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.

Friday, May 19, 2017

FOR NOW, TRUMP RULES OUT MOVING EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM. WHO HAS THE SAY OVER AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. SOMEONE OVIOUSLY HAS CLOUT WITH THIS EMBASSY MOVE AND ITS NOT THE AMERICAN PRESIDENTS. TRUMP PROMISED TO MOVE IT FOR THE CHRISTIANS SUPPORTING HIM.

JEWISH KING JESUS IS COMING AT THE RAPTURE FOR US IN THE CLOUDS-DON'T MISS IT FOR THE WORLD.THE BIBLE TAKEN LITERALLY- WHEN THE PLAIN SENSE MAKES GOOD SENSE-SEEK NO OTHER SENSE-LEST YOU END UP IN NONSENSE.GET SAVED NOW- CALL ON JESUS TODAY.THE ONLY SAVIOR OF THE WHOLE EARTH - NO OTHER. 1 COR 15:23-JESUS THE FIRST FRUITS-CHRISTIANS RAPTURED TO JESUS-FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT-23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.ROMANS 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.(THE PRE-TRIB RAPTURE)

AFTER THE QUEBEC FLOOD-FAMALIES RUSH TO MAKE REPAIRS IF THEY CAN.

STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES

LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun,(HEATING UP-SOLAR ECLIPSES) and in the moon,(MAN ON MOON-LUNAR ECLIPSES) and in the stars;(ASTEROIDS ETC) 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,(TORNADOES,HURRICANES,STORMS) and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:(DESTRUCTION) for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.(FROM QUAKES,NUKES ETC)

After the flood: Families rush to make repairs, if they're lucky-[CBC]-yahoonews-May 17, 2017

As the water levels recede, it may appear like the worst is over for flooding victims in the National Capital Region.But for more than 1,200 homeowners in Ottawa and Gatineau, the daunting task of rebuilding has just begun.CBC News plans to follow two families on either side of the Ottawa River as they restore their homes.The Washers in Cumberland and the Arnauds in Gatineau are at different stages of life and are up against distinct challenges as they work to return their homes, and their lives, to normal.The Washers in Cumberland-Three weeks ago Michael and Jackie Washer had to abandon their home of more than 20 years. Now, with the water levels on their driveway still knee-high, it looks like they'll have to wait some more."Until the water's fully gone we're in a bit of a holding game," said Michael. "Financially, it's a significant hit."Michael and Jackie have been married for almost 50 years and spent almost half that time living in their bungalow in Cumberland.They had renovated the waterfront property from top to bottom, with Michael replacing everything from the roof to the plumbing with his own hands.After all that work, they say it's hard for them to see what it looks like today."It just upsets me to see that house," said Jackie. "It looks unloved. But I really did love it. I just thought there was no place like it. I love that place."Michael needs to use a pair of hip waders and careful footwork to navigate his way up their driveway.While the water is knee-deep, it was neck-deep at its height.Since they were forced out, they've been living out of a hotel. It hasn't been easy or cheap.The Washers have spent close to $3,000 so far out of their own pocket. Without insurance, they're unsure if they can recover the costs. They want to move into a short-term rental in Orleans instead. But Jackie says they're struggling to find anywhere in the east-end that doesn't have more than a few stairs.Jackie has ongoing health issues that make it difficult to walk and needs an accessible room."You cannot find a place," said Jackie. "That's all we've been doing. There's not one single place we can find...It's really awful. We just don't know what to do."In the meantime, everyday they go check on the state of their house. Jackie can't wade through the water so she waits in the car. She says she's too scared to see the damage anyway.In the garage, Michael bumps into a sunken dresser, a stereo, and countless tools beneath the knee-deep water.All four of his summer tires were washed away. So far, he found one on his neighbours now dry front lawn.Their backyard is even worse after the river crashed through their glass balcony, filling their yard with debris. Telephone poles litter the ground.Toxic chemicals from the garage somehow made their way onto their patio, and the line feeding into their gas tank is cracked."Looks like World War Two," said Michael. "Unbelievable, all the mess that's come down river that's now floating in the garden."Until the water's fully gone, they are in a waiting game. Michael Washer is still working with the RCMP and doing much of his job remotely as he deals with the mess at home.When the water finally recedes, they know the next challenge is repairs.-The Arnauds in Gatineau-Renaud Arnaud has already started tearing up his family's legacy home in Pointe-Gatineau. It looks unrecognizable inside.The garage, basement, and parts of the main floor are gutted. All that's left are the beams.Arnaud works all day at the National Research Council across the river. At night he's coming home and ripping out every inch of his home that's touched water. His colleagues at the NRC's mould lab told him time is of the essence."The mould sets in the house within 48 hours once the water starts to retreat," said Arnaud."So it's really a race against the clock."The flood has been difficult for Arnaud and his wife Genevieve Mercier. The house is filled with memories of her time spent with her father who passed away in November.The couple bought her late father's home from Mercier's brothers to fix it up and move in. They wanted to raise their 14-month old daughter in a special place.Now they're starting from scratch.A week ago, Arnaud took a boat to get to his house to see it after having to leave earlier.So much water had filled the basement, the flooring had lifted up and floating near the rafters. On the main floor, the water was past his knees.He pulled up by boat and saw the military was docked at his entrance. Firefighters had tied up their boat to his garage. If that wasn't strange enough, it was snowing in May. He held up a piece of plywood to board up his home and thought to himself — am I dreaming? "If I see a giraffe passing by, that's probably reality," he said. "It was surreal. You have no idea whether it's reality or just a bad dream. It's something I'll never forget, seeing all that misery around."They are uninsured and doing the repair work themselves, with some help from family, friends and even co-workers.Arnaud is positive for now: he says his family is lucky. He has a job and his house is still standing. That's more than others on his street can say, he said.

