I applaud efforts to deepen the ties between Israel and Diaspora Jewry and I was proud to be the first Israeli prime minister to invest in programs such as birthright that help achieve this important objective. I did so because just as I believe that a strong Israel makes for a strong Diaspora, I also believe that a strong Diaspora makes for a strong Israel. For the last half-century, the two pillars of Jewish life have been a strong Israel and a strong Diaspora. I hope to continue to fortify these pillars so that we can secure what will always be our common future. The writer is the leader of the Opposition.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
The Sunday Times October 08, 2006
Red tape stifles free trade by the back door
IRWIN STELZER-American Account
IF you are the sort who thinks that the free movement of goods, capital and people enriches all the world’s nations, you are probably worried because the Doha round of trade talks is on life support, and the plug is about to be pulled. And you can’t be happy that the EU has decided to load tariffs on inexpensive, Chinese-made shoes, even though EC trade commissioner Peter Mandelson’s proposal that they stay in place for five years has been pared to a mere two. And if you are the sort who worries when another nation’s laws seem to take precedence over your own, and affect the business community, you can’t be happy that some loony magistrate in, say, Spain, can issue an arrest warrant for a British citizen, and have him whisked off to jail without an extradition hearing. Or that American cops can feel the collar of a respected British businessman when he lands at Kennedy airport to attend a meeting of a company engaged in perfectly legal activities.
The bad news is that there is a lot more to worry about than you might think, as the markets realised when American lawmakers attached to the Safe Ports bill a provision that will bar the 12m American online betters from using credit cards, bank cheques and electronic fund transfers. That, in effect, ends internet gambling in America, and wiped £4 billion off the value of an industry that started the day worth an estimated £6 billion. The decision by the US Congress and President George Bush to appease the social conservatives who see gambling as evil knocked £2.5 billion off the share price of Party Gaming, the industry leader that counted on American punters for about 80% of its revenues. Other British companies also felt the impact of the American decision: the market value of Sportingbet fell almost £500m, forcing it to call off merger talks with World Gaming.
As Robert Cole pointed out in The Times: If online gaming is outlawed simply because it is distasteful to a certain breed of regulator, it will create fear that other enterprises will be banned for illogical or spurious reasons. That fear is already more than justified, and not only in the case of gambling. The process of passing national laws that affect foreign companies is widespread. The Chinese have a variety of ways of restricting the activities of Google, Yahoo and other such firms, restraining trade every bit as much as if they told the World Trade Organisation (WTO) never to darken their nation’s doorstep again.
The Russians, who are clamouring for admittance to the WTO on the grounds that theirs is a market economy eligible to sit at the table of free-trading nations, are using environmental regulations and national laws to wring concessions from international oil companies. Vladimir Putin’s government contends that Total’s licence to explore in the Arctic circle, and Royal Dutch Shell’s contract to develop natural gas in Sakhalin, on an island in Russia’s Far East, violate its environmental regulations, and that Exxon’s contract in Sakhalin doesn’t convey the rights the company believed it did. Besides, the terminal through which Exxon’s oil would pass on its way to market suddenly seems to the safety inspectors less safe than when they approved it. Only the churlish would contend that Putin is unhappy with these deals, signed when Boris Yeltsin was president, Russia was desperate for foreign investment, and oil was selling at less than $20 a barrel.
No matter: they are yet another example of a country using its laws in a way that harms the companies of other nations France (Total), the Netherlands (Shell) and America (Exxon).
Then there is the EU, probably the world’s leading practitioner of the art of using national rules to stifle the activities of foreign companies while appearing to have no such object in mind. Last week the WTO finally made available to the public its 1,000-page report holding that the EU violated WTO rules by banning genetically modified (GM) products between 1998 and 2004. The EU knew this was coming, and so substituted a product-by-product review process for the general ban, which allows it to contend that it is testing the safety of each of the foods that Americans consume quite happily and with no ill effects. US trade representative Susan Schwab points out that the EU has approved only a handful of biotech applications, and that some such applications have been pending for 10 years or more and applications for many commercially important products continue to face unjustified, politically motivated delays. Indeed, Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, Italy and Luxembourg have gone further, and continue to ban even those GM crops that have been approved by the EU. What America’s social conservatives have done to British gaming companies, and Russia’s siloviki are doing to international oil companies, EU protectionists are trying to do to American farmers.
All of this means that there is more going on in world markets than we usually consider. Yes, China hurts European and American companies by keeping its currency undervalued. Yes, EU and US agricultural protectionism mightily affect farmers in poor countries. And yes, decisions by the Federal Reserve Board affect the value of the dollar and therefore the competitiveness and fortunes of companies the world over. In all of these and other cases, decisions by one country have profound effects on another.
But there is more to the story of international interdependence than most people realise. A nation’s laws and regulations can have serious effects, some intended, some not, far beyond its own borders. Irwin Stelzer is a business adviser and director of economic policy studies at the Hudson Institute
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
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, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
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.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Syria says prepared for Israeli attack
7 October 2006 | 13:26 | Source: AP, Jerusalem Post
DAMASCUS Syrian President Bashar Assad said Friday that Syria has begun preparations to counter an Israeli attack at any moment.
The president told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Anba that Israel had given up on the peace process, even though most of the issues of contention between the two countries were resolved.Assad also said that if Iran attacked any Arab country, Syria would send armed forces in response as required by the Joint Defense Treaty. Turning to Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Assad said that the three Arab countries should consult less now and should work together toward helping the hundreds of millions of Arabs in region, and called on Egypt and Saudi Arabia to return to holding summits with Damascus.
We hope that we go back soon to the idea of holding Syrian-Egyptian-Saudi summits like we used to do in the 1990s, Assad said.
Assad has been making attempts to align Syria with other Middle East heavyweights and play a stronger role in the region's politics. He also has been trying to mend rifts with Egypt and Saudi Arabia since describing Mideast leaders as half men during a televised speech in August. But Assad later claimed that he did not specifically mean the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, who had criticized Syrian-backed Hizbullah's capture of two IDF soldiers July 12 that sparked the Israeli assault on Lebanon.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Saturday, October 07, 2006
SUKKOT FEAST OF BOOTHS TABERNACLES
1-This Week with Rabbi Eckstein (SUKKOT). 2-Hikes, Concerts and Festivities Planned For Sukkot Holiday. 3-Nor'easter taking shape in Mid-Atlantic 4-Typhoon Xangsane, flood toll reaches 169. 5-Israeli Company Strikes Oil Near Dead Sea. 6-Commission bureaucrats are getting too powerful, says Verheugen. 7-Syria and EU Discuss Situation in the Region. 8-Iran: Foreign tourists welcome at nuclear sites. 9-No Future for the Jews in the Diaspora. 10-EU wise group welcomes Sarkozy constitution initiative. 11-EU, U.S. reach deal on sharing passenger data from trans-Atlantic flights. 12-Source of E. coli outbreak sought.
Holiday of Sukkot, (known commonly as the Festival of Booths or
Feast of Tabernacles)This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
October 5, 2006
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Yom Kippur, a solemn and introspective holiday during which Jews atone for their sins against God and man, ended this past Monday evening. And today, Jews begin the transition into one of the most joyous times on the Jewish calendar as we celebrate the festival of Sukkot.
This wonderful holiday which starts this Friday at sunset, is both a harvest festival celebrating God's faithful blessings and a time remembering the Exodus from Egypt and our forefathers' journey into the Promised Land. In recalling God's favor in rescuing them from the hands of their captors, we build sukkot (booths for temporary dwelling) that resemble the shelters used during their period of wandering in the desert (Leviticus 23:39-43). Today, these booths are colorfully decorated and serve as festive gathering places for family and friends during the seven-day observance of Sukkot.
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rabbistudy_holidays_Sukkot
This theme of displacement, wandering, and return to the Holy Land is a common thread in Jewish life, even in modern times. For example, after the Holocaust in the 1940's, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Europe and Arab lands came to the newly-formed state of Israel. In the '80s, Operation Solomon brought the first of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the Israel - and more continue to arrive each month. And in just a few weeks, over two hundred Bnei Menashe, descendants of the ancient Jewish tribe of Menashe who settled in northeast India, will begin the next chapter of their historic return to the home of their forefathers.
Today, through our On Wings of Eagles program, The Fellowship continues to help fulfill biblical prophecy by bringing needy Jews living under anti-Semitic oppression back home to Israel. One of our critical tasks in this ministry is helping those who make aliyah adapt to their new lives in Israel.
Sadly, the Israeli government simply cannot provide new émigrés with all they need during this time of transition. This is because the tremendous need to defend against terrorism and to rebuild after last summer's devastating war launched by Hezbollah has stretched social services resources to the limit, and beyond.
And now, by helping with klitah (resettlement), our On Wings of Eagles outreach provides new émigrés with short-term needs such as food, shelter, and medical care, as well as long-term needs for job and language training. That is why I prayerfully ask for your continued support of this important work. Each dollar you contribute helps needy émigrés realize the promise of a new life in the Holy Land and become full, productive citizens of Israel. Your gift now during Sukkot, is further evidence to them that their days of wandering are over and that they have finally come home to Israel.
My deepest appreciation to you, dear faithful partner, for your support of this important and prophetic ministry. May God continue to bless you, as you have blessed His people.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President
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Hikes, Concerts and Festivities Planned For Sukkot Holiday
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Scores of events are set to take place across Israel in honor of the week-long Sukkot holiday, the Festival of Booths. Concerts, hikes and other recreational activities, as well as gatherings marking the traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem are planned.
Exploring the Land of Israel
The Jewish Agency has arranged for all nature preserves and parks in northern Israel to be open to the public free of charge during the course of the festival. The initiative aims to encourage tourism to the north, which was devastated by the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
The sites include:
Zippori National Park
Ahziv National Park
Horshat Tal National Park
Baram National Park
Tel Hazor National Park
Nahal Ayoun Nature Reserve
Nimrod Fortress National Park
Kursi National Park
Corazim National Park
Ein Afek Nature Reserve
Nahal Amoud Nature Reserve
Hamat Tiberias National Park
Beit She'arim National Park
Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park
Kochav Hayarden National Park
Tel Megiddo National Park
Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve
Majersa (Batiha) Nature Reserve
Gamla Nature Reserve
Hula Valley Nature Reserve
Yehiam Fortress National Park
Beit She'an National Park
Agmon Hahula Yarden Park
More details can be found at JewishAgency.org
On Tuesday, October 10, a hike through the Judean Hills from one of the largest towns in the Hevron region to one of the smallest and youngest hilltop communities will take place. The hike, billed as In the footsteps of our fathers and organized by Youth for the Land of Israel, will depart from Kiryat Arba and reach Maaleh Hever in the Hevron Hills. The rugged hike begins at 11 AM, leaving from Kiryat Arba’s Nir yeshiva. Motorists will meet behind the local municipality and tour local hilltop communities, traveling in a convoy along the route King David used to escape King Saul, and joining the festivities in Maaleh Hever as well.
There will also be a shorter, downhill, hiking route available for families with strollers or small children. For more information, call: 052 580 2666, 052 655 5184 or 052 311 4627
Dozens of hikes and tours of the Gush Etzion region are being offered by the Kfar Etzion field school. Places like the flat-topped Herodion mountain fortress, caves and natural springs will be explored. Click here for more information (in Hebrew).On October 9-11 the town of Sussia, in the Hevron hills, will be recreating life there 1,200 years ago, with performances, hikes, barefoot grape juicing and other activities. For more information call 02 996 3424, email info [at] susya.org.il or visit Susya.org.il. On October 10-11 the Dwelling in the Desert Festival will take place at the Joe Alon Center in the northern Negev Desert. The festival includes models of sukkahs throughout Jewish history as well as desert tents, musical instruments and a photography exhibition about the development of the Negev. For more information call 050-7366125 or click here (Hebrew).The Gush Katif women's seminary, reestablished in the Lachish region, is hosting a family wine and cave experience on October 9, from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. Wine will be hand-prepared in ancient presses and the network of caves used during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans will be open to visitors and explored with the help of guides. For more information, call: 054 667 1554 or 054 667 1555.
The fourth annual Judean Kite Festival will take place in the hilltop community of Pnei Kedem, located in southeast Gush Etzion
Tuesday, October 10 from 11 to 5. For information and schedules of chartered buses call 02-930.9076 or email: mollmutty@yahoo.com
Western Wall and Temple Mount
Each day of the festival (as well as Friday night), prayers will take place at the Western Wall with lengthy singing and dancing in the tradition of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The daily morning prayers, which include the Hallel prayer and marching with the four species, will begin each day except Monday (see below) at 8:15 AM and be held up against the middle divider between the men’s and women’s sections. For more information call 054-596-9598.Visits for Jewish men and women who wish to ascend the Temple Mount in accordance with Jewish law are being offered over the course of the Sukkot Festival. All tours begin at 7.30 AM, beginning at the Mughrabi Gate, adjacent to the main entrance to the Western Wall plaza.
Tours will be offered each day in various languages:
Sunday October 8: Dr. Yoel Elitzur (Hebrew), Rabbi Chaim Richman (English), Shmuel Ben Hamu (French)
Monday October 9: Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (H), Nachum Schnitzer (E), Archeologist Yaffa Musaii (Women only, Hebrew)
Tuesday October 10: Dr. Yaacov Heyman (H), Rabbi Nachman Kupietzky (E), Yosef Dayan (Spanish)
Wednesday October 11: Menachem Ben-Yashar (H), Rabbi Zvi Rugan (E), Lily Richman (Women only, Bilingual)
Thursday October 12: Golan Shai-Cohen (H), Adv. Shmuel Caspar (E), Moshe Garbuz (Russian)
Sunday October 15: Yoel Lerner (Bilingual)
Participants must undergo physical preparations and immerse in a ritual bath beforehand, as well as arrive dressed in non-leather shoes. Police currently require a passport to ascend the mount and forbid the carrying up of religious articles aside from tzitzit and head coverings. For more information about the free tours and instructions on how to prepare, call (02) 571 0171 or 050 658 0224
(from outside Israel: +972 2 571 0171 or +972 50 658 0224).
Jerusalem’s Municipality has erected Israel’s largest sukkah. The temporary structure is constructed by each Jewish family and is a staple of the festival, which entails dwelling in sukkot. The municipal Sukkah of Stars is decorated with light fixtures from France and is located in Safra Square, just outside the Old City. It has an area of 500 square meters, measures six meters tall, and will be
open to the public all through the week.On Sunday, October 8 a joyous Simchat Beit HaShoeva, which commemorates the water libation performed in the Holy Temple, will take place in Jerusalem’s City of David, just below the Old City’s Dung Gate. Hassidic singers Yaakov Shweky and Chaim Yisrael will be performing. The event begins at 5:30 PM Several other City of David hikes and tours will be offered, including the Pilgrims' Route, ancient aqueducts tour, the newly established Jerusalem Trail and a survey of the sifting Temple Mount remnants in the Emek Tzurim valley. For more information, visit cityofdavid.org.il/succoth.asp or email
Foundation [at] cityofdavid.org.il
Several tours are being offered of the Jewish sites and residences in Jerusalem’s eastern half, liberated in 1967 and developed ever since. Half-day tours, offered by the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund will visit historical sites including the huge Jewish cemetery on the Mt.of Olives and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Jewish homes in the Shimon Hatzadik, Maaleh Hazeitim and other eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods will be visited as well. For more information, visit: http://www.jcdf.org/tournow.html or contact
Reuven Grossman at tours [at] jcdf.org or 052-579-0958.Beit Orot will also be offering a 3 1 hour tour of the area, visiting the same sites and following in the footsteps of the IDF soldiers who liberated the eastern half of the capital in 1967. For more information or to join a group, email: trips [at] beitorot.org or call (from the US) 201 530 0210 or (from Israel) 02 628 4155.
