EVENTS IN TIME (BIBLE PROPHECY LITERALLY FULFILLED)(BY GOD)

I WRITE NEWS ABOUT AND PUT NEWS ARTICLES ABOUT ISRAEL AND JERUSALEM PERTAINING TO BIBLE PROPHESY HAPPENINGS.JOEL 3:20 But Judah (ISRAEL) shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation.(THATS ISRAEL-JERUSALEM WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED AGAIN)-WE CHRISTIANS ARE ALL WAITING PATIENTLY FOR THE PRE-TRIBULATION RAPTURE TO OCCUR.SO WE CAN GO TO JESUS AND GET OUR NEVER DYING BODIES.SO WE CAN RULE OVER CITIES OURSELVES.WHILE JESUS RULES FROM DAVIDS THRONE FOREVER IN JERUSALEM.

Monday, July 14, 2008

UN SCHEME TO CRIMINALIZE CHRISTIANS

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

DOCTOR DOCTORIAN FROM ANGEL OF GOD
then the angel said, Financial crisis will come to Asia. I will shake the world.

JAMES 5:1-3
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.

REVELATION 18:10,17,19
10 Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
17 For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
19 And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.

EZEKIEL 7:19
19 They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(FALSE POPE) causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(CHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM

FANNIE AND FREDDIES TROUBLE
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8792487&ch=4226720&src=news

UNDERSTANDING THE MORTGAGE CRISES
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=8786870&src=news

US spells out Fannie-Freddie backstop plan By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer JULY 14,08

WASHINGTON - The Federal Reserve and the Treasury announced steps Sunday to shore up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose shares have plunged as losses from their mortgage holdings threatened their financial survival. The steps are also intended to send a signal to nervous investors worldwide that the government is prepared to take all necessary steps to prevent the credit market troubles that started last year from engulfing financial markets and further weakening the economy and housing markets.The Fed said it granted the Federal Reserve Bank of New York authority to lend to the two companies should such lending prove necessary. They would pay 2.25 percent for any borrowed funds — the same rate given to commercial banks and big Wall Street firms.The Fed said this should help the companies' ability to promote the availability of home mortgage credit during a period of stress in financial markets.

Secretary Henry Paulson said the Treasury is seeking expedited authority from Congress to expand its current $2.25 billion line of credit to each company should they need to tap it and to make an equity investment in the companies — if needed.Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play a central role in our housing finance system and must continue to do so in their current form as shareholder-owned companies, Paulson said Sunday. Their support for the housing market is particularly important as we work through the current housing correction.The Treasury's plan also seeks a consultative role for the Fed in any new regulatory framework eventually decided by Congress for Fannie and Freddie. The Fed's role would be to weigh in on setting capital requirements for the companies.The White House, in a statement, said President Bush directed Paulson to immediately work with Congress to get the plan enacted. It also said it believed the plan outlined by Paulson will help add stability during this period.Investors may not be as sanguine, however, according to Chris Johnson, an investment manager and president of Johnson Research Group in Cleveland. Stocks of financial institutions are going to get clobbered, he predicted. It is a situation where regulators and the government are trying to play catch up, and that means everything is not discounted in the stock prices yet.The Dow Jones industrials on Friday briefly fell below 11,000 for the first time in two years and Johnson expects shares of investment banks and regional banks could fall even lower as investors react to this weekend's developments.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac either hold or back $5.3 trillion of mortgage debt. That's about half the outstanding mortgages in the United States.The announcement marked the latest move by the government to bolster confidence in the mortgage companies. A critical test of confidence will come Monday morning, when Freddie Mac is slated to auction a combined $3 billion in three- and six-month securities.Fannie was created by the government in 1938 to provide more Americans the chance to own a home by giving financial institutions an outlet to sell mortgage loans they originated, freeing more cash to make more home loans. It moved from government to public ownership in 1968 and Freddie was started two years later.

Sunday's announcements are likely to raise anew criticism that the government should have moved sooner to rein in the two companies, especially since investors widely assumed they would be bailed out if they got into trouble.The government denied it, but what was seen by investors as an implicit guarantee of support allowed Fannie and Freddie to borrow at rates only slightly higher than the Treasury — and lower than what their banking competitors had to pay.

This really blows away the notion of an implicit guarantee, independent banking consultant Bert Ely said of the Treasury's plan to ask Congress to allow it to make equity investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It suggests a greater concern about how these companies are doing. It says the problems are deeper. It gets to the solvency of the companies, not just the liquidity.Paulson's goal is to get his plan attached to a sweeping housing-rescue package. The Senate and House have each passed bills and a final package has to be hammered out. The centerpiece of the legislation is to help strapped homeowners avoid foreclosure legislation but it also contains provisions to revamp oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Senate Democrats stand ready to work with the administration to quickly and effectively address the situation currently facing these institution.Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama, speaking with reporters before the plan was announced, said he favored congressional action to shore up the housing market, as well as legislative consultation about any taxpayer dollars used to support the mortgage companies. Republican rival John McCain believes the measures announced Sunday are consistent with the goal of providing support for a path through the current duress toward steps that include regulatory reform, market discipline and mission focus, said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, senior policy adviser. House GOP leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Republican Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said they stand ready to work with Secretary Paulson and congressional Democrats to take appropriate steps to ensure the soundness of our mortgage markets.Officials from Treasury, the Fed and other regulators worked in close consultation throughout the weekend after growing investor fears about the companies' finances sent their shares and the overall market plummeting last week.

Shares of Fannie Mae plunged 45 percent last week and are down 74 percent since the beginning of the year. Freddie Mac shares fell 47 percent last week, and have fallen 77 percent so far this year. A senior Treasury official said any increase in the line of credit — now at $2.25 billion for each company_ would be at the Treasury secretary's discretion. The same would apply to any equity investment made by the government. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also sought to send a calming message about Fannie's and Freddie's financial shape, saying: There's been no deterioration of the situation since Friday.The Fed's offer of funds is viewed as a temporary backstop until Treasury can get its plan in place. The collateral they would have to pledge — Treasury securities and federal agency securities — is more narrow than the collateral commercial banks and Wall Street firms must pledge for emergency lending privileges. Freddie Mac Chairman Richard Syron said Sunday that preliminary second-quarter results show that his company had a substantial capital cushion above the 20 percent minimum surplus it is required to maintain. Fannie Mae President and CEO Daniel Mudd said he believes the steps could send a calming message. Given the market turmoil, having options to access provisional sources of liquidity if needed will help to strengthen overall confidence in the market. We will continue to do our part to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the housing market now and in the future.Last week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Paulson, appearing before the House Financial Services Committee, made a point of saying that the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, has found both companies adequately capitalized. AP Business Writers Stephen Bernard and Joe Bel Bruno in New York contributed to this report.

Fannie, Bernanke and data to rule stocks By Ellis Mnyandu
Sun Jul 13, 12:57 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The bears have Wall Street cornered and they just won't let go. This week is almost sure to be a rocky ride for the U.S. stock market as investors fret about the stability of Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N), the government-sponsored home finance companies that own or guarantee about one in every two mortgages in this country.Barring any news, say over the weekend or early this week, that quashes fears of capital constraints at Fannie and Freddie, analysts and money managers said U.S. stocks were set to fall further into the bear market's arms.

Wall Street will focus on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke this week, when he is scheduled to appear twice on Capitol Hill to give his semiannual testimony on monetary policy. He is set to testify on Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee, and on Wednesday, before the House Financial Services Committee.Investors will latch on to anything Bernanke says about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as his take on the U.S. economy, inflation and interest rates.The bottom line is that we're in the middle of a financial tsunami. This is a storm the likes of which this country hasn't seen, said Peter Kenny, managing director at Knight Equity Markets in Jersey City, New Jersey. The market right now needs to see results. It no longer gives anyone the benefit of the doubt.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which own or guarantee almost $5 trillion in mortgages and package them into bonds, are confronted by mounting losses from loan delinquencies and foreclosures. Investors fear that if they are hampered from doing business, the paralysis will only make the housing crisis get worse.This week also brings a torrent of numbers from earnings reports and economic indicators. It will be one of the busiest weeks for quarterly earnings, with reports from Dow component Citigroup (C.N), the No. 1U.S. bank, and technology bellwether Google (GOOG.O), the leading Web search company.Making the terrain even more treacherous for stock investors are worries about oil and inflation. On Friday, oil shot up to a record above $147 a barrel. This week, investors will scrutinize data on consumer and producer prices for any signs of rising inflationary pressures.Major economic reports on tap include the U.S. Producer Price Index and the Consumer Price Index, industrial production and capacity utilization, and housing starts.

I have my helmet on and my body armor on, said Frederic Dickson, senior vice president and market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon. We expect it to be another volatile week with the market reacting to a triple play of earnings, oil and the mortgage agencies.The market is going to remain nervous, watching developments with oil and tensions in the Middle East, and the avalanche of earnings and outlooks that will really start to hit the tape with banks and tech companies (this) week.

OIL, PPI AND CPI

Political tensions over Iran's nuclear work and supply worries drove oil prices to yet another all-time high last week.August crude gained $3.43, or 2.4 percent, to settle on Friday at $145.08 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it hit an intraday record of $147.27, eclipsing the previous NYMEX high of $145.85 set on July 3 -- the day before the Independence Day holiday.The government's report on Producer Price Index for June is set for Tuesday, followed by June CPI on Wednesday, when the Federal Reserve also is expected to release the minutes from its most recent policy-making meeting on June 24-25. At that meeting, the Fed held its benchmark fed funds rate for overnight bank lending at 2 percent.

FANNIE AND FREDDIE FALLOUT

Concerns about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's stability drove Friday's sharp sell-off, marking the sixth straight weekly drop for both the Nasdaq and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index -- their longest weekly losing streaks since 2004. Earlier last week, the S&P 500 entered its first bear market since 2002. It joined the Dow and the Nasdaq, which had already slid 20 percent or more from their most recent closing highs, set last October. During Friday's roller-coaster session, the Dow dropped below the 11,000 level for the first time since July 2006. For the week, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) lost 1.4 percent and booked its fourth straight weekly decline. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) slipped 0.3 percent for the week, while the S&P 500 (.SPX) slid 1.9 percent. The anxiety over Fannie and Freddie is likely to spill over into this week. As the twin pillars of the U.S. housing market, Fannie's and Freddie's troubles put the U.S. economy and its banking system at risk, according to analysts. If the Fannie and Freddie crisis is not resolved, the markets are going to be in worse shape than they are right now, said John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers in Newark, New Jersey. There's a lot of fear and uncertainty about what is going to be the outcome, Praveen said, adding that such a resolution could occur over the weekend or this week, and it is probably going to set the tone for the market.U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson offered no hint of an imminent government bailout, saying on Friday his major aim was to back Fannie and Freddie in their current form.Paulson's statement followed a report in The New York Times saying that the U.S. government was considering taking over the two if their funding problems get worse.

EARNINGS AND MORE FROM THE FED

In addition to quarterly report cards from Citigroup and Google, this week's earnings to watch include chipmaker Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O). This barrage of quarterly numbers and companies' comments on what they expect for the rest of the year are likely to make stock trading extremely choppy. Friday's session, marked by a spike and a pullback in the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index, illustrated just how jumpy the stock market has become. The VIX (.VIX), which is Wall Street's barometer of fear, shot up 15 percent in midday trading to 29.44, its highest level since March 20. By the close, the VIX was higher, but more subdued. It ended at 27.49, up 7.42 percent. Besides Bernanke, the week's agenda includes appearances by two other Fed officials: Janet Yellen, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, is scheduled to speak on the housing market on Tuesday in Hollywood, California. Thomas Hoenig, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, is set to speak on monetary policy and the economic outlook on Wednesday in Durango, Colorado. (Wall St Week Ahead runs weekly. Questions or comments on this one can be e-mailed to: ellis.mnyandu (at)thomsonreuters.com)
(Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke; Editing by Jan Paschal)

EARTH DESTROYED WITH THE EARTH

GENESIS 6:11-13
11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.(WORLD TERRORISM,MURDERS)
12 And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
13 And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence (TERRORISM) through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.

