SHABBAT SHAVAH (SHABBAT (SABBATH) OF REPENTANCE, JUST BEFORE YOM KIPPUR SCRIPTURES. FRIDAY NIGHT 6 PM TILL SATURDAY NIGHT 6 PM
SHABBAT (SABBATH) PROPHET SCRIPTURES
HOSEA 14:2-9 King James Bible
2 Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips.
3 Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.
4 I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.
5 I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
6 His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon.
7 They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon.
8 Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found.
9 Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
JOEL 2:15-17 King James Bible
15 Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:
16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.
17 Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
MICAH 7:18-20 King James Bible
18 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.
19 He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
20 Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob, and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
SHABBAT (SABBATH) NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES
ROMANS CHAPTERS 5:1-21 AND 6:1-23 King James Bible
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:
2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? 17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.
18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.
19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.
20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.
21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death.
22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Thursday, September 20, 2007
GAZA ENEMY ENTITY - ISRAEL
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.
Hurricane Ivo forms off Mexico SEPT 20,07
MEXICO CITY - A Pacific storm strengthened into a hurricane late Wednesday but it was expected to weaken, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Ivo, centered about 570 miles south of the Baja California Peninsula, was forecast to head northwest, then take a clockwise turn toward the Baja while weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.Ivo had sustained winds of about 86 mph late Wednesday.
While the current forecast shows it turning toward land, the Hurricane Center said the forecast past three days was highly uncertain.
Typhon Wipha weakens in China; 7 killed SEPT 20,07
SHANGHAI, China - Typhoon Wipha weakened as it slammed China with strong winds and torrential rains, officials said Thursday. At least seven people were reported killed as the storm destroyed thousands of homes and triggered landslides. Wipha was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm Wednesday after it hit land in southern Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Five people died in landslides, reports in state media said Thursday. News reports said two other deaths were blamed on the storm: a Shanghai man was electrocuted and a Taiwan construction worker died when scaffolding collapsed. Another three people were reported missing.Weather photos showed Wipha spread over a large area centered on eastern China's Shandong province Thursday. The storm was forecast to pass over the Yellow Sea toward the Korean peninsula.A total of 2.7 million people were evacuated from coastal or flooded areas and unsafe housing in Shanghai and other areas affected by the storm, Xinhua said.The storm destroyed thousands of houses, wrecked fish ponds and disrupted power to more than 100 communities, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and provincial officials reported.
Preliminary estimates put the damage at $638 million.
Shanghai, a city of 20 million, closed schools, ferries and other transport links following forecasts of torrential rains and strong winds. But the city suffered little damage and by Thursday children returned to school under clear skies.
Wipha is a woman's name in Thai.The storm played havoc with sports events, as well as regional transport.Organizers of the women's World Cup rescheduled Wednesday's Shanghai match between Norway and Ghana to Thursday and moved it to the neighboring city of Hangzhou. Three Wednesday games were rescheduled for Thursday, to allow them to be played simultaneously with other final group matches.
Four dead, four missing after floods in Slovenia Wed Sep 19, 1:47 PM ET
LJUBLJANA (AFP) - Four people died and four were still missing Wednesday, the day after the heaviest rains in 30 years hit Slovenia's northwest, causing flooding and mudslides, state radio said. Two people were killed late Tuesday when a mudslide swept into a house in the Celje region, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Ljubljana, and two more died earlier in the day in the Cerklje region, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the capital, the station said.Another four people, including a mother and her nine-year-old child, are still missing, the radio quoted local authorities in the region as saying.The rains, which dumped up to 300 litres of water per square metre in only a few hours in some places, were the heaviest registered in the last three decades, the Slovenian Defense and Rescue agency said.The agency said that more than 350 houses had been flooded or damaged in the Gorenjska region and especially in the town of Zelezniki, some 60 kilometres northwest of Ljubljana, where the Sora river inundated the centre, carrying away more than 150 cars.
The Slovenian government promised urgent measures to help local people.
Traffic on many roads in the Gorensjka region was still disrupted Wednesday while many villages were without electricity or drinking water, or were cut off because of damaged roads.The Sora river also swept away 11 out of 13 wooden buildings that were part of the Franja Hospital museum, built by anti-Nazi fighters during World War II in a nearby mountaneous region.Slovenia wants the museum to be included in UNESCO's world heritage list.
Iran leader denied on WTC wreath request By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he comes to New York City next week, but the request was denied, a police official said Wednesday. The U.S. also has denied a visa to Iran's United Nations ambassador in Geneva to attend next week's General Assembly meeting because he was involved in the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis, a U.N. official said.Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, had asked this month for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police spokesman Paul Browne said.The request to enter the fenced-in site was rejected because of ongoing construction there, Browne said.
Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds, Browne said.The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters Wednesday that the United States would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a photo op.Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions, such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending their uranium enrichment program, Khalilzad said.Browne said Ahmadinejad had asked permission from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, U.S. Secret Service and police department. The police and the Secret Service provide security to visiting heads of state.The Port Authority, which owns the trade center site and is the only agency that could grant permission to go inside, said it attended a meeting with police regarding dignitary visits, not specifically about Ahmadinejad. At that meeting, it was determined that no dignitaries would be allowed inside the site due to ongoing construction, said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.It wasn't clear whether Ahmadinejad wanted to descend to the base of the trade center site, where the twin towers once stood, or lay a wreath on a public sidewalk outside the site.
Mohammad Mir Ali Mohammadi, spokesman for the Iranian mission to the U.N., said he was not notified offically that Ahmadinejad would not be allowed at the site, but said it was unfortunate.President Ahmadinejad intended to lay a wreath at the site of ground zero in order to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorists attack of Sept. 11, 2001. We are hopeful that we can still work something out with the police department, he said.White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said a visit to ground zero is a matter for the city of New York, but it seems more than odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror would visit ground zero.
It was not clear what role Ali Reza Moaiyeri, Iran's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, played in the 1979 hostage crisis. The U.N. official who said his visa was denied spoke on condition of anonymity because there has been no public announcement.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said, although we don't comment about specific visa cases we certainly would not allow a person into the United States who has taken Americans as hostages.Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran during the hostage crisis in which U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq and seeking to develop nuclear weapons.In a television appearance earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said his country wanted peace and friendship with the United States, as tensions continued to mount between the two countries.The deputy commander of Iran's air force said Wednesday that plans have been drawn up to bomb Israel if the Jewish state attacks Iran, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. The United States and its key European allies are calling for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program, but Russia has warned against the use of force in Iran and opposes new sanctions to punish Tehran.
Rice to meet Abbas in search of accord SEPT 20,07
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Condoleezza Rice takes her shuttle diplomacy to the Palestinian leadership on Thursday as she works to narrow their differences with Israel before Washington hosts a major Middle East peace conference. The U.S. secretary of state has found growing interest in intensifying the dialogue, a senior aide said after she met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
But all sides have given little away on the specifics of their talks and details of the planned gathering remain unclear.It could range from zero to a full-blown agreement. They are not in a position yet to put a label on it, the senior State Department official told reporters when asked how Rice could reconcile seemingly contradictory Israeli and Palestinian views of what the conference near Washington might achieve.Labels are really not a very good way to capture what is going on, he said, adding: This appears to be a serious discussion about fundamental issues.
Olmert, who will meet Rice again on Thursday after she has spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, has cautioned against expecting more than a declaration of principles for establishing a Palestinian state.
Abbas has made clear he wants a deal that goes beyond previous agreements on the broad outlines of how the 60-year-old conflict can be resolved and sets a framework for resolving core disputes on borders, security and the status of Jerusalem and of Palestinian refugees from territory that is now Israel.
ENEMY GAZA
Rice may hear concerns from Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, over Israel's decision on Wednesday to declare the Gaza Strip an enemy entity, as well as about the pace of Israeli moves to ease movement for people in the West Bank. Fayyad's government has already said it wants Washington to press Israel not to cut energy and other supplies to the 1.5 million people of Gaza, despite hostility between the leaders in the West Bank and the Hamas Islamists who seized power in the coastal enclave in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas.Rice, who U.S. officials said was unaware of Israel's plan when she flew in, said Washington shared Israeli opposition to Hamas but expected humanitarian supplies to continue. She also said the internal Palestinian conflict should not jeopardize plans to found a single state in both the West Bank and Gaza.The conference, penciled in for November 15 or shortly thereafter, forms a major part of U.S. President George W. Bush's strategy to promote stability in the Middle East before he leaves office in a little over a year, ending a presidency marked by the violence in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.
He has encouraged Arab states to attend but several have said they will only do so if they see it producing agreement on fundamental issues for Palestinians. Also unclear is whether states regarded as hostile, notably Syria, should be invited.
Highlighting uncertainty surrounding the nature of the gathering, when asked whether Syria would be welcome Rice told a news conference simply: We haven't invited anyone yet.(Reporting by Sue Pleming and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem)
Iran: Retaliation for any Israeli attack By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has drawn up plans to bomb Israel if the Jewish state should attack, the deputy air force commander said Wednesday, adding to tensions already heated up by an Israeli airstrike on Syria and Western calls for more U.N. sanctions against Tehran. Other Iranian officials also underlined their country's readiness to fight if the U.S. or Israel attacks, a reflection of concerns in Tehran that demands by the U.S. and its allies for Iran to curtail its nuclear program could escalate into military action.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that the international community should prepare for the possibility of war in the event Iran obtains atomic weapons, although he later stressed the focus is still on diplomatic pressures.The comments come as the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. William Fallon, is touring Persian Gulf countries seeking to form a united front of Arab allies against Iran's growing influence in the region.Iran has periodically raised alarms over the possibility of war, particularly when the West brings up talk of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a U.N. Security Council demand that it halt uranium enrichment.We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake, Iran's deputy air force commander, Gen. Mohammad Alavi, said in an interview with the semiofficial Fars news agency.Alavi warned that Israel is within range of Iran's medium-range missiles and fighter-bombers.
The Iranian air force had no immediate comment on the Fars report. But Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar told the official IRNA news agency that we keep various options open to respond to threats. ... We will make use of them if required.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards also weighed in, saying Iran has prepared its people for a possible confrontation against any aggression.White House press secretary Dana Perino said Alavi's comment is not constructive and it almost seems provocative.Israel doesn't seek a war with its neighbors. And we all are seeking, under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, for Iran to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, she said.During a stop in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington is committed to diplomacy, but added that the U.S. hasn't taken any military options off the table. She said that it can't be business as usual with Iran, a country whose president has spoken of wiping Israel off the map.For diplomacy to work, she said, it has to have both a way for Iran to pursue a peaceful resolution of this issue and it has to have teeth, and the U.N. Security Council and other measures are providing teeth.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said his government took Iran's threat very seriously and so does the international community.Unfortunately we are all too accustomed to this kind of bellicose, extremist and hateful language coming from Iran, he said.
Israeli warplanes in 1981 destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein's regime, and many in the region fear Israel or the U.S. could mount airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't bow to Western demands to cease uranium enrichment.Iran, which says it isn't trying to produce material for atomic bombs but rather fuel for reactors that would generate electricity, has said in the past that Israel would be the first retaliatory target for any attack. But Alavi's comments were the first to mention specific contingency plans.David Ochmanek, an international policy analyst with the U.S.-based RAND Corporation, said Iran has the capability to attack Israel with a limited number of ballistic missiles, but Israel could potentially inflict greater damage on Iran. If Israelis attacked Iran it would be with high precision weapons that could destroy military targets, he said. They could destroy Iran's nuclear reactor and do damage to the enrichment.The Iranian response would be quite different, Ochmanek said. It would be small numbers of highly innaccurate missiles and the intention would be to do this for psychological purposes rather than to destroy discrete targets. It's an asymmetrical relationship.A top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander warned earlier this week that U.S. bases around Iran would also be legitimate targets.
Today, the United States is within Iran's sight and all around our country, but it doesn't mean we have been encircled. They are encircled themselves and are within our range, Gen. Mohammed Hasan Kousehchi told IRNA. U.S. forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Persian Gulf, Kuwait hosts a major U.S. base, the U.S. 5th Fleet patrols from its base in Bahrain, and the U.S. Central Command is housed in Qatar.
Tensions have been raised by a mysterious Israeli air incursion over Syria on Sept. 6. Israel has placed a tight news blackout on the reported incident, while Syria has said little. U.S. officials said it involved an airstrike on a target. One U.S. official said the attack hit weapons heading for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran, but there also has been speculation the Israelis hit a nascent nuclear facility or were studying routes for a possible future strike on Iran. Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was involved from the beginning in the alleged airstrike, the first public mention by an Israeli leader about the incident. Netanyahu, the leader of the parliamentary opposition, did not give further details. Edward Djerejian, founding director of Rice University's Baker Institute, said the accusation that Israel had violated Syrian airspace, and possibly launched an attack on Syrian territory, was putting new concerns on an already tense situation. The region is very nervous, said Djerejian, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria.
With Iran adding to the talk of military options, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called Wednesday for U.N. Security Council members and U.S. allies to help push for a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. But Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow opposes new sanctions, adding they could hurt a recent agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at resolving questions about the Iranian program. Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade the country to suspend uranium enrichment. Burns said he would host a Friday meeting of the Security Council's permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France. Talks on a new resolution are also expected next week in New York, when world leaders attend the annual ministerial session of the U.N. General Assembly. Associated Press Writers Sarah DiLorenzo and Carley Petesch in New York and Mark Lavie in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Bush calls for expansion of spy law By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists. Without such action, Bush said, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.It will be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives into America, the president said during a visit to the super-secret National Security Agency's headquarters. Without these tools, our country will be much more vulnerable to attack.The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs when the government must obtain warrants for eavesdropping from a secret intelligence court. This year's update — approved just before Congress' August break — allows more efficient interceptions of foreign communications.Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the U.S., even if an American is on one end of the conversation — so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.In requesting the change, the Bush administration said technological advances in communications had created a dire gap in the ability to collect intelligence on terrorists.Such surveillance generally was prohibited under the original law if the wiretap was conducted inside the U.S., unless a court approved it. Because of changes in technology, many more foreign communications now flow through the U.S. The new law, known as the Protect America Act, allows those to be tapped without a court order.