Lectures, Film Screenings and Conferences
A new documentary about the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif will be screened each night of the intermediate days of the festival in downtown Jerusalem. The movie, Home Game, uses the metaphor of Gaza's Jewish basketball competition to portray the pain of the Disengagement and determination of the evicted residents.The screenings will take place at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem (22 Keren HaYesod, diagonally opposite the Dan Panorama Hotel) on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 8 PM during the holiday.The 27th annual Christian Feast of the Tabernacles will also take place in Jerusalem over the festival, attended by more than 4,000 Christians from more than 80 nations who will arrive in Jerusalem. The event is sponsored by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism bills the Feast of Tabernacles as the largest annual tourism event in Israel.
Concerts
On Sunday and Monday, October 8-9, the entire Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron will be open to the public, including the Tomb of Isaac, which is usually used as a mosque by local Arabs. Guided tours of the city will be given and large musical morning prayers will take place at 9:15 AM each day. Klezmer sensation Moussa Berlin will accompany the Hallel prayer and hassidic singer Mordechai Ben David will perform in the afternoon on the second day. Other performers include Adi Ran, Daklon, Shlomo Katz, Chaim Dovid Saracek, Shira Hadasha, Udi Davidi, Yoni Shlomo and Mendy Jerufy. For more information, call 1-800-400-456.The annual three-day free Beit Shemesh music festival will take place from October 8-10, featuring The Andalusi Orchestra (Sunday at 8 PM), Rockia, Para Aduma, Haakevot, Shlock Rock, Aaron Razel, Adi Ran, Moshav Band and Shai Gabso (Monday from 8 PM) and Udi Davidi, Naftali Abramson, Pey Dalid, Chaim Dovid, Shlomo Katz, Shlomo Gronich and Reva L'Sheva Tuesday night at 8 PM. For more information, visit shemeshfest.com
Tuesday night October 10 a cantorial concert will take place at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center, entitled And they
came to Zion in Song.Performing with the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute will be Chazan Naftali Hershtik. For more information and tickets, call: 02-565-2020.Information about many more concerts, lectures and celebrations can be found on the web site of the Jerusalem Municipality.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Nor'easter taking shape in Mid-Atlantic W. Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Fri Oct 6, 9:17 AM ET
Northeast
The Mid-Atlantic will be impacted by increasing rain, wind, and possible flooding into the weekend. A strong upper level disturbance will interact with a front over the Mid-Atlantic, and result in rain, heavy at times, from Philadelphia and Washington, south through Virginia. In addition to the threat for possible flooding, a few stronger thunderstorms will also be possible over southern Virginia.
Strong northeast winds will also increase across these areas making for a raw day. Meanwhile, high pressure will span the New England States, resulting in dry, but cool conditions today, with some areas experiencing freezing temperatures overnight Friday into Saturday morning. This general weather pattern will continue into Saturday, but by Sunday, the rains and wind over the Mid-Atlantic should lessen, and the temperatures should begin to moderate over the Northeast.
West
A strong upper disturbance will continue to transport abundant moisture northward through the four corners area today. Numerous showers the thunderstorms will impact pasts of southwest California, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, and southern Idaho today.
The potential for heavy downpours moving over the same areas will increase the threat for flash flooding, particularly over Arizona and Utah. Also in these areas, a few severe thunderstorms will also be possible today. Meanwhile, over the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, a cold front will trigger a few showers there, along with cool temperatures. Into Saturday, a deep low pressure is forecast to develop over the northern Rockies. This will produce increased wind and rain, with some higher elevation snows over that area, while pulling the persistent showers and thunderstorms over the four Corners, a bit further east into New Mexico and Colorado.
Dry conditions will build across the west coast as the unsettled weather shifts further east.
South
A cold front will move south through the southeastern states today, producing a few showers over southern Georgia, into South Carolina.
High pressure will build across much of the south behind this front, resulting in partly cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures. Afternoon highs today will range from the 70s from Atlanta to Memphis, to the 80s along the Gulf Coast, to the 90s in Florida and southern Texas.
Meanwhile, a strong upper level disturbance impacting the Mid-Atlantic will spread increased chances of rain and wind into North Carolina, including the Raleigh area. This general weather pattern will persist into Saturday, with cooler conditions remaining in place over much of the south, and rains over the Carolinas.
Midwest
Large high pressure will span much of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and Plains today, resulting in mostly sunny skies and dry conditions. Cool conditions will remain in the Great Lakes and Midwest, where afternoon temperatures will be in the 60s, warming to the 70s and 80s westward over the High Plains. Winds will also be increasing over the Plains today, as strong southerly flow develops on the backside of high pressure. These general conditions will persist over the Great Lakes and Midwest into Saturday, however over the central Plains; very windy conditions will develop as a deep low pressure rapidly forms over the northern Rockies.
Temperatures will also soar Saturday afternoon in these areas under strong southerly flow, with readings into the 80s.
Typhoon Xangsane, flood toll reaches 169 Thu Oct 5, 12:57 AM ET
HANOI (Reuters) - Flooding killed dozens of people in the days after Typhoon Xangsane raked the Philippines and Vietnam, officials said on Thursday as the combined death toll rose to at least 169 with 79 others missing. The Vietnam government said 59 people died and 7 were missing after the typhoon hit on Sunday, but state-run media accounts indicated a higher death toll of at least 68, citing provincial disaster reports.The typhoon's fierce winds and rain destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes when it slammed into Vietnam's central coast after bringing parts of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, to a standstill last week.
In Vietnam, nearly 320,000 homes were destroyed or submerged. Xangsane, which means elephant in the Lao language, damaged roads, telecommunications and power networks, fisheries and crops along a roughly 1,000 km (600-mile) stretch.The government estimated the cost of the damage at 10 trillion dong ($624 million).Workers have been cleaning up the resort city of Danang and the nearby UNESCO-heritage town of Hoi An. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) tourism ministers meeting is scheduled for October 12 to 17 in Hoi An.In the Philippines, the typhoon killed 110 people, injured 88 and 72 were missing, officials said on Thursday.
More than 2.3 million people were affected by the typhoon in the Philippines and about 80,000 remained in temporary shelters after losing their homes in the disaster.The typhoon weakened into a tropical storm, moved west to Laos and dissipated over northern Thailand.Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are killed and property and crops damaged each year by tropical storms in Vietnam and the Philippines, which has the South China Sea between them.(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh in HANOI; Carmel Crimmins in MANILA)
Israeli Company Strikes Oil Near Dead Sea
14:38 Oct 05, '06 / 13 Tishrei 5767
by Hillel Fendel(INN)
An Israeli company reports it has struck oil in the Dead Sea region, possibly worth up to $350 million. The company, Ginko Oil Exploration, says that oil spurted on Monday from a depth of 1,800 meters (1.12 miles), and that further tests will be carried out in the coming days. The oil, estimated at about 6.5 million barrels' worth, was found just north of the Dead Sea.Ginko extracted about 120,000 barrels of crude oil from the site about ten years ago, but gave up the initiative. The drilling has now been renewed, as it has in many places around the world, because of the steep increase in oil prices. Ginko has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel. In April 2004, Ginko discovered a seven-meter layer of natural gas in the same region. Israel has produced only 20 million barrels of oil in the last half-century, the Associated Press reports - less than what the Saudis produce every three days.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Commission bureaucrats are getting too powerful, says Verheugen
05.10.2006 - 09:39 CET | By Honor Mahony
European Commission vice-president Guenter Verheugen has spoken out strongly against the power of high-ranking civil servants within the commission who are able to influence decisions according to their personal whims.In an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the German commissioner in charge of the important industry portfolio said the whole development in the last ten years has brought the civil servants such power that in the meantime the most important political task of the 25 commissioners is controlling this apparatus.There is a permanent power struggle between commissioners and high ranking bureaucrats. Some of them think: the commissioner is gone after five years and so is just a house keeper, but I'm sticking around, he continued.
He suggests that his own project to simplify 54 EU laws has fallen foul of stubborn commission bureaucrats. Before the summer he strongly criticised internally some general directorates who evidently did not want to take the head of the commission's aim to reduce bureaucracy seriously, because it did not fit in with their own ideas.Mr Verheugen, who is now in his second term as EU commissioner having previously been in charge of enlargement, noted that the problem will get worse again once Bulgaria and Romania join the EU because then there will be two new general directorates units in the commission that deal with specific areas and that is a problem.
Illustrating how power struggles happen, the commissioner said it all occurs under the surface.The commissioners have to take extreme care that important questions are decided in their weekly meeting, and not decided by the civil servants among themselves.Unfortunately it sometimes happens in the communication with member states or parliament that civil servants put their own personal perspective across as the view of the commission, he told the newspaper.Citing a concrete example the 62-year old social democrat commissioner said that commission bureaucrats had tried to sort out the use of pesticides between them and the issue only came to the attention of their political masters the commissioners when the bureaucrats fell out over the issue.
Noting that the way some commission officials communicate is technical and arrogant, which he finds appalling, Mr Verheugen said that only a change in political culture in the commission would improve the situation.He suggests that commissioners should be able to move around the powerful general directors, something which they cannot do at the moment, pointing out that when something goes wrong then it is always commissioners who take the flak.In my opinion, too much is decided by civil servants,he said in conclusion.
Syria and EU Discuss Situation in the Region
Wednesday, October 04, 2006 - 04:15 PM
DAMASCUS, (SANA) Syria and EU Discussed on Wednesday bilateral relations and the Mideast peace process.
Talks during a meeting between Members of the European Commission delegation headed by Chairman of Mideast Unit at the European Union Alan Seater and Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous dealt with the peace process in the Middle East and implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions, in addition to the situation in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq .They also discussed the Syrian-European relations and aid programs which the commission intends to extend to Syria during the upcoming period of 2007-2010 as well as priorities that Syria sees in these programs.
Discussions between members of the European Commission delegation and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari touched upon importance of boosting relations between Syria and European Union to cover different fields of developments.They also conferred on having a look at the suggested program in the blue print of the EU strategy for cooperation with Syria during 2007- 2010 in the economic reform domains and networks of social protection in addition to develop business environment and public and local services .Both sides agreed to continue discussions aiming at reaching a joint action paper in order to help in enhancing prospects of cooperation and pushing them forward.Thawra –Sawsan
EZEKIEL 38:3-6
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Iran: Foreign tourists welcome at nuclear sites
Journalists, U.N. inspectors have had trouble getting easy access
MSNBC News Services
TEHRAN, Iran /Iran’s hard-line president has ordered nuclear facilities opened to foreign tourists to prove that the nation’s disputed atomic program is peaceful, state-run television reported on Wednesday.After an order by the president ... foreign tourists can visit Iran’s nuclear facilities,the head of Iran’s tourism division, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, was quoted as saying.Mashai said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued the order to show that Iran’s nuclear program it aims to generate fuel, not weapons.We are reviewing the related instructions in this regard,he reportedly said.An official said tourists could visit the facilities, including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, 150 miles south of Tehran, the centerpiece of Iran’s disputed atomic fuel drive.
New tourism niche?
Despite offering attractions such as ancient Persian ruins, intricately tiled mosques and spice-filled bazaars, as well as skiing in its northern mountains, tourism is underdeveloped in the Islamic Republic, where strict religious dress codes require women to cover their heads and bodies.And it is unclear whether tourists will flock to see Iran’s nuclear facilities, which are ringed by anti-aircraft batteries.Foreign and Iranian journalists, who often request visits, have been given only occasional tours of Natanz, the uranium conversion facility of Isfahan or Bushehr, the site of Iran’s first nuclear power plant that is still being built.Even U.N. inspectors, who are given routine access to nuclear sites, have complained about some restrictions in the past, although Iran denies causing any
obstructions.
U.S. visitors might be fingerprinted
The report did not clarify the definition of a foreign tourist. The announcement came a day after Iran’s parliament voted to debate a bill that would require the government to fingerprint all U.S. citizens visiting Iran.The draft law would require all American citizens to be fingerprinted when they enter Iran.
The measure was in retaliation for the fingerprinting of Iranian travelers visiting the United States a procedure implemented in 2002 for Iranians and citizens of several other countries.The U.S. and some of its allies fear Iran is seeking to enrich uranium to develop nuclear weapons.Senior U.N. diplomats said Tuesday that Iran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment had sabotaged talks meant to defuse the standoff over its nuclear program, opening the way for the Security Council to start considering sanctions next week.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
No Future for the Jews in the Diaspora
By Hana Levi Julian(INN)
Likud Knesset opposition leader Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu warned American Jews on Thursday There is no future for Jews in the Diaspora.An Islamic terror plot was foiled in Prague. Netanyahu cited assimilation and intermarriage as the main reasons for the statement on Thursday. He cautioned American financial supporters of the IDF Nahal hareidi program to work especially against assimilation in their communities.The only hope for the Jewish people in the Diaspora is Israel,he said, to the surprise of the leaders and other Diaspora Jews in the room. Sources close to Netanyahu confirmed he had made the statements, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Not The First Warning by Israeli Leaders
President Moshe Katsav issued a similar warning six years ago when he said in September 2000, The only branch that can ensure the continuation of the Jewish nation is the Jewish State.Katsav insisted at the time that Jewish education in the Diaspora was a short-term solution that would last at most two or three generations. We have legitimized living in the Diaspora and have said it does not bother us, he said, but caused a groundswell of shock and anger when he maintained that Israeli leaders should no longer justify Jews remaining in countries outside the State of Israel.
An Ominous New Threat to Diaspora Jews in the Czech Republic
A report by the Yediot Aharonot daily newspaper Friday added an additional grim reason to the concern for the future of Diaspora Jewry: the threat of Islamic terrorism.Reports of an Islamic terrorist plot to kidnap and ultimately murder a large group of Jews in Prague brought back frightening echoes of the pogroms of Eastern Europe.
The plot, which came to light around Rosh Hashana, has meant increased police patrols and questions for residents and tourists in the Czech capital. The Mlada Fronta Dnesnewspaper quoted unnamed intelligence sources who said the terrorists would have imprisoned the captives in the Great Synagogue of Prague while demanding unspecified terms they knew would not be met. According to the source, the terrorists planned to blow up the building, destroying everything and everyone inside. The report did not include information on whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the plot, nor did it offer any clue as to the identity of the conspirators.
The Feeling Will be Different From Now On
Rabbi Manis Barash, head of the Chabad House in the Czech Republic’s capital noted, Unfortunately the Jewish communities in Europe are used to threats and actions as well. Now it has reached us. Israeli officials have been monitoring the situation, said a member of the Jewish community who asked to remain anonymous. A similar situation recently occurred in Norway as well, noted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.We are aware of the existence of extremist groups in the European continent that wish to harm Israeli representatives and local Jewish communities,he said, adding that Israeli consulates and embassies are dealing with the situation. Regev did not specify the security measures which were in place. As Czech Jews enter the holiday of Sukkot, (known commonly as the Festival of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles) Rabbi Barash said Jewish life in the city, that draws countless tourists from Israel and other countries, is tense. Terror alerts at the airport, the Jewish Quarter and other areas in the capital have raised the stress level to an unprecedented high.The feeling will be different from now on,he commented.We still walk on the streets, but on this holiday we are naturally more fearful and suspicious.