WORLD POWERS IN THE LAST DAYS (END OF AGE OF GRACE NOT THE WORLD)

EUROPEAN UNION-KING OF WEST-DAN 9:26-27,DAN 7:23-24,DAN 11:40,REV 13:1-10
EGYPT-KING OF THE SOUTH-DAN 11:40
RUSSIA-KING OF THE NORTH-EZEK 38:1-2,EZEK 39:1-3
CHINA-KING OF THE EAST-DAN 11:44,REV 9:16,18
VATICAN-RELIGIOUS LEADER-REV 13:11-18,REV 17:4-5,9,18

WORLD TERRORISM

OH BY THE WAY WHEN THE MEDIA SAYS ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS GOD IS GREAT LIE. IN ISLAM ALLU-AK-BAR MEANS OUR GOD IS GREATER OR GREATEST. THIS IS HOW THE MEDIA SUCK HOLES UP TO ISLAMIC-QURANIC-MUSLIMS. BY WATERING DOWN THE REAL MEANING OF THE SEX FOR MURDER DEATH CULT ISLAM. TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE A PEACEFUL RELIGION (CULT OF DEATH AND WORLD DOMINATION).

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

GENESIS 16:11-12
11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her,(HAGAR) Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael;(FATHER OF THE ARAB/MUSLIMS) because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.
12 And he (ISHMAEL-FATHER OF THE ARAB-MUSLIMS) will be a wild (DONKEY-JACKASS) man;(ISLAM IS A FAKE AND DANGEROUS SEX FOR MURDER CULT) his hand will be against every man,(ISLAM HATES EVERYONE) and every man's hand against him;(PROTECTING THEMSELVES FROM BEING BEHEADED) and he (ISHMAEL ARAB/MUSLIM) shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.(LITERAL-THE ARABS LIVE WITH THEIR BRETHERN JEWS)

ISAIAH 14:12-14
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer,(SATAN) son of the morning!(HEBREW-CRECENT MOON-ISLAM) how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I (SATAN HAS EYE TROUBLES) will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.(AND 1/3RD OF THE ANGELS OF HEAVEN FELL WITH SATAN AND BECAME DEMONS)

JOHN 16:2
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.(ISLAM MURDERS IN THE NAME OF MOON GOD ALLAH OF ISLAM)

Shedding light on French deportees put to work on Hitler's secret weapon-Renaud LAVERGNE-Agence France-Presse-yahoonews-May 16, 2017

Helfaut (France) (AFP) - The Resistance's struggle against Nazi occupation in World War II is well-documented in France but much less is known about thousands of its members forced to work in Nazi Germany on Hitler's secret weapon: the V2 rockets he hoped would bring Britain to its knees.Now, more than 70 years on, France aims to shed light on, and honour, the nearly 9,000 Resistance members who were among thousands of slave labourers to have toiled in icy underground tunnels.In abhorrent conditions and deprived of daylight or fresh air, 4,500 of the French deportees, believed to be all male, died at the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp in Nordhausen in central eastern Germany after it was set up in August 1943. Nearly a third of those are thought to have perished in the camp's first eight months.Their harrowing stories are being compiled in detail by the La Coupole History and Memory Centre, a World War II museum at Helfaut, near the northern French town of Saint-Omer.The centre stands at the site of a huge bunker, built as a base for preparing the launch of the V2s.Bombardments of the bunker zone and the Allies' D-Day Normandy landings checked Hitler's V2 ambitions, although Nazi forces still managed to fire off some 3,000 by the end of the war, around half at Britain.Designed to wreak death and destruction on London five minutes after leaving the French coast, the V2 was the world's first long-range missile.It was designed by Wernher von Braun, who after the war moved to the United States and helped America reach the moon.- 'I went through hell' -Dora veteran Georges Jouanin is still uncomprehending. At the age of 94, his memories remain vivid."How can you want to destroy a country?" he said, in an interview with AFP."I went through hell at Dora. We slept on lice-infested bunks (stacked on each other inside the tunnels) and worked 18-hour days breaking through rock. We saw our friends die. Forced labour...," he added.Jouanin, a typesetter by training, was deported first to the Buchenwald camp in December 1943 after the Gestapo arrested him in Paris.The next month, he arrived at nearby Dora, where deportees worked in two kilometre-long (1.2-mile) tunnels they had to dig out from scratch to create a subterranean factory out of the range of Allied bombers.The site replaced one bombed at Peenemuende, on Germany's Baltic coast.- Put a face to them -More than a third of the 60,000 people interned at Dora -- mainly Russians -- died in unimaginable conditions, says La Coupole historian Laurent Thiery.By 2020, he, together with 20 colleagues aim to piece together a record on the deported Resistance fighters to "again give a face and life to these lost people".Each one's career, family details, political views, along with the circumstances of their deportation and death, will be featured in the archive.The museum team has collected a trove of data, notably from documents made available by the detainees' families and friends.A committee was created after the war to provide aid to widows and orphans of those who did not survive the camp.One family that was active on the committee was that of Jean Gineston, a Christian Resistance member, who left both Dora and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp alive.Repatriated in June 1945, a month after the end of the war in Europe, he was suffering from typhoid and weighed just 38 kilos (84 pounds).When he died in 2009, his daughters Marie-Christine and Marie-Helene decided to pass on his personal effects from the family apartment at Puteaux in the western suburbs of Paris, feeling they would "find good use" at La Coupole's museum.Marie-Christine said the bunker site "looks a lot like Dora".The women handed the items over "full of emotion" in May last year, recalls Thiery.- Eagerly awaited -At the Dora memorial site itself, the French research is also awaited "with immense interest", said Regina Heubaum, one of those working there.She said the French records "will be an exceptional source, notably for all the families of French people who, 72 years on, regularly come here seeking information on their relatives."The record, to be produced in a kind of dictionary form, will not only include personal stories but also several essays written by experts on different aspects of the research into Dora.These include the April 1944 deportation to Helfaut of foreign slave labourers, the majority Russians, Ukrainians and Yugoslavs, who came from the Buchenwald and Neuengamme camps to work on construction.They replaced mainly French labour from the STO, or compulsory work service created in occupied France, as the Nazis sought to prevent any leaks to the Resistance about the top secret V2 site.

