CREATION MUSEUM CAUSES UPROAR

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Hail piles up 4 inches deep in Denver. 3-Experts Forecast Scorching Summer Temperatures. 4-Heat plus alcohol causes spate of Moscow drownings. 5-Help educate the media about what's really going on in Israe. 6-First Round of Labor Party Primaries Goes to Barak. 7-High Court Bans New Muslim Burial Site Next to Temple Mount. 8-Secretive Bilderberg meeting set for Turkey 9-Olmert Forced to Explain Position to Knesset, Netanyahu Responds. 10-EU in drive to make Brussels more political. 11-Council on Foreign Relations Pushes for Three Regional Currencies in the World. 12-House rejects microchip implants for violent criminals 13-Museum opens to defend biblical creation account. 14-Crowds wowed by Creation Museum grand opening.

EARTHQUAKES
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.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Wed May 30 12:00 AM EDT

MAY 30,07
MAP 2.5 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 3.0 PUERTO RICO REGION
MAP 3.1 SOUTH OF ALASKA
MAP 2.5 HAWAII REGION, HAWAII
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.8 EASTERN NEW GUINEA REG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MAP 3.4 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 3.8 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA

MAY 29,07
MAP 3.2 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 3.2 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 ARKANSAS
MAP 5.3 SULAWESI, INDONESIA
MAP 5.0 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 5.1 TONGA
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 3.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.6 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 6.1 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 2.7 STRAIT OF GEORGIA, WASHINGTON
MAP 2.8 SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 VANUATU
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.1 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

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.

Hail piles up 4 inches deep in Denver By CATHERINE TSAI, Associated Press Writer Tue May 29, 8:29 PM ET

DENVER - Grape-size hail pummeled the city on Tuesday, blanketing downtown streets, startling drivers and pedestrians, and piling up 4 inches deep at an amusement park. Motorists scurried under bridges or into garages and pedestrians scrambled for cover to avoid being pelted.Brazil Redd, 21, was outside when the rain and hail began, her car being towed after a hit-and-run collision.It hurt. I probably got bruises. It was huge, she said. I got soaked.At Elitch Gardens amusement park, the hail broke lights and toppled small trees, prompting the park to close several hours early, spokeswoman Brooke Gabbert said.Visitors were led to shelters and then moved out of the park after the storm passed.

With the severe hail, we have to recheck all the rides. It would've been a while before we would have been able to reopen, Gabbert said.Drivers were caught in up to 3 feet of water in some intersections, but no serious injuries were reported, Denver Fire Department spokesman Phil Champagne said.Marty Thrall plodded through a half-inch of hail in a short-sleeved T-shirt, shorts and sandals.I didn't know

it was going to be this icy, he said.Heavy rain soaked the Plains states from Colorado up to Minnesota Tuesday, causing minor flooding in some places. The National Weather Service issued tornado warnings for Elbert County, 60 miles southeast of Denver, and for Lincoln County in southwestern Nebraska.Associated Press writer Eric Bolin contributed to this report.

OZONE DEPLETION

ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:

MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.

World News Desk – May 29, 2007
Posted/Updated: 2007-05-29 12:16:04
WEATHER & ENVIRONMENT
Experts Forecast Scorching Summer Temperatures

As early summer temperatures begin to sizzle across the northern hemisphere, experts warn that possible spikes in warm weather could leave most of the western United States and Canada in danger of severe drought and susceptible to an increase in wildfires.In its latest seasonal assessment, forecasters at the National Weather Service predict the ongoing drought that has plagued the southeast will continue into the summer, resulting in serious wildfire outbreaks, especially in states such as Georgia and Florida, where water restrictions have already been imposed in some cities.

In Atlanta, where water usage has been drastically curtailed, desperate residents have even begun to turn one another over to the authorities because of violations.
However, forecasters caution that even with rain, certain areas experiencing deficits of more than a foot will not be able to compensate for the unnaturally low rainfall. Southwest Florida is already 6.77 inches behind for the year and experiencing an unusually high number of wildfires due to dry conditions.We can honestly say this is one of the most severe droughts that we have dating back to
when records started in the early 1900s, said Randy Smith, spokesman for the South Florida Water Management District (Associated Press).In the west, the situation remains bleak for farmers. The drought area stretching from California into the Great Basin is not expected to experience relief, nor is Montana, Wyoming, the western Dakotas and western Nebraska.Even the U.S.’s cooler neighbor to the north, Canada, is bracing for scorching temperatures, which could bring treacherous weather, including tornadoes and hailstorms. Inherent in these is the danger of lightning strikes, one of the leading causes of wildfires, which in turn cause extensive property damage for Canadian residents.

According to NASA scientists, these types of long-term patterns are not expected to change—at least not for another 70 years. Recent research by NASA suggests that normal summer temperatures will be more than 10 degrees warmer by 2080—not only resulting in higher temperatures, but drier weather, said Leonard Druyan, of Columbia University and NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, who co-authored the study. Using the established link between rainy and cooler weather and hot and drier weather, the study was able to forecast certain increases in temperature for cities across the United States and Canada.It’s going to get a lot hotter, said Barry Lynn, now a scientist at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who also co-authored the study. It’s going to be a lot more dangerous for people who are not in the best of health (CBSNews).

Heat plus alcohol causes spate of Moscow drownings Wed May 30, 7:39 AM ET

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Twenty-eight people, many of them drunk, have drowned in the Russian capital this month as Muscovites cool off from a record heatwave in ponds, fountains and canals, rescue services said on Wednesday. The main reason for the deaths is that people bathe in places were they are not supposed to ... but at the same time 75 percent of them are not sober, said Vladimir Plyasunov, the head of Moscow's lifeguards.Because of the unusually high temperatures all our lifeguards have been put on high alert, Plyasunov told the Vesti-24 news channel.Moscow has been sweltering this week in temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). Meteorologists said Monday was the hottest May day in the city since records began.

The electricity system has shifted into emergency mode to cope with soaring demand, largely from people using air conditioning, and outages due to sub-stations overheating.An employee in one Moscow company said building managers had been going round offices on Tuesday ordering staff to turn off lights to save energy.

Help educate the media about what's really going on in Israel MAY 30,07
Dear Stan

An Israeli woman was just killed by a Palestinian rocket from Gaza. If you haven't heard about this tragedy, you're not alone. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Palestinian terrorists have fired more than 1,300 rockets into Israel on a recent Tuesday alone, 24 rockets hit Israel, wounding 30 people.Yet these attacks go largely unreported by the international media. We know that the media usually decides that if it bleeds, it leads to good news is no news.The body count in Iraq and Lebanon is high and tragic. Yet how many more Israeli women need to be killed and how many more Israeli children wounded before the press starts to report on these unprovoked attacks? Thats why I am writing you today.The Israel Project (TIP) needs your help to educate the media about what is really going on in Israel, Gaza and the Palestinian territories.

Last week, as rockets fell onto Sderot, Calev Ben-David, who heads our office in Israel, was there on the ground with a bus full of journalists who heard and saw the effects first-hand. The stories they reported reflected the terrible reality of the situation.

Meanwhile, Leah Soibel, one of our in-house terrorism experts, worked out of a Sderot bomb shelter emailing facts to journalists around the world.At the same time, with me in New York, Jennifer Packer, Michal Slawny, and others from our staff and board hosted Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, at a press luncheon with more than 80 reporters. Ambassador Gillerman gave reporters the facts and context they needed to get the story right.

TIP's French and German speaking staff went into overdrive to make sure that reporters in Europeân frontline area of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism had the facts they needed to accurately cover the Sderot story.

During the Second Lebanon War, TIP set up media centers in Northern Israel to provide journalists with sources, press briefings, background research, transportation, information on lodging and anything else they needed. Press coverage of the war was seen worldwide. And according to public opinion research, Israel was portrayed as defending herself and her citizens. Support for Israel in the United States increased. But with harmful media coverage, that support can once again wane.

Today we need to do much more in Sderot, the town being bombarded by rockets from Hamas, an Iranian-backed organization openly bent on Israels destruction. We need to act now to make sure Israel is again seen as defending her citizens against terror from the sky. International support is critical to Israels security.Almost daily, Sderot suffers under a barrage of rockets fired from Gaza into civilian centers. But the world is mostly unaware because they don;t hear about these attacks on the news. Yet, when Israel does take action to defend herself, its on the front page of the paper and breaking news on television. If the world doesn't know about the relentless terror attacks on Israeli civilians, then Israel will be seen as an aggressor and will once again be unfairly judged. Israel has learned this hard lesson too many times. We must not allow that to happen again.