EU wise group welcomes Sarkozy constitution initiative
05.10.2006 - 17:13 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER /
BRUSSELS /Members of a select group of EU politicians tackling the bloc's constitutional deadlock have told EUobserver they are open to changes to the EU constitution, welcoming the fact that French minister Sarkozy recently re-opened
the debate on the charter.The circle of high-profile European politicians led by Italian interior minister Giuliano Amato last weekend (29-30 September) held its first meeting in Rome, with two members of the group telling EUobserver after the talks that they have no taboos.The substance of the EU constitution is more important than its form,said Belgian MEP and former prime minister Jean-Luc
Dehaene who was one of the senior architects of the charter rejected by French and Dutch voters last year.
Another member of the group, Spanish centre-right MEP Inigo Mendez de Vigo, said the Rome meeting had welcomed recent proposals by French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy for a mini treaty made up of only parts of the constitution. We discussed the proposal of Mr Sarkozy and we thought it was a good initiative,he said. We may not fully agree with it but it made a difference that a French politician who has important responsibilities takes the initiative himself of saying: this is what I think. We appreciated the fact that Mr Sarkozy has gone into the arena. Mr Mendez de Vigo added that another plan by Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt to create a nucleus of closely integrated eurozone states, was also mentioned by participants as another proposal that we have.
But the text of the constitution remains an important point of departure for the group which will hold its next conclave in December, the Spanish politician indicated. We will think for the next meeting: what are the essential parts of the constitution? What is really essential in the constitution for Europe to work in the forthcoming years?
Vitorino joins group
The Amato group includes two former prime ministers Paavo Lipponen of Finland and Wim Kok of the Netherlands as well as two European commissioners Danuta Hubner (regional policy) and Margot Wallstom (communications) and German interior minister
Wolfgang Schauble plus his predecessor Otto Schily.
France also has two particpants former foreign minister Michel Barnier and former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn while UK ex-commissioner Chris Patten is another prominent member. Mr Mendez de Vigo said the group will soon be joined by Antonio Vitorino, a Portuguese ex-commissioner, plus one member from a Baltic state and one from a central European country, bringing the total number of 'wise' men and women to 14. The group, which will produce a report just before next year's June EU leaders summit on the constitution, strongly stresses its independence, having its own €100,000 budget provided by the German Bosch Foundation.
We are a group of private participants,said Mr Dehaene, with commission officials stressing that Ms Hubner and Ms Wallstrom are participating in their private capacity.
High political stakes
But the political weight of the group is highlighted by the fact that both Germany and France have two members, each representing the main centre-right and centre-left political forces. Germany in particular has high stakes in the group, as it holds the EU presidency in the first half of next year and is tasked with making concrete proposals on how to deal with the shelved constitution.
We know that others will deal with decisions,said Mr Mendez de Vigo. We started from the idea that the German presidency has to make a proposal on the procedure, but also, surely, on content [of a new treaty]. Our motto is: we'll try to give you a hand.
EU, U.S. reach deal on sharing passenger data from trans-Atlantic flights Updated 10/6/2006 11:25 AM ET
LUXEMBOURG (AP) The European Union and the United States agreed Friday on a new anti terrorism agreement that will give the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement agencies access to data about passengers on U.S.-bound flights.
The interim deal reached after a nine-hour, trans-Atlantic video conference that took place nearly a week after negotiators missed an Oct. 1 deadline replaces a 2004 air passenger privacy agreement the EU's high court voided last May for purely technical reasons.The agreement is valid until July 2007, after which the EU and the U.S. plan to have a permanent accord. The 25 EU governments are expected to give final approval to the interim deal next week.
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini welcomed the agreement, saying the United States and the EU will employ comparable standards of data protection.He said the deal should defuse fears in the European Parliament of a loss of privacy for Europeans flying to the United States.Under the agreement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security no longer will have an automatic right to pull data from European airlines' computer systems, but must ask for such information.The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency may disclose passenger data to other American law enforcement agencies only if they have comparable standards of data protection, Frattini told reporters.
He said it cannot give them direct electronic access to the data and limits the duration of its storage.EU negotiator Jonathan Faull said the EU and the U.S. are aiming for a broader deal after July 2007 that would provide for sharing of more data than the 34 details listed under Friday's agreement.
British Home Secretary John Reid called the interim agreement another major step in the fight against terrorism (showing that) the common alliance against terrorism is, on both sides of the Atlantic, very strong.French Justice Minister Pascal Clement said the Europeans got concrete guarantees with respect to privacy protection for EU nationals.Negotiations collapsed last week when the EU denied a request by U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for a more routine sharing of passenger data among U.S. law enforcement agencies.The new agreement lets airlines continue to legally submit 34 pieces of data such as passenger names, addresses, seat numbers, credit card and travel details, as well as their no-show records for transfer to U.S. authorities within 15 minutes of a flight's departure for the United States.Frattini said there was a concrete risk of privacy erosion had a trans-Atlantic accord not been reached. In that case, a patchwork of bilateral agreements would have been the privacy protection basis.
EU officials said they shared Washington's concerns about terrorism, but demanded strict data protection guarantees in return for a more routine sharing of personal details of air passengers among U.S. law enforcement officials.Washington had warned that airlines failing to share passenger data would face fines of up to US$6,000 (euro4,700) per passenger and the loss of landing rights.
The negotiations revealed divisions between the U.S. and the Europeans over how far governments should go in curbing personal freedoms to prevent terrorist attacks.Privacy restrictions tend to be tougher in Europe than in the United States, and the Europeans wanted to deny U.S. officials the right to go into airline reservation systems.
Martine Roure, a spokesman for the Socialists, the European Parliament's second-largest group, expressed satisfaction there is a new agreement. The U.S. authorities must now apply all the data protection guarantees we ask of them.Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted 10/6/2006 10:35 AM ET
Source of E. coli outbreak sought
Tainted spinach was the source of an E. coli outbreak in the U.S. recently.
Carly Weeks, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, October 06, 2006
OTTAWA /The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Ontario health ministry are trying to determine the source of an E. coli outbreak that has left more than 30 people sick, including five who required hospitalization, in two different Ontario cities. Health officials believe there is a link between the reports of illnesses that have streamed in from Sudbury, Ont., and Hamilton.
But they have not been able to determine what food caused the outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria.While officials believe the bacteria likely came from fresh produce most likely lettuce the food inspection agency said there’s little hope it will be able to determine the source of the outbreak.The food link has not been demonstrated yet by tests,said CFIA spokesman Marc Richard. Should there be a food link demonstrated, then we can recall (the product), but given this is a fresh product, that is less likely because it was all eaten or thrown away weeks ago.Health officials are also trying to figure out how two communities located in different parts of the province were affected by the same bacteria outbreak, and why no other community seems to have experienced similar problems. The news of the outbreak comes on the heels of a massive E. coli outbreak that claimed the lives of two people, including a two-year-old boy, in the United States, and made more than 190 others sick, including an Ontario woman.Officials in Hamilton are investigating 20 cases of E. coli, of which 11 have been confirmed. All of the cases are confined to Hillfield Strathallan College, a private-run school.
Officials first learned of the outbreak on Sept. 26, he said.
In Sudbury, health officials are investigating 14 cases. Four people in that city had to be hospitalized after eating food that had been contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Most of the people affected are believed to have eaten contaminated food at a local restaurant. © CanWest News Service
Holiday of Sukkot, (known commonly as the Festival of Booths or
Feast of Tabernacles)This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
October 5, 2006
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
Yom Kippur, a solemn and introspective holiday during which Jews atone for their sins against God and man, ended this past Monday evening. And today, Jews begin the transition into one of the most joyous times on the Jewish calendar as we celebrate the festival of Sukkot.
This wonderful holiday which starts this Friday at sunset, is both a harvest festival celebrating God's faithful blessings and a time remembering the Exodus from Egypt and our forefathers' journey into the Promised Land. In recalling God's favor in rescuing them from the hands of their captors, we build sukkot (booths for temporary dwelling) that resemble the shelters used during their period of wandering in the desert (Leviticus 23:39-43). Today, these booths are colorfully decorated and serve as festive gathering places for family and friends during the seven-day observance of Sukkot.
http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rabbistudy_holidays_Sukkot
This theme of displacement, wandering, and return to the Holy Land is a common thread in Jewish life, even in modern times. For example, after the Holocaust in the 1940's, hundreds of thousands of Jews from Europe and Arab lands came to the newly-formed state of Israel. In the '80s, Operation Solomon brought the first of thousands of Ethiopian Jews to the Israel - and more continue to arrive each month. And in just a few weeks, over two hundred Bnei Menashe, descendants of the ancient Jewish tribe of Menashe who settled in northeast India, will begin the next chapter of their historic return to the home of their forefathers.
Today, through our On Wings of Eagles program, The Fellowship continues to help fulfill biblical prophecy by bringing needy Jews living under anti-Semitic oppression back home to Israel. One of our critical tasks in this ministry is helping those who make aliyah adapt to their new lives in Israel.
Sadly, the Israeli government simply cannot provide new émigrés with all they need during this time of transition. This is because the tremendous need to defend against terrorism and to rebuild after last summer's devastating war launched by Hezbollah has stretched social services resources to the limit, and beyond.
And now, by helping with klitah (resettlement), our On Wings of Eagles outreach provides new émigrés with short-term needs such as food, shelter, and medical care, as well as long-term needs for job and language training. That is why I prayerfully ask for your continued support of this important work. Each dollar you contribute helps needy émigrés realize the promise of a new life in the Holy Land and become full, productive citizens of Israel. Your gift now during Sukkot, is further evidence to them that their days of wandering are over and that they have finally come home to Israel.
My deepest appreciation to you, dear faithful partner, for your support of this important and prophetic ministry. May God continue to bless you, as you have blessed His people.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President
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Hikes, Concerts and Festivities Planned For Sukkot Holiday
By Ezra HaLevi(INN)
Scores of events are set to take place across Israel in honor of the week-long Sukkot holiday, the Festival of Booths. Concerts, hikes and other recreational activities, as well as gatherings marking the traditional pilgrimage to Jerusalem are planned.
Exploring the Land of Israel
The Jewish Agency has arranged for all nature preserves and parks in northern Israel to be open to the public free of charge during the course of the festival. The initiative aims to encourage tourism to the north, which was devastated by the recent war with Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
The sites include:
Zippori National Park
Ahziv National Park
Horshat Tal National Park
Baram National Park
Tel Hazor National Park
Nahal Ayoun Nature Reserve
Nimrod Fortress National Park
Kursi National Park
Corazim National Park
Ein Afek Nature Reserve
Nahal Amoud Nature Reserve
Hamat Tiberias National Park
Beit She'arim National Park
Beit Alfa Synagogue National Park
Kochav Hayarden National Park
Tel Megiddo National Park
Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve
Majersa (Batiha) Nature Reserve
Gamla Nature Reserve
Hula Valley Nature Reserve
Yehiam Fortress National Park
Beit She'an National Park
Agmon Hahula Yarden Park
More details can be found at JewishAgency.org
On Tuesday, October 10, a hike through the Judean Hills from one of the largest towns in the Hevron region to one of the smallest and youngest hilltop communities will take place. The hike, billed as In the footsteps of our fathers and organized by Youth for the Land of Israel, will depart from Kiryat Arba and reach Maaleh Hever in the Hevron Hills. The rugged hike begins at 11 AM, leaving from Kiryat Arba’s Nir yeshiva. Motorists will meet behind the local municipality and tour local hilltop communities, traveling in a convoy along the route King David used to escape King Saul, and joining the festivities in Maaleh Hever as well.
There will also be a shorter, downhill, hiking route available for families with strollers or small children. For more information, call: 052 580 2666, 052 655 5184 or 052 311 4627
Dozens of hikes and tours of the Gush Etzion region are being offered by the Kfar Etzion field school. Places like the flat-topped Herodion mountain fortress, caves and natural springs will be explored. Click here for more information (in Hebrew).On October 9-11 the town of Sussia, in the Hevron hills, will be recreating life there 1,200 years ago, with performances, hikes, barefoot grape juicing and other activities. For more information call 02 996 3424, email info [at] susya.org.il or visit Susya.org.il. On October 10-11 the Dwelling in the Desert Festival will take place at the Joe Alon Center in the northern Negev Desert. The festival includes models of sukkahs throughout Jewish history as well as desert tents, musical instruments and a photography exhibition about the development of the Negev. For more information call 050-7366125 or click here (Hebrew).The Gush Katif women's seminary, reestablished in the Lachish region, is hosting a family wine and cave experience on October 9, from 10:30 AM to 5 PM. Wine will be hand-prepared in ancient presses and the network of caves used during the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Romans will be open to visitors and explored with the help of guides. For more information, call: 054 667 1554 or 054 667 1555.
The fourth annual Judean Kite Festival will take place in the hilltop community of Pnei Kedem, located in southeast Gush Etzion
Tuesday, October 10 from 11 to 5. For information and schedules of chartered buses call 02-930.9076 or email: mollmutty@yahoo.com
Western Wall and Temple Mount
Each day of the festival (as well as Friday night), prayers will take place at the Western Wall with lengthy singing and dancing in the tradition of the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. The daily morning prayers, which include the Hallel prayer and marching with the four species, will begin each day except Monday (see below) at 8:15 AM and be held up against the middle divider between the men’s and women’s sections. For more information call 054-596-9598.Visits for Jewish men and women who wish to ascend the Temple Mount in accordance with Jewish law are being offered over the course of the Sukkot Festival. All tours begin at 7.30 AM, beginning at the Mughrabi Gate, adjacent to the main entrance to the Western Wall plaza.
Tours will be offered each day in various languages:
Sunday October 8: Dr. Yoel Elitzur (Hebrew), Rabbi Chaim Richman (English), Shmuel Ben Hamu (French)
Monday October 9: Dr. Michael Ben-Ari (H), Nachum Schnitzer (E), Archeologist Yaffa Musaii (Women only, Hebrew)
Tuesday October 10: Dr. Yaacov Heyman (H), Rabbi Nachman Kupietzky (E), Yosef Dayan (Spanish)
Wednesday October 11: Menachem Ben-Yashar (H), Rabbi Zvi Rugan (E), Lily Richman (Women only, Bilingual)
Thursday October 12: Golan Shai-Cohen (H), Adv. Shmuel Caspar (E), Moshe Garbuz (Russian)
Sunday October 15: Yoel Lerner (Bilingual)
Participants must undergo physical preparations and immerse in a ritual bath beforehand, as well as arrive dressed in non-leather shoes. Police currently require a passport to ascend the mount and forbid the carrying up of religious articles aside from tzitzit and head coverings. For more information about the free tours and instructions on how to prepare, call (02) 571 0171 or 050 658 0224
(from outside Israel: +972 2 571 0171 or +972 50 658 0224).
Jerusalem’s Municipality has erected Israel’s largest sukkah. The temporary structure is constructed by each Jewish family and is a staple of the festival, which entails dwelling in sukkot. The municipal Sukkah of Stars is decorated with light fixtures from France and is located in Safra Square, just outside the Old City. It has an area of 500 square meters, measures six meters tall, and will be
open to the public all through the week.On Sunday, October 8 a joyous Simchat Beit HaShoeva, which commemorates the water libation performed in the Holy Temple, will take place in Jerusalem’s City of David, just below the Old City’s Dung Gate. Hassidic singers Yaakov Shweky and Chaim Yisrael will be performing. The event begins at 5:30 PM Several other City of David hikes and tours will be offered, including the Pilgrims' Route, ancient aqueducts tour, the newly established Jerusalem Trail and a survey of the sifting Temple Mount remnants in the Emek Tzurim valley. For more information, visit cityofdavid.org.il/succoth.asp or email
Foundation [at] cityofdavid.org.il
Several tours are being offered of the Jewish sites and residences in Jerusalem’s eastern half, liberated in 1967 and developed ever since. Half-day tours, offered by the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund will visit historical sites including the huge Jewish cemetery on the Mt.of Olives and Rachel’s Tomb in Bethlehem. Jewish homes in the Shimon Hatzadik, Maaleh Hazeitim and other eastern Jerusalem neighborhoods will be visited as well. For more information, visit: http://www.jcdf.org/tournow.html or contact
Reuven Grossman at tours [at] jcdf.org or 052-579-0958.Beit Orot will also be offering a 3 1 hour tour of the area, visiting the same sites and following in the footsteps of the IDF soldiers who liberated the eastern half of the capital in 1967. For more information or to join a group, email: trips [at] beitorot.org or call (from the US) 201 530 0210 or (from Israel) 02 628 4155.