Focus-Liberals denounce EU parliament's 'anti-gay' bill By Aleksandra Eriksson-euobserver

BRUSSELS, 17. May, 20:39-Liberal MEPs want to re-open an already adopted European Parliament position on audiovisual services reform, saying that it justifies discrimination of lesbian, gay, bi- and transsexual (LGBT) people.The overhaul is an update of EU-wide rules on media services and TV advertising.The problem, according to the liberals, is that the reform sets out to protect the "moral development of a child" by giving government authorities the right to block harmful content on social media."This should not be part of audiovisual services regulation," said Yana Toom, an Estonian liberal and shadow rapporteur on the file."I think it's very dangerous if we - MEPs - start to talk about morals. What does it mean? There is no legal definition of what is moral. If we start taking in those terms, we will have no arguments for people like Viktor Orban, who can excuse any reform with moral concerns," she said, referring to Hungary's right-wing leader.Liberals say the parliament adopted its position without due scrutiny.Last month, the parliament's culture and education committee narrowly passed a report by the two German co-rapporteurs, Sabine Verheyen from the centre-right EPP group, and Social Democrat Petra Kammerevert.Earlier this week, it was announced that the committee file would constitute the parliament's negotiating position in so-called trilogue talks with the European Commission and Council of the EU.-Moral concerns-The provision on moral concerns could still be removed in those talks.EUobserver was not able to speak to the two co-rapporteurs.Another German MEP, Helga Truepel, who followed the file on behalf of the Greens, said she backed the culture committee report, even if she would have liked to delete references to moral harm on minors."But it is already in the current directive without creating problems there. Furthermore, there is a clear reference in the same article on the fundamental charter of human rights and and an additional catalogue that there shall not be discrimination for reasons of sex or sexual orientation," she told EUobserver."I think we have a clear formulation in the text to avoid misuse of the article," she added.But Sophie in't Veld, a Dutch liberal MEP and vice-chair of the Alde group, said the parliament was already justifying a Russian-style anti-gay propaganda law in Lithuania.In 2013, the Baltic state, said to be one of the least tolerant towards homosexuals in Europe, adopted a so-called law on the protection of minors against detrimental effects of public information.-Misused law-The law was quickly misused against information on sexual minorities.A fairytale featuring a same-sex couple was banned for promoting "harmful, primitive and purposeful propaganda of homosexuality", while an EU-financed promotional video, which confronted stereotypes about love and family models, was only allowed to be shown after 11 PM, together with alcohol and cigarette ads.Lithuanian gay rights activists tried to challenge the law at EU level, but their attempts were in vain.Last December, the commission said it would not launch an infringement procedure against Lithuania, because the country had not broken EU rules on audiovisual services.In't Veld said she had hoped the media reform would force Lithuania to change its legislation.Instead, the contrary has happened - MEPs endorsed the provision and extended it to cover social media."It's all very unfortunate," the Dutch politician told EUobserver."The rapporteurs may be very strong advocates of equal rights, but they don't seem to realise that they have created a legal tool for discrimination."Liberals, with the backing of MEPs from radical-left Gue, the eurosceptic EFDD, and the conservative ECR groups have asked that the parliament's position is made subject to a plenary vote instead.That would give MEPs a month to draft amendments and adopt their positions in plenary.A vote on whether to re-open the file will take place on Thursday.