We need to immediately get new media services set up in Sderot and around the world. But we can't do it without you.Your gift of $1,000, $500, $360, $100, or whatever you can afford, to The Israel Project will make a difference. Your gift will allow The Israel Project to get this story out and educate the worlds media. www.theisraelproject.org/sderot

Sincerely,

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Founder and President
The Israel Project

First Round of Labor Party Primaries Goes to Barak
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAY 29,07

Defense Minister Amir Peretz has lost his chance to retain his leadership of the Labor Party after former Prime Minister Ehud Barak won the most votes in Monday's primary election for the chairmanship.

The victory was not complete however, since none of the candidates managed to garner the 40 percent win required to prevent a runoff election.A second round of voting will therefore be held on June 12th in a runoff between Mr. Barak and former General Security Services (Shin Bet) chief Ami Ayalon.The race ran as a dead heat between the two men for most of Monday's election day, and it was not until the wee hours of Tuesday morning that the results became clear.

Mr. Barak edged out his closest competitor by a mere 5 percent; the final tally showed the former PM winning 35.6 percent, Mr. Ayalon with 30.6 percent. DM Peretz was left far behind in the race, finishing with 22.4 percent of the votes. The other two contenders, Knesset Members Ophir Pines-Paz and Danny Yatom, trailed with 8 percent and 2.7 percent respectively. Mr. Peretz took a philosophical stance on his loss, saying he still had enough support within the ranks to influence some of its moves. He is meeting with former PM Barak Tuesday morning to discuss the runoff.

High Court Bans New Muslim Burial Site Next to Temple Mount
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAY 29,07

The High Court of Justice has upheld a decision by Public Security Minister Avi Dichter to ban Muslim burials on the grounds immediately southeast of the Temple Mount.The area, which borders the eastern wall of the Temple Mount, is believed to contain important archaeological artifacts from the First Temple era and is designated as part of a national park. It is an extremely sensitive area in that the Temple Mount is considered Judaism's holiest site and the third holiest place in Islam.A petition was filed in court by the Committee for the Prevention of the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount when it was discovered that Muslims were using the site as a burial ground.Supporters of the committee and its petition included left-wing author A.B. Yehoshua, Hebrew University Jewish philosophy professor Avi Ravitsky, former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron and senior archaeologists such as Gabriel Barkai, Eilat Mazar, Ehud Netzer, Ronny Reich and Ephraim Stern.

Muslim burial on the site, which was never a cemetery in the past, could end any possibility of excavating the area in the future, as has been done at the foot of the southern wall and the bottom part of the Western Wall.

Police have been blocking Muslims from burying their dead at the site for several months, having identified dozens of plots sold by Silwan elders, who did not own the area, to Muslim families for their departed loved ones. At least 21 of the graves are occupied, 39 are empty and 35 other plots have not yet been opened. The committee has demanded in its petition that the unused gravesites be filled in. Muslim burial on the site, which was never a cemetery in the past, could end any possibility of excavating the area in the future, as has been done at the foot of the southern wall and the bottom part of the Western Wall explained archaeologist Gabriel Barkai in the petition to block the burials.

An Islamic burial ground does exist outside the walls of the Temple Mount compound, at its southeast foot, but apparently Muslims had begun to extend their cemetery into the area defined as a national park. Police had initially feared that stopping the burials would spark riots and other violence by Muslims. Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Franco admitted to the court he had iniitially refused to escort city inspectors to hang up notices prohibiting use of the site after Muslims continued to build mausoleums, fearing the reaction by Islamic worshippers.

Repairs being made to a footbridge leading to the entrance of the Temple Mount at the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate ignited days of violent protests across the country and massive demonstrations in Muslim communities worldwide.

Muslims dumped tons of soil containing priceless artifacts into a riverbed in 1999 while digging a huge pit in the Temple Mount to build an entrance to Solomons Stables. The police did not act to stop the illegal digs despite numerous petitions and court orders to halt any such activity.The area forms a seamline between construction from the Hasmonean and Herodian eras. Remains from the First Temple and 8th century B.C.E. sealing rings stamped For the King have been found in past excavations at the site, including one by British archaeologist Charles Warren 140 years ago.

Secretive Bilderberg meeting set for Turkey
Kissinger, Rockefeller, media moguls among those scheduled to attend
May 30, 2007 - WorldNetDaily.com

Henry Kissinger

The super-secret Bilderberg Group, an organization of powerful international elites, is set to meet this week somewhere in Turkey – but even the precise location is a mystery. The meeting begins Thursday and continues through Sunday. Those expected to attend include Donald Graham, chairman and chief executive officer of the Washington Post, Richard N. Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, Henry Kissinger, David Rockefeller, John Vinocur, senior correspondent of the International Herald Tribune, Paul Gigot, editor of the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal, Nicholas Beytout, editor-in-chief of Le Figaro, George David, chairman of Coca-Cola, Martin Feldstein, president and chief executive officer of the National Bureau of Economic Research, Timothy F. Geithner, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Vernon Jordan, senior managing director of Lazard Freres & Co., Anatole Kaletsky, editor at large of the Times of London and General William Luti, the new war czar.According to reports from Turkey, Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions and global energy issues will be on the agenda but only invitees know for sure. Welcome to the mysterious world of secret societies.

Did someone say secret societies?

Most people don't realize they exist because their minds have been conditioned to reject any thought of such organizations, explains Dr. Stanley Monteith, a medical doctor by training, who set out on a mission to research groups like the Bilderbergers 40 years ago.

The results of his startling research is a little book called Brotherhood of Darkness,in which he exposes the global agenda of organizations such as the Council on Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. How important are events like this weekend's Bilderberg conference? It may not make any difference now, but in 2004, according to the New York Times, it was the standout performance of Sen. John Edwards at the super-secret Bilderberg meeting in Italy that sealed the deal on his nomination as John Kerry's vice presidential running mate.

Since 1954, the Bilderberg group has convened government, business, academic and journalistic representatives from the U.S., Canada and Europe with the express purpose of exploring the future of the North Atlantic community. The first meeting was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in the Netherlands thus the name. According to sources that have penetrated the high-security meetings in the past, the Bilderberg meetings emphasize a globalist agenda and promote the idea that the notion of national sovereignty is antiquated and regressive. It's officially described as a private gathering, noted a BBC report in 2003, but with a guest list including the heads of European and American corporations, political leaders and a few intellectuals, it's one of the most influential organizations on the planet.

And according to a BBC report on 2004's conference in Stresa: Not a word of what is said at Bilderberg meetings can be breathed outside. No reporters are invited in and while confidential minutes of meetings are taken, names are not noted. The shadowy aura extends further the anonymous answerphone message, for example; the fact that conference venues are kept secret. The group, which includes luminaries such as Henry Kissinger and former UK chancellor Kenneth Clarke, does not even have a website.But, counter participants, the secrecy is not evidence of a grand conspiracy, but only an opportunity to speak frankly with other world leaders out of the limelight of press coverage and its inevitable repercussions. There's absolutely nothing in it, argues the UK's Lord Denis Healey, one of the four founders of Bilderberg. We never sought to reach a consensus on the big issues at Bilderberg, he told the BBC. It's simply a place for discussion.

Olmert Forced to Explain Position to Knesset, Netanyahu Responds
by Ezra HaLevi (INN) MAY 30,07

Following the Winograd Committee's scathing criticism of his performance in the Second Lebanon War, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was compelled to explain his decision not to resign to the Knesset Tuesday.

Olmert took the podium for the first time since the publication of the Winograd Committees interim report and explained why he believes he should remain prime minister, as well as his oft-repeated view that the results of Second Lebanon War were positive for Israel. The special session was held after a petition submitted by the Likud and Meretz parties was signed by 46 Knesset members. The prime ministers main claim was that whereas Hizbullah used to hold positions along the border, they are no longer there. Two weeks ago, I visited the northern border, and at each spot I was shown the positions Hizbullah terrorists used to hold, he said. Residents who were once faced, every hour and every minute, with a Hizbullah man pointing his rifle at them no longer face this situation.

The Prime Minister also cited New York Times columnist Thomas Friedmans assessment of the situation as proof of his successes. Olmert focused on the question of whether the decision to go to war was a good one, rather than on the handling of the war once that decision was made.

I believed then as I believe now: that the decision to go to war was the necessary one under the circumstances, the PM explained. It is true that the Lebanon war, like all wars to date, came at a high price. This is the part of the high price that the State of Israel has been paying for six decades for its desire to live in peace, security and independence.