HAWAII VOLCANO ERUPTS
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8717158&ch=4226713&src=news

CHILE VOLCANO REVS UP
http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=3906861&cl=8760888&ch=4226714&src=news

Volcano erupts, fishing boat rescues 10 people By MARY PEMBERTON, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 13, 5:54 PM ET

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A fishing vessel rescued 10 people after a volcano erupted, sending rocks and ash down on a cattle ranch on a remote island in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska. The Tara Gaila picked up the people Saturday evening after receiving an urgent call from the Coast Guard. The fishing vessel brought them to Dutch Harbor about 65 miles away, where they were staying at a hotel on Sunday.There were no reported injuries, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read.The Coast Guard sent a helicopter to help out, but it had to land in Dutch Harbor because of the danger of falling ash.It also sent two cutters to the island, located in the western Aleutians about 860 miles southwest of Anchorage, but recalled them after the Tara Gaila responded to the emergency call.The 3,500-foot Okmok Caldera, which consists of a 6-mile-wide circular crater about 1,600 feet deep, erupted with little warning Saturday morning, just hours after seismologists at the Alaska Volcano Center began detecting a series of small tremors.The explosion flung a large ash plume into the sky.

The 10 people, including three children, were at Fort Glenn, a private cattle ranch six miles south of the volcano. The ranch residents managed to call military police on Kodiak Island using a satellite phone before losing their connection.The volcano erupted at 11:43 a.m. and reached peak activity about two hours later, said Cyrus Read, a geophysicist with the Alaska Volcano Observatory, which has several seismic stations on the Okmok Caldera. The Okmok Caldera contains more than a dozen volcanic cones. Scientists weren't sure which cone exploded Saturday.One of the observatory's seismic stations that was placed at the rim of the volcano likely was destroyed in the explosion, Read said. Several others stations were functioning Sunday.It continues at this time, Read said. It is a pretty solid plume.Trace amounts of ash were being reported in Dutch Harbor on Saturday. There were no new reports of ash falling in the large fishing port.Ash was expected to continue drifting south. The ash cloud was estimated at 45,000 feet on Sunday and posed a risk to aircraft.The last time the volcano — formed about 2,000 years ago — erupted was in 1997, sending a fountain of lava and ash into the air, it was active for eight months, Read said. But he said there was no way of knowing how long the eruption would last this time.http://www.avo.alaska.edu

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.

Tropical Storm Elida grows off Mexico Sun Jul 13, 5:18 PM ET

MEXICO CITY - Tropical Storm Elida gathered strength off western Mexico on Sunday, but forecasters said it was moving away from the coast and was not expected to hit land. Elida, the fifth named storm of the Pacific season, could become a hurricane before it reaches cooler waters in the next couple of days, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.On Sunday afternoon, Elida had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph) and was centered about 245 miles (395 kilometers) southwest of the port city of Manzanillo. It was traveling west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).The hurricane center said large swells and high surf could reach Mexico's southwestern coast in coming days.

Bertha weakens to tropical storm near Bermuda Sun Jul 13, 2:15 PM ET

HAMILTON, Bermuda (Reuters) - Hurricane Bertha weakened back into a less-menacing tropical storm on Sunday after stalling for a day near the British colony of Bermuda, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. The top sustained winds of what had been the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic storm season slipped to near 65 miles per hour (100 km per hour), below the 74 mph (119 kph) threshold at which tropical storms are classified as hurricanes, the Miami-based hurricane center said.Little change in strength was expected over the next 24 hours and the storm had stalled again after inching its way northwest for a brief period early on Sunday.

The center of Bertha is expected to slowly pass not far to the southeast and east of Bermuda during the next day or so, the hurricane center said.It said the storm's motion could be erratic at times but that it could pass closer to Bermuda, a wealthy mid-Atlantic offshore finance center, than indicated earlier.At one point a major Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale of storm intensity, as Hurricane Katrina had been when it came ashore near New Orleans in 2005, Bertha weakened because of its lack of movement.Its energy had churned up colder waters from beneath the sea surface, depriving it of the warm water that fuels tropical storms.Bermuda, which is also a major tourist resort, has strict building codes and a tropical storm is unlikely to pose any significant threat to its 66,000 people.Few of the shops in Hamilton's retail heart of Front Street had storm shutters up on Sunday and some public beaches were still open despite high storm-related surf.Many islanders said they were looking forward to the arrival of Bertha, as it would bring some much-needed rain after a long drought. As of Friday the island has had just 1.3 inches of rain in six weeks, 20 percent below normal.Oil markets had kept a wary eye on Bertha after it formed because of the potential of hurricanes to cause havoc among the oil rigs of the Gulf of Mexico. But the Gulf has not been in Bertha's track for many days.By 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT), Bertha was around 190 miles (310 km) south-southeast of Bermuda.

Hurricane experts have forecast that the 2008 Atlantic storm season will be average or above average. The long-term average is for 10 tropical storms to form between June 1 and the end of November, of which six become hurricanes.Bertha formed near the Cape Verde Islands off Africa and its development that far east so early in the season is viewed by some hurricane experts as ominous. Storm activity does not usually get into high gear in the Atlantic until August.On one Bermudian beach, 28-year-old English accountant Helen Grimwood took a more sanguine view of Bertha, however.I am quite excited and interested to see what it will be like, said Grimwood, who arrived in Bermuda just three days ago to start a new job.I am not worried about it, she said.(Reporting by Michael Christie and Matthew Taylor; Editing by Tom Brown and Cynthia Osterman)

Slow-moving tropical storm nears Bermuda By ELIZABETH ROBERTS, Associated Press Writer JULY 14,08

HAMILTON, Bermuda - Tropical Storm Bertha kicked up deadly surf as far away as New Jersey on Sunday and threatened to lash Bermuda with rain and high winds in the next 24 hours. The storm apparently played a role in the deaths of three swimmers along the New Jersey coast, where the U.S. National Weather Service said Bertha created tricky waves and currents.Authorities said one man drowned and another was missing and feared dead following a Saturday evening swim off the Wildwood beach. A third man died the same day after being plucked from a rip current in Atlantic City, though doctors said Sunday night that he died of natural causes rather than drowning.Business owners in this British Atlantic territory said they planned to send workers home by noon Monday as a preventive measure, while residents began taping windows and securing boats.

Bermudians are pretty used to this, said local resident Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch, 25. We've been through this several times, so everyone's relaxed but prepared.The slow-moving, meandering Bertha was drifting northwest about 3 mph (6 kph) on Sunday night, and the U.S. National Hurricane Center said predicted it would pick up speed as it moves north Monday and Tuesday.The storm's center is expected to pass to the east of Bermuda in the next 24 to 48 hours, generating large swells and high surf. Bertha's outer bands could dump 2 to 4 inches of rain, the center said.JetBlue canceled Monday flights from Bermuda to Boston and New York, while American Airlines passengers scheduled to travel to Miami and New York that day were flown out on Sunday. British Airways said it would announce Monday whether it will cancel an evening flight to London.

Over the weekend, most tourists avoided the storm-whipped surf and rip currents along Bermuda's southern coast. Authorities posted signs announcing beach closures.On Sunday night, the storm had maximum sustained winds of near 65 mph (100 kph), with higher gusts, and was centered about 160 miles (255 kilometers) southeast of Bermuda. Tropical storm-force winds extended outward up to 140 miles (220 kilometers) from the center.Bermuda native Mikaela Ian Pearman, 22, who lives on the island's eastern end, worried that the causeway that links her to the main island will close, preventing her from reaching the capital if she gives birth on her due date next Saturday.It scares me because of the fact that I don't do pain, she said, adding that she might stay with someone in Hamilton so she doesn't get trapped.Bertha became the Atlantic season's first hurricane on July 7.In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Elida swirled about 345 miles (555 kilometers) southwest of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico, and was headed farther out to sea, the hurricane center said. It had maximum sustained winds near 65 mph (100 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 14 mph (22 kph).
Associated Press writer Sam Strangeways in Hamilton, Bermuda, contributed to this report.

FAMINE

REVELATION 6:5-6
5 And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.(A DAYS WAGES FOR A LOAF OF BREAD)

FAMINE

MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

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

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

World food crisis: Australia's drought threatens major source of wheat By Tanalee Smith, The Associated Press JULY 13,08

POOCHERA, Australia - Glen Phillips kneels down, scoops up a handful of dirt and squashes it in his fist to test whether the soil in this dry patch of the Australian Outback is ready to take a crop of wheat. It should clump together when you squeeze, says Phillips, whose family has lived off the land on the edge of the Great Australian Bight since 1949. That's how you know it's good to plant, it's moist enough to hold the roots.He opens his hand and the earth sifts dustily between his fingers. Phillips looks up, lifts his hat slightly and squints into an empty blue sky with no sign of rain. We'll plant anyway, he says. We don't have a choice.

One of Australia's worst droughts on record is hurting wheat farming just as the world needs it most. Australia is usually the world's third or fourth-largest exporter of wheat. Exports dropped 46 per cent from 2005 to 2006, then fell 24 per cent last year.

Most of its exports go to the Middle East and Southeast Asia to make bread and cereals, but the fall in supply has led to a spike in prices. A ton of Australian wheat now costs Australian $381 (US$367), compared with A$269 (US$258) in early 2007, an increase poor countries can ill afford. When they pay high prices, they pass on an increase to their poorest people, who can no longer afford it, says Kunhamboo Kannan, director of agriculture, environment and natural resources at the Asian Development Bank.

Just look at Egypt.

Riots over rising bread prices and shortages have led to at least 10deaths in Egypt this year. Relief may be on the way. Wheat sowing rose by 13 per cent this year, according to the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Research Economics, due to rainfall in the eastern part of the wheat belt and dry-planting elsewhere. If all goes well, the 2008 wheat harvest could be close to normal at 23.7 million tons, compared with 13 million last year. It all depends on whether the rain comes, and experts say it will be months before they know how the current crop of wheat will fare. In any case, stocks are low after several years of drought in a row. Poochera is one of dozens of one-pub towns on the Eyre Peninsula where grain silos are the tallest buildings and there are just enough stores to supply the surrounding farms. Another year without rain would be the third in a row, and this May was the country's driest on record. The peninsula, a giant wedge of land jutting into the ocean off southern Australia, forms part of a narrow crescent known as the wheat belt that includes some of Australia's most arable land.

It is also among the hardest hit by the drought.

The drought has made it harder to grow everything from wheat to rice to corn. Phillips says good wheat crops can grow with next to no rain. The problem is, he's been getting less than that. In 2006, after promising autumn downpours, the rain stopped in winter and Phillips watched his crop die. The same thing happened last year, although he managed to scrounge about one-third of what the land produces in a good year. In two years, he estimates, the drought has cost him more than half a million dollars. This season he had to take out a loan for the first time to cover the costs of planting and feeding his livestock. Elsewhere in Australia, recent rains have led to hope the drought is easing, but the relief is patchy and it will take time to restore former production levels.

According to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, most of the country received below average or very much below average rainfall from March 1 to May 31, the sowing months.