Civil liberties groups and many Democrats say the new changes go too far. Democratic leaders in Congress set the law to expire in six months so that it could be fine-tuned; that process now is beginning on Capitol Hill.Democrats hope for changes that would provide additional oversight when the government eavesdrops on U.S. residents communicating with overseas parties.Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers understand the need to update the law, but also the need to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.For over five years, the president carried out a warrantless surveillance program that ignored the law and the role of court oversight, Rockefeller said. Today, the president continues to seek unchecked surveillance powers that many of us in Congress cannot support. The fact is, the Protect America Act did provide authority for collection, but it did not include sufficient protections for Americans. There's no reason we can't do both, Rockefeller said.The president needs to step up to the plate and show that he is willing to work with Congress to get this important legislation passed.Bush timed his visit to Fort Meade to press his case.The threat from al-Qaida is not going to expire in 135 days, he said, so I call on Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent.He also urged lawmakers to expand the law, not restrict it. One provision particularly important to the administration, but opposed by many Democrats, would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies which may have helped the government conduct surveillance before January 2007 without a court order.
Bush was joined at the podium in an NSA hallway by Vice President Dick Cheney, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and others.The president received private briefings from intelligence officials and mingled with employees in the National Threat Operations Center. While cameras and reporters were in the room, the large video screens that lined the walls displayed unclassified information on computer crime and signal intelligence.Along one wall at NSA is a sign that says, We won't back down. We never have. We never will.National Security Agency: http://www.nsa.gov/
Israel declares Gaza enemy entity By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
SEPT 20,07
JERUSALEM - Israel declared the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an enemy entity on Wednesday and said it would cut utilities to the territory. The move complicates a U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks aimed at establishing a separate Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel made the provocative decision hours before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks setting up what President Bush hopes will be a pivotal peace conference this fall. Rice neither endorsed nor criticized Israel's move.Israel did not announce a date for cutting off services. The decision is likely to reinforce perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians and that the U.S. will not block Israel.Rice said the U.S. is trying to help both sides reach common understanding. But she did not say if the U.S.-sponsored peace meeting will address the hardest issues in the six-decade conflict, including the final borders of a Palestinian state.The U.S. has not said exactly what it wants to achieve from the summit, nor who will attend.Rice wants to recruit Arab states to reinforce the Palestinians in any deal with Israel, but the conference will carry little weight if regional players such as Saudi Arabia choose to sit it out. The meeting also has little chance of success if Israel is seen as unwilling to make hard concessions to the Palestinians and the U.S. is seen an unable to force Israel's hand.The U.S.-sponsored conference is meant to invigorate peace efforts that largely lay fallow during George W. Bush's presidency and set clear guidelines for forming a Palestinian state.
The Gaza designation overshadowed any public talk of peace prospects as Rice began two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance of Wednesday's action, a U.S. diplomat said. Israel has been considering something similar for several weeks, however, to try to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns from launching sites in Gaza. The decision lets Israel cut electricity, water and other services that the impoverished, crowded coastal territory depends on Israel to provide.New York-based Human Rights Watch said cutting off fuel and power would violate Israels duty as an occupying power to safeguard the health and welfare of the occupied population and it would also intensify the existing humanitarian crisis.Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and limited ground strikes. It also has sealed Gaza's borders, halting trade, while permitting little more than humanitarian aid into the area.Hamas militants who hold de facto control in Gaza have not been directly involved in the rocket attacks, but the movement has done little to halt the fire. Israel says it holds the group responsible.Rice tried to tread carefully at a press conference with Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. Grim-faced, Rice said the U.S. will not turn its back on civilians in Gaza and that Hamas is a hostile entity to the United States as well.
The Israeli designation covers all of Gaza, not just Hamas militants who took control in June. The U.S. and Israel regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuse to deal with it.
Livni said Israel was not obliged to deliver anything to Gaza beyond humanitarian aid.When it comes to the humanitarian needs, we have our own responsibilities, Livni said. All the needs which are more than humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to Gaza Strip.Livni said the decision is legal. International aid groups said it was unacceptable to blame civilians for the actions of rogue militants.Gisha, a human rights group that works for greater freedom of movement in Gaza, said the action was immoral and illegal, constituting prohibited collective punishment of civilians.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader on whom Rice and Israel have pinned reinvigorated hopes for peace, quickly condemned the Israeli move. This oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy, Abbas' office said in a statement. Abbas is in a bitter rivalry with Hamas, which overran forces from his Fatah movement and seized control of Gaza. The takeover ended more than a year of paralysis in Palestinian politics as Fatah and Hamas vied for primacy in a divided government and international aid dried up.
Abbas has installed a new government in the larger and more populous West Bank, but still claims authority over Gaza. An independent Palestinian state would include both territories, which lie on either side of Israel. Among the Israeli officials Rice saw Wednesday was the defense chief, Ehud Barak. He has hinted that Israel may have to relaunch military operations in Gaza more than two years after a unilateral pullout of Israeli forces and settlers. Rice planned to meet with Abbas and other West Bank Palestinians on Thursday. Associated Press writers Laurie Copans and Aron Heller contributed to this report.
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.
Hurricane Ivo forms off Mexico SEPT 20,07
MEXICO CITY - A Pacific storm strengthened into a hurricane late Wednesday but it was expected to weaken, the National Hurricane Center said. Hurricane Ivo, centered about 570 miles south of the Baja California Peninsula, was forecast to head northwest, then take a clockwise turn toward the Baja while weakening, the National Hurricane Center said.Ivo had sustained winds of about 86 mph late Wednesday.
While the current forecast shows it turning toward land, the Hurricane Center said the forecast past three days was highly uncertain.
Typhon Wipha weakens in China; 7 killed SEPT 20,07
SHANGHAI, China - Typhoon Wipha weakened as it slammed China with strong winds and torrential rains, officials said Thursday. At least seven people were reported killed as the storm destroyed thousands of homes and triggered landslides. Wipha was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm Wednesday after it hit land in southern Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the Ministry of Civil Affairs.Five people died in landslides, reports in state media said Thursday. News reports said two other deaths were blamed on the storm: a Shanghai man was electrocuted and a Taiwan construction worker died when scaffolding collapsed. Another three people were reported missing.Weather photos showed Wipha spread over a large area centered on eastern China's Shandong province Thursday. The storm was forecast to pass over the Yellow Sea toward the Korean peninsula.A total of 2.7 million people were evacuated from coastal or flooded areas and unsafe housing in Shanghai and other areas affected by the storm, Xinhua said.The storm destroyed thousands of houses, wrecked fish ponds and disrupted power to more than 100 communities, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and provincial officials reported.
Preliminary estimates put the damage at $638 million.
Shanghai, a city of 20 million, closed schools, ferries and other transport links following forecasts of torrential rains and strong winds. But the city suffered little damage and by Thursday children returned to school under clear skies.
Wipha is a woman's name in Thai.The storm played havoc with sports events, as well as regional transport.Organizers of the women's World Cup rescheduled Wednesday's Shanghai match between Norway and Ghana to Thursday and moved it to the neighboring city of Hangzhou. Three Wednesday games were rescheduled for Thursday, to allow them to be played simultaneously with other final group matches.
Four dead, four missing after floods in Slovenia Wed Sep 19, 1:47 PM ET
LJUBLJANA (AFP) - Four people died and four were still missing Wednesday, the day after the heaviest rains in 30 years hit Slovenia's northwest, causing flooding and mudslides, state radio said. Two people were killed late Tuesday when a mudslide swept into a house in the Celje region, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of Ljubljana, and two more died earlier in the day in the Cerklje region, some 60 kilometres (35 miles) northwest of the capital, the station said.Another four people, including a mother and her nine-year-old child, are still missing, the radio quoted local authorities in the region as saying.The rains, which dumped up to 300 litres of water per square metre in only a few hours in some places, were the heaviest registered in the last three decades, the Slovenian Defense and Rescue agency said.The agency said that more than 350 houses had been flooded or damaged in the Gorenjska region and especially in the town of Zelezniki, some 60 kilometres northwest of Ljubljana, where the Sora river inundated the centre, carrying away more than 150 cars.
The Slovenian government promised urgent measures to help local people.
Traffic on many roads in the Gorensjka region was still disrupted Wednesday while many villages were without electricity or drinking water, or were cut off because of damaged roads.The Sora river also swept away 11 out of 13 wooden buildings that were part of the Franja Hospital museum, built by anti-Nazi fighters during World War II in a nearby mountaneous region.Slovenia wants the museum to be included in UNESCO's world heritage list.
Iran leader denied on WTC wreath request By PAT MILTON, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
NEW YORK - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad asked permission to lay a wreath at the World Trade Center site when he comes to New York City next week, but the request was denied, a police official said Wednesday. The U.S. also has denied a visa to Iran's United Nations ambassador in Geneva to attend next week's General Assembly meeting because he was involved in the 1979 U.S. hostage crisis, a U.N. official said.Ahmadinejad, who is arriving Sunday to address the United Nations' General Assembly, had asked this month for permission to visit the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, police spokesman Paul Browne said.The request to enter the fenced-in site was rejected because of ongoing construction there, Browne said.
Requests for the Iranian president to visit the immediate area would also be opposed by the NYPD on security grounds, Browne said.The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, told reporters Wednesday that the United States would not support Iran's attempt to use the site for a photo op.Iran can demonstrate its seriousness about concern with regard to terrorism by taking concrete actions, such as dropping support for Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and suspending their uranium enrichment program, Khalilzad said.Browne said Ahmadinejad had asked permission from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, U.S. Secret Service and police department. The police and the Secret Service provide security to visiting heads of state.The Port Authority, which owns the trade center site and is the only agency that could grant permission to go inside, said it attended a meeting with police regarding dignitary visits, not specifically about Ahmadinejad. At that meeting, it was determined that no dignitaries would be allowed inside the site due to ongoing construction, said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman.It wasn't clear whether Ahmadinejad wanted to descend to the base of the trade center site, where the twin towers once stood, or lay a wreath on a public sidewalk outside the site.
Mohammad Mir Ali Mohammadi, spokesman for the Iranian mission to the U.N., said he was not notified offically that Ahmadinejad would not be allowed at the site, but said it was unfortunate.President Ahmadinejad intended to lay a wreath at the site of ground zero in order to pay tribute to the victims of the terrorists attack of Sept. 11, 2001. We are hopeful that we can still work something out with the police department, he said.White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said a visit to ground zero is a matter for the city of New York, but it seems more than odd that the president of a country that is a state sponsor of terror would visit ground zero.
It was not clear what role Ali Reza Moaiyeri, Iran's U.N. ambassador in Geneva, played in the 1979 hostage crisis. The U.N. official who said his visa was denied spoke on condition of anonymity because there has been no public announcement.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said, although we don't comment about specific visa cases we certainly would not allow a person into the United States who has taken Americans as hostages.Iran and the U.S. have not had diplomatic relations since Washington cut its ties with Tehran during the hostage crisis in which U.S. diplomats were held hostage for 444 days. The Bush administration has accused Iran of arming Shiite Muslim militants in Iraq and seeking to develop nuclear weapons.In a television appearance earlier this week, Ahmadinejad said his country wanted peace and friendship with the United States, as tensions continued to mount between the two countries.The deputy commander of Iran's air force said Wednesday that plans have been drawn up to bomb Israel if the Jewish state attacks Iran, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency. The United States and its key European allies are calling for a new round of U.N. sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear program, but Russia has warned against the use of force in Iran and opposes new sanctions to punish Tehran.
Rice to meet Abbas in search of accord SEPT 20,07
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Condoleezza Rice takes her shuttle diplomacy to the Palestinian leadership on Thursday as she works to narrow their differences with Israel before Washington hosts a major Middle East peace conference. The U.S. secretary of state has found growing interest in intensifying the dialogue, a senior aide said after she met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
But all sides have given little away on the specifics of their talks and details of the planned gathering remain unclear.It could range from zero to a full-blown agreement. They are not in a position yet to put a label on it, the senior State Department official told reporters when asked how Rice could reconcile seemingly contradictory Israeli and Palestinian views of what the conference near Washington might achieve.Labels are really not a very good way to capture what is going on, he said, adding: This appears to be a serious discussion about fundamental issues.
Olmert, who will meet Rice again on Thursday after she has spoken with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah, has cautioned against expecting more than a declaration of principles for establishing a Palestinian state.
Abbas has made clear he wants a deal that goes beyond previous agreements on the broad outlines of how the 60-year-old conflict can be resolved and sets a framework for resolving core disputes on borders, security and the status of Jerusalem and of Palestinian refugees from territory that is now Israel.
ENEMY GAZA
Rice may hear concerns from Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, over Israel's decision on Wednesday to declare the Gaza Strip an enemy entity, as well as about the pace of Israeli moves to ease movement for people in the West Bank. Fayyad's government has already said it wants Washington to press Israel not to cut energy and other supplies to the 1.5 million people of Gaza, despite hostility between the leaders in the West Bank and the Hamas Islamists who seized power in the coastal enclave in June after routing forces loyal to Abbas.Rice, who U.S. officials said was unaware of Israel's plan when she flew in, said Washington shared Israeli opposition to Hamas but expected humanitarian supplies to continue. She also said the internal Palestinian conflict should not jeopardize plans to found a single state in both the West Bank and Gaza.The conference, penciled in for November 15 or shortly thereafter, forms a major part of U.S. President George W. Bush's strategy to promote stability in the Middle East before he leaves office in a little over a year, ending a presidency marked by the violence in Iraq since the U.S. invasion.