The Wars Objectives

Olmert outlined the objectives he says guided the war effort. The government I headed had goals when we went to war[which were] the implementation of [UN] Resolution 1559 the removal of Hizbullah, the deployment of the Lebanese army, a complete cease-fire and the return of the captives.

The prime minister explained that he knew from the start that recovering kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev was not a sure-thing, But that did not stop us taking daring steps to that end.We could not have expected the UN, in the Security Councils decision, as well as the G-8 conference in Rome, to place the return of the captives at the top of their agenda had we not declared that they are at the top of ours, he said.

Everyone Supported Decisions at the Time

Olmert then lashed out at members of the government and opposition alike who have called for his resignation. I brought all recommendations before the full Cabinet, which after it heard all the details voted unanimously and even approved an announcement defining the goals of Israel's response, he said. I remember well the support given by [the Knesset] to the government's July 12 decision [to launch the offensive]. Then, you stood up one after the other and saluted the government's actions and its obligation to respond even given the knowledge that this strike would lead to strikes against the Israeli home front.The PM referred specifically to opposition leader MK Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud), who offered his full and unconditional support and told me that he would do the same thing.

Winograd Interim Findings Allow Govt to Rehabilitate

The members of the Winograd Commission explained to me that they had submitted a partial report before completing their work because they saw the urgency of fixing the failures, Olmert said of the committee he appointed to look into the wars results. Any sensible person understood that the committee was saying yes to fixing the failures and no to making heads roll.

The government honored the committee's practical approach - rolled up its sleeves and began implementing. The IDF is in the midst of an unusual period of achievement, and we are closely following the implementation of the lessons.Olmert summed up: The overall responsibility lies first and foremost with the government that I head. I take full responsibility for the failures - but also for the great achievements. Those who really care about the implementation of the Winograd Commission report should read all of it, the good and the bad.The government I head will continue to lead the people of Israel to security, welfare, success, national reconciliation and, with G-d's help, also peace.

Netanyahu Responds

Former Prime Minister and Opposition Chief Binyamin Netanyahu took the podium following PM Olmert, saying that although he agreed with the decision to go to war, the way which it was carried out eroded Israels deterrence.[The Opposition] offered the government its full support to achieve the [stated] goals, but [the government] failed to do so, Netanyahu said, citing the failure to disarm Hizbullah and return the captives as two examples. In my opinion, the greatest failure is that as a result of the war, Israel's deterrent capability has been severely harmed.

One Front Has Become Three

Netanyahu outlined the security situation today, tying it to the wars results. During the war we faced one front, now we face three fronts, he said. In Lebanon, Hizbullah has increased the weaponry it had before the war. In Gaza, there has been a change since the war transforming it into a second Lebanon including tunnels and bunkers. The Philadelphi Corridor has become an expressway of weapons smuggling. Netanyahu also said war with Syria is much more likely due to Israels loss of deterrence.

Withdrawal Policies Led Here

Netanyahu rejected the governments attempt to blame many of the failures on the IDF. The loss of deterrence is not the army's problem, but first and foremost due to the weakness of the governments policies, he said, going on to blame all the prime ministers who succeeded his term. It started with [Ehud Baraks] unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon and the creation of an armed Iranian enclave, the Winograd report addresses this, and then continued with [Ariel Sharons] unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. Before the Disengagement, intelligence estimated that over the course of a single year, one ton of explosives was smuggled into Gaza from Sinai. Two months after the Disengagement, that grew to six tons and the current estimate sets the amount of explosives brought into Gaza during 2006 at 30 tons.

The Government is the Problem

Addressing Olmerts statements that the current government should be tasked with fixing the mistakes, Netanyahu said: You say you can fix it? How can you fix it when you are the malfunction? Now you will use judgment?

Now you have acquired the vast knowledge that you lacked? Now you will demonstrate the necessary care? What have you done in the past year? What have you done to stop the massive flow of arms to Hizbullah and Gaza? What have you done to reinforce [homes] in the Galilee? What have you done to provide Sderot with shelters? This was a wasted year. You did not learn any lessons because you are the lesson that must be learned.Netanyahu raised his voice and said that the Winograd Committees entire report can be summarized in one statement: The Government of Israel is shell shocked - and every day that passes with this government reduces Israel's deterrent capability and endangers its security. This government must go to the people. This government must go!

EU in drive to make Brussels more political 29.05.2007 - 17:42 CET | By Honor Mahony

EUOBSERVER /BRUSSELS The European Commission next month is to announce plans to
establish European political foundations to spice up the tone of political discourse at the EU level and entice voters to ballot boxes after a series of poor turnouts at the European elections.

According to an EU official closely involved in the proposal, the idea is to give European parties such as the European People's Party, the European socialists or the European liberals greater ability to develop networks on European issues.These foundations which would be ideologically linked to a political party would contribute to a European political culture by observing, analysing and contributing to the debate on European public policy issues and the process of European integration.They would also support European seminars and serve as a framework for national think tanks, political foundations and academics to work together at [the] European level, says a preliminary paper on the issue, seen by EUobserver.

Proper European debate

At the moment, European parties - there are currently ten - occupy an undefined public space. They are trans-European but lack the link to citizens as national parties are affiliated rather than individual members. On top of this, they have difficulty making EU political campaigns, hampered by language barriers and different political traditions in the 27 member states. The move to up their profile is the brainchild of EU communications commissioner Margot Wallstrom who wants to introduce a proper European debate, with the current European political discussion seen as taking place in a Brussels bubble dominated by political elites.As yet, it is unclear how much money will go towards the scheme EU officials have previously spoken of €1 million - but 15 percent of the money will be divided equally between all of the foundations while the remaining 85 percent will be distributed according to how many MEPs a party has.

The commission is also to leave the touchy question of setting out criteria for foundations entitled to receive the money up to the parliament saying only that they should respect fundamental European values.The June proposal is part of the updating of an EU law on funding EU political parties this law currently states that the parties have to observe the principles upon which the European Union is founded as well as be represented in at least one quarter of member states.

Although political foundations are well established in Germany, where the major parties have ideologically associated foundations - Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, CDU or Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, SPD and there is a budget line for them in the German parliament, they are not common elsewhere.

Controversy

Ms Wallstrom, who recently said the EU could do with a bit of diversity and controversy to make it register more with citizens, took charge of the communications portfolio in 2004 - a year that saw record low turnouts in the European elections in central and eastern European member states who had only just joined the bloc.Three years on little has changed. European elections last week in Bulgaria, a member of the EU since January, saw a turnout of just 29 percent.The commission is trying to bring about a visible difference in the next European election in mid-2009. This is the time by which most EU leaders want to have agreed a new EU treaty for the bloc - one likely to give much more co-legislation powers to MEPs.Meanwhile, the European Commission is also planning on publishing a separate proposal next month on how better to communicate with citizens.The paper is likely to contain proposals to give EU officials more leeway to talk to the media and extend the scope of Brussels' audiovisual services.

Council on Foreign Relations Pushes for Three Regional Currencies in the WorldBy James Newcomb MAY 24,07

Create a global lending institution that weakens the economy of wealthy nations, enslaves Third World countries, and prevents those nations from rising out of their impoverished conditions. Blame that institution for creating a plethora of global financial crises over the past fifty years. Then offer a solution of consolidating all of the economies of the world into three different regions, each of which will use one type of currency.Were that scenario to be played out in the latest issue of Mad Magazine, it might be good for a laugh or two. But when it is published by the most influential foreign policy journal in the world, it is cause for more than a little concern. Foreign Affairs is considered by many to be the playbook that our nation's leaders use in creating foreign policy. It unabashedly promotes the concept of globalism, which is a softball term used to describe a utopian one world government.

Regardless of the political party in power, our government has worked to implement the journal's agenda for many years.Benn Steil, the CFR's Director of International Economics, argues that the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) practice of lending money to poor countries causes them to give up a portion of their sovereignty. The IMF is funded by the wealthy nations of the world, the U.S., Britain and Japan, to name a few.

However, since the dollar is the currency of choice for much of the world, the lion's share of funds in the IMF and World Bank are made up of U.S. dollars. The United States, having the fortunate position of possessing the money that the rest of the world has faith in, will then sell government bonds to foreign governments that have just borrowed from the IMF to offset the deficit spending (such as funding the IMF) that Congress approves.