Anglican Church won't talk about role in controversial campground development-[CBC]-yahoonews-May 17, 2017

The Anglican Parish of Shediac is refusing to discuss why it has become the official proponent of a controversial Shediac campground.Last week's environmental impact assessment, filed publicly with the province, lists the parish as the proponent.Rev. Keith Borthwick, the church's priest and rector, is listed as the campground project's chief executive officer.The church owns the 32 hectares on which the campground would be built and plans to lease it to the developer, Shediac Camping Ltd., a company that included Liberal Health Minister Victor Boudreau as an investor."The diocese has a policy that all media requests have to go to the bishop's office," Borthwick told CBC News.But in an email statement to CBC News, Bishop David Edwards suggested he is not aware of the details."As the EIA states, the Parish of Shediac is the proponent of the project," he wrote. "Until the diocese receives a proposal from the parish, we have nothing to comment on. We are letting the process play out."Pointe-du-Chêne residents who have been fighting the 600 to 700-site campground say they believe that by listing the church as the proponent, Shediac Camping Ltd., can continue keeping its list of investors a secret.Only two of the investors have been identified publicly: Michel Boudreau, the lead spokesperson, and Victor Boudreau, the Liberal minister and MLA for Shediac-Cap Pele.Victor Boudreau said this week he would "forfeit" his 20 per cent investment in the project.Boudreau said in March there were five other investors, but he refused to identify them.Section 1.0 (i) of the province's EIA rules say that when there are two or more "corporate entities … the legal names of all parties to the project must be provided."Pointe-du-Chêne resident Arthur Melanson says his interpretation of the rules is that the names aren't required if the landowner is listed as the proponent."If you register under that criteria, you don't need to divulge any of the investors or whatever," he said. "It's just the owner that's identified and does the registration."In an email statement late Tuesday, Environment Department spokesperson Marc-André Chiasson said Melanson's interpretation of the rule was wrong."The term 'corporate entities' represents the proponent of the project," Chiasson said. "In some situations there can be multiple proponents, but corporate entities does not refer to investors."Melanson said he and others suspect the church itself is one of the other investors in the project."They've never come out and said yes or no, a clear position," he said, "so yes, we're making an assumption they're part of the investors because of all of the effort they've put through to get this campground in place."The province acknowledged in March it made a mistake when it told the church it did not need a watercourse and wetland alteration permit to built the second section of a new walking trail on the land.Melanson said the new trail replaces an existing one that cuts through the centre of the proposed campground site.The existing trail would have complicated the creation of the campground, he said."The way we looked at this, it was a strategic move to put that trail where they did," Melanson said.In a January 2014 letter obtained by local residents, Victor Boudreau, then an opposition MLA, told government officials that "the parties have agreed that this trail needs to be relocated" to accommodate the campground.He said the parish would apply for the required permit.But in an October 2015 email to the province, the church claimed the trail relocation "is not connected to any particular development that may in future happen on the Parish's land," the church's land manager Bill Murray wrote.He said the new route was safer where it crossed two roads and would also allow "nature observation sites."It would also increase the property's value by replacing the existing trail that bisected the land."Contrary to the opinions and narrative some residents are now expressing, moving this trail is not the beginning of the campground project that was discussed in 2014," the email said.Victor Boudreau said Monday he was close to finalizing his divestment from the project and would not comment further.Michel Boudreau did not respond to an interview request Tuesday.Victor Boudreau owned a 20 per cent stake in Shediac Camping Ltd., which he put in a blind trust in late 2014, after the Liberals won the election and he returned to a position in the cabinet.In March he said he would recuse himself from any government discussions about Parlee Beach because a working group of officials was considering a moratorium on development in the area to address water contamination.The province has yet to announce a moratorium, but it has rolled out a new water-testing protocol and $3 million in federal and provincial funding to find and fix the source of the contamination.

Bill O'Reilly gets weekly spot on Glenn Beck's radio show-[The Canadian Press]-yahoonews-May 17, 2017

NEW YORK — Bill O'Reilly is taking up his former Fox News colleague Glenn Beck's offer to work together again.Variety reports O'Reilly announced on his "No Spin News" podcast that he will have a weekly spot on Beck's radio show. He calls Beck "a good friend" and says the two have a "lively" rapport.O'Reilly was ousted by Fox News Channel last month amid accusations of sexual harassment that O'Reilly has denied. Beck left the network in 2011 following an advertiser boycott of his program.Last week, Beck told O'Reilly during an interview on his radio show that he would like him to work for Beck's outlet, The Blaze.The Associated Press.

New Ontario rent controls will mean fewer apartments, more condos, developers warn-[CBC]-yahoonews-May 17, 2017