He has encouraged Arab states to attend but several have said they will only do so if they see it producing agreement on fundamental issues for Palestinians. Also unclear is whether states regarded as hostile, notably Syria, should be invited.
Highlighting uncertainty surrounding the nature of the gathering, when asked whether Syria would be welcome Rice told a news conference simply: We haven't invited anyone yet.(Reporting by Sue Pleming and Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem)
Iran: Retaliation for any Israeli attack By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran has drawn up plans to bomb Israel if the Jewish state should attack, the deputy air force commander said Wednesday, adding to tensions already heated up by an Israeli airstrike on Syria and Western calls for more U.N. sanctions against Tehran. Other Iranian officials also underlined their country's readiness to fight if the U.S. or Israel attacks, a reflection of concerns in Tehran that demands by the U.S. and its allies for Iran to curtail its nuclear program could escalate into military action.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Sunday that the international community should prepare for the possibility of war in the event Iran obtains atomic weapons, although he later stressed the focus is still on diplomatic pressures.The comments come as the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, Adm. William Fallon, is touring Persian Gulf countries seeking to form a united front of Arab allies against Iran's growing influence in the region.Iran has periodically raised alarms over the possibility of war, particularly when the West brings up talk of sanctions over Tehran's rejection of a U.N. Security Council demand that it halt uranium enrichment.We have drawn up a plan to strike back at Israel with our bombers if this regime (Israel) makes a silly mistake, Iran's deputy air force commander, Gen. Mohammad Alavi, said in an interview with the semiofficial Fars news agency.Alavi warned that Israel is within range of Iran's medium-range missiles and fighter-bombers.
The Iranian air force had no immediate comment on the Fars report. But Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammed Najjar told the official IRNA news agency that we keep various options open to respond to threats. ... We will make use of them if required.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards also weighed in, saying Iran has prepared its people for a possible confrontation against any aggression.White House press secretary Dana Perino said Alavi's comment is not constructive and it almost seems provocative.Israel doesn't seek a war with its neighbors. And we all are seeking, under the U.N. Security Council resolutions, for Iran to comply with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, she said.During a stop in Jerusalem, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington is committed to diplomacy, but added that the U.S. hasn't taken any military options off the table. She said that it can't be business as usual with Iran, a country whose president has spoken of wiping Israel off the map.For diplomacy to work, she said, it has to have both a way for Iran to pursue a peaceful resolution of this issue and it has to have teeth, and the U.N. Security Council and other measures are providing teeth.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said his government took Iran's threat very seriously and so does the international community.Unfortunately we are all too accustomed to this kind of bellicose, extremist and hateful language coming from Iran, he said.
Israeli warplanes in 1981 destroyed an Iraqi nuclear reactor being built by Saddam Hussein's regime, and many in the region fear Israel or the U.S. could mount airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities if Tehran doesn't bow to Western demands to cease uranium enrichment.Iran, which says it isn't trying to produce material for atomic bombs but rather fuel for reactors that would generate electricity, has said in the past that Israel would be the first retaliatory target for any attack. But Alavi's comments were the first to mention specific contingency plans.David Ochmanek, an international policy analyst with the U.S.-based RAND Corporation, said Iran has the capability to attack Israel with a limited number of ballistic missiles, but Israel could potentially inflict greater damage on Iran. If Israelis attacked Iran it would be with high precision weapons that could destroy military targets, he said. They could destroy Iran's nuclear reactor and do damage to the enrichment.The Iranian response would be quite different, Ochmanek said. It would be small numbers of highly innaccurate missiles and the intention would be to do this for psychological purposes rather than to destroy discrete targets. It's an asymmetrical relationship.A top Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander warned earlier this week that U.S. bases around Iran would also be legitimate targets.
Today, the United States is within Iran's sight and all around our country, but it doesn't mean we have been encircled. They are encircled themselves and are within our range, Gen. Mohammed Hasan Kousehchi told IRNA. U.S. forces are in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the Persian Gulf, Kuwait hosts a major U.S. base, the U.S. 5th Fleet patrols from its base in Bahrain, and the U.S. Central Command is housed in Qatar.
Tensions have been raised by a mysterious Israeli air incursion over Syria on Sept. 6. Israel has placed a tight news blackout on the reported incident, while Syria has said little. U.S. officials said it involved an airstrike on a target. One U.S. official said the attack hit weapons heading for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an ally of Syria and Iran, but there also has been speculation the Israelis hit a nascent nuclear facility or were studying routes for a possible future strike on Iran. Former Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday he was involved from the beginning in the alleged airstrike, the first public mention by an Israeli leader about the incident. Netanyahu, the leader of the parliamentary opposition, did not give further details. Edward Djerejian, founding director of Rice University's Baker Institute, said the accusation that Israel had violated Syrian airspace, and possibly launched an attack on Syrian territory, was putting new concerns on an already tense situation. The region is very nervous, said Djerejian, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria.
With Iran adding to the talk of military options, Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns called Wednesday for U.N. Security Council members and U.S. allies to help push for a third round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program. But Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Moscow opposes new sanctions, adding they could hurt a recent agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency aimed at resolving questions about the Iranian program. Two U.N. resolutions imposing sanctions on Iran have failed to persuade the country to suspend uranium enrichment. Burns said he would host a Friday meeting of the Security Council's permanent members — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France. Talks on a new resolution are also expected next week in New York, when world leaders attend the annual ministerial session of the U.N. General Assembly. Associated Press Writers Sarah DiLorenzo and Carley Petesch in New York and Mark Lavie in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
Bush calls for expansion of spy law By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer SEPT 20,07
FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush said Wednesday he wants Congress to expand and make permanent a law that temporarily gives the government more power to eavesdrop without warrants on suspected foreign terrorists. Without such action, Bush said, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country.It will be harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to train, recruit and infiltrate operatives into America, the president said during a visit to the super-secret National Security Agency's headquarters. Without these tools, our country will be much more vulnerable to attack.The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act governs when the government must obtain warrants for eavesdropping from a secret intelligence court. This year's update — approved just before Congress' August break — allows more efficient interceptions of foreign communications.Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the U.S., even if an American is on one end of the conversation — so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.In requesting the change, the Bush administration said technological advances in communications had created a dire gap in the ability to collect intelligence on terrorists.Such surveillance generally was prohibited under the original law if the wiretap was conducted inside the U.S., unless a court approved it. Because of changes in technology, many more foreign communications now flow through the U.S. The new law, known as the Protect America Act, allows those to be tapped without a court order.
Civil liberties groups and many Democrats say the new changes go too far. Democratic leaders in Congress set the law to expire in six months so that it could be fine-tuned; that process now is beginning on Capitol Hill.Democrats hope for changes that would provide additional oversight when the government eavesdrops on U.S. residents communicating with overseas parties.Sen. Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said lawmakers understand the need to update the law, but also the need to protect the rights and liberties of Americans.For over five years, the president carried out a warrantless surveillance program that ignored the law and the role of court oversight, Rockefeller said. Today, the president continues to seek unchecked surveillance powers that many of us in Congress cannot support. The fact is, the Protect America Act did provide authority for collection, but it did not include sufficient protections for Americans. There's no reason we can't do both, Rockefeller said.The president needs to step up to the plate and show that he is willing to work with Congress to get this important legislation passed.Bush timed his visit to Fort Meade to press his case.The threat from al-Qaida is not going to expire in 135 days, he said, so I call on Congress to make the Protect America Act permanent.He also urged lawmakers to expand the law, not restrict it. One provision particularly important to the administration, but opposed by many Democrats, would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies which may have helped the government conduct surveillance before January 2007 without a court order.
Bush was joined at the podium in an NSA hallway by Vice President Dick Cheney, National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and others.The president received private briefings from intelligence officials and mingled with employees in the National Threat Operations Center. While cameras and reporters were in the room, the large video screens that lined the walls displayed unclassified information on computer crime and signal intelligence.Along one wall at NSA is a sign that says, We won't back down. We never have. We never will.National Security Agency: http://www.nsa.gov/
Israel declares Gaza enemy entity By ANNE GEARAN, AP Diplomatic Writer
SEPT 20,07
JERUSALEM - Israel declared the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip an enemy entity on Wednesday and said it would cut utilities to the territory. The move complicates a U.S. plan to relaunch peace talks aimed at establishing a separate Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. Israel made the provocative decision hours before Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived for talks setting up what President Bush hopes will be a pivotal peace conference this fall. Rice neither endorsed nor criticized Israel's move.Israel did not announce a date for cutting off services. The decision is likely to reinforce perceptions among Palestinians and their Arab backers that Israel will do as it sees fit regardless of the cost to civilians and that the U.S. will not block Israel.Rice said the U.S. is trying to help both sides reach common understanding. But she did not say if the U.S.-sponsored peace meeting will address the hardest issues in the six-decade conflict, including the final borders of a Palestinian state.The U.S. has not said exactly what it wants to achieve from the summit, nor who will attend.Rice wants to recruit Arab states to reinforce the Palestinians in any deal with Israel, but the conference will carry little weight if regional players such as Saudi Arabia choose to sit it out. The meeting also has little chance of success if Israel is seen as unwilling to make hard concessions to the Palestinians and the U.S. is seen an unable to force Israel's hand.The U.S.-sponsored conference is meant to invigorate peace efforts that largely lay fallow during George W. Bush's presidency and set clear guidelines for forming a Palestinian state.
The Gaza designation overshadowed any public talk of peace prospects as Rice began two days of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.Israel did not inform the U.S. in advance of Wednesday's action, a U.S. diplomat said. Israel has been considering something similar for several weeks, however, to try to halt Palestinian rocket fire on Israeli towns from launching sites in Gaza. The decision lets Israel cut electricity, water and other services that the impoverished, crowded coastal territory depends on Israel to provide.New York-based Human Rights Watch said cutting off fuel and power would violate Israels duty as an occupying power to safeguard the health and welfare of the occupied population and it would also intensify the existing humanitarian crisis.Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and limited ground strikes. It also has sealed Gaza's borders, halting trade, while permitting little more than humanitarian aid into the area.Hamas militants who hold de facto control in Gaza have not been directly involved in the rocket attacks, but the movement has done little to halt the fire. Israel says it holds the group responsible.Rice tried to tread carefully at a press conference with Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. Grim-faced, Rice said the U.S. will not turn its back on civilians in Gaza and that Hamas is a hostile entity to the United States as well.
The Israeli designation covers all of Gaza, not just Hamas militants who took control in June. The U.S. and Israel regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuse to deal with it.
Livni said Israel was not obliged to deliver anything to Gaza beyond humanitarian aid.When it comes to the humanitarian needs, we have our own responsibilities, Livni said. All the needs which are more than humanitarian needs will not be supplied by Israel to Gaza Strip.Livni said the decision is legal. International aid groups said it was unacceptable to blame civilians for the actions of rogue militants.Gisha, a human rights group that works for greater freedom of movement in Gaza, said the action was immoral and illegal, constituting prohibited collective punishment of civilians.Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader on whom Rice and Israel have pinned reinvigorated hopes for peace, quickly condemned the Israeli move. This oppressive decision will only strengthen the choking embargo imposed on 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, increase their suffering and deepen their tragedy, Abbas' office said in a statement. Abbas is in a bitter rivalry with Hamas, which overran forces from his Fatah movement and seized control of Gaza. The takeover ended more than a year of paralysis in Palestinian politics as Fatah and Hamas vied for primacy in a divided government and international aid dried up.
Abbas has installed a new government in the larger and more populous West Bank, but still claims authority over Gaza. An independent Palestinian state would include both territories, which lie on either side of Israel. Among the Israeli officials Rice saw Wednesday was the defense chief, Ehud Barak. He has hinted that Israel may have to relaunch military operations in Gaza more than two years after a unilateral pullout of Israeli forces and settlers. Rice planned to meet with Abbas and other West Bank Palestinians on Thursday. Associated Press writers Laurie Copans and Aron Heller contributed to this report.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
POLL LIVNI BEST OLMERT WORST
METEORS HIT THE EARTH
REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!
Scores ill in Peru meteor crash SEPT 18,07
The crater has been spewing fetid gases, reports say
Some 600 people in Peru have required treatment after an object from space - said to be a meteorite - plummeted to Earth in a remote area, officials say. They say the object left a deep crater after crashing down over the weekend near the town of Carancas in the Andes. People who have visited scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases. A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
Afraid
It [the object] is buried in the earth, local resident Heber Mamani told the BBC.
That is why we are asking for an analysis because we are worried for our people. They are afraid. A bull is dead and some other animals are already sick, he said.
The incident began on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of Lima, reported seeing a fireball in the sky coming towards them. The object then hit the ground, leaving a 30m (98ft) wide and 6m (20ft) deep crater. The crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases. The gases are believed to have affected the health of about 600 people who visited the site. Most of the victims have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea. Honorio Campoblanco, one of Peru's leading geologists, called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site. But he discarded the possibility that the symptoms would have been caused by any form of radiation.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
THE EU DICTATOR
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Europe is not a 'threat' Barroso tells UK
18.09.2007 - 08:45 CET | By Honor Mahony
European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has told UK politicians they have nothing to fear from Europe and they should back the new Reform Treaty. Speaking at the Liberal Democrat annual conference on Monday evening (17 September), Mr Barroso acknowledged the difficulty of the debate on Europe in what is seen as one of the EU's most sceptical member states.Giving a speech on Europe in Britain is like turning up for a 100 metres athletics final, looking up and realising that you have actually been entered for the 100 metres high hurdles.But he urged Britain to lead the debate in Europe rather than taking part from the sidelines.Europe is not full of hidden plots. The more the UK leads the debate, the more you will get out of Europe. Europe is an opportunity not a threat.He also made the case for the EU's proposed Reform Treaty - the subject of heated debate in Britain.We need to modernise our institutions so that they are more democratic and have more coherence externally. We cannot operate as 27 with a system created for 6.Touching on the nerve of the debate in the UK, the commission president said the Reform Treaty is not the constitution.At the moment the UK is locked in an internal political tussle on whether there will be a referendum on the new treaty, with the rest of Europe watching closely.