To use an analogy, it is like buying a suit from a tailor and then receiving that same money back the next day in the form of a loan. Because of this process, he rightly calls the dollar an absurdity supported only by blind (or stupid) faith in man's wisdom.The logical answer from the perspective of a free marketer is for the U.S. to return to the gold standard, which is what gave the dollar a worldwide prominence in the first place. Not according to Steil, who says: A revived gold standard is out of the question. In the nineteenth century, governments spent less than ten percent of national income in a given year. Today, they routinely spend half or more, and so they would never subordinate spending to the stringent requirements of sustaining a commodity-based monetary system.There we have it. Since those governments have become more socialist in nature, they must be emancipated from the restraints a hard metal currency would place on them from spending us all into paradise.

What does Steil propose as an alternative solution? He writes: Since economic development outside the process of globalization is no longer possible, countries should abandon monetary nationalism.

Governments should replace national currencies with the dollar or the euro or, in the case of Asia, collaborate to produce a new multinational currency over a comparably large and economically diversified area.But didn't he just called the dollar an absurdity that is supported only by faith? Why the supposed turnaround? Who will control the dollar in this scenario, the IMF or the United States government? Were Steil and his cohorts honest, they could simply say, we created the problem, now we're offering the solution ... and the American taxpayers have and will pay for both.Most readers of Foreign Affairs believe they are getting the cream of the crop when it comes to global developments.

What they don't realize is that the problem to which Steil presents this preposterous solution was caused exclusively by members of the CFR. Their members have run the Federal Reserve System for decades. And it was CFR member Harry Dexter White who served as the first Executive Director for the United States at the IMF. British Fabian Socialist John Maynard Keynes was the mastermind behind the conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, where the IMF and World Bank came into
existence in 1944.

The stated goal of the two newly created institutions was to lend money to nations who were torn apart by war or other calamities. That is exactly what they did and have done. After CFR member Richard Nixon signed an executive order abolishing the gold standard in America's currency in 1971, it gave the Fed a virtually unlimited supply of money to lend and an unlimited amount of power over the hapless nations who are suckered into borrowing.Always remember the golden rule: Whoever has the gold makes the rules. This solution is nothing more than a piecemeal approach to a global economy operated by the United Nations.History shows that only when an economy uses a commodity, such as gold, to back up its currency, is it ever successful. Americans are not rich; they are incredibly broke and they don't even realize it. It is not the wisdom of men that made America great; it was the application of wisdom gleaned from thousands of years of history that made it prosperous and free.America's role as the world's policeman and the world's welfare provider has come at a great expense to her citizens. Let's try non-intervention and sound economics and see how that works for a change.http://www.jbs.org/node/4023

House rejects microchip implants for violent criminals By Tim Talley Associated Press Writer MAY 30,07

OKLAHOMA CITY(AP)Legislation that would authorize microchip implants in people
convicted of violent crimes was sent back to a committee for more work Wednesday after state House members questioned whether the proposal would violate constitutional civil liberties.The measure, approved by the Senate, authorizes microchip implants for persons convicted of one or more of 19 violent offenses who have to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, including murder, rape and some forms of robbery and burglary, while prohibiting government from requiring microchips implants in anyone else.The tiny electronic implants are commonly used to keep track of pets and livestock, but several House members questioned whether their forced use in people would be unconstitutionally invasive.

We are going down that slippery slope, said Rep. Ed Cannaday, D-Porum.Lawmakers never voted on the measure. During debate, its author, Rep. Sue Tibbs, R-Tulsa, asked that it be sent back to a joint House-Senate conference committee where the exception for violent offenders was inserted.

Cannaday and others said the measure may violate the Fourth, Fifth And Fourteenth amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment contains the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses.

THE GODLESS EVOLUTIONISTS ARE CRYING BIGTIME NOW THAT THERE IS A CREATION MUSEUM. CLAIMING ITS CHILD ABUSE FOR THE TRUTH OF CREATIONISM TO BE TAUGHT. AND ALSO THE GODLESS CALL IT A MYTH AND A LIE THIS CREATION MUSEUM.

WELL THIS JUST PROVES GODS WORD THAT SAYS THESE DELUTED PEOPLE WILL TURN AWAY FROM THE TRUTH TO FABLES. EVOLUTION IS JUST A FABLE, NOT TRUTH. AND BILLIONS BELIEVE THE LIE.

Museum opens to defend biblical creation account
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow.com - May 28, 2007

A museum defending the Biblical account of creation has opened in Northern Kentucky. The Creation Museum , a project of the apologetics ministry, Answers in Genesis, opened with a special sneak preview for media, charter members and invited guests.Gary Moore is Judge Executive of Boone County . He said the museum will impact much more than just the local area. We know that the message that you will promote here and that you will teach here is a message that our world needs to hear today, Moore said. And I thank you for that.The 60 thousand square foot museum features a walk-through exhibit of Biblical history, including a model of a portion of Noah's Ark, animatronic dinosaurs and a planetarium.Answers in Genesis co founder Ken Ham told the overflow crowd that the opening of the museum is the culmination of a 20 year dream. He described the opening day as a historic event in Christendom.A facility like this, right now, with the technology, to take on a particular paradigm that's permeating the world, and to do it with a foundational level, and to do it in a gracious way, but to do it in a way to challenge people concerning the truth of God's Word and the Gospel, Ham said. That's what the museum is all about. American Family News Network.

Crowds wowed by Creation Museum grand opening
Allie Martin - OneNewsNow.com - May 28, 2007

First time visitors to Creation Museum say they're impressed with the attention to detail and God honoring exhibits. The 60,000 square foot museum features animatronic displays, a replica of a portion of Noah's Ark and a planetarium, all designed to bring the Bible to life.Ohio resident Nancy Mary said the museum exceeded her expectations. I like the way they wove the quotes from the Bible through the exhibits. And the exhibits just illustrate what is stated so plainly in Scripture. That's what really stood out to me, she said.Michigan residents Ray Ogden and his son Alex were also impressed.

Mainly I think what was impressive was the extreme focus on the Gospel message as the core meaning of the whole operation and not just meant to wow you with special effects, but to get across the message that the Bible is God's Word and there's a purpose for existence.It's probably the best place I've been to in my entire life, 10-year-old Alex Ogden said. The animatronic dinosaurs looked really real.Ministry officials expect more than 250 thousand visitors annually to the Creation Museum.
American Family News Network.

Comments (4)

chuck childers:
wow, this is one the greatest happenings in modern American and world history !
Posted by chuck childers | May 28, 2007 7:58 AM

Posted on May 28, 2007 07:58
DvF: Justification
A question for Ken Ham:

How do you justify the expense of the museum? According to my research, $27 million could feed over 600,000 starving people in Sierra Leone (listed as the world's poorest). Is the need to entertain evangelicals that great? Yes we have megachurches with rock bands, fog machines, etc., but do we REALLY need them? Scienceaside, how many peopleare really being helped here?
Posted by DvF | May 28, 2007 1:57 PM

Posted on May 28, 2007 13:57
Randall Hughes:

We need more of these Creation Museums throughout the country... There is a great need to put the truth of God's creation on display in a scientific way as a counter to the evolution Great Lie that as deceived so many... As the science of creation evolves, (pardon the pun), the truth of creation will become more and more visible as biologic, geologic, archeologic, and anthropologic data is accumulated and correlated with the biblical record... Then when agnostics, skeptics, and misinformed believers in God compare creation science's data structure with that of the contrived scheme or organized error of evolutionists, they will have to reassess their way of thinking...

Believing in the reality of God demands that we must trust in His word as being true concerning creation, and work to find the facts that ultimately are there for the finding, because they are the result of that absolute truth...Some would say that creationists are skewing their interpretation of data by their presupposition of creation... But the same argument can be made for evolutionists who are also skewing their interpretation of data by the presupposition of either No-God or a BenignUninterested God that allows one to claim eons of time was the recipe for life...