The Ontario government's new rules extending rent control to all apartments in the province have at least some Toronto-area developers rethinking the rental projects they had planned to build.Cary Green, whose family has spent generations building rental units in Toronto, says the uncertainty over the province's proposed changes means his company now is taking a second look at its latest roster of projects."We've got 1,200 units we are looking at putting on the market as new rentals. And now we've got to go back and look at each building individually to make sure it's sustainable," said Green, 60, standing inside a spacious new two-bedroom apartment his team recently completed north of Yonge Street and Eglinton Avenue."My only message to the government is: it's finally not broke. Don't fix it. Don't mess around with it."The new rental rules were announced last month as part of the Liberal government's Ontario Fair Housing Plan. The hope is to protect tenants from exorbitant rent increases by removing the so-called 1991 loophole, which exempts units built after that year from rent control.The Mike Harris government brought in the loophole to encourage developers to build more rental units, but tenants' groups have argued for years it was a "failed experiment."In the last two decades, new rental construction has barely registered compared to condo development.But Green, and other rental developers who talked with CBC Toronto, say a number of factors in the market were just starting to shift in their favour.Among them, Green says: - Older rental buildings are getting too costly to repair so building new units makes sense. - Long-term interest rates remain relatively low at about three per cent. - Equity requirements to build new rental units have eased."This is Jupiter aligned with Mars. You mess with that, and you're going to see more condos. You're not going to see more new rentals," said Green.-Developer gives up on rental project-And, in fact, it's already happening.David Horwood with Effort Trust, a Hamilton-based development company, says one of its rental projects slated for construction in Ancaster will now be turned into condominiums."It's frustrating to end up at this point," said Horwood. His team spent about four years working with local officials to plan and ultimately secure approval for the project."There is just too much risk at the moment for us to go ahead."Horwood was part of a chorus of developers and landlord groups who petitioned the province to find another way to curb unlimited rent increases.Now, in light of the new legislation, he says every single one of his projects is under review."There is some concern we haven't seen the last of these politically driven changes," said Horwood.So far it seems developers in Toronto are taking a wait-and-see approach."At this point, we are not aware of any applicant making changes to applications that are already in process," Sharon Hill with the city's planning division wrote In an email to CBC Toronto.-Think it's tough now? Just wait-Applications to build new rentals are up in recent years, but real-estate consulting firm Urbanation says the number of units actually being completed and hitting the market is not enough."In order to satisfy demand, the number of purpose-built rentals under construction would need to be about twice as high as current levels, which is unlikely to occur in the near term," Urbanation's Shaun Hildebrand wrote in an email to CBC Toronto.As for expanding rent control? Hildebrand says that won't help."Supply will be squeezed even more so than it is today," he said.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

THE DOW WAS DOWN 372 POINTS WEDNESDAY-YESTERDAY.

HOARDING OF GOLD AND SILVER

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.(IN 1 HR THE STOCK MARKETS WORLDWIDE WILL CRASH)
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:(CONFISCATED) 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.

LUKE 2:1-3
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

REVELATION 13:16-18
16 And he(THE FALSE POPE WHO DEFECTED FROM THE CHRISTIAN FAITH) causeth all,(IN THE WORLD ) both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:(MICROCHIP IMPLANT)
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,(MICROCHIP IMPLANT) or the name of the beast,(WORLD DICTATORS NAME INGRAVED ON YOUR SKIN OR TATTOOED ON YOU OR IN THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT) or the number of his name.(THE NUMBERS OF HIS NAME INGRAVED IN THE MICROCHIP IMLPLANT)-(ALL THESE WILL TELL THE WORLD DICTATOR THAT YOUR WITH HIM AND AGAINST KING JESUS-GOD)
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast:(WORLD LEADER) for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.(6-6-6) A NUMBER SYSTEM (6006006)OR(60020202006)(SOME KIND OF NUMBER IMPLANTED IN THE MICROCHIP THAT TELLS THE WORLD DICTATOR AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER THAT YOU GIVE YOUR TOTAL ALLIGIENCE TO HIM AND NOT JESUS)(ITS AN ETERNAL DECISION YOU MAKE)(YOU CHOOSE YOUR OWN DESTINY)(YOU TAKE THE DICTATORS NAME OR NUMBER UNDER YOUR SKIN,YOUR DOOMED TO THE LAKE OF FIRE AND TORMENTS FOREVER,NEVER ENDING MEANT ONLY FOR SATAN AND HIS ANGELS,NOT HUMAN BEINGS).OR YOU REFUSE THE MICROCHIP IMPLANT AND GO ON THE SIDE OF KING JESUS AND RULE FOREVER WITH HIM ON EARTH.YOU CHOOSE,ITS YOUR DECISION.

1 KINGS 10:13-14
13 And king Solomon gave unto the queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. So she turned and went to her own country, she and her servants.
14 Now the weight of gold that came to Solomon in one year was six hundred threescore and six talents of gold,

GENESIS 49:16-17
16 Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel.
17 Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.

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)

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

BANK RELATED INFORMATION
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2015/09/bank-related-links.html
CURRENCIES
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/currencies
COMMODITIES
http://www.bloomberg.com/markets/commodities

UPDATE-MAY 18,2017-12:00AM

DOW MARKET THURSDAY-MAY 18,2017
09:30AM-5.07-
10:00AM-43.63-
10:30AM-48.10
11:00AM-41.48
11:30AM-58.74
12:00PM-0.55-
12:30PM-13.06
01:00PM-29.86
01:30PM-21.23
02:00PM-54.72
02:30PM-90.90
03:00PM-122.16
03:30PM-73.49
04:00PM-56.09+ 20663.02 - S&P +8.69 2365.72 - NASDAQ +43.89 6055.13
HIGH +68 LOW -131
TSX +3.352 15,277.20 - GOLD $-12.12 $1,248.26 - OIL $+0.26 $49.33

EARTHQUAKES

EZEKIEL 37:7,11-14
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.(POSSIBLE QUAKE BRINGS ISRAEL BACK TO LIFE-SO NOISE AND SHAKING-QUAKES WILL ALSO DESTROY ISRAELS ENEMIES)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.