Lectures, Film Screenings and Conferences
A new documentary about the expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif will be screened each night of the intermediate days of the festival in downtown Jerusalem. The movie, Home Game, uses the metaphor of Gaza's Jewish basketball competition to portray the pain of the Disengagement and determination of the evicted residents.The screenings will take place at the OU Israel Center in Jerusalem (22 Keren HaYesod, diagonally opposite the Dan Panorama Hotel) on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 8 PM during the holiday.The 27th annual Christian Feast of the Tabernacles will also take place in Jerusalem over the festival, attended by more than 4,000 Christians from more than 80 nations who will arrive in Jerusalem. The event is sponsored by the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem. Israel’s Ministry of Tourism bills the Feast of Tabernacles as the largest annual tourism event in Israel.
Concerts
On Sunday and Monday, October 8-9, the entire Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron will be open to the public, including the Tomb of Isaac, which is usually used as a mosque by local Arabs. Guided tours of the city will be given and large musical morning prayers will take place at 9:15 AM each day. Klezmer sensation Moussa Berlin will accompany the Hallel prayer and hassidic singer Mordechai Ben David will perform in the afternoon on the second day. Other performers include Adi Ran, Daklon, Shlomo Katz, Chaim Dovid Saracek, Shira Hadasha, Udi Davidi, Yoni Shlomo and Mendy Jerufy. For more information, call 1-800-400-456.The annual three-day free Beit Shemesh music festival will take place from October 8-10, featuring The Andalusi Orchestra (Sunday at 8 PM), Rockia, Para Aduma, Haakevot, Shlock Rock, Aaron Razel, Adi Ran, Moshav Band and Shai Gabso (Monday from 8 PM) and Udi Davidi, Naftali Abramson, Pey Dalid, Chaim Dovid, Shlomo Katz, Shlomo Gronich and Reva L'Sheva Tuesday night at 8 PM. For more information, visit shemeshfest.com
Tuesday night October 10 a cantorial concert will take place at Jerusalem’s Menachem Begin Heritage Center, entitled And they
came to Zion in Song.Performing with the Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute will be Chazan Naftali Hershtik. For more information and tickets, call: 02-565-2020.Information about many more concerts, lectures and celebrations can be found on the web site of the Jerusalem Municipality.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Nor'easter taking shape in Mid-Atlantic W. Verno, Meteorologist, The Weather Channel Fri Oct 6, 9:17 AM ET
Northeast
The Mid-Atlantic will be impacted by increasing rain, wind, and possible flooding into the weekend. A strong upper level disturbance will interact with a front over the Mid-Atlantic, and result in rain, heavy at times, from Philadelphia and Washington, south through Virginia. In addition to the threat for possible flooding, a few stronger thunderstorms will also be possible over southern Virginia.
Strong northeast winds will also increase across these areas making for a raw day. Meanwhile, high pressure will span the New England States, resulting in dry, but cool conditions today, with some areas experiencing freezing temperatures overnight Friday into Saturday morning. This general weather pattern will continue into Saturday, but by Sunday, the rains and wind over the Mid-Atlantic should lessen, and the temperatures should begin to moderate over the Northeast.
West
A strong upper disturbance will continue to transport abundant moisture northward through the four corners area today. Numerous showers the thunderstorms will impact pasts of southwest California, Arizona, Utah, western Colorado, and southern Idaho today.
The potential for heavy downpours moving over the same areas will increase the threat for flash flooding, particularly over Arizona and Utah. Also in these areas, a few severe thunderstorms will also be possible today. Meanwhile, over the Pacific Northwest and northern Rockies, a cold front will trigger a few showers there, along with cool temperatures. Into Saturday, a deep low pressure is forecast to develop over the northern Rockies. This will produce increased wind and rain, with some higher elevation snows over that area, while pulling the persistent showers and thunderstorms over the four Corners, a bit further east into New Mexico and Colorado.
Dry conditions will build across the west coast as the unsettled weather shifts further east.
South
A cold front will move south through the southeastern states today, producing a few showers over southern Georgia, into South Carolina.
High pressure will build across much of the south behind this front, resulting in partly cloudy skies, and cooler temperatures. Afternoon highs today will range from the 70s from Atlanta to Memphis, to the 80s along the Gulf Coast, to the 90s in Florida and southern Texas.
Meanwhile, a strong upper level disturbance impacting the Mid-Atlantic will spread increased chances of rain and wind into North Carolina, including the Raleigh area. This general weather pattern will persist into Saturday, with cooler conditions remaining in place over much of the south, and rains over the Carolinas.
Midwest
Large high pressure will span much of the Great Lakes, Midwest, and Plains today, resulting in mostly sunny skies and dry conditions. Cool conditions will remain in the Great Lakes and Midwest, where afternoon temperatures will be in the 60s, warming to the 70s and 80s westward over the High Plains. Winds will also be increasing over the Plains today, as strong southerly flow develops on the backside of high pressure. These general conditions will persist over the Great Lakes and Midwest into Saturday, however over the central Plains; very windy conditions will develop as a deep low pressure rapidly forms over the northern Rockies.
Temperatures will also soar Saturday afternoon in these areas under strong southerly flow, with readings into the 80s.
Typhoon Xangsane, flood toll reaches 169 Thu Oct 5, 12:57 AM ET
HANOI (Reuters) - Flooding killed dozens of people in the days after Typhoon Xangsane raked the Philippines and Vietnam, officials said on Thursday as the combined death toll rose to at least 169 with 79 others missing. The Vietnam government said 59 people died and 7 were missing after the typhoon hit on Sunday, but state-run media accounts indicated a higher death toll of at least 68, citing provincial disaster reports.The typhoon's fierce winds and rain destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes when it slammed into Vietnam's central coast after bringing parts of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, to a standstill last week.
In Vietnam, nearly 320,000 homes were destroyed or submerged. Xangsane, which means elephant in the Lao language, damaged roads, telecommunications and power networks, fisheries and crops along a roughly 1,000 km (600-mile) stretch.The government estimated the cost of the damage at 10 trillion dong ($624 million).Workers have been cleaning up the resort city of Danang and the nearby UNESCO-heritage town of Hoi An. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) tourism ministers meeting is scheduled for October 12 to 17 in Hoi An.In the Philippines, the typhoon killed 110 people, injured 88 and 72 were missing, officials said on Thursday.
More than 2.3 million people were affected by the typhoon in the Philippines and about 80,000 remained in temporary shelters after losing their homes in the disaster.The typhoon weakened into a tropical storm, moved west to Laos and dissipated over northern Thailand.Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are killed and property and crops damaged each year by tropical storms in Vietnam and the Philippines, which has the South China Sea between them.(Reporting by Ho Binh Minh in HANOI; Carmel Crimmins in MANILA)
Israeli Company Strikes Oil Near Dead Sea
14:38 Oct 05, '06 / 13 Tishrei 5767
by Hillel Fendel(INN)
An Israeli company reports it has struck oil in the Dead Sea region, possibly worth up to $350 million. The company, Ginko Oil Exploration, says that oil spurted on Monday from a depth of 1,800 meters (1.12 miles), and that further tests will be carried out in the coming days. The oil, estimated at about 6.5 million barrels' worth, was found just north of the Dead Sea.Ginko extracted about 120,000 barrels of crude oil from the site about ten years ago, but gave up the initiative. The drilling has now been renewed, as it has in many places around the world, because of the steep increase in oil prices. Ginko has already acquired pipelines and containers for transporting the extracted fuel. In April 2004, Ginko discovered a seven-meter layer of natural gas in the same region. Israel has produced only 20 million barrels of oil in the last half-century, the Associated Press reports - less than what the Saudis produce every three days.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Commission bureaucrats are getting too powerful, says Verheugen
05.10.2006 - 09:39 CET | By Honor Mahony
European Commission vice-president Guenter Verheugen has spoken out strongly against the power of high-ranking civil servants within the commission who are able to influence decisions according to their personal whims.In an interview with German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the German commissioner in charge of the important industry portfolio said the whole development in the last ten years has brought the civil servants such power that in the meantime the most important political task of the 25 commissioners is controlling this apparatus.There is a permanent power struggle between commissioners and high ranking bureaucrats. Some of them think: the commissioner is gone after five years and so is just a house keeper, but I'm sticking around, he continued.
He suggests that his own project to simplify 54 EU laws has fallen foul of stubborn commission bureaucrats. Before the summer he strongly criticised internally some general directorates who evidently did not want to take the head of the commission's aim to reduce bureaucracy seriously, because it did not fit in with their own ideas.Mr Verheugen, who is now in his second term as EU commissioner having previously been in charge of enlargement, noted that the problem will get worse again once Bulgaria and Romania join the EU because then there will be two new general directorates units in the commission that deal with specific areas and that is a problem.
Illustrating how power struggles happen, the commissioner said it all occurs under the surface.The commissioners have to take extreme care that important questions are decided in their weekly meeting, and not decided by the civil servants among themselves.Unfortunately it sometimes happens in the communication with member states or parliament that civil servants put their own personal perspective across as the view of the commission, he told the newspaper.Citing a concrete example the 62-year old social democrat commissioner said that commission bureaucrats had tried to sort out the use of pesticides between them and the issue only came to the attention of their political masters the commissioners when the bureaucrats fell out over the issue.
Noting that the way some commission officials communicate is technical and arrogant, which he finds appalling, Mr Verheugen said that only a change in political culture in the commission would improve the situation.He suggests that commissioners should be able to move around the powerful general directors, something which they cannot do at the moment, pointing out that when something goes wrong then it is always commissioners who take the flak.In my opinion, too much is decided by civil servants,he said in conclusion.
Syria and EU Discuss Situation in the Region
Wednesday, October 04, 2006 - 04:15 PM
DAMASCUS, (SANA) Syria and EU Discussed on Wednesday bilateral relations and the Mideast peace process.
Talks during a meeting between Members of the European Commission delegation headed by Chairman of Mideast Unit at the European Union Alan Seater and Assistant Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous dealt with the peace process in the Middle East and implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions, in addition to the situation in Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq .They also discussed the Syrian-European relations and aid programs which the commission intends to extend to Syria during the upcoming period of 2007-2010 as well as priorities that Syria sees in these programs.
Discussions between members of the European Commission delegation and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari touched upon importance of boosting relations between Syria and European Union to cover different fields of developments.They also conferred on having a look at the suggested program in the blue print of the EU strategy for cooperation with Syria during 2007- 2010 in the economic reform domains and networks of social protection in addition to develop business environment and public and local services .Both sides agreed to continue discussions aiming at reaching a joint action paper in order to help in enhancing prospects of cooperation and pushing them forward.Thawra –Sawsan
EZEKIEL 38:3-6
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
JOEL 2:20,30
20 But I will remove far off from you the northern army,(RUSSIA,MUSLIMS) and will drive him into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and his hinder part toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.(SIBERIAN DESERT)
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(NUCLEAR BOMB)
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.
Iran: Foreign tourists welcome at nuclear sites
Journalists, U.N. inspectors have had trouble getting easy access
MSNBC News Services
TEHRAN, Iran /Iran’s hard-line president has ordered nuclear facilities opened to foreign tourists to prove that the nation’s disputed atomic program is peaceful, state-run television reported on Wednesday.After an order by the president ... foreign tourists can visit Iran’s nuclear facilities,the head of Iran’s tourism division, Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, was quoted as saying.Mashai said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued the order to show that Iran’s nuclear program it aims to generate fuel, not weapons.We are reviewing the related instructions in this regard,he reportedly said.An official said tourists could visit the facilities, including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, 150 miles south of Tehran, the centerpiece of Iran’s disputed atomic fuel drive.
New tourism niche?
Despite offering attractions such as ancient Persian ruins, intricately tiled mosques and spice-filled bazaars, as well as skiing in its northern mountains, tourism is underdeveloped in the Islamic Republic, where strict religious dress codes require women to cover their heads and bodies.And it is unclear whether tourists will flock to see Iran’s nuclear facilities, which are ringed by anti-aircraft batteries.Foreign and Iranian journalists, who often request visits, have been given only occasional tours of Natanz, the uranium conversion facility of Isfahan or Bushehr, the site of Iran’s first nuclear power plant that is still being built.Even U.N. inspectors, who are given routine access to nuclear sites, have complained about some restrictions in the past, although Iran denies causing any
obstructions.
U.S. visitors might be fingerprinted
The report did not clarify the definition of a foreign tourist. The announcement came a day after Iran’s parliament voted to debate a bill that would require the government to fingerprint all U.S. citizens visiting Iran.The draft law would require all American citizens to be fingerprinted when they enter Iran.
The measure was in retaliation for the fingerprinting of Iranian travelers visiting the United States a procedure implemented in 2002 for Iranians and citizens of several other countries.The U.S. and some of its allies fear Iran is seeking to enrich uranium to develop nuclear weapons.Senior U.N. diplomats said Tuesday that Iran’s refusal to freeze uranium enrichment had sabotaged talks meant to defuse the standoff over its nuclear program, opening the way for the Security Council to start considering sanctions next week.The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
No Future for the Jews in the Diaspora
By Hana Levi Julian(INN)
Likud Knesset opposition leader Binyamin Bibi Netanyahu warned American Jews on Thursday There is no future for Jews in the Diaspora.An Islamic terror plot was foiled in Prague. Netanyahu cited assimilation and intermarriage as the main reasons for the statement on Thursday. He cautioned American financial supporters of the IDF Nahal hareidi program to work especially against assimilation in their communities.The only hope for the Jewish people in the Diaspora is Israel,he said, to the surprise of the leaders and other Diaspora Jews in the room. Sources close to Netanyahu confirmed he had made the statements, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Not The First Warning by Israeli Leaders
President Moshe Katsav issued a similar warning six years ago when he said in September 2000, The only branch that can ensure the continuation of the Jewish nation is the Jewish State.Katsav insisted at the time that Jewish education in the Diaspora was a short-term solution that would last at most two or three generations. We have legitimized living in the Diaspora and have said it does not bother us, he said, but caused a groundswell of shock and anger when he maintained that Israeli leaders should no longer justify Jews remaining in countries outside the State of Israel.
An Ominous New Threat to Diaspora Jews in the Czech Republic
A report by the Yediot Aharonot daily newspaper Friday added an additional grim reason to the concern for the future of Diaspora Jewry: the threat of Islamic terrorism.Reports of an Islamic terrorist plot to kidnap and ultimately murder a large group of Jews in Prague brought back frightening echoes of the pogroms of Eastern Europe.
The plot, which came to light around Rosh Hashana, has meant increased police patrols and questions for residents and tourists in the Czech capital. The Mlada Fronta Dnesnewspaper quoted unnamed intelligence sources who said the terrorists would have imprisoned the captives in the Great Synagogue of Prague while demanding unspecified terms they knew would not be met. According to the source, the terrorists planned to blow up the building, destroying everything and everyone inside. The report did not include information on whether anyone had been arrested in connection with the plot, nor did it offer any clue as to the identity of the conspirators.