FIRES AND EXPLOSIONS

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

PROGRESS IN FIGHT AGAINST WILDFIRES
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Heavy rains complicate Calif. firefighting efforts By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writers JULY 14,08

SAN FRANCISCO - Violent thunderstorms brought rain bursts that modestly helped firefighting efforts Sunday, but the downpours also triggered mudslides that complicated California's unfolding wildfire disaster. If it isn't fire, it's flood. If it isn't fire or flood, it's the mud, said Christina Lilienthal, an interagency fire spokeswoman. A horrendous amount of precipitation in the Sequoia National Forest dampened the ground, but also caused a creek to flood, cutting off a firefighting crew's escape route when a road washed out, she said.The firefighters didn't need the escape route, because fires burning nearby did not threaten them. They moved to higher ground as a precaution against the rising waters, Lilienthal said.But the 59 firefighters could not reach their camp Saturday evening, stranding them in the field overnight, Lilienthal said. They reopened the road Sunday afternoon, amid new threats of erratic winds and falling trees weakened by the soft ground.A huge mudslide in an area that was devastated by wildfires last year damaged about 50 homes and caused the temporary closure of a main road in the California town of Independence on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. Severe thunderstorms Saturday set off the mudslide, which was 300 yards wide and up to three feet deep, said Carma Roper, spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff's Department.

The slide oozed near California Highway 395 — reducing it to one open lane — and came within a half mile of the Los Angeles Aqueduct which supplies much of Los Angeles' water. Joe Ramallo, a spokesman for the department, said the aqueduct was not harmed.Residents of more than 50 homes were evacuated, Roper said. The rain did nothing to help fires, which were not burning in that easternmost corner of California.And no rain fell on most of the other California fires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 288 blazes were still burning around the state, most in the mountains ringing the northern edge of the Central Valley.There was no rain in Butte County, north of Sacramento, where thousands of homes were threatened as recently as Friday. But moist air and calmer winds Sunday morning helped firefighting efforts in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Thousands of people who were evacuated from their homes twice in the past month began returning to Paradise for the first time since Tuesday.About 300 homes remained threatened in and around the town, down from 3,800 homes on Friday, and officials said the fire was 55 percent contained.An evacuation order was lifted on Sunday for the nearby town of Concow, one ridge away from Paradise and prone to strong winds, Butte County and fire officials said.Fifty homes were destroyed and one person was apparently killed in the area last week when wind-propelled flames jumped a containment line. The person's charred remains were found Friday in a burned-out home; the cause of death hadn't been determined.The Butte County blazes were among hundreds of wildfires to blacken nearly 1,200 square miles and destroy about 100 homes across California since an enormous lightning storm ignited most of them three weeks ago.Just to the south, a pair of blazes burning in the foothills west of Lake Tahoe were sending plumes of smoke toward the alpine resort area. The soot was sporadic, but air quality was so bad it prompted the cancellation of the annual Donner Lake Triathlon.

Residents in the tourist town of Big Sur, driven away by flames just days ago, were returning to their homes, said Paul Van Gerwen, a CalFire battalion chief stationed in the area.They're in a cleanup period, Van Gerwen said. Many businesses and homeowners are getting the (fire-retardant) gels off their structures, cleaning up roadways, driveways, the debris that falls from trees. They're trying to get over the emotional state of the evacuation.On Sunday morning, state authorities reopened the last piece of scenic Highway 1 near Big Sur that had been closed because of the fires, he said.The fire was 61 percent contained after destroying 26 homes, and all evacuations near the town of Big Sur were lifted, he said. Firefighters continued to make progress against a fire that has raged through the Los Padres National Forest in Santa Barbara County. As of Sunday morning, fire crews had contained 85 percent of the fire and expected to complete the containment lines on Wednesday, U.S. Forest Service spokesman David Daniels said. Fifty-five homes remained under evacuation warning. In far Northern California, the Trinity County Sheriff's Department ordered evacuations in sparsely populated communities in the mountains west of Redding. Isolated thunderstorms were expected across parts of Southern California and flash flood watches were in effect Sunday for the Antelope Valley and the mountains of Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, said Steven Van Horn, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Oxnard. The moisture from the south was starting to move up the state and isolated storms were expected over the mountains farther to the north. But Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, said more than patchy rain was needed to douse California's unprecedented early fire season, especially in the north. In Washington, 200 residents from Spokane Valley who were forced to evacuate Friday were allowed to return to their homes. Firefighters were mopping up the fire that burned 1.5 square miles and reported it 60 percent contained. Associated Press writers Christina Hoag and Thomas Watkins in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Assad sits out Olmert speech at Paris summit By AMY TEIBEL, Associated Press Writer JULY 13,08

PARIS - Syria's president sat out the Israeli prime minister's speech to a Paris summit Sunday in an apparent rebuff just hours after Ehud Olmert urged Damascus to open direct peace talks, Israeli officials said. Syrian leader Bashar Assad also did not shake hands with Olmert at a meeting of more than 40 European, African and Middle Eastern states in the French capital to launch a new Mediterranean union aimed at closer cooperation in the region.

We are not seeking symbols, Assad said on French television, adding he avoided a handshake with Olmert because the two nations are still only in indirect peace talks.Nevertheless, Assad agreed to sit down with Olmert at the same table in a historic first for the enemy states: Never before had the leaders of the two countries been so close.There had been some buzz before the one-day summit about whether the two men might make history by shaking hands or meeting one-on-one. Israeli officials were openly skeptical: Even though the two countries recently resumed peace talks, mediated by Turkey, after an eight-year breakdown, Syria had long resisted meetings at the highest level.But that did not come to pass. And two Israeli officials said Assad was absent from the enormous room in the ornate Grand Palais exhibition hall when Olmert got up to address leaders at the summit. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss matters with diplomatic implications.There was no official Israeli reaction to the apparent snub.French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who organized the summit, said no one left the meeting for bad reasons, adding that many participants came and went during the four-hour session for various reasons.Mr. Assad was very present throughout the afternoon," Sarkozy said. I don't know who said (he wasn't), but he must have had a hidden agenda.Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who co-hosted the meeting, did not rule out the possibility that Assad might have been out of the room when Olmert spoke.If Mr. Assad ... had other things to do outside the room, I don't see the problem, Mubarak said.Hours before the afternoon session began, Olmert used the Paris forum to appeal to Syria to forego the Turkish mediation.

We have begun a process with Syria, he said. It is indirect, but I hope they will soon become direct contacts that will allow progress on this track.Assad later acknowledged Israel and Syria were moving toward reconciliation.We have no other choice but peace, he told France-2 TV. But he said he had much more hope that peace would be achievable after President Bush leaves the White House in January.

He suggested that after agreement in direct talks, a complete peace accord could take six months to two years to implement if both sides are serious.Olmert himself said before the summit that resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict was at the conference's core. But longstanding enmities and grudges were still apparent.

Although Mubarak told the gathering that all countries aim to one day normalize their relations with Israel, some Arab leaders refused to be photographed with Olmert so there was no joint photograph at meeting's end. Most Arab states have refused to have any dealings with Israel before it resolves its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians, though Egypt and Jordan have signed peace treaties. Israel and the moderate Palestinian government that rules the West Bank renewed direct talks in November, though they have since backed away from their declared objective of reaching a final accord by year's end. Olmert waxed optimistic about prospects for reaching an accord, and he met multiple times Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. We have never been as close to a possible (peace) agreement as we are today, Olmert told reporters. Although talks have been troubled since they were relaunched under U.S. auspices in November, the atmosphere was friendly when he and Abbas posed on the steps of the French presidential palace, each with an arm resting on the other's back.

Olmert told Abbas Israel was willing in principle to release some of the more than 9,000 Palestinian prisoners it holds — a gesture meant to show ordinary Palestinians that Abbas' path of moderation pays. But as is the case with Syria, prospects for reaching long-elusive peace agreements could be jeopardized by burgeoning corruption allegations that could topple Olmert. Associated Press writer Laurent Lemel contributed to this report.

Israel to swap prisoners with Hezbollah Wednesday By JOSEF FEDERMAN, Associated Press Writer Sun Jul 13, 5:07 PM ET

JERUSALEM - The Israeli government said it will swap prisoners with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah on Wednesday, closing a chapter between the enemies two years after they fought an inconclusive war. The prison service said Sunday Israel would free five Lebanese, including the perpetrator of one of the most notorious attacks in Israeli history. In exchange, Hezbollah will return two soldiers it captured in a cross-border raid that sparked the 2006 war. Israel believes the soldiers are dead.After nearly two years of negotiations through German mediators, Israel's government approved the release on June 29, but it took several weeks to work out final arrangements. The Israeli announcement came a day after the government received a report from Hezbollah on a missing Israeli soldier who disappeared in Lebanon two decades ago. That report was one of the last sticking points.In the report, Hezbollah said it does not know what happened to Ron Arad, an Israeli air force navigator who was captured alive after his fighter jet went down in Lebanon in 1986, Israeli officials said.

According to the document, Hezbollah believes that Arad is dead, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the report was not released to the public. The Israeli Cabinet is expected to discuss the report on Tuesday.Israeli officials said the report contains two new pictures of Arad and parts of a diary he kept in the 1980s. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because the material has not been made public, said the diary and the pictures had only sentimental value and did not shed light on Arad's fate. The Hezbollah report offered some new lines of inquiry, but no definite information, they said.A letter from Arad was delivered to his family during that time and a videotaped message Arad recorded in the late 1980s was released several years ago. But he has not been heard from since then.The Israeli prison service said that on Wednesday it will free Samir Kantar, a Lebanese man serving multiple life terms for a 1979 attack. After infiltrating Israel, he killed a policeman, then kidnapped a man and his 4-year-old daughter and killed them outside their home.

Israel says Kantar brutally beat the girl to death, though he has denied the accusation. As the attack unfolded, the girl's mother hid inside a crawl space inside their home and accidentally smothered their 2-year-old daughter, fearing Kantar would find them.

His release has stirred emotional opposition from relatives of victims of the attack and others. Israel's Supreme Court last week turned down an appeal against his release from children of the dead police officer.Israel said it would also release four Hezbollah prisoners captured in the 2006 war. Israel also is expected to turn over the bodies of some 200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters. Military crews dug up the bodies from an Israeli cemetery last week in preparation for the exchange.In return, Israel is to receive the two soldiers captured by Hezbollah in a cross-border raid on July 12, 2006, that set off a fierce 34-day war. More than 1,000 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed in the fighting, according to Lebanese officials, while 159 Israelis were killed, including 40 civilians killed by Hezbollah rockets.Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he believes the captive Israeli soldiers are dead. Hezbollah has given no sign that they are alive, and the Red Cross has never been allowed to visit them.Listing the names of the prisoners to be freed started a 48-hour period for Israelis to appeal against their release to the Supreme Court. The court was not expected to intervene.Hezbollah has confirmed the planned swap, but it declined comment on Israel's announcement.In Jerusalem, Red Cross spokesman Helge Kvam confirmed that Israel had approached his organization about assisting in the upcoming swap with Hezbollah.

He said several technical issues still had to be resolved. The Red Cross must interview the Lebanese prisoners to ensure they want to return to their country. It also would need to bring in enough trucks, most likely from Jordan, if the sides ask it to transport the prisoners and bodies across the Israel-Lebanese border.The ICRC confirms we have been approached by Israeli authorities and we have informed them that we are ready to act as a neutral intermediary, as the neutral link between Israel and Hezbollah, he said. The reason this is important to us is for the families on both sides. It's extremely important that even if they only get mortal remains, they can bury them according them to their traditions and religions.

As part of the deal, Israel is to provide information on four Iranian diplomats who disappeared in Lebanon in 1982. Iran claims they were kidnapped by Lebanese militiamen allied with Israel, who delivered them to Israeli troops. Israel has long denied holding them, and Samir Geagea, former head of the disbanded Lebanese Forces, has said militiamen killed them. Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982, taking over large areas as part of a military sweep to expel Palestinian guerrillas.