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

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

LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places,(DIFFERNT PLACES AT THE SAME TIME) and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

UPDATE-MAY 18,2017-11:55PM

1 Day, Magnitude 2.5+ U.S.21 of 21 earthquakes in map area.

    5.1-101km SSE of Yunaska Island, Alaska-2017-05-19 01:21:43 (UTC)-33.0 km
    4.3-131km NW of Sand Point, Alaska-2017-05-19 00:33:00 (UTC)-201.4 km
    4.5-46km ENE of Bhadarwah, India-2017-05-19 00:02:33 (UTC)-39.1 km
    3.4-91km NE of Kodiak, Alaska-2017-05-18 23:56:54 (UTC)-17.0 km
    5.0-111km WNW of La Punta, Argentina-2017-05-18 23:45:43 (UTC)-169.1 km
    4.5-36km NNW of Baima, China-2017-05-18 23:07:05 (UTC)-31.2 km
    4.3-35km SSW of Ashkasham, Afghanistan-2017-05-18 21:34:40 (UTC)-99.1 km
    3.2-17km S of Fern Acres, Hawaii-2017-05-18 21:15:34 (UTC)-7.2 km
    2.9-17km ESE of Pahala, Hawaii-2017-05-18 21:07:34 (UTC)-6.6 km
    2.7-15km ESE of Pahala, Hawaii-2017-05-18 20:58:34 (UTC)-2.9 km
    3.0-76km W of Anchor Point, Alaska-2017-05-18 19:26:58 (UTC)-100.3 km
    2.5-1km NE of Enetai, Washington-2017-05-18 18:15:32 (UTC)-25.1 km
    2.9-31km NW of Rincon, Puerto Rico-2017-05-18 16:33:05 (UTC)-15.0 km
    2.6-11km SE of Pahala, Hawaii-2017-05-18 13:34:45 (UTC)-39.0 km
    2.5-8km SSW of Pahala, Hawaii-2017-05-18 13:23:14 (UTC)-44.0 km
    4.4-118km SW of La Reforma, Mexico-2017-05-18 11:59:45 (UTC)-10.0 km
    3.3-66km NNE of Talkeetna, Alaska-2017-05-18 11:07:34 (UTC)-75.9 km
    4.3-111km SW of La Reforma, Mexico-2017-05-18 10:49:39 (UTC)-10.0 km
    4.7-27km E of Farkhar, Afghanistan-2017-05-18 10:26:48 (UTC)-212.3 km
    2.5-18km SE of Volcano, Hawaii-2017-05-18 08:24:11 (UTC)-5.6 km
    4.0-124km W of Ferndale, California-2017-05-18 03:20:33 (UTC)-1.7 km
    4.2-71km W of Valparaiso, Chile-2017-05-18 00:44:54 (UTC)-11.7 km
    2.5-56km SSW of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska-2017-05-17 23:49:45 (UTC)-140.7 km
    4.7-Mid-Indian Ridge-2017-05-17 22:42:17 (UTC)-10.0 km

STOCK MARKET AND EARTHQUAKE NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-down-02-points-tuesday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-up-85-points-monday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-down-22-points-friday-new.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/weekend-quake-results-for-may-13-142017.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-down-23-points-thursday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-down-32-points-wednewsday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-down-36-points-tuesday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-up-05-points-monday.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/the-dow-was-up-55-points-friday-new-week.html
http://israndjer.blogspot.ca/2017/05/weekend-quake-results-for-may-06-072017.html

NIKKI HALEY-EMBASSY SHOULD BE MOVED FROM TEL AVIV TO JERUSALEM.WESTERN WALL IS PART OF ISRAEL NOT MADE UP (NON EXISTANT) FRAUD PALESTINIAN ARAB MURDERERS LAND.

LUKE 21:28-29
28 And when these things begin to come to pass,(ALL THE PROPHECY SIGNS FROM THE BIBLE) then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (RAPTURE) draweth nigh.
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree,(ISRAEL) and all the trees;(ALL INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES)
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.(ISRAEL LITERALLY BECAME AND INDEPENDENT COUNTRY JUST BEFORE SUMMER IN MAY 14,1948.)

JOEL 2:3,30
3 A fire devoureth (ATOMIC BOMB) before them;(RUSSIAN-ARAB-MUSLIM ARMIES AGAINST ISRAEL) and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them.
30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.(ATOMIC BOMB AFFECT)

ZECHARIAH 14:12-13
12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the LORD will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their eyes shall consume away in their holes,(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB) and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.(DISOLVED FROM ATOMIC BOMB)(BECAUSE NUKES HAVE BEEN USED ON ISRAELS ENEMIES)(GOD PROTECTS ISRAEL AND ALWAYS WILL)
13 And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the LORD shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.(1/2-3 BILLION DIE IN WW3)(THIS IS AN ATOMIC BOMB EFFECT)

EZEKIEL 20:47
47 And say to the forest of the south, Hear the word of the LORD; Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour every green tree in thee, and every dry tree: the flaming flame shall not be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall be burned therein.

ZEPHANIAH 1:18
18 Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.