There really are only two choices for one to presuppose... (1) The evolutionist's: Which requires that either God is non-existant or benignly uninterested in His creation... Which would make me ask any believer in God who also believes in evolution, If God is uninterested in His creation, then why do you even bother to pray to Him?... He is just going to yawn and let nature take it's course anyways,
right?... And(2) The creationist's: Which requires that God exists and is actively interested in His creation, and has revealed His interest in His creation by means of a written historical record... This record was then given to man who was set in dominion over His creation...Whichever presupposition you believe, just remember... There is no compromise of presuppositions concerning the interpretation of historical data... God is not two-faced, nor is He a liar... But I am inclined to think, because of his track-record, that man is highly capable of un-truth... Nuff saidPosted by Randall Hughes | May 28, 2007 2:01 PM

Posted on May 28, 2007 14:01
troy martin:

about time.i am most grateful that this museum is now a reality. the secular, anti-god dogma of the atheist scientific community must be countered, not just with stylish, high-tech displays and exhibits, but also by the underlying facts/truths on display. i have been an avid dilettante of of all things origins-related, and firmly believe that any mechanism that can bring a sleeping,listless society to critical thought on these issues can only be helpful.my great hope is that thedarwinist establishment comes at this ministry with all guns blazing.maybe then we can finally have a real conversion - and not merely a one-sided propaganda barrage- on the darwinist/creation science issue. thank you.
Posted by troy martin | May 28, 2007 3:02 PM

REVIEW OF JEWISH GROWTH

1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS. 2-Magnitude 6.0 quake rattles Indonesia. 3-Deadly storm lingers, pelts Plains. 4-Storms wreak havoc in Europe and Turkey, 23 dead. 5-Forest Fires Burning in Quebec. 6-Wildfires ravage forests in Canada. 7-Shimon Peres Running for President. 8-Police Approve Gay March in Jerusalem. 9-Olmert, Abbas to meet next week. 10-U.S. shield makes Europe powder keg: Putin. 11-Forty Years in Review: Jewish Growth in the Liberated Lands.

EARTHQUAKES

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.

MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)

Update time = Tue May 29 11:00 AM EDT

MAY 29,07
MAP 5.3 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 4.7 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 3.0 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.6 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 6.0 KEPULAUAN OBI, INDONESIA
MAP 2.7 STRAIT OF GEORGIA, WASHINGTON
MAP 3.5 OFF THE COAST OF SOUTHEASTERN ALASKA
MAP 5.2 VANUATU
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.7 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 6.1 NEW BRITAIN REGION, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

MAY 28,07
MAP 2.6 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.9 NEVADA
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.6 UNIMAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO
MAP 2.7 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.8 TONGA
MAP 5.2 MARIANA ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.8 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.8 SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 KODIAK ISLAND REGION, ALASKA
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA

MAY 27,07
MAP 2.7 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 3.2 OKLAHOMA
MAP 5.8 TONGA
MAP 4.5 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 3.0 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 2.9 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.7 COLOMBIA
MAP 3.6 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 4.1 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SEA OF OKHOTSK

Magnitude 6.0 quake rattles Indonesia MAY 29,07

JAKARTA, Indonesia - A powerful undersea earthquake and a series of aftershocks rattled eastern Indonesia on Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, damaging buildings in one town and causing panicked residents to flee their homes. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries from the magnitude 6.0 quake.

The local meteorological and geological agency said no tsunami was expected.Power supplies were cut for about two hours in Labuha, the closest coastal town to the epicenter, said Hendrik Leopatty, an official with the Indonesian Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.Witnesses said several houses sustained cracks but there were no report of injuries. Labuha residents fled to the hills fearing a tsunami but later returned.

The tremor struck in the Maluku Sea, 135 miles from Ternate, the main city on Maluku island and 1,460 miles from the capital, Jakarta.Leopatty said the quake lasted around six seconds. It was followed by at least three aftershocks, the USGS said.Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval due to its location on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.In December 2004, a massive earthquake struck off
Sumatra island and triggered a tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people in a dozen countries, including 160,000 people in Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

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.

Deadly storm lingers, pelts Plains Mon May 28, 6:26 PM ET

AUSTIN, Texas - Rain soaked the Plains states on Monday in a lingering storm blamed for five dead, two missing and more than 1,000 people stranded over the Memorial Day weekend.

The storm's latest lashing caused some minor flooding and road closures. Much of southeast Texas was expected to get 1 to 2 inches of rain with some areas getting 3 to 5 inches, said Matt Moreland, a forecaster at the National Weather Service in Houston. Ten inches fell overnight in the town of Hallettsville.In Oklahoma, more than 1,000 campers trapped in their cars by flash flooding on Sunday were able to leave Turner Falls Park near Davis on Monday. No injuries were reported.Park officials had opened a building inside the park to allow rain-soaked campers to dry out, and the Red Cross delivered food and supplies, park manager Tom Graham said.

By 8 a.m. Monday, the floodwaters subsided enough so that motorists could cross the low-water road leading to the campgrounds.The park is going to be closed for two or three days, Graham said. We've still got a lot of cleanup to do.Flood warnings were issued for parts of Oklahoma and Texas. Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued as far north as Wyoming and South Dakota.At Guadalupe River State Park in Texas, public access to the river was reopened Monday afternoon with a word of caution.We advise all but the most experienced people to stay out of the water, said park superintendent Mark Abolafia-Rosenzweig.On Sunday, firefighters rescued more than two dozen people as the Guadalupe spilled over its banks in Central Texas. After taking refuge from the rain under a bridge, 17 people had to be rescued as the river rose, said Mark Reynolds, a public information officer with the Comal County Sheriff's Office.The two men missing since Thursday when their vehicles were swept away are presumed dead. Both of their vehicles were found.

Storms wreak havoc in Europe and Turkey, 23 dead Mon May 28, 10:14 AM ET

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - Heavy storms, landslides, flash floods and lightning have killed at least 23 people in Europe and Turkey, officials said on Monday. Nine people died in eastern Turkey, including six killed in severe flooding in mountainous Agri province near the Iranian border, where river waters were swollen by melting snows. Two more people were missing.In nearby Van province, a two-year-old child died when landslides triggered by heavy rain demolished a house. Two other girls also died and another person was injured after being struck by lightning.Six hikers died in Greece while trying to cross a river in the south. They were in a group of 18 people swept away by a flood wave in the rain-swollen Lousios river. Prosecutors charged the hike's organisers with involuntary manslaughter.In France, two divers and a yachtsman drowned on Sunday off the western coast of Brittany in extreme weather.

The yachtsman fell into the sea from his 21-metre boat in heavy seas. The two divers were part of a group of six who were caught up in strong waves. The others made it safely to shore.In northern Bosnia, two 11-year-old children, a boy and a girl, died after being struck by lightning on Saturday, local media reported.

In Germany, three construction workers building a windmill in the eastern state of Brandenburg were killed on Sunday when lightning hit a tractor they were sheltering under, police said.In Russia, by contrast, meteorologists said Monday was the hottest May day in Moscow since records began with temperatures hitting 32.7 degrees Celsius (91 degrees Fahrenheit).The city's electricity system shifted into emergency mode to cope with demand, largely from people using air conditioners.Extreme weather including drought, heavy storms, flooding and flash frost have wreaked havoc across Europe this spring.Aside from the human toll, it has also destroyed crops and damaged infrastructure in France, Spain, Poland, Bulgaria, Turkey and other countries.

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.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

REVELATION 8:7
7 The first angel sounded, and there followed hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth: and the third part of trees was burnt up, and all green grass was burnt up.

Forest Fires Burning in Quebec
Josh Pringle Sunday, May 27, 2007

Arson is now suspected as the cause of one of the 25 forest fires burning across Quebec. Officials have discovered 10 to 12 ignition spots near the railroad in an area where a fire is burning outside of Sept-Iles. The fire forced about 15-hundred residents to leave their homes about 600 kilometres northeast of Quebec City. The blaze is under control and evacuees have returned to their homes, which were not touched by the fire. A forest fire that tore through Quebec's Abitibi region is also now under control.

AFP News brief
Wildfires ravage forests in Canada MAY 27,07

Wildfires burning out of control have destroyed vast swaths of forest over recent days in the eastern Canadian province of Quebec, authorities and media said Sunday.Hundreds of firefighters including reinforcements from other provinces and the United States battled the blazes, which have ravaged more than 62,000 hectares (153,000 acres) in northern Quebec.

In the Sept-Iles region of the French-speaking province 1,500 natives had to be briefly evacuated from a reservation over the weekend due to a fire.A spokesman for a Quebec fire prevention agency, Jacques Nadeau, told AFP Sunday 26 fires were burning, of which six were out of control.No casualties had yet been reported.

He said lightning and dry weather had contributed to the blazes. Local media reported the Sept-Iles fire may have been caused by criminal activity.

Shimon Peres Running for President
by Hillel Fendel (MAY 28,07)

After months of indecision, veteran statesman Shimon Peres, father of the Oslo process, has decided to run for President of Israel. After weighing a run to succeed Ehud Olmert as Prime Minister, Peres finally came to the conclusion that despite the Winograd Commission's findings, Olmert is not planning to resign or be toppled any time soon. Peres therefore decided to offer his candidacy for the presidency.Peres's chief supporter in the Knesset, Kadima MK Yoel Hasson, began collecting the ten MKs' signatures necessary for the nomination this morning (Monday). The first to sign was Prime Minister Olmert, followed by several Kadima MKs and one from the Pensioners Party.