The Feeling Will be Different From Now On
Rabbi Manis Barash, head of the Chabad House in the Czech Republic’s capital noted, Unfortunately the Jewish communities in Europe are used to threats and actions as well. Now it has reached us. Israeli officials have been monitoring the situation, said a member of the Jewish community who asked to remain anonymous. A similar situation recently occurred in Norway as well, noted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.We are aware of the existence of extremist groups in the European continent that wish to harm Israeli representatives and local Jewish communities,he said, adding that Israeli consulates and embassies are dealing with the situation. Regev did not specify the security measures which were in place. As Czech Jews enter the holiday of Sukkot, (known commonly as the Festival of Booths or Feast of Tabernacles) Rabbi Barash said Jewish life in the city, that draws countless tourists from Israel and other countries, is tense. Terror alerts at the airport, the Jewish Quarter and other areas in the capital have raised the stress level to an unprecedented high.The feeling will be different from now on,he commented.We still walk on the streets, but on this holiday we are naturally more fearful and suspicious.
EU wise group welcomes Sarkozy constitution initiative
05.10.2006 - 17:13 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER /
BRUSSELS /Members of a select group of EU politicians tackling the bloc's constitutional deadlock have told EUobserver they are open to changes to the EU constitution, welcoming the fact that French minister Sarkozy recently re-opened
the debate on the charter.The circle of high-profile European politicians led by Italian interior minister Giuliano Amato last weekend (29-30 September) held its first meeting in Rome, with two members of the group telling EUobserver after the talks that they have no taboos.The substance of the EU constitution is more important than its form,said Belgian MEP and former prime minister Jean-Luc
Dehaene who was one of the senior architects of the charter rejected by French and Dutch voters last year.
Another member of the group, Spanish centre-right MEP Inigo Mendez de Vigo, said the Rome meeting had welcomed recent proposals by French interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy for a mini treaty made up of only parts of the constitution. We discussed the proposal of Mr Sarkozy and we thought it was a good initiative,he said. We may not fully agree with it but it made a difference that a French politician who has important responsibilities takes the initiative himself of saying: this is what I think. We appreciated the fact that Mr Sarkozy has gone into the arena. Mr Mendez de Vigo added that another plan by Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt to create a nucleus of closely integrated eurozone states, was also mentioned by participants as another proposal that we have.
But the text of the constitution remains an important point of departure for the group which will hold its next conclave in December, the Spanish politician indicated. We will think for the next meeting: what are the essential parts of the constitution? What is really essential in the constitution for Europe to work in the forthcoming years?
Vitorino joins group
The Amato group includes two former prime ministers Paavo Lipponen of Finland and Wim Kok of the Netherlands as well as two European commissioners Danuta Hubner (regional policy) and Margot Wallstom (communications) and German interior minister
Wolfgang Schauble plus his predecessor Otto Schily.
France also has two particpants former foreign minister Michel Barnier and former finance minister Dominique Strauss-Kahn while UK ex-commissioner Chris Patten is another prominent member. Mr Mendez de Vigo said the group will soon be joined by Antonio Vitorino, a Portuguese ex-commissioner, plus one member from a Baltic state and one from a central European country, bringing the total number of 'wise' men and women to 14. The group, which will produce a report just before next year's June EU leaders summit on the constitution, strongly stresses its independence, having its own €100,000 budget provided by the German Bosch Foundation.
We are a group of private participants,said Mr Dehaene, with commission officials stressing that Ms Hubner and Ms Wallstrom are participating in their private capacity.
High political stakes
But the political weight of the group is highlighted by the fact that both Germany and France have two members, each representing the main centre-right and centre-left political forces. Germany in particular has high stakes in the group, as it holds the EU presidency in the first half of next year and is tasked with making concrete proposals on how to deal with the shelved constitution.
We know that others will deal with decisions,said Mr Mendez de Vigo. We started from the idea that the German presidency has to make a proposal on the procedure, but also, surely, on content [of a new treaty]. Our motto is: we'll try to give you a hand.
EU, U.S. reach deal on sharing passenger data from trans-Atlantic flights Updated 10/6/2006 11:25 AM ET
LUXEMBOURG (AP) The European Union and the United States agreed Friday on a new anti terrorism agreement that will give the FBI and other U.S. law enforcement agencies access to data about passengers on U.S.-bound flights.
The interim deal reached after a nine-hour, trans-Atlantic video conference that took place nearly a week after negotiators missed an Oct. 1 deadline replaces a 2004 air passenger privacy agreement the EU's high court voided last May for purely technical reasons.The agreement is valid until July 2007, after which the EU and the U.S. plan to have a permanent accord. The 25 EU governments are expected to give final approval to the interim deal next week.
EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini welcomed the agreement, saying the United States and the EU will employ comparable standards of data protection.He said the deal should defuse fears in the European Parliament of a loss of privacy for Europeans flying to the United States.Under the agreement, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security no longer will have an automatic right to pull data from European airlines' computer systems, but must ask for such information.The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency may disclose passenger data to other American law enforcement agencies only if they have comparable standards of data protection, Frattini told reporters.
He said it cannot give them direct electronic access to the data and limits the duration of its storage.EU negotiator Jonathan Faull said the EU and the U.S. are aiming for a broader deal after July 2007 that would provide for sharing of more data than the 34 details listed under Friday's agreement.
British Home Secretary John Reid called the interim agreement another major step in the fight against terrorism (showing that) the common alliance against terrorism is, on both sides of the Atlantic, very strong.French Justice Minister Pascal Clement said the Europeans got concrete guarantees with respect to privacy protection for EU nationals.Negotiations collapsed last week when the EU denied a request by U.S.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff for a more routine sharing of passenger data among U.S. law enforcement agencies.The new agreement lets airlines continue to legally submit 34 pieces of data such as passenger names, addresses, seat numbers, credit card and travel details, as well as their no-show records for transfer to U.S. authorities within 15 minutes of a flight's departure for the United States.Frattini said there was a concrete risk of privacy erosion had a trans-Atlantic accord not been reached. In that case, a patchwork of bilateral agreements would have been the privacy protection basis.
EU officials said they shared Washington's concerns about terrorism, but demanded strict data protection guarantees in return for a more routine sharing of personal details of air passengers among U.S. law enforcement officials.Washington had warned that airlines failing to share passenger data would face fines of up to US$6,000 (euro4,700) per passenger and the loss of landing rights.
The negotiations revealed divisions between the U.S. and the Europeans over how far governments should go in curbing personal freedoms to prevent terrorist attacks.Privacy restrictions tend to be tougher in Europe than in the United States, and the Europeans wanted to deny U.S. officials the right to go into airline reservation systems.
Martine Roure, a spokesman for the Socialists, the European Parliament's second-largest group, expressed satisfaction there is a new agreement. The U.S. authorities must now apply all the data protection guarantees we ask of them.Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Posted 10/6/2006 10:35 AM ET
Source of E. coli outbreak sought
Tainted spinach was the source of an E. coli outbreak in the U.S. recently.
Carly Weeks, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, October 06, 2006
OTTAWA /The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Ontario health ministry are trying to determine the source of an E. coli outbreak that has left more than 30 people sick, including five who required hospitalization, in two different Ontario cities. Health officials believe there is a link between the reports of illnesses that have streamed in from Sudbury, Ont., and Hamilton.
But they have not been able to determine what food caused the outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria.While officials believe the bacteria likely came from fresh produce most likely lettuce the food inspection agency said there’s little hope it will be able to determine the source of the outbreak.The food link has not been demonstrated yet by tests,said CFIA spokesman Marc Richard. Should there be a food link demonstrated, then we can recall (the product), but given this is a fresh product, that is less likely because it was all eaten or thrown away weeks ago.Health officials are also trying to figure out how two communities located in different parts of the province were affected by the same bacteria outbreak, and why no other community seems to have experienced similar problems. The news of the outbreak comes on the heels of a massive E. coli outbreak that claimed the lives of two people, including a two-year-old boy, in the United States, and made more than 190 others sick, including an Ontario woman.Officials in Hamilton are investigating 20 cases of E. coli, of which 11 have been confirmed. All of the cases are confined to Hillfield Strathallan College, a private-run school.
Officials first learned of the outbreak on Sept. 26, he said.
In Sudbury, health officials are investigating 14 cases. Four people in that city had to be hospitalized after eating food that had been contaminated with E. coli bacteria. Most of the people affected are believed to have eaten contaminated food at a local restaurant. © CanWest News Service
Friday, October 06, 2006
10 TRIBES COME HOME TO ISRAEL
1-Cluster of earthquakes near Mt Cook. 2-Quake shakes up water table in Maine. 3-S.East Asian flood toll, damage rise after typhoon. 4-Borneo and Sumatra burn as forest fires rage. 5-Global trade goes more global. 6-Vatican-Muslim dialogue back to square one: cardinal. 7-Beijing secretly fires lasers to disable US satellites. 8-Rice Cites Concern for Palestinians, But Low Expectations Mark Visit. 9-Mahdi Followers Claim US Is Trying To Prevent His Return. 10-87 die from mosquito diseases in India. 11-Right On: A miracle of biblical proportions.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Cluster of earthquakes near Mt Cook
Posted at 11:28am on 05 Oct 2006
A shallow cluster of earthquakes 30km north-west of Mt Cook this week has seismologists looking at what may be causing the activity.The biggest quake was on Monday, reaching 4.7 on the Richter scale; with successive earthquakes being smaller, but closer to the surface.GMS Science seismologist Todd Nicholson says it's unusual to have so much seismic activity around Mt Cook.Eight earthquakes were recorded on Monday, and one or two quakes each day since then.The deepest quake was 8km on Monday, with 5km depths recorded on the same day and on Wednesday.Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand
Quake shakes up water table in Maine Wed Oct 4, 1:42 PM ET
BAR HARBOR, Maine - Monday's earthquake lowered the water level by 3 1/2 feet at one location in a national park, an unusual event, but one that wasn't expected to hurt the water supply, officials said. By Wednesday, the water level was still falling but beginning to level off, said Gregory Stewart, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The drop in water level was observed at one of the agency's monitoring wells in Acadia National Park.Bar Harbor and some municipalities on Mount Desert Island near the epicenter of the quake have public water systems, but most residents in outlying areas rely on wells for drinking water. The Hancock County Emergency Management Agency said it had not received any reports of compromised wells.
The earthquake Monday evening registered a magnitude of 3.9 and followed quakes with magnitudes of 3.5 and 2.5 on Sept. 22 and 26.The latest earthquake caused rocks to fall onto Acadia National Park's Park Loop Road and burst some water pipes, but no injuries were reported.The Geological Survey said the drop in water level was more of an oddity than something for residents to worry about.We're not trying to create some kind of public scare. It's more of a public interest thing. It's a pretty dramatic change, Stewart said.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
S.East Asian flood toll, damage rise after typhoon Wed Oct 4, 12:30 AM ET
HANOI (Reuters) - Flooding and landslides triggered by Typhoon Xangsane have raised the death toll to more than 150 in the past week from the storm that hit Vietnam and the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.
The typhoon's fierce winds and rain destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes when it slammed Vietnam's central coast on Sunday after bringing parts of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, to a standstill last week.Vietnamese officials said more than 50,000 houses were still submerged along a roughly 1,000 km (600-mile) area from northern Nghe An province to Gia Lai province in the south. Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said the evacuation of 6,000 people started on Tuesday in Nghe An.
Vietnam's resort city of Danang, the country's fourth largest with 1 million people, was hardest-hit by the typhoon, both in terms of casualties and damage to homes, power supply and its seafood industry.The National Flood and Storm Control Committee said at least 42 people were killed in Vietnam by the storm or swept away by floods in its aftermath. Seven were missing and 502 injured.
Initial estimates of damage were around 9.98 trillion dong ($623 million), the government said.The committee warned residents across the storm-damaged region to be prepared for flash floods, landslides and flooding in the low-lying areas.
Officials in the Philippines said on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 110 from 78 on Monday.At least 88 people were injured and a further 79 were still missing. Around 2.9 billion pesos ($58 million) worth of properties were damaged by Xangsane, which means elephant in the Lao language.The storm weakened after crossing into Vietnam and moved west across Laos and into Thailand.Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are killed and property and crops damaged each year by tropical storms in the two countries, which are separated by the South China Sea.(Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam in Hanoi and Carmel Crimmins in Manila)
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.
Borneo and Sumatra burn as forest fires rage
mongabay.com,October 4, 2006
Forest fires are again burning across Borneo and Sumatra according to satellite images released this week by NASA. The fires, set on a seasonal basis for land-clearing for agriculture, have blanked the region with smoke that has interrupted air travel and driven air quality to unhealthy levels. NASA notes that despite a governmental ban on open burning, seasonal fires continue to occur on the Indonesian islands each year, peaking in the dry season of late summer and early fall.
Smoke from agricultural and forest fires burning on Sumatra (left) and Borneo (right) in late September and early October 2006 blanketed a wide region with smoke that interrupted air and highway travel and pushed air quality to unhealthy levels. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on October 1, 2006, shows places where MODIS detected actively burning fires marked in red. Smoke spreads in a gray-white pall to the north. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
In 1982-1983 more than 9.1 million acres (3.7 million ha) burned on the island of Borneo before monsoon rains arrived, while more than 2 million hectares of forest and scrub land burned during the 1997-1998 el Niño event, causing $9.3 billion in losses. The fires also produced wide-ranging and severe economic, political, social, health, and ecological damage to Indonesia and the neighboring Southeast Asian nations of Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand, already in the midst of an economic crisis.
Satellite analysis of the 1997-1998 fires revealed that 80 percent of the fires could be linked to plantations or logging concession holders. The haze from the 2005-2006 fires resulted in heated exchanges between Indonesian and Malaysian government officials. Malaysia and Singapore offered assistance in fighting Indonesian blazes, while simultaneously scolding the country for its lack of progress in controlling the wild fires. Indonesia in turn blamed Malaysian firms for rampant illegal logging in the country, which left its forests more susceptible to conflagrations.
Despite some protective measures, including an Indonesian proposal to implement the death penalty for illegal loggers and fire starters, such fires are only expected to worsen in the future as the region's forests face increasingly dry conditions due to climate change and degradation. Of special concern are the region's peatlands which, when burned, release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmoshpere and are extremely difficult to extinguish. Dr Susan Page, of the University of Leicester, estimates that Southeast Asian peat lands may contain up to 21 percent of the world’s land-based carbon. The 1997 fires released 2.67 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Global trade goes more global
Khaleej Times 2006 ,By Prof. Tom Lambert FRSA
IT HAS become common practice for countries in all regions of the world to develop trading blocks. So we have the European Union, Asean in South East Asia and the North American Free Trade Agreement. In previous articles I have suggested that Mena is well placed to develop a massive domestic market as a springboard for more widespread global trade by the countries that have little international trade experience with guidance and support from the more knowledgeable nations.Not all such arrangements reach their full potential as quickly as is hoped. For example Asean is at times beset by problems emanating from unequal economic development. Similar problems will need to be overcome in Mena, which is why I believe that strong, experienced and effective leadership is necessary.
Other international trading blocks have limited initial membership. Mena may need to consider a similar approach. The point is, however, that whatever barriers may exist the potential can be exploited.
IBSA
Effective exploitation of local markets can be the pathway to enhanced prosperity through strategic global trade initiatives. India has, in recent years, offered a role model of success to her neighbours in many areas of international business. Many pundits believe that with a young and talented workforce India will overtake China and become the major hub of global trade and commerce in the region.India has a demographic advantage in having a younger population than her vast neighbour median age 24.9 years.