MALACHI 4:1
1 For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven;(FROM ATOMIC BOMBS) and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

And here are the bounderies of the land that Israel will inherit either through war or peace or God in the future. God says its Israels land and only Israels land. They will have every inch God promised them of this land in the future.
Egypt east of the Nile River, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, The southern part of Turkey and the Western Half of Iraq west of the Euphrates. Gen 13:14-15, Psm 105:9,11, Gen 15:18, Exe 23:31, Num 34:1-12, Josh 1:4.ALL THIS LAND ISRAEL WILL DEFINATELY OWN IN THE FUTURE, ITS ISRAELS NOT ISHMAELS LAND.12 TRIBES INHERIT LAND IN THE FUTURE

Nikki Haley: Western Wall part of Israel, US embassy should be moved to Jerusalem-Ahead of Trump’s visit, US ambassador to UN wades into recent spat between Israeli, US officials on sovereignty over holy site-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies May 17, 2017, 5:55 am

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said Tuesday that the US embassy should be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, upholding a campaign promise of US President Donald Trump, and that the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem is part of Israeli territory.Her remarks came amid an ongoing diplomatic spat between the US and Israel over whether the Western Wall is part of Israel or the West Bank — as one US consular staffer suggested — as well as speculation on whether Trump will fulfill his campaign promise to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem, even as the president has since distanced himself from the move.Trump is due in Israel and the West Bank on May 22-23, stopping first in Saudi Arabia. He will also visit Brussels and the Vatican after leaving the Mideast.In excerpts from an interview with CBN News released on Tuesday, Haley said: “Obviously I believe that the capital should be Jerusalem and the embassy should be moved to Jerusalem because if you look at all their government is in Jerusalem. So much of what goes on is in Jerusalem and I think we have to see that for what it is.”Regarding the Western Wall, Haley said: “I don’t know what the policy of the administration is, but I believe the Western Wall is part of Israel and I think that that is how we’ve always seen it and that’s how we should pursue it… We’ve always thought the Western Wall was part of Israel.”U.S. Ambassador to the UN @nikkihaley says it’s her belief that the U.S. Embassy should be moved to Jerusalem. https://t.co/hbuaZG9Dxw pic.twitter.com/hK4sxQnwUF— CBN News (@CBNNews) May 17, 2017-Haley’s full interview is set to air on Wednesday.The issue of Israeli sovereignty over the Wall came to a head this week when Israeli officials asked US officials organizing Trump’s visit to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could accompany him on his visit to the Western Wall. But the US declined, with one official telling the Israelis that the site is “not your territory.”Israel angrily demanded an explanation from the White House, casting a cloud over the highly anticipated visit by the new president. The White House quickly distanced itself from the comments, saying they were unauthorized and did not reflect the president’s view.Israel captured and annexed East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Six Day War and considers all of Jerusalem to be the undivided eternal capital of Israel, a stance not recognized by the international community, including the US.Earlier Tuesday, Trump’s Press Secretary Sean Spicer affirmed that the Western Wall is indeed “clearly in Jerusalem,” hours after another official, national security adviser H.R. McMaster declined to answer a direct question as to whether the US government considers the Western Wall to be within Israeli territory. McMaster said that question “sounds like a policy decision.”Asked about the issue on Tuesday, Spicer told journalists, “The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in Jewish faith. It’s clearly in Jerusalem.”“But there’s been — it’s an issues that’s had serious consideration. It will be a topic that’s going to be discussed during the President’s trip between the parties that he meets with,” Spicer said.The Western Wall, part of the retaining walls of the Second Temple compound, is the closest point of prayer for Jews to the site of the Temple itself and thus the Jewish people’s holiest place of prayer.The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. The rival claims to the capital city have often sparked violence.McMaster’s brief comment appeared to be consistent with long-standing US policy that the status of Jerusalem is an issue to be decided in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.However, Trump has indicated he is disposed toward recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Although his campaign pledge to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem seems to be on hold, US officials have hinted that Trump could make some other gesture to show Washington’s new thinking on the city’s status.Trump’s signal could be as symbolic as identifying the city as “Jerusalem, Israel,” on official White House documents and photographs while he is there, according to sources familiar with planning for the trip. They weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.Previous administrations have declined to identify Jerusalem as being in Israel, out of concern for the diplomatic repercussions.Trump’s visit to the Wall, formally confirmed by McMaster on Tuesday, will be the first ever by a serving US president.

Spicer confirms Western Wall ‘clearly in Jerusalem’-Amid spat between Israel and US ahead of Trump visit, administration officials sidestep questions on sovereignty of Jerusalem-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies May 16, 2017, 11:43 pm

Wading into an ongoing diplomatic spat between Israel and the US over whether the Western Wall is in Israel, White House spokesman Sean Spicer brought his own brand of clarity to the situation, affirming that the holy site is “clearly in Jerusalem.”The issue of Israeli sovereignty over the Wall came to a head this week when Israeli officials asked the team organizing US President Trump’s visit to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could accompany him on his visit to the Western Wall. But the US declined, with one official telling the Israelis that the site is “not your territory.”Israel angrily demanded an explanation from the White House, casting a cloud over the highly anticipated visit by the new president.Israel captured and annexed East Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites, in the 1967 Six Day War and considers all of Jerusalem to be the undivided eternal capital of Israel, a stance not recognized by the international community, including the US.Asked about the issue, Spicer told journalists, “The Western Wall is obviously one of the holiest sites in Jewish faith. It’s clearly in Jerusalem.”“But there’s been — it’s an issues that’s had serious consideration. It will be a topic that’s going to be discussed during the President’s trip between the parties that he meets with,” Spicer said.Spicer’s remarks came hours after another senior Trump administration official, H.R. McMaster, declined to answer a direct question as to whether the US government considers the Western Wall to be within Israeli territory. He said that question “sounds like a policy decision.”The Western Wall, part of the retaining walls of the Second Temple compound, is the closest point of prayer for Jews to the site of the Temple itself and thus the Jewish people’s holiest place of prayer.The Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. The rival claims to the capital city have often sparked violence.McMaster’s brief comment appeared to be consistent with long-standing US policy that the status of Jerusalem is an issue to be decided in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.However, Trump has indicated he is disposed toward recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Although his campaign pledge to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem seems to be on hold, US officials have hinted that Trump could make some other gesture to show Washington’s new thinking on the city’s status.Trump’s signal could be as symbolic as identifying the city as “Jerusalem, Israel,” on official White House documents and photographs while he is there, according to sources familiar with planning for the trip. They weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the matter and demanded anonymity.Previous administrations have declined to identify Jerusalem as being in Israel, out of concern for the diplomatic repercussions.Trump will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories on May 22-23. His visit to the Wall, formally confirmed by McMaster on Tuesday, will be the first ever by a serving US president.