Rivlin and Avital

Two other MKs are running for President: Ruby Rivlin of the Likud and Collette Avital of Labor. It is assumed that supporters of Peres will exert strong pressure upon dark-horse Avital to withdraw her candidacy, as her support comes mainly from the left and is expected to eat into Peres' votes.The election will be held in a secret ballot among the 120 Knesset Members on July 13. Several months ago, supporters of Peres tried to pass a law to render the election open and not-secret. It was felt that a secret vote would hurt Peres's chances, enabling MKs to take the politically correct position of supporting the elder statesman while actually voting otherwise. An open vote, on the other hand, would force MKs who promised to support Peres to actually do so. In the previous election seven years ago, several MKs who promised to vote for Peres presumably did not do so, and President Moshe Katzav (now self-suspended) defeated him by a 63-57 vote.

In any event, it currently appears that Peres has more support than Rivlin. The Kadima party will officially endorse Peres this afternoon, even though many Kadima MKs are former Likud party colleagues of Rivlin. Most of Labor is expected to support Peres as well, as is the case in Meretz, the Pensioners, and the Arabs. The Likud and the religious parties are largely expected to support Rivlin. Only Shas, with 11 critical MKs, has not yet made clear whom it will support.

His Rich Past

Nearly 84 years old, Peres has served in the Knesset consecutively since 1959, except for a short period last year for technical reasons having to do with his switch from Labor to Kadima. He has served, more than once, as Prime Minister and Acting Prime Minister, as well as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Communications, Transportation, Regional Development, Information and more.
In 1992-3, under then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, Peres negotiated what became the Oslo Accords with members of the PLO. The secret talks were against Israeli law at the time, in that contacts with terrorist organizations were forbidden.

Police Approve Gay March in Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 28,07

A half-year has passed, and traditional elements in Jerusalem are gearing up for another fight against yet another homosexual parade in the holy city. Religious, traditional and conservative elements in Jerusalem say they will not accept another attempt at a homosexual parade in the holy city. This, just a few days after the police announced its approval-in-principle of the parade - scheduled for next month.This past Thursday, the police stated they do not object to the holding of a march sponsored by the Open House homosexual organization; the organizers are still awaiting an official permit, however.

Six months ago, a loud controversy raged against the holding of a World Pride event in the capital. Some leaders of that anti-parade campaign now say they will not tire, and plan to fight the upcoming parade with full force. A meeting was held a few days ago in the home of the head of the Eidah Hareidit court, Rabbi Yitzchak Tuvia Weiss, who said, Tell [Public Security Minister Avi] Dichter that he had better build another ten jails to hold all the protestors. This will be a real war.

Other hareidi and anti-parade leaders have made similar statements.

The event of last year was, anti-climactically, replaced by a relatively small rally in a closed area in Hebrew University. Fearful that the police would cancel the Open House parade because of both unyielding religious-community threats to actively protest it and increasing terror warnings, the organizers of the parade preemptively canceled it on their own.

The decision was preceded by days of increasingly violent protests by hareidi youths, as well as weeks of activist efforts to have it called off. Over 100,000 people signed a petition against the parade, organized by Jerusalem City Council member Mina Fenton (NRP). Homosexual marches are also scheduled in the coming weeks in Tel Aviv and Eilat. No commercial companies will sponsor the Tel Aviv event, in the face of threats by the religious sector to boycott any company that backs the parade. Similarly, the Tempo soft-drink company, which has sponsored such events in Eilat throughout the past six years, has said it will no longer take part.

Olmert, Abbas to meet next week By SARAH EL DEEB, Associated Press Writer MAY 29,07

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet next week, their offices said Tuesday, and efforts to halt the latest convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence are sure to dominate the agenda. Abbas said the meeting would take place next Thursday, but did not say where.Olmert's office said the date and place had not been set. The prime minister will demand that the Palestinians halt their attacks on Israel, his office said. Abbas has said he hopes to present a truce proposal to the Israelis.Abbas and Olmert had promised Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in March to meet every two weeks to try to prod ahead long-stalled peace talks. But they have since met only once, on April 15.In the interim, a Nov. 26 truce in Gaza has collapsed under a barrage of Hamas rocket fire and Israeli retaliation.

In related news Tuesday, Israeli troops killed two militants from the ruling Hamas group in a shootout a mile inside Gaza. A day earlier, Israeli leaders authorized larger numbers of ground forces to enter the volatile territory on pinpoint missions against Hamas rocket squads.And in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli troops arrested Palestinian legislator Jamal Tirawi of Fatah, who has close ties to the
movement's violent offshoot, and was wanted for alleged involvement in attacks on Israel.In the past year, Israel has arrested dozens of Hamas lawmakers, but Tirawi was the first to be detained from Abbas' Fatah movement, which shares power with Hamas.Hamas has been the main force behind the more than 250 rockets that have been fired at southern Israel from Gaza, killing two civilians and sending thousands fleeing to safer ground.

Israeli aircraft have struck at militant targets dozens of times in an effort to curb the rocket fire, killing some 50 Palestinians, most of them radicals.

Abbas is trying to work out a truce agreement with the various Palestinian factions, and told a news conference with EU parliament chief Hans-Gert Pottering on Tuesday that he would take it to Israel once he wrested the militants' approval.All problems and difficulties can find a solution through negotiations, he said. We are ready for these negotiations, and we are ready for a truce between us and the Israelis. We are looking for a comprehensive solution with the Israelis.Under his plan, Gaza militants would halt rocket fire for a month to allow for negotiations on a more comprehensive cease-fire that would include the West Bank.

On Monday, Abbas appealed to militant groups to take the first step in forging a new cease-fire with Israel, saying the alternative would be the collapse of the Palestinian coalition government.The truce project means all acts by all parties stop, the Palestinians first and the Israelis, so we can move after to the West Bank, Abbas told Associated Press Television News. Israel ... can do what it wants, whenever it wants, but we say we should do our duties and put the ball in the Israeli court.

The militants have said there could be no truce if Israel kept up its attacks and refused to extend any Gaza cease-fire to the West Bank, site of frequent Israeli sweeps against militants. Israel has been cool to the idea of applying the truce to West Bank.Israel's pre-dawn foray Tuesday into southern Gaza marked the second time in the latest round of fighting that Israeli forces entered the area, which Israel evacuated in September 2005.Details of the raid were murky. Witnesses said forces searched three houses and arrested two brothers with ties to Hamas. At some point, a gunbattle erupted, and two militants were killed.Although Israel's two-week-old military campaign in Gaza against Hamas has been widened, a large-scale ground operation is not imminent, military officials have said.

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)

EZEKIEL 39:1-8
1 Therefore, thou son of man, prophesy against Gog,(LEADER OF RUSSIA) and say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech (MOSCOW) and Tubal: (TUBOLSK)
2 And I will turn thee back, and leave but the sixth part of thee, and will cause thee to come up from the north parts,(RUSSIA) and will bring thee upon the mountains of Israel:
3 And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand.
4 Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands,( ARABS) and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured.
5 Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord GOD.
6 And I will send a fire on Magog,(NUCLEAR BOMB) and among them that dwell carelessly in the isles: and they shall know that I am the LORD.
7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.
8 Behold, it is come, and it is done, saith the Lord GOD; this is the day whereof I have spoken.

JOEL 2:3,20,30-31
3 A fire(NUCLEAR BOMB) devoureth before them;(RUSSIA-ARABS) and behind them a flame
burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
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.

U.S. shield makes Europe powder keg: Putin By Oleg Shchedrov MAY 29,07

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday warned that the deployment of a U.S. missile shield in Europe would turn the continent into a powder keg.We consider it harmful and dangerous to turn Europe into a powder keg and to stuff it with new weapons, Putin told visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates at the Kremlin.It creates new and unnecessary risks for the whole system of international and European relations, he told Socrates, whose country takes over the European Union's rotating presidency on July 1.Russia's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it had test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile featuring multiple warheads designed to overcome missile Defense systems.

In Minsk, the president of ex-Soviet Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, with whom Putin quarreled over energy prices in the New Year, urged the Kremlin leader to act jointly with him to counter Washington's plan more effectively.We are ready to act jointly with Russia, as long as the Americans are trying to deploy these systems in Europe. I think this is absolutely inadmissible, Belarussian media quoted Lukashenko as telling governors from Russia's Siberian regions.We can take appropriate measures But it is difficult to do it alone, he said. At the same time, Russia won't be able to do a thing on its own at the Western border, because Russia has no troops between Moscow and the West.Russia and Belarus have long planned to form a nebulous union state though Moscow has recently cooled to the idea. The two ex-Soviet republics share an integrated air Defense system.