Opposition Conservatives are trying to push Labour prime minister Gordon Brown into holding the poll - he has so far refused, saying the treaty is sufficiently different to the original constitution, on which the government had previously promised a referendum.The Liberal Democrats last week eased the pressure somewhat on Mr Brown, when leader Menzies Campbell said he did not back a referendum on the treaty. He later said there could be a case for a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.Mr Barroso's speech was given a standing ovation. However, some pointed out that he was already preaching to the converted - with the liberals traditionally pro-European.His speech is far more needed elsewhere, either at the Tories, if they are prepared to give a fair wind to a positive message from Brussels, or at Labour, with its doubts and hesitations over making a pro-EU case, Peter Riddell, a political commentator in The Times, wrote.
Father of EU constitution issues referendum warning
18.09.2007 - 09:16 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The architect of the rejected European constitution, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, has criticized ideas by Dutch politicians to hold a referendum on the EU's Reform Treaty.The former chairman of the European Convention - the body of over a hundred politicians which drafted the old EU constitution - said in Brussels on Monday evening (17 September) that he believes a referendum would not be the right way for the Netherlands to ratify the new-look reform treaty. Asked about the ongoing Dutch debate on whether to hold a referendum, he told EUobserver that this is not an appropriate instrument.Mr Giscard argued that referendum campaigns are often dominated by other issues than the question at stake. Something will come up in the course of the debate. People will vote on that other issue instead of on the actual [referendum] question, he said. The ex-president of France was speaking after a debate organized by think-tank Notre Europe, during which he also slammed the Dutch for their attitude on EU symbols in the treaty. The Hague successfully lobbied for symbols such as the 12-star European flag – included in the original constitution – to be scrapped from the new treaty text.This text abandons the symbols of the EU – the flag, the hymn and the motto…. Who demanded this? It was not the countries that ratified the [constitution]. It was not France. It is very interesting who demanded this, Mr Giscard said. The father of the EU constitution said he deplores many of the changes to his project that have made the eventual reform treaty text much more low-profile – such as the degrading of the notion of European citizenship in the text.It is very important to speak about European citizenship, he stated. Where is considered opinion here? he asked criticizing the moves to undermine the idea.
Biggest race in majority voting
Meanwhile Italian politician Giuliano Amato, one of Mr Giscard's former deputies in the EU constitution drafting process, also voiced unhappiness with aspects of the reform treaty in Monday's debate. He said the real constitutional asset of the original constitution had been the inclusion of the EU's Charter of Fundamental rights, a citizens rights catalogue. But in the reform treaty, the UK secured an opt-out from the charter, which according to Mr Amato leads to a clear conclusion.
Anybody saying this treaty is a constitution just wants [UK prime minister] Gordon Brown to lose the next elections, he said referring to UK opposition claims that the reform treaty is essentially the same as the constitution.But Jens-Peter Bonde, a veteran Danish member of the European Parliament, highlighted the similarities between the two documents. The only difference is the presentation – it's the same content, he stated. The legal obligations are the same.The eurosceptic MEP stressed that nothing is new in the reform treaty in terms of real political substance. As the original constitution, the so-called reform treaty removes member states' vetoes in 61 policy areas, he said.This is the biggest race in majority voting we ever had, according to Mr Bonde.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
NATO rapid-reaction force hobbled by cuts By Mark John
Mon Sep 17, 1:04 PM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's flagship rapid reaction force has fallen below full strength less than a year after its launch because over-stretched allies have withdrawn pledges of military assets, NATO sources said on Monday. The NATO Response Force (NRF), brainchild of former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was conceived to field troops from a pool of up to 25,000 at a few days' notice and is the flagship of NATO efforts to revamp itself after the Cold War.It was declared fully operational last November but alliance sources said it had dropped below full strength after nations in past weeks diverted equipment from it for use in a variety of existing military operations on the ground.There are also divisions within NATO over how the force should be used.
You will not see a press release but we are working on the basis it is not at FOC (full operational capacity). It does not have the heft to do what it set out to do, said a senior NATO officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.Options for NRF are being examined, notably what options need to be looked at to make it more palatable to contribute forces, he said, adding the matter was raised by NATO chiefs of defense who met in the Canadian city of Victoria last week.The officer did not name any nations but noted contributions pledged by the United States last November had been critical to its launch. Among the equipment now withdrawn were long-range air transport and helicopter assets of which the United States has by far the alliance's biggest stock, he added.No U.S. official at NATO headquarters was immediately available for comment.The NRF shortfall is only the latest sign of the growing over-stretch on the West's national armies, many of whom are suffering the strain of deploying troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Africa and the breakaway Serb province of Kosovo.
THEORETICAL?
General Ray Henault, the Canadian who chairs NATO Military Committee, said last week its peace operation in Afghanistan was being hampered by a shortage of troops and that the alliance was continually having to press nations to live up to commitments.
Aside from the United States, the armies of major NATO nations such as Britain and France have for months complained of being stretched too thinly in operations around the globe.Against such operational problems, the shortfalls of the NRF -- which has not been deployed for any of the range of missions it was intended for since being declared fully operational at a summit last November -- may appear theoretical.
But alliance officials say it has exposed a deep rift within NATO about when exactly to use the force, to which NATO nations are expected to devote land, air and sea forces for six months at a time.Some such as France insist it should remain predominantly a rapid reaction force, while others like the Netherlands have suggested it could be used to plug holes in existing operations such as Afghanistan.
Is it a force of last resort? Or is it there to be actually used? said one alliance source, noting some nations were wary about deploying it because of the drain on national resources.The debate is expected to focus high on the agenda of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Netherlands next month.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
SKorea dismisses NKorea-Syria nuke deal Mon Sep 17, 10:30 AM ET
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's foreign minister dismissed allegations that North Korea was cooperating with Syria on a nuclear weapons program, a news report said Monday. The comments by South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon came amid suspicions of North Korean cooperation with Syria on a nuclear facility, which arose after an alleged Israeli air raid earlier this month on unknown Syrian targets.
Now, no one is talking about the suspicions regarding North Korea and Syria with a clear basis, Yonhap news agency quoted Song as telling reporters. The Foreign Ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report.A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North Koreans were in Syria and that Syria may have had contacts with secret suppliers to obtain nuclear equipment.Andrew Semmel, acting U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, did not identify the suppliers, but also said he could not exclude that the network run by disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.
However, Song said Monday that Syria does not have a nuclear facility as far as he knows, according to Yonhap.A state-run newspaper in Syria said in an editorial Sunday referring to the nuclear allegations that the magnitude of these false accusations might be a prelude to a new aggression against Syria. Al-Thawra said suggestion of such nuclear cooperation was a flagrant lie.
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
September 14, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
I’ve spoken before about the amazing story of the Bnei Menashe, descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of Israel’s lost tribes. Exiled from the land of Israel 2,700 years ago, their wanderings eventually took them to a remote area of northeast India, near the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma). Here they have been living according to the tenets of biblical Judaism and longing to return to Israel, their biblical homeland. Although The Fellowship’s On Wings of Eagles program has been actively helping the Bnei Menashe make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) and fulfill the prophetic return of Jews to Israel, some 4,500 still remain in India.
Recently I returned to India to visit these dear people and reassure them of The Fellowship’s support. While my trip was short, it was encouraging nonetheless. I was able to visit Bnei Menashe synagogues, and felt privileged to be invited into their homes. In my private conversations with them, there were two recurring themes: Their gratitude to learn that American Christians are helping them return to Israel, and their intense and enduring desire to come home to the Holy Land.
There have been some bumps along the road for the Bnei Menashe, which made my trip and offers of reassurance all the more important. Governments, unlike individuals, tend to move slowly and in Israel, a number of governmental changes have made it difficult to secure the approvals to move forward on this important project with the speed we have desired. In India, strict anti-missionary laws make it difficult for the Israeli rabbinate, Israel’s chief ruling religious authority, to carry on the ceremonies that allow the Bnei Menashe to be accepted as Jews under Israeli law with full citizenship upon their arrival.
And then there is the matter of funding. Our commitment to Jewish immigrants extends far beyond simply bringing them to Israel. The klitah (resettlement) process includes a broad range of services to help the Bnei Menashe successfully establish their new life as full citizens in Israel. It will cost approximately $7,500 per person to help them make aliyah and provide their basic expenses for one full year, including language and job training, housing, schooling, and financial assistance to help them through this time of transition.
We do indeed have a huge responsibility and task before us to ensure that Bnei Menashe are given the opportunity to return to Zion. But I have found over the years that, with God’s help, we can truly work miracles when we work together. Let us today recommit ourselves to praying for God’s comfort for these people who patiently wait to return to their biblical homeland, and to searching for ways to raise funds for their return to Israel. With God’s help in our efforts, when the final chapter of the story of the Bnei Menashe is written, I am certain it will find them enjoying a blessed existence in Israel, their biblical homeland and all thanks to you, who have acted faithfully in partnership with God.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians And Jews.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Livni Best, Olmert Worst Politician in Israel
September 18, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Foreign affairs minister Tzipi Livni is the most popular politician in Israel, according to a poll by Teleseker published in Maariv. On a scale of one to 10, respondents rate Livni’s performance at 6.1 points.
Internal security minister Avi Dichter is second with 5.2 points, followed by transport minister Shaul Mofaz and strategic affairs minister Avigdor Lieberman with 5.0 points each, interior minister Meit Sheetrit with 4.9 points, and infrastructure minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer with 4.6 points. Labour leader and current defence minister Ehud Barak and Kadima leader and current prime minister Ehud Olmert hold lower numbers, at 4.2 points and 3.2 points respectively. In March 2006, Israeli voters renewed their legislature or Knesset. Kadima, founded by former prime minister Ariel Sharon and led by Olmert, secured 29 seats. Labour, the Retired People’s Party (Gil) and the International Organization of Torah-observant Sephardic Jews (Shas) joined Kadima in a coalition. In October, the Israeli cabinet approved the addition of Israel Our Home to the government. Olmert’s coalition now has the support of 78 of the Knesset’s 120 members. On Sept. 13, Livni urged the United Nations (UN) to implement tougher sanctions on Iran if it continues building its nuclear program, saying, There must be no delays. The world must take all the necessary action. (...) While we are talking, Iran is trying to obtain nuclear weapons.
In December 2006 and March 2007, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity. After being branded as part of an axis of evil by U.S. president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons.
Polling Data
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is terrible and 10 is excellent, what grade do you give for the performance of the following politicians.
Foreign affairs minister Tzipi Livni
6.1
Internal security minister Avi Dichter
5.2
Transport minister Shaul Mofaz
5.0
Strategic affairs minister Avigdor Lieberman
5.0
Interior minister Meit Sheetrit
4.9
Infrastructure minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer
4.6
Defence minister Ehud Barak
4.2
Prime minister Ehud Olmert
3.2
Source: Teleseker / Maariv
Methodology: Interviews with 489 Israeli adults, conducted on Sept. 10, 2007. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Isn"t this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in Daniel 9:24-27.
GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
DANIEL 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) 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.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,(7X7=49 YRS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YRS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (69x7=483 YRS TO THIS POINT, THE FINAL 7 YR TREATY IS IN THE NEXT VERSE TO FULFILL THE 490 YEARS OF DANIELS PROPHECY.
9:27 And he (THE FUTURE ROMAN PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3RD TEMPLE DESECRATED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WW3)
Special Briefing on Middle East Peace Process
C. David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Washington, DC - September 17, 2007 - (3:30 p.m. EST)
MR. CASEY: Thank you all for joining us for I think this is briefing number three on the day, at least for some of you here. We did want to give David Welch, our Assistant Secretary for Near East Asian Affairs, an opportunity to talk with you in advance of the Secretary's trip to the region, give you a little update on some of the things he's been doing as well as some of our expectations for that trip.
So, David, just go right to it.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Okay, folks. I didn't realize you had other briefings. I thought I was the only one delaying you today, so --
MR. CASEY: We know that all our briefings are special, David.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Okay. And --
QUESTION: Depending on what they tell us.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Depending on what they tell you. Well, then, I will not be special. I'll just be me.
Let me just say a few words about kind of the schedule, because I think maybe it will help you ask a few questions too and then I will be brief on this because I know you want to ask the questions and I need to go do a couple of things that came up during the course of the day.
The Secretary travels tomorrow and she's going to do parallel meetings with the Israelis and Palestinians. Then we return here and we have a busy weekend, which kind of starts our General Assembly calendar, but for me, more importantly, has a number of NEA related items. On Saturday, we have meetings related to Iraq and on Sunday, we do two separate sessions of the Quartet at a ministerial level. One of those is with Mr. Blair coming and presenting the results of his first serious swing through the area. And then in the evening, we have a meeting with certain members of the Arab Follow-Up Committee and the Quartet.
The next day, Monday the 24th, is a meeting of something called the AHLC, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee. This hasn't met, I think, since December of '05. This is the -- an organization that is chaired by the Norwegians and it brings together the principal donors to the Palestinians and again, it seems like an appropriate time to have this discussion. Again, that's the ministerial level. It's going to be a -- the meeting itself will be longer than just the ministerial session, but Secretary Rice will go to the ministerial plenary.
We also have a variety of bilateral meetings scheduled that relate to this issue, so you will see those, some by the Secretary, some by others during the course of the UNGA week. There will be a meeting also of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, plus Egypt and Jordan while we're up there and typically, those meetings touch on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as well. Our goals here are not only to support our broader regional agenda, but also to focus in particular on this one.