Sarkozy launches the Mediterranean Union JULY 13,08

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has launched a new international body with 43 member nations aimed at ending conflict in the Middle East. The Union for the Mediterranean will tackle issues such as regional unrest, immigration to pollution. At the summit's opening in Paris, Mr Sarkozy said its aim was to ensure the region's people could love each other instead of making war. Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier expressed optimism about peace talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel and the Palestinians have never been as close to a peace deal as they are now. He was speaking after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who said both sides were serious and wanted to achieve peace.

Transform the region

Mr Sarkozy urged Middle Eastern countries involved in long-running conflicts to end the deadly spiral of war and violence, as European nations had done by making peace which each other during the 20th Century. He said the grouping will build peace in the Mediterranean together, like yesterday we built peace in Europe. Comprising 27 EU members with states from north Africa, the Balkans, Israel and the Arab world, the union's membership will include 756m people from Western Europe to the Jordanian desert. Welcoming the presence of Arab states alongside Israel, Greece alongside Turkey and Morocco alongside Algeria, Mr Sarkozy said the group would not be north against south, not Europe against the rest... but united. He outlined the group's determination to focus on concrete projects focusing on the environment, immigration, security cooperation, transport and education. The French president was clearly buoyed by the presence in Paris of so many Mediterranean rim leaders and said the union would be based on concrete projects.But critics have dismissed the new union as lacking substance, and diplomats say there are continuing disagreements over key issues such as how to address the Middle East peace process and a possible role for the Arab League. The only leader boycotting the Paris meeting was Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who has described the union as a new form of colonialism, and he may just be right. Mr Sarkozy played down the absence of Moroccan King Mohammed VI, saying he had sent his brother as a senior representative. He also dismissed suggestions the Syrian president had snubbed Israel by walking out of a speech by Ehud Olmert.Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said both he and Mr Olmert were serious and wanted peace. Israeli PM Ehud Olmert said his country had never been so close to reaching an agreement with the Palestinians as now. He added that he would like direct talks with Syria, but warned they must not hinder talks with the Palestinians.

Qatari Amir meets Olmert JULY 13,08

DOHA: Qatari Amir, Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday in Paris on the sidelines of a Mediterranean Union launch summit.It said the two leaders discussed efforts to relaunch the Middle East peace process and the possibility of lifting the Israeli blockage imposed on the Gaza Strip.The Qatari prime minister, Shaikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, who doubles as foreign minister, also took part in the meeting.Qatar maintains contacts with Israel despite the absence of diplomatic relations and has since 1996 housed an Israeli trade office. Representatives of the two countries hold frequent meetings.

Jul 13, 2008 23:46 Analysis: Conducting diplomacy under the cloud of investigation By HERB KEINON, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT PARISPrint Subscribe

French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked like a giddy schoolboy as he held Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's hand in one of his own, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's hand in the other, after the three issued statements to the press on Sunday in a gilded room in the Elysee Palace. This was Sarkozy's moment - the French president had organized a meeting of 45 of the world's leaders for his new Mediterranean Union, and was now front and center as one of the world's peacemakers. It was obvious that Sarkozy, flanked by Olmert and Abbas, was relishing the moment, and didn't want to let it go. So, following the statements, he did something neither Olmert nor Abbas did. He waded into the arms of waiting journalists and briefed them on the morning's events. Olmert, by contrast, seemed to be avoiding journalists. Though it has become somewhat of a tradition for Israeli prime ministers, when they go abroad, to brief the traveling press, no such briefing was on Olmert's two-day schedule in Paris. On the way from Tel Aviv to Paris late Saturday night, Olmert greeted reporters with a brief tw- minute statement, in which he took the police to task for leaking details of his investigation. While Sarkozy was looking for the microphones and the glare of the camera, Olmert was trying to avoid it - at least the Israeli cameras and microphones. There was something bewildering about the prime minister saying on Sunday alongside Sarkozy and Abbas that the moment of truth with the Palestinians was at hand, and that both Israel and the Palestinians would have to make difficult and painful decisions.

We have never been so close to an agreement as now, he said. As if Olmert - his position weakened badly as a result of the latest investigation - would be in any position to make those painful and critical decisions. One Israeli diplomatic official said that the Arab world was bewildered by the brouhaha over Olmert's corruption charges. The leaders in the Arab world have so many humps on their back, they can't imagine why we are making so much noise over just one on Olmert's back, the official said. The official added, however,that there was an understanding in the Arab world of the depth of Olmert's problems, and that there was an interest in coming to some kind of agreement with him now on the Palestinian issue in order to obligate any government that comes after.

According to the official, there was an interest in getting a deposit from Olmert now, along the liens of the famous deposit then prime minister Yitzhak Rabin gave at the time to US Secretary of State Warren Christopher in 1993 regarding an Israeli willingness to withdraw from the Golan Heights in exchange for peace. They want something in their pocket before Olmert leaves office, the official said. One Italian diplomat, when asked about how Olmert's political problems impacted on his country's Middle East policies, said that while Olmert's problems interested the Italian media, for the Italian government they really did not matter. He is the only address we have, the official said. He still represents Israel. We will continue to work with him, what else do we have? An Algerian journalist covering the gathering, Hassan Moali from the El Watan newspaper, said that Olmert's problems did not interest the Algerians. We don't care about the corruption, he said. But it does seem that anyone in Israel who wants to make peace will be driven from office.

M East leaders hopeful at Med Union launch
Sunday, 13 Jul 2008 21:28

Nicolas Sarkozy welcomes Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas to the Grand Palais .US In Focus From our own correspondent: Tehran If the US public is aware of the extent to which the White House was interfering in the internal affairs of Tehran in an attempt to topple the Iranian government, they would demand an immediate.

The inauguration of the Mediterranean Union in Paris has been heartened by signs a Middle East peace deal could be near.Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert told attendees the Jewish state had never been as close to an accord with the Palestinians.Over 40 leaders are meeting in Paris to launch the Mediterranean Union, the brainchild of French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Twenty-seven European countries and 17 from North Africa and the Middle East are present as they kickstart work on a number of projects, including the development of solar energy, cleaning up the polluted Mediterranean and cultural exchanges.The goal of the summit is that we learn how to love each other in the Mediterranean, instead of continuing to hate and wage war, Mr Sarkozy said at the Grand Palais on the Champs-Elysees.It doesn't mean that all of the problems are resolved of course.But adding to Mr Olmert's comments, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas said both sides were serious and wanted to achieve peace.

The forum's first breakthrough was announced last night when it emerged Syria and Lebanon were to renew ties. The two countries have not had fully-fledged embassies in each other's capitals in the postcolonial era. Lebanon also blames Damascus for interference in its political system, while Syrian authorities have been implicated in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Mr Sarkozy said on Saturday after talks with Lebanese president Michel Suleiman and Syrian leader Bashar Assad the embassy development could be an historic step forward. Elsewhere attention will be focused on the symbolism of the meeting, with Mr Olmert and Syrian counterpart Mr Assad being present in the same room. Talk of a handshake between the pair is being played down by the experts. Many are instead concentrating on the region's other areas of tension, including Algeria and Morocco's disagreements and the Cyprus issue. The meeting… will be as important for what's happening in the corridors as for the launch of the actual project, Clara O'Donnell of the Centre for European Reform (CER) thinktank told politics.co.uk. Mr Sarkozy will be hoping the MU, the centrepiece of France's EU presidency, will not be scathingly compared to its predecessor, the Barcelona process. But following heavy opposition from German chancellor Angela Merkel such criticism could be difficult to avoid. Her objections to the use of EU funding for projects which would benefit France heavily has led to claims of diminished relevance for the MU. Ms O'Donnell believes practical issues pose a greater problem, however. Infrastructure developments could be difficult between Algeria and Morocco because of their ongoing border dispute. Proposals to establish a secretariat may prove difficult if it is based in an Arab country which does not recognise Israel. And the involvement of the European Commission complicates the entire organisation's independence. The southern partners have big issues working together. The problems the Mediterranean Union will be facing now would have happened without the watering down, she added. After winning the French presidency in the summer of 2007 Mr Sarkozy said he wanted the MU to become a bridge between Europe and Africa. Whether he succeeds will begin to emerge from today.

A New Med Voyage Mark Mardell 14 Jul 08, 01:00 AM

Many of the 44 leaders who came to Paris for the Mediterranean Union summit will make their excuses and leave before the 14 July spectacle. Those who stay may enjoy a little booklet to help them spot the uniforms of the various French troops who will be marching down the Champs Elysees. I know it is the sort of thing I would have not only poured over, but memorised as a ten-year-old. The cloaked and heavily armed amphibious troops of the First Regiment of Spahis, and the bearded Sappers of the Foreign Legion would have been my favourites.This sort of march-past is extremely rare in Europe, and the only countries in this neck of the woods who mount such displays would be the Turks and the Russians. But of course the French are particularly concerned with demonstrating that they are still a major power in their own right. President Sarkozy was cock-a-hoop at the end of the meeting. He said his idea and initiative was an extraordinary concept, and extraordinary gamble. He had asked the leaders of the Arab world to sit in the same room as the Israeli prime minister and the wager paid off. He said that the real problem of the Middle East was a lack of trust, and he hoped to take a risk and establish that trust.

While it is still not clear why President Sarkozy thought up the idea of the Mediterranean Union in the first place, it's true the first ever summit in Paris this weekend made a real impact, at least in media terms. The Syrian president suggested that diplomatic relations with Lebanon might be established for the first time, and the Israeli prime minister said a deal with the Palestinians had never been closer. The churlish might suggest there was nothing new here. But as one diplomat put it, freshness is not the point, it's the continuing thaw and it doesn't matter if the mood music is played twice. Statements were made in public and relayed to people round the region that wouldn't have been made without the Paris meeting. It is certainly higher profile than the already existing Barcelona process, which set up similar links 13 years ago. But the Med Union will get its own bureaucracy in the form of a yet-to-be-established secretariat, at a yet-to-be-identified location and a joint permanent committee based in Brussels. There are also six concrete projects, with enough detail to keep policy wonks happy for decades to come.A document that's been given out says that the North and South of the Med share not only interests but also a common destiny, although it is not spelt out what this destiny might be. It points out that the wealth divide between the North and South of the Med is at least 10 to one and that 40 million new jobs will have to be created in the next 15 years just to maintain unemployment at its present level.

The document sets out six big projects:

Combating pollution: The aim is to clean up the Med by 2020 and make it the cleanest sea in the world. There's a suggestion the whole of the seabed could be declared a protected area, there will be a new body to coordinate coastal protection and a more coherent development of projects like whale sanctuaries. Transport: One potential aim is developing a modern railway network running from Casablanca to Istanbul, and a high-speed rail network linking Libya, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. They also want to promote motorways of the sea, which basically means modernising ports and integrating sea traffic with road links. Civil Protection: The development of more coordination and eventually a common emergency response force to cope with earthquakes and fires, floods and drought.Solar energy: Developing modern, large-scale solar power stations in North Africa and the Middle East to help the European Union meet its low-carbon targets.Higher education: Greater contact between universities of North and South and common standards for approved courses.Business: Spreading the Italian/Spanish Med Agency, which helps small businesses with financing to Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia and eventually to the whole region.

Doubtless some of these projects will move along quicker than others, some will work and others will fail. But can the Med Union permanently push the pace on the peace process, or is this first high-profile event a one-off?

PERSECUSSION,BEHEADINGS

JESUS PERSECUTED BIGTIME

PSALMS 14:1
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

ISAIAH 53:4
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

MATTHEW 9:34
34 But the Pharisees said, He casteth out devils through the prince of the devils.

JOHN 8:41
41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

JOHN 10:20
20 And many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?