Lukashenko, accused in the West of crushing fundamental rights, criticized Russia in the New Year for increasing gas prices and removing preferential oil tariffs. But he has since urged Moscow to forget their spat and work for improved ties.The United States says the shield is needed to protect against missile attacks from what it calls rogue states such as Iran and North Korea.

It wants to place elements of the shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, but Russia has strongly opposed the project as a threat to its national security.German Social Democrat leader Kurt Beck also criticized the planned missile shield on Tuesday, calling in a newspaper editorial for a renewed commitment to global disarmament.Beck, whose SPD governs in a grand coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives, was backed by other European socialists visiting Moscow, reflecting misgivings about the U.S. plans from left-of-centre parties in Europe.(Additional reporting by Andrei Makhovsky in Minsk)

Russian official boasts of new ICBM MAY 29,07

MOSCOW - Russia on Tuesday test-launched a new intercontinental ballistic missile, apparently developed secretly, that a top government official said could penetrate any defense system, Russian news agencies reported. The missile would modernize Russia's stockpile at a time of rising tensions with the West.As of today Russia has new (missiles) that are capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defense systems, ITAR-Tass quoted First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov as saying. So in terms of defense and security Russian can look calmly to the country's future.President Vladimir Putin and Ivanov, a former defense minister seen as a potential candidate to succeed the Russian leader in elections next year, have repeatedly said their country would continue to improve its nuclear weapons systems and respond to U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in Europe.

The missile capable of carrying multiple independent warheads was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch in northwestern Russia, and its test warhead landed on target about 3,400 miles away on the Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, according to a statement from Russian Strategic Missile Forces.Ivanov said Russia also successfully tested a tactical cruise missile.

ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.

GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.

EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).

MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.

LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

Forty Years in Review: Jewish Growth in the Liberated Lands
by Hillel Fendel (MAY 28,07 INN)

The miraculous Six Day War led to a no-less miraculous period of return to and rebuilding of the lands for which we'd pined since the Exile began. The following is a timeline of milestone events in the past 40 years of history of the liberated lands - Old Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Sinai, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

Color key:
Blue - Northern Shomron
Green - Hevron and Gush Etzion
Purple - Golan
Red - Withdrawals

May 15, 1967 - Where is our Hevron? Where is our Shechem? Where is our Jericho? - Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, bemoaning the lack of Jewish sovereignty over Biblical Israel, in an Independence Day speech to his students in Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav Kook

May 1967 - Despite the 19-year-old ceasefire ending the War of Independence, Egypt's President Nasser amasses troops and aircraft in the Sinai, closes Tiran Straits to Israeli shipping, expels UN peacekeepers, and declares, Our basic goal is the destruction of Israel. The Arab people want to fight... Syria, which had shelled and destroyed Jewish homes from the Golan over the years, as well as Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, amove their troops to Israel's borders.

June 1967 - Israel preempts the expected Arab attack by destroying the Egyptian Air Force on the ground and capturing the Sinai and Gaza; attacking Syria and liberating the Golan Heights; and after appealing unsuccessfully to Jordan to stay out of the war, capturing the Old City of Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

July 1967 - The first group of Galilee farmers - still in the shock of knowing that their every move had been observed from the Syrian outposts on the Golan Heights overlooking them, and determined that this situation would not repeat itself - ascended to settle in the Golan. The next month, the government approved their new town, relocated it slightly to the south, and named it Merom Golan.

July 17, 1967 - Eight Jewish couples - the grooms were IDF soldiers who had fought in the war - were married at the Machpelah Cave, in the presence of Rabbi Shlomo Goren and Hebron Mayor Muhammed Ali Jaabar.

Summer 1967 - First act towards Jewish settlement in liberated areas outside Jerusalem: The children who had been evacuated from Gush Etzion in 1948, now grown and led by Chanan Porat, petitioned Prime Minister Levi Eshkol to allow the re-establishment of Kfar Etzion. Shortly before Rosh HaShanah, they ascended and built Kibbutz Kfar Etzion.

Nov. 1967 - Government plans were made for 10 farming communities in the Golan, with a maximum population of 7,000. Today, however, the population stands at 20,000, in 33 communities.

1967-1976 - 53 new communities were established in the newly liberated areas (compared to 34 in the rest of Israel during this period). 20 were built in the Golan, 11 in the Jordan Valley, and 14 in Sinai and Gaza. No new communities were established in the Shomron or Binyamin mountains, or in southern Judea.

Passover 1968 - 88 people spent the Seder night Park Hotel in Hevron. Several weeks later, some 50 of them relocated to the military compound overlooking the city.

1968 - The government established the farming community of Mecholah in the Jordan Valley, connecting the area with Beit She'an to the north.

1969 - the second Gush Etzion community was built: Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim. Soon afterwards, the foundations were laid for nearby Alon Shvut.

March 1970 - The Golda Meir government, prodded on by Minister Yigal Alon, approves the establishment of Kiryat Arba, just to the east of Hevron. In September 1972, the first 50 Jewish families move from the Hevron Military Compound into the new city.

1971 - The first move to settle Gaza is made at Kfar Darom with the establishment of an IDF Nachal outpost. Kfar Darom was the site of Jewish community that fell after the Arab massacres of the 1930s and was rebuilt briefly from 1946 until 1948. The Nachal outpost later became a civilian jump-off spot for new towns in the region, and in 1989, it became a full-fledged community of its own.

1972 - Netzarim - a non-religious Nachal outpost that became a religious kibbutz in 1984. Netzarim was originally designed to be the center of a Jewish area in central Gaza, but with the withdrawal from most of Gaza in 1994, it became a Jewish enclave, accessible only by convoy.

1973 - Netzer Hazani became Gaza's first Jewish civilian town.

1973 - Initial efforts to settle the Shomron. The Elon Moreh settlement nucleus group is formed.

Late 1973, following the Yom Kippur War - The first request to settle outside Shechem, by women whose husbands were still drafted by the army, was turned down by Golda Meir.

Tu B'Shvat (February 7) 1974 - Gush Emunim ideological group is founded, originally as a group within the National Religious Party, later as an independent organization. Its first meeting is held in the home of Rabbi Chaim Druckman. Only later did it begin to concentrate on setting Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

June 5, 1974 - After an unsuccessful meeting between Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook and newly-appointed Defense Minister Shimon Peres, the 20-family Elon Moreh settlement nucleus group begins unauthorized settlement efforts, just outside an army base south of Shechem (not far from present-day Itamar). Present were Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda, Likud MKs Ariel Sharon and Geulah Cohen, and NRP MKs Zevulun Hammer and Yehuda Ben-Meir. They were forcibly evacuated two nights later.

July 25, 1974 - the famous Sebastia train station settlement attempt (ten kms northwest of Shechem). Thousands of people took part in the five-day-long effort until they were removed.

Oct. 1974 - The third attempt: Operation Hakafot. Three separate core groups set out in the middle of the night for three areas: Jericho, Shilo, and Nebi Tzalah (today N'vei Tzuf, west of Ramallah). Thousands of people took part; strong army opposition caused them to break up into 16 different groups. The spokesman for Gush Emunim announced the next day: We have formed 16 new communities. After a week of forcible evacuations from various locations, the operation ended.

Pesach 1975 - After 2-3 more failed attempts, the first of several semi-annual Shomron Marches was held - 20,000 people marched for two days from Shaar Efraim (along the Green Line east of Netanya) to Sebastia.

1975 - Rabin government finally allows the establishment of temporary camps in Ofrah and Maaleh Adumim, which very soon became full-fledged towns.

1975 - Rabin government establishes military outposts in Tekoa (near the Herodion) and Kokhav HaShachar (between Shilo and Jericho), which became communities in 1977 and 1979, respectively.

1975 - Government-initiated settlement in the Jordan Valley: Moshav Mechorah, Patzael and Yeitav. Today, the Jordan Valley Regional Council numbers over 20 communities.

Chanukah (Devember) 1975 - The 8th and final ascent - a week-long camp-out in Sebastia - ended in victory: The Rabin-led government, represented by Shimon Peres, agreed to a compromise in which the 30 families of the Elon Moreh core group were allowed to relocate to the Kadum army camp - 7 kilometers west of Shechem. Four months later, they moved up the hill to the site they ultimately turned into one of Yesha's largest Jewish towns, Kedumim.