Combining this with an education system that is more attuned to international business and scientific needs is expected to provide a telling competitive edge. China will, of course continue to prosper, but many now expect India to become the dominant Asian trading nation.Two years ago the Indian government was instrumental in creating something of a new trade block model linking her with the continents of Africa and South America. IBSA is a trading group that brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, the three most successful countries in their regions, in a triumvirate of trade. The goals begin modestly by global standards with an initial trade target of $10 billion. The indications are that that target will be achieved and trade will develop along with increasing good will.
Brasilia
In September the heads of government met with business leaders from the three countries in Brasilia. They announced their intention of working together to develop mutually beneficial trade and technology exchanges that will, in due course, go beyond the three countries that are directly involved in the initial links.Brazil is the leading member of MERCOSUR, a trading block in which its partners are Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Its objective is to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, technology, capital and people between the member countries. South Africa has a similar role in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union. India has strong relationships with Asean and is a leading member of G-20; a grouping of countries from across the globe that has had considerable success in opposing the combined might of the EU and USA on occasion. All three countries have strategies in place to combat Aids and poverty. Each has still a long way to go. Increased trade will be a major factor in economic and social success.
Corporate governance
In his speech to captains of industry gathered in Brasilia Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the primary role of the trilateral relationship would be mutual trade, but beyond that establishing an IBSA mechanism for the exchange of information and experiences on regulatory issues could lead to a harmonisation of standards an important factor in international business governance.It is arguable that expanding trade will naturally extend to regulatory harmonisation. As part of the development of a level playing field, mutual understanding and trust harmonisation may emerge naturally. A model may lie in China's approach to trade
with Africa as I discussed in a previous article.If harmonisation comes from evolutionary rather than revolutionary forces it may well prove to be acceptable and robust.
Transport
Not surprisingly the distance between three continents has been a barrier to both trade and tourism. The three leaders agreed that their faith in the future of IBSA would need to drive a framework that would lead to improvements in transport linkages between the three countries. The potential is there and is waiting to be realised. The means has, to some degree, still to be found.
Energy
Economic development is energy dependent and, as nobody understands better than the oil-rich countries of the Mena region, oil stocks may be massive, but they are finite. The trilateral approach plans to bring together the areas of energy expertise of its three members.
Brazil is a world leader in the production of ethanol. South Africa has important experience in coal gasification and has an already well developed synthetic fuel industry. India has massive resources of coal and expertise in wind and solar energy that will be developed by the growing number of engineers that the country is producing. Mena has also great potential for renewable energy resources.
Make poverty history
In spite of their pre-eminence regionally, India, South Africa and Brazil still experience major problems of poverty and health at home. The three leaders have committed themselves to using the benefits of an increasingly prosperous IBSA to improve the lives of their people. Important as this is the intention is to go further and to work together to establish a clear pathway to economic development that will reach beyond their borders enriching the lives of other countries in their respective regions.
Mena
In a number of ways the Middle East North Africa region has parallels with the countries of IBSA and their neighbours. There are well-developed economies that are already global players. There is, overall, a relatively young workforce. There are important natural resources combined with considerable technical know how. Knowledge and experience exist that can be shared in an international learning community. There have been major initiatives in education in particular in the UAE and Qatar from which we can all learn.
Considerable financial resources exist to support human capital. At the same time there remain unrealised human potential and poverty in some parts of the region. Perhaps India, Brazil and South Africa can offer another model from which leadership in the region can take whatever is relevant to exploit the considerable advantages and promise that are so evident.
REVELATION 17:2
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(THE VATICAN THROUGH DIALOGUE)
Vatican-Muslim dialogue back to square one: cardinal By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor Wed Oct 4, 11:22 AM ET
PARIS (Reuters) - Vatican relations with the Islamic world must be restarted from square one because Muslims insist on misinterpreting Pope Benedict's recent comments on Islam, Germany's top Catholic cardinal said in an article on Wednesday.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann, head of the German Catholic Bishops Conference, accused Muslim critics of running a campaign against the Pope and said the Pontiff had nothing to apologize for.The blunt comments from Lehmann, whose rich and influential church has close ties to the German-born Pope, seem to have been sparked by an unusual call from the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for him to retract his words.The OIC call came a day after Benedict had received Muslim ambassadors to the Vatican and repeated his regrets for any misunderstanding of his September 12 speech in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor saying Islam was evil and violent.
These open or hidden threats have to stop,Lehmann said in the weekly newspaper of his Mainz diocese.
Obviously we have to start at square one because we're not talking here about important contents of a necessary dialogue, but about the fundamental requirements for one to succeed.There is freedom of religion and speech in our civilization. The Pope can also be criticized. But there are elementary rules that apply for factual and fair contacts with each other and with clear statements, he wrote.One cannot constantly repeat completely unfounded misunderstandings when the texts are so clear.The dispute over Benedict's use of a quote sharply critical of Islam has further strained Vatican ties with Muslims who already knew he has spoken in the past against Turkey's entry into the European Union because of that country's Islamic roots.
Benedict's repeated protest that he did not agree with the quote has not convinced Muslim critics, who say he has still not gone far enough to undo the damage they feel he has done.Some accuse him of undoing years of bridge-building by his predecessor. When John Paul was pope, there was no problem for Muslims, commented Cemal Usak, a Turkish Muslim activist. Pope Benedict may not like Islam but he has to respect Muslims.
A FULL-BLOWN CAMPAIGN
Lehmann noted that Benedict's speech in Regensburg during a visit to his native Bavaria evoked no critical reaction at first and journalists had no questions about it at a news conference the cardinal gave after the Pope left Munich on September 14.Only a few days later did a full-blown campaign from outside begin,he wrote, calling it astounding that critics should repeatedly say the Pope had insulted Islam and Muslims.Lehmann's article echoed a statement last week by the bishops he leads complaining some critics had tried to escalate the dispute with ever new charges, demands or even threats.The Catholic Church and many people in our country and around the world, who respect and defend the right of free speech, will not be bullied, the bishops' conference said after its meeting in Fulda last week.
The German bishops, an influential voice at the Vatican because of their church's financial power and theological depth, also repeated Benedict's frequent calls for Muslim countries to give their Christian minorities equal rights.Meeting shortly after a Berlin theater canceled a Mozart opera for fear it might prompt Muslim protests, the bishops also expressed concern about self-censorship over religion. We are concerned that fear of religiously motivated violence is spreading, not only in Germany, and leading to a direct or indirect limitation of free speech,they said.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
Beijing secretly fires lasers to disable US satellites
By Francis Harris in Washington
China has secretly fired powerful laser weapons designed to disable American spy satellites by blinding their sensitive surveillance devices, it was reported yesterday.The hitherto unreported attacks have been kept secret by the Bush administration for fear that it would damage attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran.Sources told the military affairs publication Defense News that there had been a fierce internal battle within Washington over whether to make the attacks public. In the end, the Pentagon's annual assessment of the growing Chinese military build-up barely mentioned the threat.After a contentious debate, the White House directed the Pentagon to limit its concern to one line, Defense News said.
The document said that China could blind American satellites with a ground-based laser firing a beam of light to prevent spy photography as they pass over China.According to senior American officials: China not only has the capability, but has exercised it.American satellites like the giant Keyhole craft have come under attack several times in recent years.Although the Chinese tests do not aim to destroy American satellites, the laser attacks could make them useless over Chinese territory.The American military has been so alarmed by the Chinese activity that it has begun test attacks against its own satellites to determine the severity of the
threat.Satellites are especially vulnerable to attack because they have predetermined orbits, allowing an enemy to know where they will appear.
The Chinese are very strategically minded and are extremely active in this arena. They really believe all the stuff written in the 1980s about the high frontier,said one senior former Pentagon official.There has been increasing alarm in parts of the American military establishment over China's growing military ambitions.Military experts have already noted that Chinese military expenditure is increasingly designed to challenge American military pre-eminence by investing in weaponry that can attack key systems such as aircraft carriers and satellites.At the same time, China is engaged in a large-scale espionage effort against American high-tech firms
working on projects such as the multibillion-pound DD(X) destroyer programme.Several spy rings have been cracked and the FBI is increasing the number of counter-intelligence staff tracking the Chinese effort.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
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, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
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.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Rice Cites Concern for Palestinians, But Low Expectations Mark Visit
By Robin Wright,Washington Post Staff Writer,Thursday, October 5, 2006; Page A26
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged Wednesday to redouble U.S. efforts to alleviate the economic plight of Palestinians facing escalating tensions and the threat of a humanitarian crisis. But U.S. officials cautioned not to expect any significant breakthroughs as prospects for a renewed Arab-Israeli peace process seem further away than ever.At a joint news conference here with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Rice said the Bush administration was very concerned about humanitarian conditions and the economic situation in the Palestinian territories.It is a great sadness, during this
time of Ramadan, that Palestinians, many of them, are deprived of basic needs,she said.Abbas, underscoring the dire state of the peace process, said talks with the Hamas movement on formation of a national unity government are dead and suggested he may dissolve the Palestinians' seven-month-old government.
The dialogue now does not exist,Abbas said. If Hamas continues to balk at forming a unity government, which would force it to recognize Israel's right to exist, Abbas said he was prepared to use his constitutional powers to resolve the political deadlock. All options are open,he said.The only option I reject is civil war,Abbas said, noting that clashes between Hamas and his Fatah party over the past week have been the deadliest since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994.On Wednesday, a Hamas official in the West Bank town of Qalqilya was assassinated by four masked gunmen who fled the scene. Asked about the killing and the recent violence, a senior Palestinian police official at the presidential compound in Ramallah called Hamas donkeys,reflecting the deep-rooted antipathy between the two largest Palestinian factions.
Rice, on her sixth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories as secretary of state, has come with fewer prospects for major progress in the near future than on any previous visit. She is struggling just to revive an agreement to open border crossings between the Gaza Strip and the outside world, which she brokered in November after all-night negotiations.
The agreement gave Palestinians some control over their own border for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war. But according to Palestinian and U.S. sources, the border has been closed for all but about seven days since June 25, when Palestinian guerrillas captured an Israeli soldier. It reopened Wednesday and was scheduled to be open Thursday, U.S. and Arab sources said, coinciding with Rice's trip and Palestinian requests for relief during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
During their one-on-one discussions, Abbas gave Rice a lengthy document detailing the Palestinians' needs on cross-border movement and ways to push implementation of the 11-month-old accord, according to the Palestinian president's chief of staff, Rafiq Husseini.Rice is trying to win agreement from the Israelis to ensure that the pivotal Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel is open for Palestinian exports in time for the harvest, which begins in about three weeks, according to U.S. and Western sources.After she held talks over dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, the Israelis indicated willingness to open Karni in the near future but did not give a date. Rice is scheduled to hold talks Thursday morning with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.Another Palestinian proposal on the table, backed by the United States and its allies, calls for almost doubling Abbas's presidential guard to about 6,000 members and widening the force's mandate for security purposes. A senior State Department official said the presidential guard has proved to be the Palestinians' most effective security force and is already deployed at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS
MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Mahdi Followers Claim US Is Trying To Prevent His Return
The followers of Moqtada al-Sadr believe that the US invaded Iraq to prevent the return to Earth of their sect's messiah-like figure, the Mahdi, or 12th imam.Hojatoleslam al-Sadr claims that his militia is preparing for the day when the Mahdi, the last direct descendent of the revered Shia figure Ali, reappears. Shia believe that the Mahdi, who disappeared in 868, will bring justice to Earth.At a prayer service in the central Iraqi city of Kufa on September 15, the cleric told a crowd of thousands that the Americans were collecting a dossier on the Mahdi to prevent his return. Did you ever ask yourself about why all of this, the bloodshed and the prisons? Why are the brothers fighting each other for a political game planned by the Americans? This all happened because they (the Americans) are waiting for the Mahdi. This planning started ten years ago. They have a big file for Imam Mahdi and they just need his picture to complete it.
Hojatoleslam al-Sadr and his advisers are convinced that the Americans want to destroy Islam and stop the Mahdi. The Americans are trying to hijack Islamic movements. Whatever they did in Afghanistan and Iraq are all attempts to hijack the Mahdi's return.
REVELATION 6:7-8
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, 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).
87 die from mosquito diseases in India
New Delhi: Outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases in northern and southern India left ordinarily overburdened hospitals and clinics swamped with patients Wednesday, and officials said at least 87 people had succumbed to the infections.At New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's premier state-run hospital, a makeshift ward was set up in a hallway to deal with hundreds of dengue fever patients, some of whom were forced to hold intravenous drip bags above their heads because of a lack of equipment.
The dengue outbreak began in late August, and the death toll in New Delhi and surrounding areas of northern India rose to 16 on Wednesday when a patient at the institute died.The situation was even worse in the southern state of Kerala, where 71 people have died in the past month from another mosquito-borne disease, a rare viral fever known as chikungunya, said the state's health minister P. K. Sreemathi.In the hardest-hit district of the state, Alappuzha, some 40,000 people were showing symptoms of the disease such as high fevers and severe joint pain – and thousands had been hospitalized, said the area's chief medical officer, K. Velayudhan.
Across the state, local authorities were overwhelmed by the outbreak, and Sreemathi said a World Health Organization team made up of experts from India's National Institutes of Communicable Diseases was to arrive Thursday.The expert heath team from WHO needs to make an on-the-spot assessment to tackle the situation,she told media from Alappuzha.The outbreaks of dengue in the north and chikungunya in the south come as the annual monsoon tapers off across much of the subcontinent, leaving behind countless small pools and puddles of dirty, stagnant water where infectious mosquitoes breed. Open sewers that are features of many Indian towns and cities provide even more breeding grounds.
ISRAEL ON EARTH DURING TRIBULATION 7 YR PEACE TREATY
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ROMANS 11:28
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
THE CHURCH ELECT IN HEAVEN DURING 7 YR TREATY (TRUE CHURCH THAT IS)
1 PETER 1:2
1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
REVELATION 7:1-17 (144,000 JEWISH RABBIS PREACH DURING 7 YR TREATY)
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
JPost.com ,Oct 4,06
Right On: A miracle of biblical proportions
By MICHAEL FREUND
In a few weeks' time, Sara Haunhar will at last fulfill a lifelong dream, one that she has been nurturing for over the past eight decades. Together with her daughter Miriam, and some 216 other members of the Bnei Menashe of northeastern India, the 84-year old widow will board a charter flight next month, and finally begin the long journey home to Zion. It is a voyage that began many centuries ago - 27, to be exact when the Assyrian empire invaded the Land of Israel and cast most of our people into the darkest recesses of the exile. It was the ancient equivalent of a Holocaust, a devastating blow in which the overwhelming majority of the world's Israelites ten out of twelve tribes! suddenly and mysteriously vanished. Many thought they were gone forever, as they marched off into the mists of history, with little or no apparent hope of return. But now, after so many years of wandering and dispersion, the descendants of these lost Jews are finally, triumphantly, coming back.
The significance of this should be readily apparent, even to the most hardened of cynics. After all, whoever heard of an ancient lost tribe returning to its ancestral homeland 2,700 years after their deportation? Without exaggerating, it seems fair to say that this is a miracle of Biblical proportions. Sara Haunhar certainly thinks so. Last year, in September 2005, she sat patiently before a rabbinical court, which had been dispatched to India by Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to restore the Bnei Menashe to the Jewish people. Previously, in March 2005, the Chief Rabbi had ruled that the Bnei Menashe are descendants of the Jewish people, and he agreed to do what he could to help them to return. The rabbinical judges peppered Sara with questions about Jewish life and lore, gently probing her knowledge of Judaism and her commitment to formally rejoining the people of Israel.