And let me just reflect on where I think we are right now and how we, the United States, might make a positive contribution to helping what the parties are trying to do. And I realize that this is an association with a great deal of interest on the international meeting that President Bush has called for in his speech in July.
There's been, I think, some encouraging progress in the Israeli-Palestinian summit meetings so far. And in the one that was just held a week ago, each side felt it appropriate now to intensify these discussions by appointing some teams who would actually look at how the content of what have so far been very restricted one-on-one meetings is written down.
So we're coming now with our involvement into what I think is a more fertile atmosphere, but still one in its early stages. We'd like to encourage this progress. We think that any effort in rebuilding a real dialogue leading to what we hope will eventually be negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, as they both would like, has to rest on a bilateral process that's productive for the interest of both parties.
We think that region is receptive to that and we think the international community is expectant of that. I know that expectations are controlled about these possibilities, and that's not unreasonable under the circumstances because it has not been an easy year to rebuild these bilateral contacts. But where we started is certainly a lot different than where we are today.
I expect the Secretary is going to be busy with this. As I've described what our schedule is just for the next ten days, I think you can -- you will continue to see that degree of involvement and intensity on our part. As you know, periodically I go out there and try to preface and prepare these meetings. You will see some of that, too.
Okay, I'll open it up for some questions.
QUESTION: Can you talk about the idea of drafting some kind of document of principles or of understandings between the two sides that the Secretary might be pushing them to do either starting on this trip or towards -- as we move up to the international conference?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, we'd like to hear what the views of each side are with respect to that. It seems that there is some interest on the part of each in a -- some -- finding some way to formalize the discussions that have occurred so far. What they're called is also -- appears to be a subject of some discussion. But I would say it's probably best to visualize this now as some form of joint document because it's not so much the form that matters but, you know, what might be the substance of it.
So we'll hear from them on that and then, of course, as always, we will have our ideas and I'm sure that they'll be willing to listen to those. And we'll need to see where they've gotten.
QUESTION: Do you see -- just one quick follow-up -- do you see this as a working document that can evolve and eventually take the shape of a possible final status deal?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Before answering that question, I'd like to hear from each of them how they see it. I mean I've had some conversations with them about what the purposes are for the bilateral summits, but I think when the Secretary gets involved she'll hear a different level of discourse. Also, there's been -- they've gone through the beginning of Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah so there's been a bit of a pause. And I don't know how much follow-up work they've done to the last summit. I'll wait to hear from them on that and then we'll see whether we can elaborate further on it in public.
Glenn.
QUESTION: Do you -- does the United States plan to invite Syria or Lebanon to this international meeting? And just generally beyond -- can you take us beyond that international meeting, what the vision is going forward over the next -- what the follow-up steps would be from that international meeting?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I'd like to take us to the meeting first. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Well, I'm obviously looking ahead.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, it's appropriate to look ahead, but it's also appropriate to allow them to get there.
QUESTION: I want to get the -- I want to get a sense of what the context for this international meeting is and what you hope --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Those are good questions. I'm not sure I can fully answer them all right now. I mean, we're looking forward here as a way -- I mean, the President sketched it out in July, he talked about having an event that tries to intersect a number of goals. But in respect of what you're asking about, that it would support the dialogue between the parties and any negotiations that they have underway, you know, there are lots of ways you can design this and I think it's risky to try and do too much in anticipation of understanding what the specific answers to Elise's is, for example. Until we really know where the parties are, we can better see how to use an international event of this type. We may have more to say on that during the course of our visit.
QUESTION: Can I --
QUESTION: Wait, wait.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: But did you -- what about the (inaudible)?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I said what I was going to say with respect to that.
QUESTION: Let me follow up on that because the reality is that you've got two months to pull off a major international meeting of some sort with players who have not participated in the past. We're hearing a lot from --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: With players who have not participated in the past?
QUESTION: Saudi Arabia has not been present. You know, there are -- excuse me?
QUESTION: (Inaudible).
QUESTION: It's silly for us to be hearing from other countries what the United States is trying to achieve in the run-up to this conference and what -- and their concerns about what follows next. We'd really like some language from you that gives -- that lays out --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I understand that. And in due course, you will get that. And -- but most --
QUESTION: We have to write our stories tomorrow.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Pardon me?
QUESTION: I said we have to write our stories tomorrow.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yeah, but I don't. You do. You might want to check and see what is the precedent because I'm not sure it's exactly as you describe it. That's just a fact to be checked.
Look, I -- we want a constructive and effective bilateral process. To the degree the region can support that, I think that's a worthy objective. To the degree the international community can support it, that's worthy (inaudible) we have some new ideas in play, like the idea of an international event or gathering. And yes, Robin, it will be hard to organize that -- to make that contribution in just two months, as you say. But it's -- the goal here isn't just to have a meeting. The goal is to make something succeed for the interest of Israel, succeed for the interest of the Palestinians -- that they get their bilateral process going in an effective and constructive way. Without that, I mean, we can have meetings all the time and --
QUESTION: Do you expect in the meeting, whatever kind of gathering it is, to discuss the final status issues or to have a declaration of principle that deals with refugees, Jerusalem and borders?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, you know, when we were -- when you and I were having this kind of colloquy on all the many trips earlier this year, you all chided me for talking about the words political horizon, which you did not see as very meaningful at the time.
Well, political horizon has now been transformed into fundamental issues. So the parties themselves are gaining, slowly but surely, the confidence necessary to take on what they see as the key things that separate them. That, we believe, is an important evolution that we want to encourage. There are again, as I said, various ways you can do that. You can have international gatherings to do that. You can have regional support. We have other tools now, too. We're involved in direct assistance to the Palestinians for the first time in quite some while. Mr. Blair is now organizing his mission, which has some pretty important components for trying to advance this, too. I mean, it might be possible, even in two months to aggregate these in a way that really gives a sense that we've turned a new page.
QUESTION: Can I just follow -- one last one the Saudis?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, you've had three.
QUESTION: No, but the Saudis -- you didn't answer my question.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I didn't answer --
QUESTION: You -- are you confident that the Saudis will attend?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: You know I'm not addressing participation right now. They have attended -- they attended in Madrid, if you check that.
QUESTION: Can I back up a quick sec. Are you still -- and the Secretary still committed to having this international meeting this fall because it sounds --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yes, we are.
QUESTION: Okay.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Sue.
QUESTION: How far have you got in looking at the fundamental issues? You've been going backwards and forwards between the Israelis and the Palestinians. If these are going to come up at the conference meeting, whatever it's going to be called, how far do you think you will have got by that stage?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I can't -- I honestly can't say. It's a little unfair to ask the question because I think we need a perspective from each of them -- what they've talked about, where they think they could go, where they want to go and what would be necessary to get there. I believe that we have an interest in seeing it advance, and that's the purpose of the Secretary's travel and her investment in this kind of American diplomatic capital.
QUESTION: But where do you think the sticking points are going to be when you're there? What do you think you're going to make the most progress on?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, we could go on for hours about, you know, what I understand to be the sticking points in some of these issues. That's not really new.
QUESTION: To go back to the trip this week, do you plan to organize a three-way meeting with the Secretary, Abbas and Olmert?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: We've kept the geometry of these discussions flexible. We had a trilat when probably it was necessary to have one because otherwise we would not have had a meeting at all. This time around, I think we will focus on having parallel meetings, as I said earlier. We don't rule out the trilateral format in the near future. To be perfectly candid, I think we'll call then, as the Secretary sometimes says, as an audible. Or, you probably don't follow American football as avidly as she does, but that's when you change the signals right on the -- during the play.
QUESTION: So that means yes? (Laughter.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: That means I do pretty much what I want, and then she can overrule and do whatever she wants.
QUESTION: Well, when you say -- but when you say that you're not ruling it out, are you going to go there and see how things look, and then maybe you'll do it or maybe you won't? Are you intending to do it and you're not sure if it's going to happen?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: No, I would not lead you to conclude any of those things. You, the press, in this instance, can't serve as Belichick's camera. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: I understand that AIPAC has circulated a letter calling for the United States to put conditions on those participants in the conference, so somebody like Saudi Arabia, and that AIPAC has asked that whoever participates in this conference recognize Israel. I know you don't want to talk about who may or may not be participating in the conference, but is there any idea whatsoever that there might be such conditions on participation?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: You know, I haven't seen the letter so I don't know what they're suggesting, and I'd rather not comment on the letter specifically. The goal here is to have -- to take steps to realize the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. And I -- you know, I see that there is -- and that promise within the Arab initiative and, you know, so I accept that the governments who signed up to that initiative are willing to envision bilateral negotiations to realize that. You know, the issue of who participates in the meeting, as I said, we'll answer that when the time is appropriate.
QUESTION: So beyond signing up for the Arab initiative, you know, there isn't an idea of conditions --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Look, I think people have to be devoted to peace, and that's a key drawing line. But you know there's a lot of comment about the international meeting out there already saying what it is not or should not be. It's better to try and construct something that's positive, and we will in due course have those things to say. But you know, the way we conduct -- our approach in this is we will make suggestions to -- the Secretary makes suggestions eventually to the President about how the United States organizes itself for this event, and I don't want to preclude what any of the options might be in that regard.
Yes.
QUESTION: In terms of -- you talked about direct assistance to the Palestinians. The $80 million that went -- that's going to its security training, I think -- I understand that it's there. Do you -- can you break down for us where it's going, how it's being spent, which organizations are --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I don't -- it's -- whenever you do foreign assistance, it's a little bit different than when you pay the electricity bill. It doesn't like get there immediately. I believe the component that's already physically started on the ground producing results is there's some antiterrorism training being organized for certain units of the Palestinian security forces. And that has already -- I think one caliber of those people have actually graduated already from that training course and there are follow-ons to that.
There are other parts of the program that are on a slower timeline to implement. To be honest with you, I haven't really looked at where those are right now. It doesn't mean they're not important. I just know they're entrained. And there are still other items that might be -- take a little longer to implement that require both parties to agree and we're working on those issues.
But this is -- I don't believe there are any difficult issue or controversies that -- in doing this, mostly just straightforward assistance work at this point. If this is a subject of common interest, I'm sure that by the time we do the trip, I can get you a breakout of where we are on the whole $80 million.
Is it -- yeah, okay.
QUESTION: David, can you talk a little bit about how concerned you were about the Israeli raid or non-raid over Syria and whether or not this is something you think the Secretary might discuss with the Israelis on her trip?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I think Tom and Sean have -- have been up here and addressed this several times. You know our concerns.
QUESTION: No, I don't.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, then reread the transcript. I think they -- they have handled this question at least as much as I want to handle it, so I don't know whether it'll come up or not. I'll bet you guys ask.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) Syria next week?
QUESTION: If you haven't already, can you address this weekend's back and forth of Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas about -- you know, going to the Kadima meeting and apparently saying what he isn't willing to do and Abbas responding by saying that they might boycott? And in that context, do you see a difference of opinion between the Israelis and the Palestinians about what the goal of this process is? Is it to write something down? Is it to have some looser and less sticky outcome?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: It's a good question, Anne. I'm not sure at this point. I believe that both of them, though, are putting -- are making a major investment in trying to make the bilateral discussions that they've had, especially the one-on-one conversations, produce something. I think that's why they took the decision a week ago to find a format in which they can work on memorializing that, putting it down in writing.
Establishing this level of confidence carries with it both benefit -- both want to get that moving, but also, let's be clear, there are politics on each side. So I would expect that they have to address those, particularly as people outside see more happening and more going on and wonder what exactly it is and whether or not it affects them politically or practically.
This is a very important moment and we think we can make some progress here. And you all know that I -- my briefing style is to be very spare when it comes to words like encouragement. You know I try to be direct and objective, but I think for the first time here and in quite some time, I really do feel that there is an opportunity and with a little hard work, and that may take quite a bit of time, we can get it in a way that it looks a little bit better, more dramatic to you all.
QUESTION: Why do you think there is a real opportunity -- is there a difference of approach in --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Because --
QUESTION: -- the leaders of (inaudible)?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Because -- look, the -- look, what everybody commonly calls the peace process really hasn't been doing very much for quite some time. And so this is an important turning point and I think that both sides understand that a lot depends on them assuring each other that it can work to their benefit, but also understanding that they -- their public is not so confident that it may succeed and living with the expectations of the past, is conditioned to believe that the obstacles are greater than the opportunities.
QUESTION: David, how do you reconcile the fact that a whole section of the Palestinian population is being kind of completely left out from this process? And although Prime Minister Abbas has the negotiating authority as the Palestinian President, at some point, if you're memorializing these understandings, I mean, you're going to -- don't you think you're going to have to bring some Hamas leaders into the equation, so that they can not be a factor when you try to implement the deal?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I'm sure that on the part of President Abbas, there are political considerations. But I would disagree with the way you posed the question, all due respect.
No one is intending to leave a segment of Palestinians out of this process. We think that if you're building two states, there is one state that's for Palestinians, including those -- if you meant this, those that live in Gaza. Hamas excluded itself from what is the commonly accepted basis for the peace process. You accept the right of the other to live in peace, free from terror and violence, and you accept that there are agreements out there that have been forged by previous governments. We don't see what's so unreasonable about that. And frankly, most people in the international community didn't see what was so unreasonable about it. To this day, Hamas has not explicitly accepted even the Arab initiative.
So I mean, it's -- they're the ones who have excluded themselves. But that's a -- they're a political party and they make that decision, you know, for themselves and obviously, it hasn't kind of turned out the way they had hoped, I guess, because I would measure the public effect of that quite a bit differently. I think that, you know, many Palestinians today question the wisdom of that track. I'm not saying that the other track is automatically answered for them as a success. That's what we're trying to do here. But the contrast is stark and look at what their leadership got them when they had it.