PHILIPPIANS 2:10-11(JESUS GETS REVENGE)
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(JUDGEMENT SEAT OF CHRIST AND FOR SINNERS, THE GREAT WHITE THRONE FINAL JUDGEMENT).

WE ARE CHRISTIANS WE WILL BE TREATED THE SAME.

2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5 (WHY WE ARE PERSECUTED BY THE WORLD)
1 This know also, that in the last days perilous (DANGEROUS) times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

MATTHEW 5:10-12
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

MATTHEW 24:9
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

JOHN 15:18-20
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me (JESUS) before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

REVELATION 6:9-11
9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain(BEHEADED) for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

REVELATION 20:4
4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

FAITH UNDER FIRE U.N. scheme to make Christians criminals
Sharia-following Islamic nations demanding anti-defamation law
July 10, 2008 12:00 am Eastern By Bob Unruh 2008 WorldNetDaily

Dozens of nations dominated by Islam are pressing the United Nations to adopt an anti-defamation plan that would make Christians criminals under international law, according to a United States organization that has launched a campaign to defend freedom of religion worldwide.Around the world, Christians are being increasingly targeted, and even persecuted, for their religious beliefs. Now, one of the largest organizations in the United Nations is pushing to make a bad situation even worse by promoting anti-Christian bigotry, the American Center for Law & Justice said yesterday in announcing its petition drive.The discrimination is wrapped in the guise of a U.N. resolution called Combating Defamation of Religions, the announcement said. We must put an immediate end to this most recent, dangerous attack on faith that attempts to criminalize Christianity.The anti-defamation plan has been submitted to the U.N. repeatedly since about 1999, starting out as a plan to ban defamation of Islam and later changed to refer to religions, officials said. It is being pushed by the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference nations, which has adopted the Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam, which states that all rights are subject to sharia law, and makes sharia law the only source of reference for human rights.

The ACLJ petition, which is to be delivered to the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, already had collected more than 23,000 names in just a brief online existence.The ACLJ's European division, the European Center for Law & Justice, also has launched its work on the issue. It submitted arguments last month to the U.N. in opposition to the proposal to institute sharia-based standards around the globe.The position of the ECLJ in regards to the issue of defamation of religion resolutions, as they have been introduced at the U.N. Human Rights Council and General Assembly, is that they are in direct violation of international law concerning the rights to freedom of religion and expression, the organization's brief said.The defamation of religion resolutions establish as the primary focus and concern the protection of ideas and religions generally, rather than protecting the rights of individuals to practice their religion, which is the chief purpose of international religious freedom law.Furthermore, defamation of religion replaces the existing objective criterion of limitations on speech where there is an intent to incite hatred or violence against religious believers with a subjective criterion that considers whether the religion or its believers feel offended by the speech, the group continued.Interestingly, in nations following Islam, the present practice is to use such laws to protect Islam and to attack religious minorities with penalties up to and including execution, the brief noted.What should be most disconcerting to the international community is that laws based on the concept of defamation of religion actually help to create a climate of violence, the argument explained.For example, just two months ago an Afghanistan court following Islam sentenced to death a 23-year-old apprentice journalist who had downloaded an article from an Iranian website and brought it to his class, the ECLJ said. Other instances include:Award-winning author Mark Steyn has been summoned to appear before two Canadian Human Rights Commissions of vague allegations of subject[ing] Canadian Muslims to hatred and contempt for comments in his book, America Alone, the group said.

In Pakistan, 15 people were accused of blasphemy against Islam during the first four months of 2008, the organization said.Another Pakistani man sentenced to life in prison for desecrating the Quran was jailed for six years before being acquitted of the charge.In Saudi Arabia a teacher was sentenced to three years in prison plus 300 lashes for expressing his views in a classroom.In the United Kingdom, police announced plans to arrest a blogger for anti-Muslim statements. In the United States, a plaintiff sued his Internet service provider for refusing to prevent participants in an online chat room from posting or submitting harassing comments that blasphemed and defamed plaintiff's Islamic religion.The ECLJ said, The implementation of domestic laws to combat defamation of religion in many OIC countries reveals a selective and arbitrary enforcement toward religious minorities, who are often Christians. Those violations are frequently punishable by the death penalty.The newest anti-defamation plan was submitted in March. It specifically cites a declaration adopted by the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers at a meeting in Islamabad which condemned the growing trend of Islamophobia and systematic discrimination against adherents of Islam.It also cites the dictates from the OIC meeting in Dakar, in which the Organization expressed concern at the systematically negative stereotyping of Muslims and Islam and other divine religions.It goes on to cite a wide range of other practices that target Islam, but does not mention any other religions, and urges all nations to provide adequate protection against acts of hatred, discrimination, intimidation and coercion resulting from the defamation of any religion.According to published reports, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights' 53 members voted to adopt the resolution earlier this year, with opposition from the United States and the European Union.At the time, Cuba's delegate, Rodolfo Reyes Rodriguez, said: Islam has been the subject of very deep campaign of defamation.They're attempting to pass a sinister resolution that is nothing more than blatant religious bigotry, the ACLJ said in its promotion of its petition. This is very important to understand. This radical proposal would outlaw Christianity … it would make the proclamation of your faith an international crime.

In his recent dissent on the Supreme Court's ruling on Guantanamo Bay, Justice Scalia said, America is at war with radical Islamists. Never has this rung more true than today. Never have Christians been more targeted for their religious beliefs. And never have we faced a more dangerous threat than the one posed by the OIC, the ACLJ said.On the Grizzly Groundswell blog, the author described the situation as, The United Nations: 160 cannibals and 17 civilized people taking a majority vote on what to have for dinner.The U.S. State Department also has found the proposal unpalatable.This resolution is incomplete inasmuch as it fails to address the situation of all religions, said the statement from Leonard Leo. We believe that such inclusive language would have furthered the objective of promoting religious freedom. We also believe that any resolution on this topic must include mention of the need to change educational systems that promote hatred of other religions, as well as the problem of state-sponsored media that negatively targets any one religion.

MEDITERRANEAN UNION UPDATE

Sunday, July 13, 2008

MEDITERRANEAN UNION BIRTHED

REVELATION 13:1-3
1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea,(IN THE BIBLE THE SEA IS THE MEDITERRANEAN 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.(THE EU IS THE ONE STARTED THIS TRADE BLOCK JUST LIKE THE BIBLE SAYS HERE).
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.
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.

DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.
25 And he 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.

THE WEEK OF DANIEL 9:27 WE KNOW ITS 7 YRS

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.

DANIEL 9:26-27
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;(ROMANS DESTROYED THE 2ND TEMPLE) and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he( EU ROMAN, JEWISH DICTATOR) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:( 7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,( 3 1/2 YRS) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

THE NEW CLUB MED - TRADE BLOC IS BORN ON THIS HISTORIC DATE OF SUNDAY JULY 13,2008.

Mediterranean, EU nations to boost ties with grand new union
JULY 13,08

PARIS (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy and 42 leaders on Sunday launched a union between Europe and its Mediterranean neighbours amid hopes the grand plan will bring fresh impetus to Middle East peace efforts.Heads of state and government from the 27 EU nations and an arc of countries from north Africa to the Balkans -- representing some 756 million people -- will inaugurate the new forum at the Grand Palais on Paris' Champs Elysees.The goal of the summit, Sarkozy said, is that we learn how to love each other in the Mediterranean, instead of continuing to hate and wage war.It doesn't mean that all of the problems are resolved of course, he said, following talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on the sidelines of the summit.The meeting will see Syrian President Bashar al-Assad return to the international stage, but while he will sit at the same table as Olmert no talks between them are planned.It is also providing a venue for France to step up its Middle East diplomacy.

We have never been as close to an accord as we are today, Olmert told reporters after his talks with Abbas, in the presence of the French leader.French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner recognised that the region was fraught with tensions and economic disparities but he nevertheless hailed a time of hope for Middle East peace.A new wind of dialogue is blowing around the Mediterranean, he said.

Through his energetic lobbying, Sarkozy scored a major coup by getting almost everyone to the venue, although their attendance will not be enshrined in any family photograph, due to objections.

Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi is boycotting the meeting, while Jordan's King Abdullah II and King Mohammed VI of Morocco are sending senior representatives.Ahead of the summit, Sarkozy met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who agreed to attend despite Ankara's reservations about the union in the face of France's opposition to Turkey's EU membership.To sidestep differences between Israel and its Arab neighbours, the new forum will concentrate on a series of modest regional projects such as cleaning up pollution in the Mediterranean sea or developing solar energy.The union aims to build on the EU's 13-year-old Barcelona process, which was plagued by disputes between Israel and its Arab neighbours.The world is not going to be changed by the meeting today, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters. But the entire region will, hopefully, be changed over time by this particular approach.Drawing up a final declaration has proved difficult, with references in a draft version to the fight against weapons of mass destruction likely to be chopped out.On the eve of the summit, signs emerged that regional differences could rear their heads, with the Arab League saying the new forum must not ignore the plight of the Palestinians.Some partners are reluctant to take part in projects with Israel.Most emphasis in the draft text is on raising the public profile of the forum, by setting up a joint presidency -- with France and Egypt set to take the first turn -- and organising summits every two years.A secretariat will also be created to supervise the projects, but its composition, size and location are not to be decided before November.The summit, starting at 1330 GMT, will be held at the glass-domed Grand Palais that was built for the Paris Exhibition in 1900.

Union of the Mediterranean comes to life
Published: Sunday 13 July 2008 06:53 UTC

Forty three heads of state and government leaders from Europe, North Africa and the Middle East are preparing to set up the Union for the Mediterranean. The union, which will be agreed at a summit in Paris on Sunday, is intended to increase cooperation between EU countries and those around the Mediterranean Sea, and to address environmental, infrastructural and economic concerns.Members will include the countries of the European Union, together with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Monaco, Montenegro and Turkey. From North Africa come Algeria, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia. The Middle Eastern countries of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority and Syria will complete the union.Previous attempts to reach a workable cooperation between the countries have always stumbled to a halt because of tensions between Israel and the Arab states.

Turk PM urges France to be loyal to its commintments at the summit JULY 13,08

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged EU President France to be loyal to its commitments in its accession talks with Turkey at his meeting held with French President Nicholas Sarkozy in Paris on Sunday, where he is attending the summit on the Barcelona Process: Union for the Mediterranean. Heads of state and government from 43 countries are in Paris for the launch summit of the new regional club, bringing together countries that line the Mediterranean as well as European Union member states. (UPDATED)

Erdogan had communicated Turkey's expectations from France during its presidency in its accession talks with the EU while Sarkozy promised to allow accession talks to run its course, the Anatolian Agency (AA) said citing French Presidency officials who spoke to reporters regarding the meeting.The negotiation chapters which were ready for review would be opened to negotiation during the French Presidency, the AA also said.The two leaders discussed Turkey-EU relations, bilateral issues, the Middle East peace process, and the dissolution case against Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), the AA quoted presidency officials as saying.Officials added that Sarkozy appreciated Turkey's mediatorship between Israel and Syria, and he welcomed Turkey's active participation in the Union for Mediterranean Project. Sarkozy reiterated that the Union for Mediterranean Project and Turkey's EU bid were totally different issues.France which opposes Turkey's full membership to the EU and offers privileged partnership instead, announced earlier that it would not object to the opening of two or three chapters to negotiations during its term as EU president. France vetoed earlier, opening of the chapters on common fiscal and economic policy as it made direct reference to full membership.The Union for Mediterranean is a project aiming at developing cooperation in the Mediterranean. This project is not an alternative to Turkey's EU membership process. It was underlined by European leaders on many occasions. Erdogan said in Istanbul prior to his departure for France on Sunday.