ONE OF the rabbis who was there later described the ensuing scene with great emotion. Impressed by Sara's sincerity and dedication, the judges informed her that they were pleased to welcome her back into the fold of Israel. Naturally, Sara began to cry, with the flow of tears rolling down her furrowed cheeks moving all those present. When one of the judges leaned over and asked her if she was alright, Sara composed herself and told them, All of my life, I was afraid that I would die before I would merit to see God's Holy Land. But now that you have accepted me as a Jew, I know that I will soon be able to set foot on the land of my ancestors, the Land of Israel. Growing up, Sara had always lived an intensely Jewish life, along with the rest of the 7,000-strong Bnei Menashe community, which resides primarily in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur.
The Bnei Menashe observe the Sabbath, practice circumcision on the eighth day, keep the laws of Kashrut and scrupulously uphold the rules of family purity.
Thanks to the tolerance which epitomizes Indian society, the Bnei Menashe have been able to build dozens of synagogues across the country's northeast, where they turn three times a day in prayer towards Jerusalem, longing to be reunited with their friends and family already living in the Jewish state. In just the past decade, nearly 1,000 members of the community have made aliya. They are valuable and productive members of Israeli society, serving in the army, working hard and supporting their families, and raising adorable Jewish children. Indeed, this past summer, at the height of the war, a dozen young Bnei Menashe men were fighting on the frontlines in combat units in Lebanon and Gaza, defending the land of Israel and the Jewish people. One of them, St.-Sgt. Avi Hanshing, a 22-year old paratrooper, was injured during a clash with Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
I had to fight to come to Israel, Hanshing said, recalling the inexplicable obstacles that Israel's government routinely puts in the way of Bnei Menashe aliya. Now, he added, I have to fight for the country. THE ARRIVAL next month of the immigrants from India will mark a welcome turning point for the community. For the first time, a large group of Bnei Menashe immigrants will arrive here together, proudly, as Jews, with their heads held high and their hopes bright for the future. As chairman of Shavei Israel, an organization that assists the Bnei Menashe, it is a day that I am looking forward to with a lot of very special anticipation.
For years, we have lobbied, struggled and pressed the Bnei Menashe's case, in an effort to persuade the Israeli government to open the door for these wonderful people. In June, we nearly had to petition Israel's Supreme Court to force certain government ministers to allow the aliya to take place, and it was only after we met with aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the final approval was actually forthcoming.
And so, I can not help but pray that this first batch of 218 immigrants next month will herald the arrival of many, many more in the years to come. This special event will take place thanks in no small measure to the friendship, backing and support of Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski, and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, who are teaming together with Shavei Israel to make this aliya a reality. Pooling their resources, the Agency and the Fellowship will fly the immigrants here and enable them to be housed in Israel's north, in the towns of Karmiel and Upper Nazareth, where they will receive added absorption benefits thanks to the generosity of Christians and Jews alike.
There is something extremely fitting about this, too, for as the prophet Isaiah foretold some 2,500 years ago, the nations of the world would play an active role in the return of the Jewish people to their land. In Isaiah 49:22, the Bible says: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples, and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
I have no doubt that the love, concern and practical help being provided by Israel's Jewish and Christian supporters worldwide is part and parcel of the fulfillment of this verse. And it sends goosebumps down my arms when I think about how the vision of Isaiah is literally coming to pass before our eyes. The aliya of the Bnei Menashe is a historic event. It is a timely and welcome example of just what Israel, and its wondrous rebirth, is truly all about: the ingathering of our exiles, not only from the four corners of the earth, but from our people's dark and often painful history, too. And it should serve as a potent reminder that despite all the problems and difficulties this country may face, we should not hesitate to join Sara Haunhar and her fellow Bnei Menashe in declaring, Thank God for the State of Israel.
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
Cluster of earthquakes near Mt Cook
Posted at 11:28am on 05 Oct 2006
A shallow cluster of earthquakes 30km north-west of Mt Cook this week has seismologists looking at what may be causing the activity.The biggest quake was on Monday, reaching 4.7 on the Richter scale; with successive earthquakes being smaller, but closer to the surface.GMS Science seismologist Todd Nicholson says it's unusual to have so much seismic activity around Mt Cook.Eight earthquakes were recorded on Monday, and one or two quakes each day since then.The deepest quake was 8km on Monday, with 5km depths recorded on the same day and on Wednesday.Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand
Quake shakes up water table in Maine Wed Oct 4, 1:42 PM ET
BAR HARBOR, Maine - Monday's earthquake lowered the water level by 3 1/2 feet at one location in a national park, an unusual event, but one that wasn't expected to hurt the water supply, officials said. By Wednesday, the water level was still falling but beginning to level off, said Gregory Stewart, a hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. The drop in water level was observed at one of the agency's monitoring wells in Acadia National Park.Bar Harbor and some municipalities on Mount Desert Island near the epicenter of the quake have public water systems, but most residents in outlying areas rely on wells for drinking water. The Hancock County Emergency Management Agency said it had not received any reports of compromised wells.
The earthquake Monday evening registered a magnitude of 3.9 and followed quakes with magnitudes of 3.5 and 2.5 on Sept. 22 and 26.The latest earthquake caused rocks to fall onto Acadia National Park's Park Loop Road and burst some water pipes, but no injuries were reported.The Geological Survey said the drop in water level was more of an oddity than something for residents to worry about.We're not trying to create some kind of public scare. It's more of a public interest thing. It's a pretty dramatic change, Stewart said.
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
S.East Asian flood toll, damage rise after typhoon Wed Oct 4, 12:30 AM ET
HANOI (Reuters) - Flooding and landslides triggered by Typhoon Xangsane have raised the death toll to more than 150 in the past week from the storm that hit Vietnam and the Philippines, officials said on Wednesday.
The typhoon's fierce winds and rain destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes when it slammed Vietnam's central coast on Sunday after bringing parts of the Philippines, including the capital Manila, to a standstill last week.Vietnamese officials said more than 50,000 houses were still submerged along a roughly 1,000 km (600-mile) area from northern Nghe An province to Gia Lai province in the south. Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper said the evacuation of 6,000 people started on Tuesday in Nghe An.
Vietnam's resort city of Danang, the country's fourth largest with 1 million people, was hardest-hit by the typhoon, both in terms of casualties and damage to homes, power supply and its seafood industry.The National Flood and Storm Control Committee said at least 42 people were killed in Vietnam by the storm or swept away by floods in its aftermath. Seven were missing and 502 injured.
Initial estimates of damage were around 9.98 trillion dong ($623 million), the government said.The committee warned residents across the storm-damaged region to be prepared for flash floods, landslides and flooding in the low-lying areas.
Officials in the Philippines said on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to 110 from 78 on Monday.At least 88 people were injured and a further 79 were still missing. Around 2.9 billion pesos ($58 million) worth of properties were damaged by Xangsane, which means elephant in the Lao language.The storm weakened after crossing into Vietnam and moved west across Laos and into Thailand.Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are killed and property and crops damaged each year by tropical storms in the two countries, which are separated by the South China Sea.(Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam in Hanoi and Carmel Crimmins in Manila)
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.
Borneo and Sumatra burn as forest fires rage
mongabay.com,October 4, 2006
Forest fires are again burning across Borneo and Sumatra according to satellite images released this week by NASA. The fires, set on a seasonal basis for land-clearing for agriculture, have blanked the region with smoke that has interrupted air travel and driven air quality to unhealthy levels. NASA notes that despite a governmental ban on open burning, seasonal fires continue to occur on the Indonesian islands each year, peaking in the dry season of late summer and early fall.
Smoke from agricultural and forest fires burning on Sumatra (left) and Borneo (right) in late September and early October 2006 blanketed a wide region with smoke that interrupted air and highway travel and pushed air quality to unhealthy levels. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite on October 1, 2006, shows places where MODIS detected actively burning fires marked in red. Smoke spreads in a gray-white pall to the north. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team.
In 1982-1983 more than 9.1 million acres (3.7 million ha) burned on the island of Borneo before monsoon rains arrived, while more than 2 million hectares of forest and scrub land burned during the 1997-1998 el Niño event, causing $9.3 billion in losses. The fires also produced wide-ranging and severe economic, political, social, health, and ecological damage to Indonesia and the neighboring Southeast Asian nations of Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, and Thailand, already in the midst of an economic crisis.
Satellite analysis of the 1997-1998 fires revealed that 80 percent of the fires could be linked to plantations or logging concession holders. The haze from the 2005-2006 fires resulted in heated exchanges between Indonesian and Malaysian government officials. Malaysia and Singapore offered assistance in fighting Indonesian blazes, while simultaneously scolding the country for its lack of progress in controlling the wild fires. Indonesia in turn blamed Malaysian firms for rampant illegal logging in the country, which left its forests more susceptible to conflagrations.
Despite some protective measures, including an Indonesian proposal to implement the death penalty for illegal loggers and fire starters, such fires are only expected to worsen in the future as the region's forests face increasingly dry conditions due to climate change and degradation. Of special concern are the region's peatlands which, when burned, release massive amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmoshpere and are extremely difficult to extinguish. Dr Susan Page, of the University of Leicester, estimates that Southeast Asian peat lands may contain up to 21 percent of the world’s land-based carbon. The 1997 fires released 2.67 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
Global trade goes more global
Khaleej Times 2006 ,By Prof. Tom Lambert FRSA
IT HAS become common practice for countries in all regions of the world to develop trading blocks. So we have the European Union, Asean in South East Asia and the North American Free Trade Agreement. In previous articles I have suggested that Mena is well placed to develop a massive domestic market as a springboard for more widespread global trade by the countries that have little international trade experience with guidance and support from the more knowledgeable nations.Not all such arrangements reach their full potential as quickly as is hoped. For example Asean is at times beset by problems emanating from unequal economic development. Similar problems will need to be overcome in Mena, which is why I believe that strong, experienced and effective leadership is necessary.
Other international trading blocks have limited initial membership. Mena may need to consider a similar approach. The point is, however, that whatever barriers may exist the potential can be exploited.
IBSA
Effective exploitation of local markets can be the pathway to enhanced prosperity through strategic global trade initiatives. India has, in recent years, offered a role model of success to her neighbours in many areas of international business. Many pundits believe that with a young and talented workforce India will overtake China and become the major hub of global trade and commerce in the region.India has a demographic advantage in having a younger population than her vast neighbour median age 24.9 years.
Combining this with an education system that is more attuned to international business and scientific needs is expected to provide a telling competitive edge. China will, of course continue to prosper, but many now expect India to become the dominant Asian trading nation.Two years ago the Indian government was instrumental in creating something of a new trade block model linking her with the continents of Africa and South America. IBSA is a trading group that brings together India, Brazil and South Africa, the three most successful countries in their regions, in a triumvirate of trade. The goals begin modestly by global standards with an initial trade target of $10 billion. The indications are that that target will be achieved and trade will develop along with increasing good will.
Brasilia
In September the heads of government met with business leaders from the three countries in Brasilia. They announced their intention of working together to develop mutually beneficial trade and technology exchanges that will, in due course, go beyond the three countries that are directly involved in the initial links.Brazil is the leading member of MERCOSUR, a trading block in which its partners are Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Its objective is to facilitate the free movement of goods, services, technology, capital and people between the member countries. South Africa has a similar role in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the Southern African Customs Union. India has strong relationships with Asean and is a leading member of G-20; a grouping of countries from across the globe that has had considerable success in opposing the combined might of the EU and USA on occasion. All three countries have strategies in place to combat Aids and poverty. Each has still a long way to go. Increased trade will be a major factor in economic and social success.
Corporate governance
In his speech to captains of industry gathered in Brasilia Prime Minister Manmohan Singh indicated that the primary role of the trilateral relationship would be mutual trade, but beyond that establishing an IBSA mechanism for the exchange of information and experiences on regulatory issues could lead to a harmonisation of standards an important factor in international business governance.It is arguable that expanding trade will naturally extend to regulatory harmonisation. As part of the development of a level playing field, mutual understanding and trust harmonisation may emerge naturally. A model may lie in China's approach to trade
with Africa as I discussed in a previous article.If harmonisation comes from evolutionary rather than revolutionary forces it may well prove to be acceptable and robust.
Transport
Not surprisingly the distance between three continents has been a barrier to both trade and tourism. The three leaders agreed that their faith in the future of IBSA would need to drive a framework that would lead to improvements in transport linkages between the three countries. The potential is there and is waiting to be realised. The means has, to some degree, still to be found.
Energy
Economic development is energy dependent and, as nobody understands better than the oil-rich countries of the Mena region, oil stocks may be massive, but they are finite. The trilateral approach plans to bring together the areas of energy expertise of its three members.
Brazil is a world leader in the production of ethanol. South Africa has important experience in coal gasification and has an already well developed synthetic fuel industry. India has massive resources of coal and expertise in wind and solar energy that will be developed by the growing number of engineers that the country is producing. Mena has also great potential for renewable energy resources.
Make poverty history
In spite of their pre-eminence regionally, India, South Africa and Brazil still experience major problems of poverty and health at home. The three leaders have committed themselves to using the benefits of an increasingly prosperous IBSA to improve the lives of their people. Important as this is the intention is to go further and to work together to establish a clear pathway to economic development that will reach beyond their borders enriching the lives of other countries in their respective regions.
Mena
In a number of ways the Middle East North Africa region has parallels with the countries of IBSA and their neighbours. There are well-developed economies that are already global players. There is, overall, a relatively young workforce. There are important natural resources combined with considerable technical know how. Knowledge and experience exist that can be shared in an international learning community. There have been major initiatives in education in particular in the UAE and Qatar from which we can all learn.
Considerable financial resources exist to support human capital. At the same time there remain unrealised human potential and poverty in some parts of the region. Perhaps India, Brazil and South Africa can offer another model from which leadership in the region can take whatever is relevant to exploit the considerable advantages and promise that are so evident.
REVELATION 17:2
2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.(THE VATICAN THROUGH DIALOGUE)
Vatican-Muslim dialogue back to square one: cardinal By Tom Heneghan, Religion Editor Wed Oct 4, 11:22 AM ET
PARIS (Reuters) - Vatican relations with the Islamic world must be restarted from square one because Muslims insist on misinterpreting Pope Benedict's recent comments on Islam, Germany's top Catholic cardinal said in an article on Wednesday.
Cardinal Karl Lehmann, head of the German Catholic Bishops Conference, accused Muslim critics of running a campaign against the Pope and said the Pontiff had nothing to apologize for.The blunt comments from Lehmann, whose rich and influential church has close ties to the German-born Pope, seem to have been sparked by an unusual call from the 56-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) for him to retract his words.The OIC call came a day after Benedict had received Muslim ambassadors to the Vatican and repeated his regrets for any misunderstanding of his September 12 speech in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor saying Islam was evil and violent.
These open or hidden threats have to stop,Lehmann said in the weekly newspaper of his Mainz diocese.
Obviously we have to start at square one because we're not talking here about important contents of a necessary dialogue, but about the fundamental requirements for one to succeed.There is freedom of religion and speech in our civilization. The Pope can also be criticized. But there are elementary rules that apply for factual and fair contacts with each other and with clear statements, he wrote.One cannot constantly repeat completely unfounded misunderstandings when the texts are so clear.The dispute over Benedict's use of a quote sharply critical of Islam has further strained Vatican ties with Muslims who already knew he has spoken in the past against Turkey's entry into the European Union because of that country's Islamic roots.
Benedict's repeated protest that he did not agree with the quote has not convinced Muslim critics, who say he has still not gone far enough to undo the damage they feel he has done.Some accuse him of undoing years of bridge-building by his predecessor. When John Paul was pope, there was no problem for Muslims, commented Cemal Usak, a Turkish Muslim activist. Pope Benedict may not like Islam but he has to respect Muslims.