Rabin later explained that the Zionism is Racism resolution, passed in the UN just a month earlier, as well as the evident lack of desire on the part of the IDF leaders to take part in a forceful and violent evacuation of Jews, contributed to his desire to find a compromise with the pioneers.

1977-1985 89 new communities established in liberated areas (125 elsewhere)

1977 - Katzrin, the first Jewish city in the Golan Heights since the fall of Gamla 1,900 years earlier, is built.

1977 - The town of Elkanah was founded in the Shomron.

May 1977 - Menachem Begin was elected Prime Minister, signaling a major change in settlement policy - though not as major as had been hoped for. Most communities still had to begin on the sly, generally as part of a military base.

Autumn 1977 - Beit El was established, west of Ofrah and just north of Ramallah. Its two separate communities became the Beit El Local Council in 1997, populated today by some 5,000 people.

1978 - Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed at Camp David, calls for total withdrawal from Sinai and Arab autonomy in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The Movement to Stop the Withdrawal in Sinai is formed.

August 1978 - What is today the city of Ariel (population 17,000 and home to the College of Judea and Samaria) began with 40 families from the not-religious Tel Aviv settlement group. The idea of a city in the Shomron was originally approved by the government in 1973.

May 1979 - Jews return to Hevron: 10 women and 40 children from Kiryat Arba move into Beit Hadassah. For two months afterwards, anyone who left was not permitted back. For ten months after that, they were allowed to leave, but no one else was permitted to join.

January 1980 - Permanent site of Elon Moreh established east of Shechem, on the southern side of Mt. Kabir in the Shomron, overlooking Biblical Shechem known today as Tel Balata. Elon Moreh was established in that location after another location - to which the Elon Moreh group had already moved was rejected when Arabs claimed that some of it was their private land; the Supreme Court heard conflicting testimony as to whether the area was necessary for security purposes, and finally ruled that the area was not necessary.

May 1980 - terrorists murder six men outside Beit Hadassah in Hevron - and the next week, the government issues official authorization for the renewal of a Jewish community in Hevron.

July 1980 - The Knesset approved the Jerusalem Law, determining that complete and united Jerusalem is Israel's capital. The U.S. abstained in a UN vote against the law.

Dec. 1981 - The Knesset approved the Golan Law, annexing the Golan Heights to Israel. The U.S. responded by canceling a memorandum of understanding with Israel, infuriating Prime Minster Begin, who said, What are we, your vassal state? Are we a banana republic?

April 1982 - Sinai: The 10-year-old city of Yamit and 14 farming villages such as Atzmona, Talmei Yosef and Priel are destroyed as Israel completes withdrawal from the Sinai.

1982 - Only seven new communities established in Yesha this year: N'vei Daniel and Nokdim in Gush Etzion; Shani-Livnah and Telem in the Southern Hevron Hills; Naamah, north of Jericho; Anatot in eastern Binyamin; and Alfei Menashe in western Shomron. In the following two years, 30 new towns were built.

1983 - The Efrat Local Council is founded in Gush Etzion, by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin and Moshe (Moshko) Moshkowitz, a resident of pre-War of Independence Gush Etzion. Known as the city of eight hilltops, it currently boasts some 8,500 residents.

1983 - The Ne'eman Commission on Settlement Affairs decided for the first time in the history of the State to establish private-initiative communities on privately-owned land. Such towns include Efrat, Emanuel, Beitar, Shaarei Tikvah, and others.

1983 - N'vei Dekalim was built, becoming the capital of Gush Katif (Jewish Gaza).

1984 - The establishment of the Likud-Labor unity government put the brakes on new communities, but the existing ones grew significantly during the coming five years.

1986-1992 - Only 15 new communities established in liberated areas this year (16 elsewhere)

1992 - Yitzchak Rabin elected Prime Minister, imposes near-total freeze on construction in Yesha. Yesha loses its status as a high-priority development area, and tax benefits are reduced or cut totally.

1992, after the election - Bemoaning his defeat, Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir said, I would have carried out autonomy talks for ten years, and meanwhile we would have reached half a million people in Judea and Samaria.

Sept. 1993 - Oslo Accords signed, establishing the Palestinian Authority.

Feb. 1994 - Massacre in Machpelah Cave. In unclear circumstances, and with a major Palestinian terror attack being planned, Dr. Baruch Goldstein of Hevron shot and killed 29 Arab worshipers. The Machpelah Cave was then divided, with Arabs receiving near-total control of the Yitzchak hall, and the Jews receiving near-total control over the smaller Avraham and Yaakov halls.

May 1994 - Gaza and Jericho First agreement signed, giving the PA control over these areas (except for the Jewish towns there). Control of territory later given to the PA, it was generally agreed, was determined based on the map drawn by Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria.

Sept 1995 - Oslo II (Taba) agreement signed, calling for Israel's withdrawal from seven Arab cities in Yesha, as well as three more withdrawals before the final talks.

Nov.-Dec. 1995 - The IDF withdraws from Bethlehem, Ramallah, Shechem (except for Joseph's Tomb, which it abandoned at the beginning of the Oslo War, five years later), Jenin, Tul Karem, and Kalkilye.

1996 - HaAm Im HaGolan (The People are With the Golan) banners and stickers grace porches, billboards and cars throughout the country, in the face of possible intentions by Prime Minister Shimon Peres to negotiate giving the Golan to Syria.

May 1996 - Binyamin Netanyahu elected Prime Minister; the new government removes only some of the Yesha construction restrictions of the previous government.

Jan. 1997 - IDF withdraws from most of Hevron.

October 1998 - Under heavy American (Clinton) pressure, Binyamin Netanyahu signs Wye River Memorandum outlining Israeli withdrawals totaling 13% of Judea and Samaria in stages.

Nov. 1998 - The first of three scheduled interim-stage withdrawals is executed around Jenin, Shechem and Tul Karem, giving over 9% of Judea and Samaria to PA control. The PA now has total control of 10% of Judea and Samaria, and civilian control of another 19%. The community of Har Brachah, immediately south of Shechem, is left surrounded on three sides by PA-controlled area.

Sept. 1999 - The other two stages [see Nov. 1998] were never executed. Ehud Barak was elected Prime Minister in the meanwhile, and came to a new agreement - called the Sharm a-Sheikh Agreement which renegotiated the next withdrawals. 7% of Yesha was immediately given over from PA civil control to PA military control.

January 2000 - Some 300,000 people took part in one of the largest demonstrations in Israeli history, calling on Prime Minister Barak not to agree to an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights. It put an end to talk of such a withdrawal for several years.

Jan - March 2000 - two more relatively minor withdrawals, fulfilling the Wye and Sharm commitments and giving the PA full or partial control of 39.8% of Yesha.

Sep. 30, 2000 - Palestinian Authority initiates the Oslo War.

April 2002 - Operation Defensive Shield in Shechem and Jenin, after terrorists murder some 430 Israelis in the past year and a half of warfare.

October 2002 - The Gilad Farm outpost in the Shomron was forcibly dismantled, by order of the Sharon unity government's Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. It was later rebuilt in a different location.

Dec. 2003 - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon first announces his Disengagement plan to unilaterally quit Gaza and northern Shomron, at the expense of the nearly 9,000 Jews living there.

May 2004 - A referendum of Likud voters throughout the country rejects the Disengagement plan by a 60-40 margin. Contrary to earlier promises, Sharon ignores the results by making only cosmetic changes.

June 2004 - Sharon fires two Cabinet ministers in order to enable a Cabinet vote approving the Disengagement.

Feb 2005 - Knesset passes the main Disengagement bill, known as Evacuation / Compensation.

August 2005 - Sharon government destroys 25 Jewish towns in Gush Katif and northern Shomron, and expels residents to hotels and other temporary dwellings. IDF forces are withdrawn from Gaza shortly thereafter, though not from the northern Shomron.

February 2006 - Police battled with thousands of protestors and injured hundreds in the course of destroying nine homes in Amona, a hilltop community/outpost overlooking Ofrah in Binyamin. The homes were deemed illegal in the wake of a Peace Now suit claiming that they were built on Arab-owned land.

June 2006 - The total population in Judea and Samaria grew by some 3% in the first half of 2006 nearly three times higher than that of the rest of the country - to a total of 260,932 people.

May 2007 - In response to a lawsuit filed by Peace Now - the ultra-left organization that has made it its goal to wipe out Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he had asked Defense Minister Amir Peretz to prepare a plan to destroy small Jewish communities - known as unauthorized outposts - in Judea and Samaria. Peace Now has targeted, among others, Migron - a 43-family outpost/ community on a hilltop between Psagot and Michmash on the Jerusalem-Beit El highway.