The final statement to be released at the end of the summit will also refer to it. From the very beginning, Turkey has been advocating to develop tangible projects for development of cooperation in the Mediterranean, he added.Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan also accompanied Erdogan in the meeting that was closed to the press.

NEXT MEETINGS

After his meeting with Sarkozy, Erdogan will meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel, President Bashar al-Asad of Syria, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero of Spain, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende of the Netherlands, during his stay in Paris.Turkey initially viewed with suspicion the initiative of Sarkozy, who has long opposed Ankara's bid to join the 27-nation EU bloc.

MIDDLE EAST AGENDA

The Middle East peace process is high on agenda since the leaders of Syria, Israel and Palestine are also attending the summit.Eyes will be on Syrian President Bashir al-Assad who stages a comeback to the international stage with his Paris visit and will find himself at the Grand Palais along with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Israel and Syria technically remain at war ever since the creation of the Jewish state in 1948, although they have moved to revive peace efforts through indirect talks, with Turkey as mediator.France had floated the idea of a historic meeting between Assad and Olmert, but both sides rejected the move as premature.

French diplomats say the seating arrangement at the summit -- by alphabetical order -- will ensure that Israeli and Syrian leaders are kept well apart.The Union for the Mediterranean is a proposed community of EU-member states and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea planned to be established in July 2008. It was originally suggested by Sarkozy as part of his election campaign.

Sarkozy, last year, invited all Mediterranean leaders to the summit in France to take place on July 13, 2008. The project envisages cooperation among the EU-member states and Mediterranean-littoral countries in environment, potable water, energy, transportation, sustainable development and fight against illegal migration.The only no-show at the founding summit of the Union for the Mediterranean in Paris is Libyan President Moamer Kadhafi, who has assailed the new club as a European ploy to undermine Arab and African unity.

Battle to host France's Union for the Mediterranean headquarters By Nick Meo and Susan Bell 12:30AM BST 13/07/2008

President Nicolas Sarkozy will unveil his grand vision of a Union for the Mediterranean in Paris, but his hoped-for diplomatic triumph may be marred by squabbling about where to put its headquarters. Details of the 44-member grouping will be announced by Mr Sarkozy at a summit to launch what he hopes will be the centrepiece of France’s European Union presidency. Yet one important detail is missing: the new organisation does not have a home. North African leaders are fighting to get the headquarters of what some have nicknamed Club Med located on their soil. Even though the secretariat will be small to begin with, all the countries concerned are aware of its potential to grow. Malta, Spain and the French city of Marseilles have also staked a claim to the headquarters. A French diplomat said: This is not going to be settled at the summit. There is tension between the Maghreb countries, they are very jealous. One likely outcome is for the secretariat to move to Tunisia. A base in an important non-EU nation is the favoured option. Tunis could be an acceptable compromise for Morocco and Algeria, which are bitter rivals. The new grouping will link 15 mostly Mediterranean countries, including Israel, with a combined population of 279 million, to the EU’s 27 member states and 495 million citizens. Away from the choreographed events, which will be attended by Gordon Brown, there will be arguments and deal-making. President Sarkozy’s original dream was for a new body, supported by the EU and taking in all the nations around the shores of the Mediterranean. Its creator believes it will draw Europe closer to its poorer southern neighbours and ensure billions of euros are spent on their infrastructure and environmental projects. But the attempt to set up the union has sparked rows and claims that France is trying to reassert its influence in the region while expecting the EU to foot the bill. Mr Sarkozy has had to water down his plans since he announced them halfway through a French election campaign. The southern countries expected generous spending if they joined, but the new body is now expected to have less cash than was hoped for and today’s declaration is expected to consist more of vague platitudes than firm pledges. In March, Mr Sarkozy lost a fight with Angela Merkel, pictured, over his plans and was forced to agree to membership being widened to include northern EU states, including Britain.

He also had to change the proposed name of Mediterranean Union because it was seen as too similar to the European Union, and had to guarantee to Germany that spending would not be switched from eastern Europe to the south. He has also had to reassure Turkey that the Union for the Mediterranean is not intended to give it a second-rate alternative to full EU membership. Last week, Libya’s leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, denounced the new body as colonialism reborn and raised fears that it would provoke a terrorist backlash. A less lurid concern is that it will never amount to more than an expensive French pet project which could produce more bureaucracy. Under its predecessor, the so-called Barcelona Process, the EU spent nearly €6 billion (£4.8 billion) in about seven years in North Africa and the Middle East. This year, the House of Commons’ European Scrutiny Committee raised questions about the spending. Among the projects Mr Sarkozy hopes to get off the ground through the new grouping are efforts to clean up pollution in the Mediterranean, and solar power programmes in North Africa. There is no plan to make the EU more open to immigration from its southern neighbours; billions will be spent on developing their infrastructure, in the hope that if their economies develop there will be less illegal immigration.

Al-Jazeera Highlights Moroccan, Algerian Position on Mediterranean Union By: iStockAnalyst Sunday, July 13, 2008 7:52 AM

Al-Jazeera TV on 12 July discussed the launch of the Union for the Mediterranean at a 13 July Paris summit. The station's main concern was the presence of Israel in the summit, and in the union itself, as well as the position of Arab countries on that point in particular. To reflect Morocco's position, Al-Jazeera carried a video clip of Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb El Fassi Fihri, speaking to reporters, in which he said: Israel has been attending meetings relevant to the Barcelona Process since 1995. Naturally, the Israeli presence does not mean any normalization of ties with any Arab country that has no diplomatic relations with Israel. It is the contrary. This is an opportunity to convey the view point of the Arab group, which is not an opposing one. It is more than that. It is a strong initiative, an Arab peace initiative.The TV presenter's tone was one of doubt, especially with regard to the minister's comment in which he said that the presence of Israel did not mean normalization of ties with Israel. To reflect Algeria's position, which Al-Jazeera said was hesitant for a long time before President Bouteflika decided to attend the Paris summit, the station interviewed Mesbah Manas, a political analyst and academic from Algeria. Manas defended his country's last- minute shift, and said Algiers had to look after its interests. He said: To be honest, we live in a world of blocs. I believe historical ties with France and mutual interests, especially when these ties had gained higher importance following the visit of French President Sarkozy to Algeria, are facts entailing that Algeria must not be absent from the summit. Yes, there are objections to the summit in relation to Israel and the overall agendas. However, in my opinion, the absence of Algeria would have had more negative impact. I also think that [Algeria's] presence, as a start, is positive and important.

Asked why not sticking to the Arab League, the Arab Maghreb Union or the African Union, Manas said: Algeria is a central country in the Mediterranean basin. Algeria has ties and interests, and let us not forget that there is an Algerian community in France that numbers in the millions. There are mutual interests. Asked about fears of normalization of ties with Israel, which Al-Jazeera thought was the hidden goal of the summit, Manas said: I believe that [Algeria's] presence would not mean normalization because the official Algerian position continues to stress that normalization of ties with Israel is based on several conditions, most importantly is for Israel to respect the international legitimacy represented in the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, the Shab'a Farms, Kafr Shuba, and all [change of thought], and also the Golan Heights. There will be normalization when Israel have addressed all these points. Therefore, the presence of Algeria [in the summit] does not necessarily mean normalization. He further repeated what the Moroccan minister had said earlier in the programme about Israel's presence in the Barcelona Process meetings. Libya's boycott of the summit seems to have met the station's expectations from Arab leaders who have flown to Paris to attend the 13 July launch of the union. The Union for the Mediterranean is a scaled-back version of a French idea promoted by Sarkozy to boost ties with the southern neighbours of the EU bloc and improve cooperation on trade, security and migration.

Originally published by Al-Jazeera TV, Doha, in Arabic 2130 12 Jul 08. Story Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East.

Mediterranean union must not ignore Palestinians: Arab League 13 July 2008, 00:19 CET

(PARIS) - The new Union for the Mediterranean to be inaugurated on Sunday in Paris must not ignore the plight of the Palestinians, Arab League chief Amr Mussa said Saturday.Mussa was attending a meeting of Arab foreign ministers held ahead of the founding summit of the new union that will bring together 43 leaders from Europe, the Middle East, north Africa and the Balkans.When the UFM examines the situation in the Mediterranean region, it must not ignore the Palestinian cause, Mussa told journalists.But he added that Arab countries do not expect the new forum to find solutions, because the solutions are there and are known.He cited halting the expansion of Jewish settlements, creating a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Syria and the Palestinian territories.Arab foreign ministers were meeting to consider provisions of the summit's final declaration that deal with the situation in the Middle East.Finding an acceptable wording for such declarations has in the past dogged meetings of the European Union's Barcelona process, which sought to bring together EU and Mediterranean leaders.The Paris summit will be attended by 43 leaders, with only Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi boycotting the gathering after dismissing it as a ploy to undermine Arab and African unity.Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be attending along with Lebanon's new head of state Michel Sleiman, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.Text and Picture 2008 AFP. All other 2008 EUbusiness Ltd.

Israel sees Mediterranean Union as way to boost Arab ties JULY 10,08

JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel hopes the new Mediterranean Union will help improve relations with the Arab world, but Arabs warn against any attempt to bring normalisation in through the back door.Israel has always considered that it is in the interest of all the peoples of the Mediterranean to reinforce their cooperation, which is why we are happy to participate in the Mediterranean Union, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said of the entity that will be launched at a Paris summit on Sunday.This is the first time that the top leaders of the Mediterranean meet with the participation of Israel, he said.As with every international meeting, we hope that it will provide the opportunity for direct encounters between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Arab leaders, he added.One Arab leader attending the summit will be Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country recently resumed peace talks with Israel, after an eight-year break, through Turkish mediation.On Tuesday, Syria called on European governments to show understanding of Arab refusal to normalise ties with Israel without a comprehensive peace deal.The Europeans need to understand Arab demands to recover their lands and not engage in a normalisation process for free with an enemy that is still occupying our territory, said the ruling party's Al-Baath daily.Arabs want to see the launch of a comprehensive development process so that progress and peace can reign on both shores of the Mediterranean, it added.Peace and security are not achievable if territories are not restored to their rightful owners and if the social and economic gap between the two shores of the Mediterranean is not closed.

That's the Arab message that President Bashar al-Assad will be taking to Paris, it concluded.The editorial echoed concerns raised at a meeting in Algiers early last month when Arab foreign ministers called for clarification surrounding Israel's membership of a Mediterranean Union.Among the items that must be clarified are the consequences of Israel's presence inside the Mediterranean Union, said Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.The Mediterranean Union must not normalise (relations) between Israel and Arab countries, something which has not been achieved by the Barcelona process, launched in 1995 to bring the European Union and five countries from the Mediterranean's southern rim closer together, he said.Normalising relations with Israel is the issue of a separate debate among Arab countries, which voted in 2002 that Israel must withdraw from territories captured during the 1967 Middle East war before normalisation can occur.Medelci warned that Mediterranean Union countries that do not have relations with Israel must not be forced to be part of joint projects with Israel inside the Union.Syria's Assad and Israel's Olmert are both attending the summit, but the Israeli press has said that, in order to avoid any embarrassing situations, they will be seated well apart at the summit table.For his part, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said we welcome the fact that the Syrians are talking to the Israelis.The two sides, which remain at a state of war despite a 1974 armistice, have held three rounds of Turkish-mediated talks and have agreed to hold another.Syria has made any peace deal conditional on Israel's withdrawal from all of the Golan heights, the strategic plateau the Jewish state seized in 1967 and annexed in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community.Israel is also engaged in peace talks with the Palestinians, who are also unwilling to see the Mediterranean Union as a vehicle for papering over differences between the two sides.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said the new entity will be a step in the right direction, but no project for regional cooperation will be able to function fully while the Israeli occupation continues.In order for a genuine partnership to emerge, the countries involved (in the Mediterranean Union) should press Israel to put an end to the occupation of the Palestinian territories.Israel has also made overtures about achieving peace with another neighbour, Lebanon.It is expected that recently elected Lebanese President Michel Sleiman will attend the Paris summit, but there has been no indication of planned meetings with the Israelis.