A FULL-BLOWN CAMPAIGN
Lehmann noted that Benedict's speech in Regensburg during a visit to his native Bavaria evoked no critical reaction at first and journalists had no questions about it at a news conference the cardinal gave after the Pope left Munich on September 14.Only a few days later did a full-blown campaign from outside begin,he wrote, calling it astounding that critics should repeatedly say the Pope had insulted Islam and Muslims.Lehmann's article echoed a statement last week by the bishops he leads complaining some critics had tried to escalate the dispute with ever new charges, demands or even threats.The Catholic Church and many people in our country and around the world, who respect and defend the right of free speech, will not be bullied, the bishops' conference said after its meeting in Fulda last week.
The German bishops, an influential voice at the Vatican because of their church's financial power and theological depth, also repeated Benedict's frequent calls for Muslim countries to give their Christian minorities equal rights.Meeting shortly after a Berlin theater canceled a Mozart opera for fear it might prompt Muslim protests, the bishops also expressed concern about self-censorship over religion. We are concerned that fear of religiously motivated violence is spreading, not only in Germany, and leading to a direct or indirect limitation of free speech,they said.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
Beijing secretly fires lasers to disable US satellites
By Francis Harris in Washington
China has secretly fired powerful laser weapons designed to disable American spy satellites by blinding their sensitive surveillance devices, it was reported yesterday.The hitherto unreported attacks have been kept secret by the Bush administration for fear that it would damage attempts to co-opt China in diplomatic offensives against North Korea and Iran.Sources told the military affairs publication Defense News that there had been a fierce internal battle within Washington over whether to make the attacks public. In the end, the Pentagon's annual assessment of the growing Chinese military build-up barely mentioned the threat.After a contentious debate, the White House directed the Pentagon to limit its concern to one line, Defense News said.
The document said that China could blind American satellites with a ground-based laser firing a beam of light to prevent spy photography as they pass over China.According to senior American officials: China not only has the capability, but has exercised it.American satellites like the giant Keyhole craft have come under attack several times in recent years.Although the Chinese tests do not aim to destroy American satellites, the laser attacks could make them useless over Chinese territory.The American military has been so alarmed by the Chinese activity that it has begun test attacks against its own satellites to determine the severity of the
threat.Satellites are especially vulnerable to attack because they have predetermined orbits, allowing an enemy to know where they will appear.
The Chinese are very strategically minded and are extremely active in this arena. They really believe all the stuff written in the 1980s about the high frontier,said one senior former Pentagon official.There has been increasing alarm in parts of the American military establishment over China's growing military ambitions.Military experts have already noted that Chinese military expenditure is increasingly designed to challenge American military pre-eminence by investing in weaponry that can attack key systems such as aircraft carriers and satellites.At the same time, China is engaged in a large-scale espionage effort against American high-tech firms
working on projects such as the multibillion-pound DD(X) destroyer programme.Several spy rings have been cracked and the FBI is increasing the number of counter-intelligence staff tracking the Chinese effort.
MUSLIM NATIONS
EZEKIEL 38:1-12
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, the chief prince of Meshech(MOSCOW) and Tubal:
4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws,(GOD FORCES THE 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:(SUDAN,AFRICA) and many people with thee.
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.
8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land that is brought back from the sword, and is gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall dwell safely all of them.
9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.(RUSSIA-EGYPT AND MUSLIMS)
10 Thus saith the Lord GOD; It shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought:
11 And thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages; I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates,
12 To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land.
ISAIAH 17:1
1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
PSALMS 83:3-7
3 They (ARABS,MUSLIMS) have taken crafty counsel against thy people,(ISRAEL) and consulted against thy hidden ones.
4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
5 For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:(TREATIES)
6 The tabernacles of Edom,and the Ishmaelites;(ARABS) of Moab, and the Hagarenes;
7 Gebal, and Ammon,(JORDAN) and Amalek;(SYRIA) the Philistines (PALESTINIANS) with the inhabitants of Tyre;(LEBANON)
Rice Cites Concern for Palestinians, But Low Expectations Mark Visit
By Robin Wright,Washington Post Staff Writer,Thursday, October 5, 2006; Page A26
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pledged Wednesday to redouble U.S. efforts to alleviate the economic plight of Palestinians facing escalating tensions and the threat of a humanitarian crisis. But U.S. officials cautioned not to expect any significant breakthroughs as prospects for a renewed Arab-Israeli peace process seem further away than ever.At a joint news conference here with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Rice said the Bush administration was very concerned about humanitarian conditions and the economic situation in the Palestinian territories.It is a great sadness, during this
time of Ramadan, that Palestinians, many of them, are deprived of basic needs,she said.Abbas, underscoring the dire state of the peace process, said talks with the Hamas movement on formation of a national unity government are dead and suggested he may dissolve the Palestinians' seven-month-old government.
The dialogue now does not exist,Abbas said. If Hamas continues to balk at forming a unity government, which would force it to recognize Israel's right to exist, Abbas said he was prepared to use his constitutional powers to resolve the political deadlock. All options are open,he said.The only option I reject is civil war,Abbas said, noting that clashes between Hamas and his Fatah party over the past week have been the deadliest since the Palestinian Authority was created in 1994.On Wednesday, a Hamas official in the West Bank town of Qalqilya was assassinated by four masked gunmen who fled the scene. Asked about the killing and the recent violence, a senior Palestinian police official at the presidential compound in Ramallah called Hamas donkeys,reflecting the deep-rooted antipathy between the two largest Palestinian factions.
Rice, on her sixth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories as secretary of state, has come with fewer prospects for major progress in the near future than on any previous visit. She is struggling just to revive an agreement to open border crossings between the Gaza Strip and the outside world, which she brokered in November after all-night negotiations.
The agreement gave Palestinians some control over their own border for the first time since the 1967 Middle East war. But according to Palestinian and U.S. sources, the border has been closed for all but about seven days since June 25, when Palestinian guerrillas captured an Israeli soldier. It reopened Wednesday and was scheduled to be open Thursday, U.S. and Arab sources said, coinciding with Rice's trip and Palestinian requests for relief during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
During their one-on-one discussions, Abbas gave Rice a lengthy document detailing the Palestinians' needs on cross-border movement and ways to push implementation of the 11-month-old accord, according to the Palestinian president's chief of staff, Rafiq Husseini.Rice is trying to win agreement from the Israelis to ensure that the pivotal Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel is open for Palestinian exports in time for the harvest, which begins in about three weeks, according to U.S. and Western sources.After she held talks over dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Wednesday night, the Israelis indicated willingness to open Karni in the near future but did not give a date. Rice is scheduled to hold talks Thursday morning with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz.Another Palestinian proposal on the table, backed by the United States and its allies, calls for almost doubling Abbas's presidential guard to about 6,000 members and widening the force's mandate for security purposes. A senior State Department official said the presidential guard has proved to be the Palestinians' most effective security force and is already deployed at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
FALSE TEACHERS,PROPHETS,DECIEVERS
MATTHEW 24:4-5,11,24-25
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
25 Behold, I have told you before.
1 TIMOTHY 4:1-2
1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;
MARK 13:22-23
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.
23 But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.
2 TIMOTHY 3:13
13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
Mahdi Followers Claim US Is Trying To Prevent His Return
The followers of Moqtada al-Sadr believe that the US invaded Iraq to prevent the return to Earth of their sect's messiah-like figure, the Mahdi, or 12th imam.Hojatoleslam al-Sadr claims that his militia is preparing for the day when the Mahdi, the last direct descendent of the revered Shia figure Ali, reappears. Shia believe that the Mahdi, who disappeared in 868, will bring justice to Earth.At a prayer service in the central Iraqi city of Kufa on September 15, the cleric told a crowd of thousands that the Americans were collecting a dossier on the Mahdi to prevent his return. Did you ever ask yourself about why all of this, the bloodshed and the prisons? Why are the brothers fighting each other for a political game planned by the Americans? This all happened because they (the Americans) are waiting for the Mahdi. This planning started ten years ago. They have a big file for Imam Mahdi and they just need his picture to complete it.
Hojatoleslam al-Sadr and his advisers are convinced that the Americans want to destroy Islam and stop the Mahdi. The Americans are trying to hijack Islamic movements. Whatever they did in Afghanistan and Iraq are all attempts to hijack the Mahdi's return.
REVELATION 6:7-8
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, 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).
87 die from mosquito diseases in India
New Delhi: Outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases in northern and southern India left ordinarily overburdened hospitals and clinics swamped with patients Wednesday, and officials said at least 87 people had succumbed to the infections.At New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India's premier state-run hospital, a makeshift ward was set up in a hallway to deal with hundreds of dengue fever patients, some of whom were forced to hold intravenous drip bags above their heads because of a lack of equipment.
The dengue outbreak began in late August, and the death toll in New Delhi and surrounding areas of northern India rose to 16 on Wednesday when a patient at the institute died.The situation was even worse in the southern state of Kerala, where 71 people have died in the past month from another mosquito-borne disease, a rare viral fever known as chikungunya, said the state's health minister P. K. Sreemathi.In the hardest-hit district of the state, Alappuzha, some 40,000 people were showing symptoms of the disease such as high fevers and severe joint pain – and thousands had been hospitalized, said the area's chief medical officer, K. Velayudhan.
Across the state, local authorities were overwhelmed by the outbreak, and Sreemathi said a World Health Organization team made up of experts from India's National Institutes of Communicable Diseases was to arrive Thursday.The expert heath team from WHO needs to make an on-the-spot assessment to tackle the situation,she told media from Alappuzha.The outbreaks of dengue in the north and chikungunya in the south come as the annual monsoon tapers off across much of the subcontinent, leaving behind countless small pools and puddles of dirty, stagnant water where infectious mosquitoes breed. Open sewers that are features of many Indian towns and cities provide even more breeding grounds.
ISRAEL ON EARTH DURING TRIBULATION 7 YR PEACE TREATY
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ROMANS 11:28
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
THE CHURCH ELECT IN HEAVEN DURING 7 YR TREATY (TRUE CHURCH THAT IS)
1 PETER 1:2
1:2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
REVELATION 7:1-17 (144,000 JEWISH RABBIS PREACH DURING 7 YR TREATY)
1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;
10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.
11 And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
JPost.com ,Oct 4,06
Right On: A miracle of biblical proportions
By MICHAEL FREUND
In a few weeks' time, Sara Haunhar will at last fulfill a lifelong dream, one that she has been nurturing for over the past eight decades. Together with her daughter Miriam, and some 216 other members of the Bnei Menashe of northeastern India, the 84-year old widow will board a charter flight next month, and finally begin the long journey home to Zion. It is a voyage that began many centuries ago - 27, to be exact when the Assyrian empire invaded the Land of Israel and cast most of our people into the darkest recesses of the exile. It was the ancient equivalent of a Holocaust, a devastating blow in which the overwhelming majority of the world's Israelites ten out of twelve tribes! suddenly and mysteriously vanished. Many thought they were gone forever, as they marched off into the mists of history, with little or no apparent hope of return. But now, after so many years of wandering and dispersion, the descendants of these lost Jews are finally, triumphantly, coming back.
The significance of this should be readily apparent, even to the most hardened of cynics. After all, whoever heard of an ancient lost tribe returning to its ancestral homeland 2,700 years after their deportation? Without exaggerating, it seems fair to say that this is a miracle of Biblical proportions. Sara Haunhar certainly thinks so. Last year, in September 2005, she sat patiently before a rabbinical court, which had been dispatched to India by Israel's Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to restore the Bnei Menashe to the Jewish people. Previously, in March 2005, the Chief Rabbi had ruled that the Bnei Menashe are descendants of the Jewish people, and he agreed to do what he could to help them to return. The rabbinical judges peppered Sara with questions about Jewish life and lore, gently probing her knowledge of Judaism and her commitment to formally rejoining the people of Israel.
ONE OF the rabbis who was there later described the ensuing scene with great emotion. Impressed by Sara's sincerity and dedication, the judges informed her that they were pleased to welcome her back into the fold of Israel. Naturally, Sara began to cry, with the flow of tears rolling down her furrowed cheeks moving all those present. When one of the judges leaned over and asked her if she was alright, Sara composed herself and told them, All of my life, I was afraid that I would die before I would merit to see God's Holy Land. But now that you have accepted me as a Jew, I know that I will soon be able to set foot on the land of my ancestors, the Land of Israel. Growing up, Sara had always lived an intensely Jewish life, along with the rest of the 7,000-strong Bnei Menashe community, which resides primarily in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur.
The Bnei Menashe observe the Sabbath, practice circumcision on the eighth day, keep the laws of Kashrut and scrupulously uphold the rules of family purity.
Thanks to the tolerance which epitomizes Indian society, the Bnei Menashe have been able to build dozens of synagogues across the country's northeast, where they turn three times a day in prayer towards Jerusalem, longing to be reunited with their friends and family already living in the Jewish state. In just the past decade, nearly 1,000 members of the community have made aliya. They are valuable and productive members of Israeli society, serving in the army, working hard and supporting their families, and raising adorable Jewish children. Indeed, this past summer, at the height of the war, a dozen young Bnei Menashe men were fighting on the frontlines in combat units in Lebanon and Gaza, defending the land of Israel and the Jewish people. One of them, St.-Sgt. Avi Hanshing, a 22-year old paratrooper, was injured during a clash with Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
I had to fight to come to Israel, Hanshing said, recalling the inexplicable obstacles that Israel's government routinely puts in the way of Bnei Menashe aliya. Now, he added, I have to fight for the country. THE ARRIVAL next month of the immigrants from India will mark a welcome turning point for the community. For the first time, a large group of Bnei Menashe immigrants will arrive here together, proudly, as Jews, with their heads held high and their hopes bright for the future. As chairman of Shavei Israel, an organization that assists the Bnei Menashe, it is a day that I am looking forward to with a lot of very special anticipation.
For years, we have lobbied, struggled and pressed the Bnei Menashe's case, in an effort to persuade the Israeli government to open the door for these wonderful people. In June, we nearly had to petition Israel's Supreme Court to force certain government ministers to allow the aliya to take place, and it was only after we met with aides to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the final approval was actually forthcoming.
And so, I can not help but pray that this first batch of 218 immigrants next month will herald the arrival of many, many more in the years to come. This special event will take place thanks in no small measure to the friendship, backing and support of Jewish Agency Chairman Zeev Bielski, and Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, who are teaming together with Shavei Israel to make this aliya a reality. Pooling their resources, the Agency and the Fellowship will fly the immigrants here and enable them to be housed in Israel's north, in the towns of Karmiel and Upper Nazareth, where they will receive added absorption benefits thanks to the generosity of Christians and Jews alike.
There is something extremely fitting about this, too, for as the prophet Isaiah foretold some 2,500 years ago, the nations of the world would play an active role in the return of the Jewish people to their land. In Isaiah 49:22, the Bible says: Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand to the nations, and set up my standard to the peoples, and they shall bring your sons in their arms, and your daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.
I have no doubt that the love, concern and practical help being provided by Israel's Jewish and Christian supporters worldwide is part and parcel of the fulfillment of this verse. And it sends goosebumps down my arms when I think about how the vision of Isaiah is literally coming to pass before our eyes. The aliya of the Bnei Menashe is a historic event. It is a timely and welcome example of just what Israel, and its wondrous rebirth, is truly all about: the ingathering of our exiles, not only from the four corners of the earth, but from our people's dark and often painful history, too. And it should serve as a potent reminder that despite all the problems and difficulties this country may face, we should not hesitate to join Sara Haunhar and her fellow Bnei Menashe in declaring, Thank God for the State of Israel.
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