Yes, I'll take this last question. I got to run because --
QUESTION: David, when the President declared a Palestinian state with the intention to help secure a Palestinian state, something came up, something called the roadmap. What happened to it? We don't hear about it at all. And every time the Secretary goes back to the region, they're exploring political horizon. So what happened between the time that everything was spelled out in clear details to now? They're looking backwards. Is this completely sort of over?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: No. I think that there are certain important agreements that form the foundation of our approach. One of them is the roadmap and there are others too. But what we were trying to do, and put out there words like political horizon, is to galvanize this bilateral discussion, to change its -- the tone there, to give each side the sense that they could revive this process so that then they can look meaningfully at what's in the roadmap and how to move along it. We are not setting it aside. It's not antique. It is there. It's a part of the framework of our approach.
Thanks. See some of you tomorrow evening.
REVELATION 6:12-17
12 And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?
REVELATION 8:12-13
12 And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part of the stars; so as the third part of them was darkened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and the night likewise.
13 And I beheld, and heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of the three angels,which are yet to sound!
Scores ill in Peru meteor crash SEPT 18,07
The crater has been spewing fetid gases, reports say
Some 600 people in Peru have required treatment after an object from space - said to be a meteorite - plummeted to Earth in a remote area, officials say. They say the object left a deep crater after crashing down over the weekend near the town of Carancas in the Andes. People who have visited scene have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea after inhaling gases. A team of scientists is on its way to the site to collect samples and verify whether it was indeed a meteorite.
Afraid
It [the object] is buried in the earth, local resident Heber Mamani told the BBC.
That is why we are asking for an analysis because we are worried for our people. They are afraid. A bull is dead and some other animals are already sick, he said.
The incident began on Saturday night, when people near Carancas in the Puno region, some 1,300km (800 miles) south of Lima, reported seeing a fireball in the sky coming towards them. The object then hit the ground, leaving a 30m (98ft) wide and 6m (20ft) deep crater. The crater spewed what officials described as fetid, noxious gases. The gases are believed to have affected the health of about 600 people who visited the site. Most of the victims have been complaining of headaches, vomiting and nausea. Honorio Campoblanco, one of Peru's leading geologists, called on the authorities to stop people going near the crash site. But he discarded the possibility that the symptoms would have been caused by any form of radiation.
DANIEL 7:23-24
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast(THE EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TR BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise:(10 NATIONS) and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.(BE HEAD OF 3 KINGS OR NATIONS).
THE EU DICTATOR
REVELATION 6:1-2,13:1-3,7-9,16
1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.
2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.(THIS IS THE EU DICTATOR)
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy.(7 HEADS ARE THE 7TH WORLD EMPIRE IN HISTORY (THE EU) AS WELL AS THE VATICAN WHICH IS BUILT ON 7 HILLS. 10 HORNS ARE 10 KINGS THAT ARISE FROM THE EU, THEN #11 COMES ON THE SCENE BECOMES THE HEAD OF 3 OUNTRIES AND THEN THE EU DICTATOR, COMES FROM 1 OF THE 3 COUNTRIES THAT RULE FOR THIS TERM. I BELIEVE THE 3 COUNTRIES RULING AT THE TIME ARE SPAIN AND 2 OF THE ORIGINAL 6 THAT STARTED THE EU. FROM 1 OF THESE 3 COUNTRIES COME THE FUTURE EU DICTATOR PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION WHO GUARENTEES ISRAELS SECURITY FOR A LAND FOR PEACE 7 YEAR TREATY.
2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.(THE JEWISH EU DICTATOR GETS HIS POWER FROM SATAN,HE COMES FROM THE OCCULT).
3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.(THE DICTATOR HAS A FALSE RESURRECTION. JUST LIKE JESUS HAD A LITERAL RESURRECTION THIS DICTATOR GETS MURDERED AT THE 3 1/2 YR MARK OF THR 7 YEAR TREATY AND COMES BACK TO LIFE. THIS IS HOW HE CAN CLAIM TO BE GOD AND GET AWAY WITH IT AND CONTROL THE WHOLE EARTH.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Europe is not a 'threat' Barroso tells UK
18.09.2007 - 08:45 CET | By Honor Mahony
European commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has told UK politicians they have nothing to fear from Europe and they should back the new Reform Treaty. Speaking at the Liberal Democrat annual conference on Monday evening (17 September), Mr Barroso acknowledged the difficulty of the debate on Europe in what is seen as one of the EU's most sceptical member states.Giving a speech on Europe in Britain is like turning up for a 100 metres athletics final, looking up and realising that you have actually been entered for the 100 metres high hurdles.But he urged Britain to lead the debate in Europe rather than taking part from the sidelines.Europe is not full of hidden plots. The more the UK leads the debate, the more you will get out of Europe. Europe is an opportunity not a threat.He also made the case for the EU's proposed Reform Treaty - the subject of heated debate in Britain.We need to modernise our institutions so that they are more democratic and have more coherence externally. We cannot operate as 27 with a system created for 6.Touching on the nerve of the debate in the UK, the commission president said the Reform Treaty is not the constitution.At the moment the UK is locked in an internal political tussle on whether there will be a referendum on the new treaty, with the rest of Europe watching closely.
Opposition Conservatives are trying to push Labour prime minister Gordon Brown into holding the poll - he has so far refused, saying the treaty is sufficiently different to the original constitution, on which the government had previously promised a referendum.The Liberal Democrats last week eased the pressure somewhat on Mr Brown, when leader Menzies Campbell said he did not back a referendum on the treaty. He later said there could be a case for a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU.Mr Barroso's speech was given a standing ovation. However, some pointed out that he was already preaching to the converted - with the liberals traditionally pro-European.His speech is far more needed elsewhere, either at the Tories, if they are prepared to give a fair wind to a positive message from Brussels, or at Labour, with its doubts and hesitations over making a pro-EU case, Peter Riddell, a political commentator in The Times, wrote.
Father of EU constitution issues referendum warning
18.09.2007 - 09:16 CET | By Mark Beunderman
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - The architect of the rejected European constitution, Valery Giscard d'Estaing, has criticized ideas by Dutch politicians to hold a referendum on the EU's Reform Treaty.The former chairman of the European Convention - the body of over a hundred politicians which drafted the old EU constitution - said in Brussels on Monday evening (17 September) that he believes a referendum would not be the right way for the Netherlands to ratify the new-look reform treaty. Asked about the ongoing Dutch debate on whether to hold a referendum, he told EUobserver that this is not an appropriate instrument.Mr Giscard argued that referendum campaigns are often dominated by other issues than the question at stake. Something will come up in the course of the debate. People will vote on that other issue instead of on the actual [referendum] question, he said. The ex-president of France was speaking after a debate organized by think-tank Notre Europe, during which he also slammed the Dutch for their attitude on EU symbols in the treaty. The Hague successfully lobbied for symbols such as the 12-star European flag – included in the original constitution – to be scrapped from the new treaty text.This text abandons the symbols of the EU – the flag, the hymn and the motto…. Who demanded this? It was not the countries that ratified the [constitution]. It was not France. It is very interesting who demanded this, Mr Giscard said. The father of the EU constitution said he deplores many of the changes to his project that have made the eventual reform treaty text much more low-profile – such as the degrading of the notion of European citizenship in the text.It is very important to speak about European citizenship, he stated. Where is considered opinion here? he asked criticizing the moves to undermine the idea.
Biggest race in majority voting
Meanwhile Italian politician Giuliano Amato, one of Mr Giscard's former deputies in the EU constitution drafting process, also voiced unhappiness with aspects of the reform treaty in Monday's debate. He said the real constitutional asset of the original constitution had been the inclusion of the EU's Charter of Fundamental rights, a citizens rights catalogue. But in the reform treaty, the UK secured an opt-out from the charter, which according to Mr Amato leads to a clear conclusion.
Anybody saying this treaty is a constitution just wants [UK prime minister] Gordon Brown to lose the next elections, he said referring to UK opposition claims that the reform treaty is essentially the same as the constitution.But Jens-Peter Bonde, a veteran Danish member of the European Parliament, highlighted the similarities between the two documents. The only difference is the presentation – it's the same content, he stated. The legal obligations are the same.The eurosceptic MEP stressed that nothing is new in the reform treaty in terms of real political substance. As the original constitution, the so-called reform treaty removes member states' vetoes in 61 policy areas, he said.This is the biggest race in majority voting we ever had, according to Mr Bonde.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS) whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
NATO rapid-reaction force hobbled by cuts By Mark John
Mon Sep 17, 1:04 PM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO's flagship rapid reaction force has fallen below full strength less than a year after its launch because over-stretched allies have withdrawn pledges of military assets, NATO sources said on Monday. The NATO Response Force (NRF), brainchild of former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was conceived to field troops from a pool of up to 25,000 at a few days' notice and is the flagship of NATO efforts to revamp itself after the Cold War.It was declared fully operational last November but alliance sources said it had dropped below full strength after nations in past weeks diverted equipment from it for use in a variety of existing military operations on the ground.There are also divisions within NATO over how the force should be used.
You will not see a press release but we are working on the basis it is not at FOC (full operational capacity). It does not have the heft to do what it set out to do, said a senior NATO officer who spoke on condition of anonymity.Options for NRF are being examined, notably what options need to be looked at to make it more palatable to contribute forces, he said, adding the matter was raised by NATO chiefs of defense who met in the Canadian city of Victoria last week.The officer did not name any nations but noted contributions pledged by the United States last November had been critical to its launch. Among the equipment now withdrawn were long-range air transport and helicopter assets of which the United States has by far the alliance's biggest stock, he added.No U.S. official at NATO headquarters was immediately available for comment.The NRF shortfall is only the latest sign of the growing over-stretch on the West's national armies, many of whom are suffering the strain of deploying troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Africa and the breakaway Serb province of Kosovo.
THEORETICAL?
General Ray Henault, the Canadian who chairs NATO Military Committee, said last week its peace operation in Afghanistan was being hampered by a shortage of troops and that the alliance was continually having to press nations to live up to commitments.
Aside from the United States, the armies of major NATO nations such as Britain and France have for months complained of being stretched too thinly in operations around the globe.Against such operational problems, the shortfalls of the NRF -- which has not been deployed for any of the range of missions it was intended for since being declared fully operational at a summit last November -- may appear theoretical.
But alliance officials say it has exposed a deep rift within NATO about when exactly to use the force, to which NATO nations are expected to devote land, air and sea forces for six months at a time.Some such as France insist it should remain predominantly a rapid reaction force, while others like the Netherlands have suggested it could be used to plug holes in existing operations such as Afghanistan.
Is it a force of last resort? Or is it there to be actually used? said one alliance source, noting some nations were wary about deploying it because of the drain on national resources.The debate is expected to focus high on the agenda of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in the Netherlands next month.
2ND WAVE CHINA AND KINGS OF THE EAST MARCH TO ISRAEL
REVELATION 16:12
12 And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared.(THIS IS THE ATATURK DAM IN TURKEY,THEY CROSS OVER).
DANIEL 11:44 (2ND WAVE OF WW3)
44 But tidings out of the east(CHINA) and out of the north(RUSSIA, MUSLIMS WHATS LEFT FROM WAVE 1) shall trouble him:(EU DICTATOR IN ISRAEL) therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many.( 1/3RD OF EARTHS POPULATION)
REVELATION 9:12-18
12 One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter.
13 And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God,
14 Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.(IRAQ-SYRIA)
15 And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men.(1/3 Earths Population die in WW 3 2ND WAVE)
16 And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand:(200 MILLION MAN ARMY FROM CHINA AND THE KINGS OF THE EAST) and I heard the number of them.
17 And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
18 By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths.(NUCLEAR BOMBS)
SKorea dismisses NKorea-Syria nuke deal Mon Sep 17, 10:30 AM ET
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's foreign minister dismissed allegations that North Korea was cooperating with Syria on a nuclear weapons program, a news report said Monday. The comments by South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon came amid suspicions of North Korean cooperation with Syria on a nuclear facility, which arose after an alleged Israeli air raid earlier this month on unknown Syrian targets.
Now, no one is talking about the suspicions regarding North Korea and Syria with a clear basis, Yonhap news agency quoted Song as telling reporters. The Foreign Ministry said it could not immediately confirm the report.A senior U.S. nuclear official said Friday that North Koreans were in Syria and that Syria may have had contacts with secret suppliers to obtain nuclear equipment.Andrew Semmel, acting U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for nuclear nonproliferation policy, did not identify the suppliers, but also said he could not exclude that the network run by disgraced Pakistan nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan may have been involved.
However, Song said Monday that Syria does not have a nuclear facility as far as he knows, according to Yonhap.A state-run newspaper in Syria said in an editorial Sunday referring to the nuclear allegations that the magnitude of these false accusations might be a prelude to a new aggression against Syria. Al-Thawra said suggestion of such nuclear cooperation was a flagrant lie.
ISRAELS INHERITED LAND IN THE FUTURE
And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.
ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.
12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE
EZEKIEL 47:13-23,48:1-35
13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; This shall be the border, whereby ye shall inherit the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel: Joseph shall have two portions.
14 And ye shall inherit it, one as well as another: concerning the which I lifted up mine hand to give it unto your fathers: and this land shall fall unto you for inheritance.
15 And this shall be the border of the land toward the north side, from the great sea, the way of Hethlon, as men go to Zedad;
16 Hamath, Berothah, Sibraim, which is between the border of Damascus and the border of Hamath; Hazarhatticon, which is by the coast of Hauran.
17 And the border from the sea shall be Hazarenan, the border of Damascus, and the north northward, and the border of Hamath. And this is the north side.
18 And the east side ye shall measure from Hauran, and from Damascus, and from Gilead, and from the land of Israel by Jordan, from the border unto the east sea. And this is the east side.
19 And the south side southward, from Tamar even to the waters of strife in Kadesh, the river to the great sea. And this is the south side southward.
20 The west side also shall be the great sea from the border, till a man come over against Hamath. This is the west side.