THE 7 YEAR SABBATH OF THE LAND

Shalom Stan, JULY 12,08 MESSIANIC BIBLE PROJECT.

It’s a typical day in Israel, which means sunny and full of life with beautiful flowers and trees everywhere! Every morning I wake up thanking God for fulfilling Ezekiel’s prophecy of bringing us back to the Land and making it blossom again.

For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. The desolate land will be cultivated and in the sight of everyone who passes by. They will say, This desolate land has become like the garden of Eden. Ezekiel 36:24, 33-35.

Every city in Israel is unique and today I’m making stops in 5 cities to visit outreach workers and to pray for those cities and how we will reach them by setting up future Gospel cafes.It’s 7 am and I’m writing this letter to you this morning from Ramat Gan (near Tel Aviv), however I have to meet with outreach workers in various cities today. I will be in Ranana by 10:00, then Haifa by 2:00 and then in Sefad by 4:30 (first I have to go to the town to a cousin’s home in Meron) and later tonight at 8:30 I will be meeting with Believers and outreach workers in the city of Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. It will be a long day, but in sharing the Gospel and building up the Kingdom of God, it is a joy to be working and there is no time to waste.The body of Messiah is growing in Israel: Recently about 600 of the Israeli Messianic youth attended an outdoor worship conference where the presence of Spirit of the Lord was felt by all. Many of these Israeli teenagers (18-21) were in the army and they needed this refreshing of the Spirit of God. One of attendees said: The spirit of the Lord was so thick, that I just rested in His presence for hours.Orthodox Yeshiva students accept Yeshua: Ori, an outreach worker recently shared the Gospel with David, an Orthodox Jew attending a Yeshiva (seminary) in Sefed. David asked about the Messianic prophecies and he wanted to know more about Yeshua. After three meetings he accepted confessed with his mouth, and believed in his heart that Yeshua is Lord. He was so excited that his Orthodox Yeshiva study partner (a classmate) also accepted Yeshua! Families accepting the Lord: This month another Israeli family of five accepted the Lord. First the mother, then a daughter, then a son-in-law, and one by one, people in the family believed in the Promised Messiah of Israel – Yeshua! It is awesome to see whole families coming to faith. Family salvation is promised in Acts 16:31 - They replied, Believe in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and you will be saved - you and your household.

Even though people are being saved in Israel, we must put this in perspective. Still 99.9% of the people in Israel do not know Yeshua. However, with your help Stan, we will be able to continue reaching the people here and change these statistics.Stan, please make a difference for the Kingdom today!
http://www.messiancibible.com/donate.asp?cs=2008July11

The CARMEL ALERT July 11th 2008 A compilation of news reports from the past week for the information of those committed to praying for Israel and the salvation of the Jewish people. David's Comment: The Iran Nuclear Issue - Israel: Damned if You Do - Damned if You Dont.

As the weeks pass by and we have already entered the second half of 2008, for Israel and the USA, the issue of Iran's nuclear program is coming to a head. Even without madman Armadinejad's constant rhetoric calling for the destruction and disappearance of Israel, a nuclear armed Iran would be a worry. Any Islamic nation with nuclear power is a worry as underneath any peaceful surface, lies the evil spirit of Islam that calls for Islamic world domination at any price - the lives of innocent people being taken in acts of religious violence is irrelevant.In spite of disagreement, protests and sanctions, Iran continues undeterred, to construct an enormous infrastructure of nuclear facilities. They are planning to have more than 3000 centrifuges - in which they will produce Enriched Uranium. It is Enriched Uranium that empowers the Atomic Bomb.
The simple fact of the matter is that Iran is a rogue nation and cannot be allowed to achieve nuclear capabilities. The US, UN & EU have been applying pressure on Iran to cease construction. Even with very generous financial and trade incentives, Iran refuses to comply. Of course the peace orientated Western world believes that continued negotiations will succeed, but the chances of that working with Iran are almost neglible. That leaves only one other option - destroy Iran's nuclear facilities before Iran uses them on Israel. Someone has to take the initiative and stop Iran now

In June 1981, Israel was faced with the same dilemma as Iraq was finishing construction of a nuclear plant. The French built reactor was totally destroyed in a surprise attack by the Israeli Air Force. At first the world condemned Israel (whats new ?) but as time went on and Saddam Hussein showed his true colors, it became clear that Israel saved the Middle East and herself from a nuclear armed madman.So now we have Iran in the nuclear seat. The rheotoric is flying both ways. Iran is threatening the USA and Israel. Rumours are coming out of the US & Israel and Israel about a mission to destroy Iran's facilities sometime this year. On the other hand, other sources are denying any form of military action, but to me it seems inevitable. In fact the longer they leave it, the worse the situation will be. Iran cannot be allowed to have nuclear weapons.Israel seems to be in a lose / lose situation. If Israel takes the initiative and attacks Iran, there will be a firestorm in the Middle East and even perhaps in the US and Europe. As usual the world will lay the blame at Israel's feet. And if Israel does not take action and Iran reaches her nuclear goal, then Israel will be in great danger of being destroyed by a nuclear firestorm. Former US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton believes that puts Israel in an impossible situation.

However there is one other alternative - an excellent alternative ........... The Body of Messiah can launch a war against Iran - a spiritual war.

Josie will take over off here ...............

The history of Israel has never changed. Israel has always had her enemies who want to annihilate her, but Israel has always had her God, to deliver her. The God of Israel, who is far above every other power and principality, every other dominion and authority, every other god and every other nation. However, for the God of Israel to act on Israel's behalf with great power, He has always had intercessors to stand in the gap and plead before Him for mercy, and to remind Him of His covenant and to deliver Israel for His great names sake. Men such as Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Jeremiah, Isaiah and the many others, stood before the God of Israel and called upon Him for help in times of war and trouble. We are the intercessors for today and we desparately need to come before Him and plead for mercy and deliverance from Israeli's modern day enemies. Here are some scriptures to remind our all powerful, all consuming God.

Psalm 34:7 ..... For without cause they have hidden their net for me in a pit, which they have dug without cause for my life, let destruction come upon him unexpectedly, and let his net that he has hidden catch himself, into that very destruction let him fall

Psalm 37:35 When the wicked are cut off you shall see it, I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a native green tree, yet he passed away, and behold, he was no more,......... the transgressors shall be destroyed together, the future of the wicked shall be cut off ............... but the salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, He is their strength in the time of trouble, and the Lord shall help them and deliver them, He shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them because they trust in Him.

Psalm 33: 10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing, He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect, The counsel of the Lord stands forever

Daniel 10:18,19..... O my God incline Your ear and hear, open Your eyes and see our desolations..... we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds but because of Your great mercies. O Lord hear ! O Lord forgive ! O Lord listen and act ! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

Psalm 44:10..... You are my King O God, Command victories for Israel, thru You, we will trample those who rise up against us
and verse 23-26. Awake! Why do you sleep O Lord, Arise ! Do not cast us off forever, ..........Arise for our help and redeem us for Your
mercies sake.

Psalm 46:3.... Thru the greatness of Your power, Your enemies shall submit themselves to You....... He rules by His power forever

Psalm 71: 10-12..... Those who lie in wait for my life (for Israel) take counsel together, saying God has forsaken him(her), pursue and take him for there is none to deliver him.......... O God, do not be far from me (us)- O my God make haste to help me (us) Let them be confounded and consumed.

Also pray all of Psalms, 2, 33 and 83....................

Psalm 105: 8-10 He remembers His covenant forever, the word which He commanded for a thousand generations.

The Lord bless you as you bless Israel by standing in defense of her right to exist on the land given to the Jewish people by the God of Israel Lets pray that Israel will turn back to their God. Do not be silent, but share this with your fellow Christians, share it with your pastors, and with anyone you have a chance to speak to. Lets also pray for that breakthrough to the Muslims, and please remember to pray for our son Jordan, and all of his fellow soldiers in the IDF.

Shabbat Shalom ... David & Josie

* * * * FLASH TRAFFIC: WASHINGTON UPDATE * * * * MISSILES & THE MESSIAH MAKING NEWS Interesting times we live in. By Joel C. Rosenberg

(Washington, D.C., July 11, 2008) -- Talk of missiles and the Messiah are making big news in Israel, Iran, and the U.S. in recent days. It's a curious combination, to be sure. But numerous high-profile stories and television programs on both topics are stirring interest and controversy among millions in three countries that could not be more different. The Messiah stories are particularly interesting to me. Iran, as I mentioned the other day, is running a new documentary TV series on Jewish, Christian and Islamic eschatology (End Times theology), consistent with President Ahmadinejad's on-going call for the Muslim world to prepare for the imminent arrival of the Islamic Messiah, known as the Mahdi. The Israeli archaeological community, meanwhile, is currently abuzz over the discovery of an ancient stone tablet dated not long before the birth of Jesus that strongly suggests that religious Jews of the day were expecting the coming of a Messiah who would suffer, die, and be resurrected three days later. Most Rabbis and other Jewish scholars have long argued that the death and resurrection of a Jewish Messiah was a Christian invention, not part of long-established Jewish thought or Biblical teaching. But a front-page story in Haaretz, a leading Israeli newspaper, just a few days ago has a lot of people asking: Are Jews really supposed to believe their Messiah will actually die and rise again, and was this really Orthodox religious thinking before the time of Jesus?

That said, let's actually start with the missile stories. Tensions are growing -- as are oil prices -- after Iran tested more medium- to long-range ballistic missiles overnight. Each of the missiles were capable of reaching Israel, all U.S. bases in the region, all of the major oil fields and facilities in the epicenter, and even cities in southern Europe. Each were also capable, experts believe, of carrying nuclear warheads. Particularly disturbing to me was this story out of Israel. The IAEA's latest report of Iranian nuclear capabilities noted several covert developments which should be cause for some concern: Developments of nuclear detonators, high-end experiments involving conventional explosives made to accelerate nuclear warheads' fission and underground nuclear testing facilities. The most disconcerting find, however was that of computer files suggesting Iran already possesses - and may have already tested - a full-fledged nuclear warhead. To make matters worse, the Swiss authorities have recently discovered even more computer files suggesting Abd al-Kader Khan did more than draw plans for a simple nuclear warhead - he may have also provided the Iranians with the blueprints for a new, extremely small nuclear warhead, which can be installed atop ballistic missiles.

Consider these other headlines:

* Iran Press Service: In Direct Warning to Israel, Iran Test-Fired Long-Range Missile
* Islamic Republic News Agency: President Ahmadinejad: US, Israel not dare attack Iran
* AP: Iran test-fires more missiles in Persian Gulf
* Times of London: Iran ready to strike at Israel's nuclear heart: Iran has moved ballistic missiles into launch positions, with Israel's Dimona nuclear plant among the possible targets
* AP: Israeli defense minister Barak hints at Israel's readiness to strike Iran
* AP: Rice warns Iran that US will defend Israel
* MEMRI: Iran in Preparations, Deployment to Withstand Possible Attack by West

There's no question now that Tehran, Jerusalem and Washington are also actively preparing for the possibility of a major regional war this fall. But that's not all. A Wall Street Journal editorial yesterday morning on Iran's Missile Threat raises another disturbing scenario, one seemingly ripped right out of my latest thriller, Dead Heat. Yesterday's tests offered no big surprises about Iran's missile technology, but they are a useful reminder of just how real the Iranian threat is - and how rapidly it is growing, observed the Journal. One of the missiles tested was the latest update of the Shahab-3, which has a range of about 1,250 miles. Replace the payload with a lighter one - say, a nuclear warhead - and the range gains 1,000 miles. Add a booster and the range can be extended even farther. North Korea did just that with its Taepodong missile - technology that it passed along to Iran. U.S. intelligence estimates that Iran will have a ballistic missile capable of reaching New York or Washington by about 2015. Iran may already have the capability to target the U.S. with a short-range missile by launching it from a freighter off the East Coast. A few years ago it was observed practicing the launch of Scuds from a barge in the Caspian Sea. This would be especially troubling if Tehran is developing EMP - electromagnetic pulse - technology. A nuclear weapon detonated a hundred miles over U.S. territory would create an electromagnetic pulse that would virtually shut down the U.S. economy by destroying electronic circuits on the ground. William Graham, head of a Congressional commission to assess the EMP threat, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee this morning. We hope someone asks him about Iran.All the more reason to move forward -- rapidly -- with a robut missile defense program for the U.S., Israel and Europe, regardless of what the Russians say.