21 So shall ye divide this land unto you according to the tribes of Israel.
22 And it shall come to pass, that ye shall divide it by lot for an inheritance unto you, and to the strangers that sojourn among you, which shall beget children among you: and they shall be unto you as born in the country among the children of Israel; they shall have inheritance with you among the tribes of Israel.
23 And it shall come to pass, that in what tribe the stranger sojourneth, there shall ye give him his inheritance, saith the Lord GOD.
1 Now these are the names of the tribes. From the north end to the coast of the way of Hethlon, as one goeth to Hamath, Hazarenan, the border of Damascus northward, to the coast of Hamath; for these are his sides east and west; a portion for Dan.
2 And by the border of Dan, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Asher.
3 And by the border of Asher, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Naphtali.
4 And by the border of Naphtali, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Manasseh.
5 And by the border of Manasseh, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Ephraim.
6 And by the border of Ephraim, from the east side even unto the west side, a portion for Reuben.
7 And by the border of Reuben, from the east side unto the west side, a portion for Judah.
8 And by the border of Judah, from the east side unto the west side, shall be the offering which ye shall offer of five and twenty thousand reeds in breadth, and in length as one of the other parts, from the east side unto the west side: and the sanctuary shall be in the midst of it.
9 The oblation that ye shall offer unto the LORD shall be of five and twenty thousand in length, and of ten thousand in breadth.
10 And for them, even for the priests, shall be this holy oblation; toward the north five and twenty thousand in length, and toward the west ten thousand in breadth, and toward the east ten thousand in breadth, and toward the south five and twenty thousand in length: and the sanctuary of the LORD shall be in the midst thereof.
11 It shall be for the priests that are sanctified of the sons of Zadok; which have kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray.
12 And this oblation of the land that is offered shall be unto them a thing most holy by the border of the Levites.
13 And over against the border of the priests the Levites shall have five and twenty thousand in length, and ten thousand in breadth: all the length shall be five and twenty thousand, and the breadth ten thousand.
14 And they shall not sell of it, neither exchange, nor alienate the firstfruits of the land: for it is holy unto the LORD.
15 And the five thousand, that are left in the breadth over against the five and twenty thousand, shall be a profane place for the city, for dwelling, and for suburbs: and the city shall be in the midst thereof.
16 And these shall be the measures thereof; the north side four thousand and five hundred, and the south side four thousand and five hundred, and on the east side four thousand and five hundred, and the west side four thousand and five hundred.
17 And the suburbs of the city shall be toward the north two hundred and fifty, and toward the south two hundred and fifty, and toward the east two hundred and fifty, and toward the west two hundred and fifty.
18 And the residue in length over against the oblation of the holy portion shall be ten thousand eastward, and ten thousand westward: and it shall be over against the oblation of the holy portion; and the increase thereof shall be for food unto them that serve the city.
19 And they that serve the city shall serve it out of all the tribes of Israel.
20 All the oblation shall be five and twenty thousand by five and twenty thousand: ye shall offer the holy oblation foursquare, with the possession of the city.
21 And the residue shall be for the prince, on the one side and on the other of the holy oblation, and of the possession of the city, over against the five and twenty thousand of the oblation toward the east border, and westward over against the five and twenty thousand toward the west border, over against the portions for the prince: and it shall be the holy oblation; and the sanctuary of the house shall be in the midst thereof.
22 Moreover from the possession of the Levites, and from the possession of the city, being in the midst of that which is the prince's, between the border of Judah and the border of Benjamin, shall be for the prince.
23 As for the rest of the tribes, from the east side unto the west side, Benjamin shall have a portion.
24 And by the border of Benjamin, from the east side unto the west side, Simeon shall have a portion.
25 And by the border of Simeon, from the east side unto the west side, Issachar a portion.
26 And by the border of Issachar, from the east side unto the west side, Zebulun a portion.
27 And by the border of Zebulun, from the east side unto the west side, Gad a portion.
28 And by the border of Gad, at the south side southward, the border shall be even from Tamar unto the waters of strife in Kadesh, and to the river toward the great sea.
29 This is the land which ye shall divide by lot unto the tribes of Israel for inheritance, and these are their portions, saith the Lord GOD.
30 And these are the goings out of the city on the north side, four thousand and five hundred measures.
31 And the gates of the city shall be after the names of the tribes of Israel: three gates northward; one gate of Reuben, one gate of Judah, one gate of Levi.
32 And at the east side four thousand and five hundred: and three gates; and one gate of Joseph, one gate of Benjamin, one gate of Dan.
33 And at the south side four thousand and five hundred measures: and three gates; one gate of Simeon, one gate of Issachar, one gate of Zebulun.
34 At the west side four thousand and five hundred, with their three gates; one gate of Gad, one gate of Asher, one gate of Naphtali.
35 It was round about eighteen thousand measures: and the name of the city from that day shall be, The LORD is there.
This Week with Rabbi Eckstein
September 14, 2007
Dear Friend of The Fellowship,
I’ve spoken before about the amazing story of the Bnei Menashe, descendants of the tribe of Manasseh, one of Israel’s lost tribes. Exiled from the land of Israel 2,700 years ago, their wanderings eventually took them to a remote area of northeast India, near the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma). Here they have been living according to the tenets of biblical Judaism and longing to return to Israel, their biblical homeland. Although The Fellowship’s On Wings of Eagles program has been actively helping the Bnei Menashe make aliyah (immigrate to Israel) and fulfill the prophetic return of Jews to Israel, some 4,500 still remain in India.
Recently I returned to India to visit these dear people and reassure them of The Fellowship’s support. While my trip was short, it was encouraging nonetheless. I was able to visit Bnei Menashe synagogues, and felt privileged to be invited into their homes. In my private conversations with them, there were two recurring themes: Their gratitude to learn that American Christians are helping them return to Israel, and their intense and enduring desire to come home to the Holy Land.
There have been some bumps along the road for the Bnei Menashe, which made my trip and offers of reassurance all the more important. Governments, unlike individuals, tend to move slowly and in Israel, a number of governmental changes have made it difficult to secure the approvals to move forward on this important project with the speed we have desired. In India, strict anti-missionary laws make it difficult for the Israeli rabbinate, Israel’s chief ruling religious authority, to carry on the ceremonies that allow the Bnei Menashe to be accepted as Jews under Israeli law with full citizenship upon their arrival.
And then there is the matter of funding. Our commitment to Jewish immigrants extends far beyond simply bringing them to Israel. The klitah (resettlement) process includes a broad range of services to help the Bnei Menashe successfully establish their new life as full citizens in Israel. It will cost approximately $7,500 per person to help them make aliyah and provide their basic expenses for one full year, including language and job training, housing, schooling, and financial assistance to help them through this time of transition.
We do indeed have a huge responsibility and task before us to ensure that Bnei Menashe are given the opportunity to return to Zion. But I have found over the years that, with God’s help, we can truly work miracles when we work together. Let us today recommit ourselves to praying for God’s comfort for these people who patiently wait to return to their biblical homeland, and to searching for ways to raise funds for their return to Israel. With God’s help in our efforts, when the final chapter of the story of the Bnei Menashe is written, I am certain it will find them enjoying a blessed existence in Israel, their biblical homeland and all thanks to you, who have acted faithfully in partnership with God.
With prayers for shalom, peace,
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
President International Fellowship of Christians And Jews.
ISRAELS TROUBLE
JEREMIAH 30:7
7 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble;(ISRAEL) but he shall be saved out of it.
DANIEL 12:1,4
1 And at that time shall Michael(ISRAELS WAR ANGEL) stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people:(ISRAEL) and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation(May 14,48) even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
4 But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro,(WORLD TRAVEL,IMMIGRATION) and knowledge shall be increased.(COMPUTERS,CHIP IMPLANTS ETC)
Livni Best, Olmert Worst Politician in Israel
September 18, 2007
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Foreign affairs minister Tzipi Livni is the most popular politician in Israel, according to a poll by Teleseker published in Maariv. On a scale of one to 10, respondents rate Livni’s performance at 6.1 points.
Internal security minister Avi Dichter is second with 5.2 points, followed by transport minister Shaul Mofaz and strategic affairs minister Avigdor Lieberman with 5.0 points each, interior minister Meit Sheetrit with 4.9 points, and infrastructure minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer with 4.6 points. Labour leader and current defence minister Ehud Barak and Kadima leader and current prime minister Ehud Olmert hold lower numbers, at 4.2 points and 3.2 points respectively. In March 2006, Israeli voters renewed their legislature or Knesset. Kadima, founded by former prime minister Ariel Sharon and led by Olmert, secured 29 seats. Labour, the Retired People’s Party (Gil) and the International Organization of Torah-observant Sephardic Jews (Shas) joined Kadima in a coalition. In October, the Israeli cabinet approved the addition of Israel Our Home to the government. Olmert’s coalition now has the support of 78 of the Knesset’s 120 members. On Sept. 13, Livni urged the United Nations (UN) to implement tougher sanctions on Iran if it continues building its nuclear program, saying, There must be no delays. The world must take all the necessary action. (...) While we are talking, Iran is trying to obtain nuclear weapons.
In December 2006 and March 2007, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity. After being branded as part of an axis of evil by U.S. president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons.
Polling Data
On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is terrible and 10 is excellent, what grade do you give for the performance of the following politicians.
Foreign affairs minister Tzipi Livni
6.1
Internal security minister Avi Dichter
5.2
Transport minister Shaul Mofaz
5.0
Strategic affairs minister Avigdor Lieberman
5.0
Interior minister Meit Sheetrit
4.9
Infrastructure minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer
4.6
Defence minister Ehud Barak
4.2
Prime minister Ehud Olmert
3.2
Source: Teleseker / Maariv
Methodology: Interviews with 489 Israeli adults, conducted on Sept. 10, 2007. Margin of error is 4.3 per cent.
Now the scriptures that a week in Israel history is 7YEARS.
Heres the scripture 1 week = 7 yrs Genesis 29:27-29
27 Fulfil her week, and we will give thee this also for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
28 And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week: and he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife also.
29 And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her maid.
Isn"t this interesting it comes from the same Person whos name was changed to Israel,(JACOB) and Israel and Jerusalem is the places dealt with in Daniel 9:24-27.
GENESIS 32:27-28
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
DANIEL 9:24-27
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people (ISRAEL) and upon thy holy city,(JERUSALEM) 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.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks,(7X7=49 YRS) and threescore and two weeks:(62X7=434 YRS) the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come (ROMANS IN AD 70) shall destroy the city and the sanctuary;(TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. (69x7=483 YRS TO THIS POINT, THE FINAL 7 YR TREATY IS IN THE NEXT VERSE TO FULFILL THE 490 YEARS OF DANIELS PROPHECY.
9:27 And he (THE FUTURE ROMAN PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3RD TEMPLE DESECRATED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.(WW3)
Special Briefing on Middle East Peace Process
C. David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
Washington, DC - September 17, 2007 - (3:30 p.m. EST)
MR. CASEY: Thank you all for joining us for I think this is briefing number three on the day, at least for some of you here. We did want to give David Welch, our Assistant Secretary for Near East Asian Affairs, an opportunity to talk with you in advance of the Secretary's trip to the region, give you a little update on some of the things he's been doing as well as some of our expectations for that trip.
So, David, just go right to it.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Okay, folks. I didn't realize you had other briefings. I thought I was the only one delaying you today, so --
MR. CASEY: We know that all our briefings are special, David.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Okay. And --
QUESTION: Depending on what they tell us.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Depending on what they tell you. Well, then, I will not be special. I'll just be me.
Let me just say a few words about kind of the schedule, because I think maybe it will help you ask a few questions too and then I will be brief on this because I know you want to ask the questions and I need to go do a couple of things that came up during the course of the day.
The Secretary travels tomorrow and she's going to do parallel meetings with the Israelis and Palestinians. Then we return here and we have a busy weekend, which kind of starts our General Assembly calendar, but for me, more importantly, has a number of NEA related items. On Saturday, we have meetings related to Iraq and on Sunday, we do two separate sessions of the Quartet at a ministerial level. One of those is with Mr. Blair coming and presenting the results of his first serious swing through the area. And then in the evening, we have a meeting with certain members of the Arab Follow-Up Committee and the Quartet.
The next day, Monday the 24th, is a meeting of something called the AHLC, the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee. This hasn't met, I think, since December of '05. This is the -- an organization that is chaired by the Norwegians and it brings together the principal donors to the Palestinians and again, it seems like an appropriate time to have this discussion. Again, that's the ministerial level. It's going to be a -- the meeting itself will be longer than just the ministerial session, but Secretary Rice will go to the ministerial plenary.
We also have a variety of bilateral meetings scheduled that relate to this issue, so you will see those, some by the Secretary, some by others during the course of the UNGA week. There will be a meeting also of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, plus Egypt and Jordan while we're up there and typically, those meetings touch on the Israeli-Palestinian issue as well. Our goals here are not only to support our broader regional agenda, but also to focus in particular on this one.
And let me just reflect on where I think we are right now and how we, the United States, might make a positive contribution to helping what the parties are trying to do. And I realize that this is an association with a great deal of interest on the international meeting that President Bush has called for in his speech in July.
There's been, I think, some encouraging progress in the Israeli-Palestinian summit meetings so far. And in the one that was just held a week ago, each side felt it appropriate now to intensify these discussions by appointing some teams who would actually look at how the content of what have so far been very restricted one-on-one meetings is written down.
So we're coming now with our involvement into what I think is a more fertile atmosphere, but still one in its early stages. We'd like to encourage this progress. We think that any effort in rebuilding a real dialogue leading to what we hope will eventually be negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, as they both would like, has to rest on a bilateral process that's productive for the interest of both parties.