Now, let's turn to the Messiah stories. Through TV programs like The Secret of Armageddon, the Iranian government continues trying to prepare people for what Ahmadinejad sees as the increasingly imminent coming of the Islamic Messiah. I don't begrudge them that, per se. I also believe we are living in the last days. I believe the Messiah is coming. And I believe we all need to live differently in light of these truths. The problem is that while Jesus, the Apostles and all Biblical eschatology teaches us to love our neighbors and our enemies in the End Times -- and share the good news of God's love and salvation for all who will listen and respond -- Shia Islamic eschatology teaches just the opposite. The way to hasten the Mahdi's appearance or arrival on earth, Shia scholars teach, is to create chaos and carnage on the planet and kill tens of millions of people. They believe that annihilating Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it and sending the world goes up in flames will then trigger the arrival of the Mahdi who will bring righteousness, justice and peace and create a worldwide Islamic empire. Of course, it's one thing to believe in such horrifying theology. It's another thing to run a country based on it. Yet that is exactly what is happening in Iran today. Such Shia eschatology is driving Iranian foreign policy. What's more, it is driving the Iranian regime's feverish bid to build, buy or steal nuclear weapons and the missiles capable of delivering them to U.S. and Israeli targets. Such genocidal zealots cannot be successfully negotiated with or deterred. That's what is so critical for Washington and our allies to understand. Ahmadinejad -- and, more importantly, the Ayatollah Khamenei -- don't want to be stopped. They believe they are on a God-given mission to bring about the end of the world, and they are eager and passionate about getting the job done as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, a far healthier discussion is going on right now in Israel. Many religious Jews also believe global events are lining up to usher in the coming of the Messiah. Of course, they believe He will be arriving for the first time, not the second time, as Christians believe. But now the very nature of who the Messiah is and what He will do when He arrives is being debated in a whole new way. Consider these stories (and I strongly encourage you to read each thoroughly):

* Haaretz (a leading Israeli daily newspaper): Dead Sea tablet suggests Jewish resurrection imagery pre-dates Jesus
* New York Times: Ancient Tablet Ignites Debate on Messiah and Resurrection
* Agence France Presse: Mystery tablet could redefine Jewish-Christian links
* The Jewish Journal: Was Jesus' resurrection culturally expected?

Israeli Professor Israel Knohl of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem finds himself in the spotlight for a presentation he is giving this week at a major conference on the 60th anniversary of discovering the Dead Sea Scrolls. His lecture is entitled, The Gabriel Revelation and the Birth of Christianity, and it is creating a whole lot of buzz. The first part [of the ancient tablet that he has been studying] describes an eschatological war, Knohl explains. The nations of the world besiege Jerusalem, and the residents are expelled from the city in groups. This description is followed by a passage in which God sends my servant David to ask...the Messiah Son of Joseph to deliver a sign. From the context, it appears that this sign heralds the coming redemption.The second part of the Gabriel Revelation focuses on death and resurrection - and the blood of the slain. The last paragraph cites the words of the Archangel Gabriel who commands a person to return to life after three days: By three days, live. In my lecture I will deal with the possible connection between the figure of Ephraim, the Messiah Son of Joseph, and the image of Jesus in the New Testament. I will also explore the possible link between the resurrection by three days commanded by Gabriel in the Gabriel Revelation and the resurrection of Jesus on the third day.

Moshe Idel, a professor of Jewish thought at Hebrew University, said that given the way every tiny fragment from that era yielded scores of articles and books, Gabriel's Revelation and Mr. Knohl's analysis deserved serious attention, reports the New York Times. Here we have a real stone with a real text, he said. This is truly significant.What Knohl finds most significant is the fact that [the writings on the stone tablet] strongly suggested that a savior who died and rose after three days was an established concept at the time of Jesus. He notes that in the Gospels, Jesus makes numerous predictions of his suffering and New Testament scholars say such predictions must have been written in by later followers because there was no such idea present in his day. But there was, he said, and Gabriel's Revelation shows it.His mission is that he has to be put to death by the Romans to suffer so his blood will be the sign for redemption to come, Mr. Knohl said. This is the sign of the son of Joseph. This is the conscious view of Jesus himself....To shed blood...to bring redemption to Israel. Two trends worth watching.
http://www.joshuafund.net/give.html

Radical Sabbath of the Land copyright (c) 2008 by Mr. Yosef Ben Shlomo HaKohen Editor, Hazon: Our Universal Vision
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/

My Search for the Soul of Zion Series, Essay #7

Excerpt: During the early days of the State of Israel, there was a beloved sage, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who was the founder and head of the Ponivez Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Rabbi Kahaneman was aware of the difficulties facing those farmers who were striving to fully observe the Shmittah. On the eve of the Sabbatical Year, this sage traveled to Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim, a religious kibbutz affiliated with Poelei Agudath Israel which was keeping the Shmittah laws....Rabbi Kahaneman desired to strengthen the spirit of the farmers, and he spoke to them about the holiness of this Shabbos for HaShem -- a holiness which permeates each plant and each boimelah (an affectionate Yiddish term for a tree). As the Shmittah year was about to begin, he suggested that every farmer go over and wish a tree, Good Shabbos, boimelah! He himself then kissed the earth and wished it a Good Shabbos!.

YERUSHALIYIM, Israelite Tribal Territories of Judah and Benjamin, Kingdom of David and Solomon, United Israelite Kingdom of Judah and Joseph, Eighth Day (Tammuz), (Shmittah/Sabbatical Year) 5768; Erev Shabbat (Eve of the Sabbath), Yom Shishi (Sixth Day of Week/Fri-day, July 11, 2008), Root & Branch Information Services [ mailto:rb@rb.org.il ] [ www.rb.org.il ]:

Dear Friends,

Among the mitzvos which we are to specifically fulfill in the Land of Zion is the following land-related mitzvah regarding Shmittah -- the Sabbatical Year: Six years shall you sow your land and gather in its produce. But in the seventh year, you shall let it go and abandon it, and the needy of your People shall eat, and the wildlife of the field shall eat what is left; so shall you do to your vineyard and your olive grove.[ Shemot/Exodus 23:10-11]

Maimonides, in his classical work, The Book of the Mitzvos, discusses the above mitzvah, and he writes:By this injunction, we are given a mandate to renounce as ownerless all produce of the land in the Shmittah Year, and to permit anybody to take what grows in our fields.[ Mitzvah 134]

Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch discusses the above verse in his biblical commentary, and he writes:By observing the mitzvah of Shmittah, an entire nation proclaims before the world that its land belongs to God and that He is the land’s one, sole true Master. In the seventh year, the nation refrains from exercising its rights of ownership and humbly returns its land to the Master of all the earth. By doing so, the people acknowledge that they are strangers and sojourners on their own land, dwelling on it only by the grace of the Owner. Then the arrogance that causes people, secure in their own land, to become callous and harsh in dealing with those without property, melts away, yielding place to love and kindness toward the stranger and the poor. Even the wild animals, as God’s creatures, are considered endowed with rights on God’s earth, on which all are to dwell together.[ Commentary on Exodus 23:10-11]

A related mitzvah is the Divine mandate to desist from cultivating the land during the Shmittah Year. The source for this second mitzvah is found in the following verses where HaShem, the Compassionate and Life-Giving One, speaks to Moses about the Shabbos -- Sabbath -- for the Land:Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When you come into the Land that I will give you, the Land shall observe a Shabbos for HaShem. For six years you may sow your field and for six years you may prune your vineyard; and you may gather in its crop. But the seventh year shall be a complete rest for the Land, a Shabbos for HaShem; your field you shall not sow and your vineyard you shall not prune.[ Vayikra/Leviticus 25:1-4]

Through this mitzvah, states the Talmud, HaShem is telling Israel:

Sow for six years and let go of the Land in the seventh year in order that you know that the Land is Mine.[ Babylonian Talmud/Tractate Sanhedrin 39a]

It is written, The Land is Mine, for you are strangers and sojourners with Me [Vayikra/Leviticus 25:23]. With these words, say our sages, HaShem is conveying the following paradoxical message: When it is Mine, then it will be yours (Sifra).

When we acknowledge that the Land belongs to the Creator, then the Creator gives us the right to live in the Land and to serve as its custodians. To serve as the custodians of the earth was the original Divine mandate given to humankind, as the Torah states that the human being was placed in the Garden of Eden to serve it and protect it [Bereshit/Genesis 2:15].

Today, a growing number of farmers in the Land of Israel are fervently fulfilling the sacred principles and laws of the Shmittah Year. Through their observance of this mitzvah which causes them to give up their control over the Land, they are proclaiming, To HaShem belongs the earth and its fullness, the inhabited land and those who dwell in it [Tehillim/Psalm 24:1].

During the early days of the State of Israel, there was a beloved sage, Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, who was the founder and head of the Ponivez Yeshiva in Bnei Brak. Rabbi Kahaneman was aware of the difficulties facing those farmers who were striving to fully observe the Shmittah. On the eve of the Sabbatical Year, this sage traveled to Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim, a religious kibbutz affiliated with Poelei Agudath Israel which was keeping the Shmittah laws.

Rabbi Kahaneman desired to strengthen the spirit of the farmers, and he spoke to them about the holiness of this Shabbos for HaShem -- a holiness which permeates each plant and each boimelah (an affectionate Yiddish term for a tree). As the Shmittah year was about to begin, he suggested that every farmer go over and wish a tree, Good Shabbos, boimelah! He himself then kissed the earth and wished it a Good Shabbos!

Have a Good and Sweet Shabbos.
Shabbat Shalom from Yerushaliyim,
Mr. Yosef Ben Shlomo Hakohen

Advisory Board Member, Ecology Fellowship, Root & Branch Association, Ltd.Advisory Board Member, Social Welfare Fellowship, Root & Branch Association, Ltd.Author, The Universal Jew (Feldheim Publishers)Editor, Hazon: Our Universal Vision
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/publicat/hazon/

Related Teachings:

1. This year is a Shmittah Year in the Land of Zion. During the previous Shmittah Year, for the first time in the history of the State of Israel, the grounds of the Knesset -- Israel's parliament -- were managed according to the laws of Shmittah. The Jerusalem Municipality also observed the Shmittah laws in the city's parks. Although some of the secular city council members were critical of this practice, council member Anat Hoffman from Meretz, a secular leftist party, endorsed the observance of the Shmittah Year. She praised the city’s efforts to observe the Shimittah laws as illustrating respect for both Judaism and the environment.

2.The story about Rabbi Kahaneman appears in the book Builders by Chanoch Teller. This book is distributed by Feldheim Publishers: www.feldheim.com.

3.Many of the farmers who observe Shmittah find that the year of Shabbos for HaShem gives them the opportunity to increase their Torah study. Thus, special educational programs are organized for these farmers during the Shmittah Year.