We think that region is receptive to that and we think the international community is expectant of that. I know that expectations are controlled about these possibilities, and that's not unreasonable under the circumstances because it has not been an easy year to rebuild these bilateral contacts. But where we started is certainly a lot different than where we are today.
I expect the Secretary is going to be busy with this. As I've described what our schedule is just for the next ten days, I think you can -- you will continue to see that degree of involvement and intensity on our part. As you know, periodically I go out there and try to preface and prepare these meetings. You will see some of that, too.
Okay, I'll open it up for some questions.
QUESTION: Can you talk about the idea of drafting some kind of document of principles or of understandings between the two sides that the Secretary might be pushing them to do either starting on this trip or towards -- as we move up to the international conference?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, we'd like to hear what the views of each side are with respect to that. It seems that there is some interest on the part of each in a -- some -- finding some way to formalize the discussions that have occurred so far. What they're called is also -- appears to be a subject of some discussion. But I would say it's probably best to visualize this now as some form of joint document because it's not so much the form that matters but, you know, what might be the substance of it.
So we'll hear from them on that and then, of course, as always, we will have our ideas and I'm sure that they'll be willing to listen to those. And we'll need to see where they've gotten.
QUESTION: Do you see -- just one quick follow-up -- do you see this as a working document that can evolve and eventually take the shape of a possible final status deal?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Before answering that question, I'd like to hear from each of them how they see it. I mean I've had some conversations with them about what the purposes are for the bilateral summits, but I think when the Secretary gets involved she'll hear a different level of discourse. Also, there's been -- they've gone through the beginning of Ramadan and Rosh Hashanah so there's been a bit of a pause. And I don't know how much follow-up work they've done to the last summit. I'll wait to hear from them on that and then we'll see whether we can elaborate further on it in public.
Glenn.
QUESTION: Do you -- does the United States plan to invite Syria or Lebanon to this international meeting? And just generally beyond -- can you take us beyond that international meeting, what the vision is going forward over the next -- what the follow-up steps would be from that international meeting?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I'd like to take us to the meeting first. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: Well, I'm obviously looking ahead.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, it's appropriate to look ahead, but it's also appropriate to allow them to get there.
QUESTION: I want to get the -- I want to get a sense of what the context for this international meeting is and what you hope --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Those are good questions. I'm not sure I can fully answer them all right now. I mean, we're looking forward here as a way -- I mean, the President sketched it out in July, he talked about having an event that tries to intersect a number of goals. But in respect of what you're asking about, that it would support the dialogue between the parties and any negotiations that they have underway, you know, there are lots of ways you can design this and I think it's risky to try and do too much in anticipation of understanding what the specific answers to Elise's is, for example. Until we really know where the parties are, we can better see how to use an international event of this type. We may have more to say on that during the course of our visit.
QUESTION: Can I --
QUESTION: Wait, wait.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yeah, go ahead.
QUESTION: But did you -- what about the (inaudible)?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I said what I was going to say with respect to that.
QUESTION: Let me follow up on that because the reality is that you've got two months to pull off a major international meeting of some sort with players who have not participated in the past. We're hearing a lot from --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: With players who have not participated in the past?
QUESTION: Saudi Arabia has not been present. You know, there are -- excuse me?
QUESTION: (Inaudible).
QUESTION: It's silly for us to be hearing from other countries what the United States is trying to achieve in the run-up to this conference and what -- and their concerns about what follows next. We'd really like some language from you that gives -- that lays out --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I understand that. And in due course, you will get that. And -- but most --
QUESTION: We have to write our stories tomorrow.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Pardon me?
QUESTION: I said we have to write our stories tomorrow.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yeah, but I don't. You do. You might want to check and see what is the precedent because I'm not sure it's exactly as you describe it. That's just a fact to be checked.
Look, I -- we want a constructive and effective bilateral process. To the degree the region can support that, I think that's a worthy objective. To the degree the international community can support it, that's worthy (inaudible) we have some new ideas in play, like the idea of an international event or gathering. And yes, Robin, it will be hard to organize that -- to make that contribution in just two months, as you say. But it's -- the goal here isn't just to have a meeting. The goal is to make something succeed for the interest of Israel, succeed for the interest of the Palestinians -- that they get their bilateral process going in an effective and constructive way. Without that, I mean, we can have meetings all the time and --
QUESTION: Do you expect in the meeting, whatever kind of gathering it is, to discuss the final status issues or to have a declaration of principle that deals with refugees, Jerusalem and borders?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, you know, when we were -- when you and I were having this kind of colloquy on all the many trips earlier this year, you all chided me for talking about the words political horizon, which you did not see as very meaningful at the time.
Well, political horizon has now been transformed into fundamental issues. So the parties themselves are gaining, slowly but surely, the confidence necessary to take on what they see as the key things that separate them. That, we believe, is an important evolution that we want to encourage. There are again, as I said, various ways you can do that. You can have international gatherings to do that. You can have regional support. We have other tools now, too. We're involved in direct assistance to the Palestinians for the first time in quite some while. Mr. Blair is now organizing his mission, which has some pretty important components for trying to advance this, too. I mean, it might be possible, even in two months to aggregate these in a way that really gives a sense that we've turned a new page.
QUESTION: Can I just follow -- one last one the Saudis?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, you've had three.
QUESTION: No, but the Saudis -- you didn't answer my question.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I didn't answer --
QUESTION: You -- are you confident that the Saudis will attend?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: You know I'm not addressing participation right now. They have attended -- they attended in Madrid, if you check that.
QUESTION: Can I back up a quick sec. Are you still -- and the Secretary still committed to having this international meeting this fall because it sounds --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Yes, we are.
QUESTION: Okay.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Sue.
QUESTION: How far have you got in looking at the fundamental issues? You've been going backwards and forwards between the Israelis and the Palestinians. If these are going to come up at the conference meeting, whatever it's going to be called, how far do you think you will have got by that stage?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I can't -- I honestly can't say. It's a little unfair to ask the question because I think we need a perspective from each of them -- what they've talked about, where they think they could go, where they want to go and what would be necessary to get there. I believe that we have an interest in seeing it advance, and that's the purpose of the Secretary's travel and her investment in this kind of American diplomatic capital.
QUESTION: But where do you think the sticking points are going to be when you're there? What do you think you're going to make the most progress on?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, we could go on for hours about, you know, what I understand to be the sticking points in some of these issues. That's not really new.
QUESTION: To go back to the trip this week, do you plan to organize a three-way meeting with the Secretary, Abbas and Olmert?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: We've kept the geometry of these discussions flexible. We had a trilat when probably it was necessary to have one because otherwise we would not have had a meeting at all. This time around, I think we will focus on having parallel meetings, as I said earlier. We don't rule out the trilateral format in the near future. To be perfectly candid, I think we'll call then, as the Secretary sometimes says, as an audible. Or, you probably don't follow American football as avidly as she does, but that's when you change the signals right on the -- during the play.
QUESTION: So that means yes? (Laughter.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: That means I do pretty much what I want, and then she can overrule and do whatever she wants.
QUESTION: Well, when you say -- but when you say that you're not ruling it out, are you going to go there and see how things look, and then maybe you'll do it or maybe you won't? Are you intending to do it and you're not sure if it's going to happen?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: No, I would not lead you to conclude any of those things. You, the press, in this instance, can't serve as Belichick's camera. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: I understand that AIPAC has circulated a letter calling for the United States to put conditions on those participants in the conference, so somebody like Saudi Arabia, and that AIPAC has asked that whoever participates in this conference recognize Israel. I know you don't want to talk about who may or may not be participating in the conference, but is there any idea whatsoever that there might be such conditions on participation?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: You know, I haven't seen the letter so I don't know what they're suggesting, and I'd rather not comment on the letter specifically. The goal here is to have -- to take steps to realize the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. And I -- you know, I see that there is -- and that promise within the Arab initiative and, you know, so I accept that the governments who signed up to that initiative are willing to envision bilateral negotiations to realize that. You know, the issue of who participates in the meeting, as I said, we'll answer that when the time is appropriate.
QUESTION: So beyond signing up for the Arab initiative, you know, there isn't an idea of conditions --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Look, I think people have to be devoted to peace, and that's a key drawing line. But you know there's a lot of comment about the international meeting out there already saying what it is not or should not be. It's better to try and construct something that's positive, and we will in due course have those things to say. But you know, the way we conduct -- our approach in this is we will make suggestions to -- the Secretary makes suggestions eventually to the President about how the United States organizes itself for this event, and I don't want to preclude what any of the options might be in that regard.
Yes.
QUESTION: In terms of -- you talked about direct assistance to the Palestinians. The $80 million that went -- that's going to its security training, I think -- I understand that it's there. Do you -- can you break down for us where it's going, how it's being spent, which organizations are --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I don't -- it's -- whenever you do foreign assistance, it's a little bit different than when you pay the electricity bill. It doesn't like get there immediately. I believe the component that's already physically started on the ground producing results is there's some antiterrorism training being organized for certain units of the Palestinian security forces. And that has already -- I think one caliber of those people have actually graduated already from that training course and there are follow-ons to that.
There are other parts of the program that are on a slower timeline to implement. To be honest with you, I haven't really looked at where those are right now. It doesn't mean they're not important. I just know they're entrained. And there are still other items that might be -- take a little longer to implement that require both parties to agree and we're working on those issues.
But this is -- I don't believe there are any difficult issue or controversies that -- in doing this, mostly just straightforward assistance work at this point. If this is a subject of common interest, I'm sure that by the time we do the trip, I can get you a breakout of where we are on the whole $80 million.
Is it -- yeah, okay.
QUESTION: David, can you talk a little bit about how concerned you were about the Israeli raid or non-raid over Syria and whether or not this is something you think the Secretary might discuss with the Israelis on her trip?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: I think Tom and Sean have -- have been up here and addressed this several times. You know our concerns.
QUESTION: No, I don't.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, then reread the transcript. I think they -- they have handled this question at least as much as I want to handle it, so I don't know whether it'll come up or not. I'll bet you guys ask.
QUESTION: (Inaudible) Syria next week?
QUESTION: If you haven't already, can you address this weekend's back and forth of Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas about -- you know, going to the Kadima meeting and apparently saying what he isn't willing to do and Abbas responding by saying that they might boycott? And in that context, do you see a difference of opinion between the Israelis and the Palestinians about what the goal of this process is? Is it to write something down? Is it to have some looser and less sticky outcome?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: It's a good question, Anne. I'm not sure at this point. I believe that both of them, though, are putting -- are making a major investment in trying to make the bilateral discussions that they've had, especially the one-on-one conversations, produce something. I think that's why they took the decision a week ago to find a format in which they can work on memorializing that, putting it down in writing.
Establishing this level of confidence carries with it both benefit -- both want to get that moving, but also, let's be clear, there are politics on each side. So I would expect that they have to address those, particularly as people outside see more happening and more going on and wonder what exactly it is and whether or not it affects them politically or practically.
This is a very important moment and we think we can make some progress here. And you all know that I -- my briefing style is to be very spare when it comes to words like encouragement. You know I try to be direct and objective, but I think for the first time here and in quite some time, I really do feel that there is an opportunity and with a little hard work, and that may take quite a bit of time, we can get it in a way that it looks a little bit better, more dramatic to you all.
QUESTION: Why do you think there is a real opportunity -- is there a difference of approach in --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Because --
QUESTION: -- the leaders of (inaudible)?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Because -- look, the -- look, what everybody commonly calls the peace process really hasn't been doing very much for quite some time. And so this is an important turning point and I think that both sides understand that a lot depends on them assuring each other that it can work to their benefit, but also understanding that they -- their public is not so confident that it may succeed and living with the expectations of the past, is conditioned to believe that the obstacles are greater than the opportunities.
QUESTION: David, how do you reconcile the fact that a whole section of the Palestinian population is being kind of completely left out from this process? And although Prime Minister Abbas has the negotiating authority as the Palestinian President, at some point, if you're memorializing these understandings, I mean, you're going to -- don't you think you're going to have to bring some Hamas leaders into the equation, so that they can not be a factor when you try to implement the deal?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: Well, I'm sure that on the part of President Abbas, there are political considerations. But I would disagree with the way you posed the question, all due respect.
No one is intending to leave a segment of Palestinians out of this process. We think that if you're building two states, there is one state that's for Palestinians, including those -- if you meant this, those that live in Gaza. Hamas excluded itself from what is the commonly accepted basis for the peace process. You accept the right of the other to live in peace, free from terror and violence, and you accept that there are agreements out there that have been forged by previous governments. We don't see what's so unreasonable about that. And frankly, most people in the international community didn't see what was so unreasonable about it. To this day, Hamas has not explicitly accepted even the Arab initiative.
So I mean, it's -- they're the ones who have excluded themselves. But that's a -- they're a political party and they make that decision, you know, for themselves and obviously, it hasn't kind of turned out the way they had hoped, I guess, because I would measure the public effect of that quite a bit differently. I think that, you know, many Palestinians today question the wisdom of that track. I'm not saying that the other track is automatically answered for them as a success. That's what we're trying to do here. But the contrast is stark and look at what their leadership got them when they had it.
Yes, I'll take this last question. I got to run because --
QUESTION: David, when the President declared a Palestinian state with the intention to help secure a Palestinian state, something came up, something called the roadmap. What happened to it? We don't hear about it at all. And every time the Secretary goes back to the region, they're exploring political horizon. So what happened between the time that everything was spelled out in clear details to now? They're looking backwards. Is this completely sort of over?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY WELCH: No. I think that there are certain important agreements that form the foundation of our approach. One of them is the roadmap and there are others too. But what we were trying to do, and put out there words like political horizon, is to galvanize this bilateral discussion, to change its -- the tone there, to give each side the sense that they could revive this process so that then they can look meaningfully at what's in the roadmap and how to move along it. We are not setting it aside. It's not antique. It is there. It's a part of the framework of our approach.
Thanks. See some of you tomorrow evening.
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