An embassy of peace-The Hebrew-language media can’t figure out if the US mission will relocate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, or what consequences such a move would have-By Adiv Sterman May 15, 2017, 3:48 pm

As the Israeli government prepares for US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region, the Hebrew-language papers take distinctive stances on the White House’s apparent walk-back of pledges to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem, after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson questioned whether the move would help or harm the peace process.Trump had promised while campaigning to move the embassy to Jerusalem, but appeared in the months after being elected to retreat from that vow as Arab and Western officials warned the move could inflame tensions and spark fresh violence.“Moving the embassy will promote peace,” reads Israel Hayom’s headline, but while the statement was made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the daily attributes the quote to “Israel.” The Netanyahu-allied paper, which has long rallied for the embassy move and had all but officially endorsed Trump for president during the 2016 US election race, shows a bit of discomfort about how to deal with the White House’s change of tone. The daily is careful not to explicitly criticize the Trump administration at any point, but at the same time, makes every effort to repeatedly state that the prime minister is pushing for the relocation of the US mission. Reporters Shlomo Tsezena and Erez Lin go as far as stressing that the Prime Minister’s Office vehemently denied any rumors according to which Netanyahu had been concerned over the international community’s reaction to moving the US Embassy, and had therefore secretly requested of Trump to reconsider this particular election pledge.Meanwhile, left-wing Haaretz gleefully characterizes the rift over the embassy relocation as a “public dispute,” and highlights the fact that the “rumors” about Netanyahu’s reservations concerning the move did not just appear out of thin air but were actually hinted at by Tillerson. “The president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact a peace process,” Tillerson said in an interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” He said Trump’s decision would be informed by feedback from all sides, “most certainly” including “whether Israel views it as helpful to a peace initiative or perhaps a distraction.”In Yedioth Aharonoth the embassy kerfuffle is not top priority and is buried deep within the pages of the publication. Instead, the daily leads with a photo of a masked man strangling a doll by the neck, and another of several other masked individuals carrying what looks like a coffin. No, this is not a still from an Islamic State video but a shot from a “funeral” for the Israeli soccer team Hapoel Tel Aviv, organized by fans of nemesis Maccabi Tel Aviv. Hapoel was demoted yesterday from the Israeli premier league, for the second time in its history, after a particularly dismal season, and some hardcore Maccabi fanatics saw the downfall as an opportunity to ridicule their rivals.“A rally of hate,” Yedioth titles the scene, and scolds the fans for “having no shame.” But the truth is that as nasty as a mock funeral for a sports club may be, such a display is also harmless. Dedicating more than half the front page of a major newspaper to the whims of a few bored soccer enthusiasts, on the other hand — that’s just plain stupid.Haaretz reports that migration of African asylum seekers from Israel to other countries has spiked in the past year, with many individuals leaving to Canada, specifically, where laws concerning refugees are considered to be fairly lax. “There is less fear here than in Israel,” one refugee tells the paper.Israel Hayom reports that IDF soldiers operating security cameras in the West Bank will from now on begin to keep an eye out not just on possible hostile activity but also on animals in distress, as well as on poachers. The new initiative, dubbed “Nature Defense Forces,” will be run alongside environmental protection organizations. As of today, there are more than 100 security cameras scattered across the West Bank, Israel Hayom reports.“The cooperation assists greatly in the protection of nature, as well as on the preservation of wildlife which are being defended from poaching and injuries,” says Motti Sheffi, the head of the Samaria division of the Nature and Parks Authority.

Netanyahu welcomes envoy Friedman to ‘Jerusalem, our eternal capital’-Arrival of new US ambassador comes amid renewed calls for Trump to honor pledge to move embassy to city, tensions over Western Wall-By Raoul Wootliff and Raphael Ahren May 16, 2017, 4:51 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday met with new US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman at the Prime Minister’s Office, welcoming him to Jerusalem.“It’s a joy to see you and to welcome you to Jerusalem, our eternal capital,” Netanyahu said, in an apparent reference to Friedman’s comment after being tapped for the post that he looked “forward to doing this from the US embassy in Israel’s eternal capital, Jerusalem.”Friedman’s arrival in Israel coincided with a flurry of controversies surrounding the upcoming visit of US President Donald Trump to Israel, his visit to the Western Wall and the ongoing debate over whether the US will, or should, move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.“I know you visited the Western Wall, which we all appreciate,” the prime minister said to Friedman.“There was no other place to go,” Friedman replied.“It was a strong gesture of solidarity,” said Netanyahu.The two agreed to work together to continue to strengthen the relationship between Israel and the United States, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.Before meeting Netanyahu, Friedman presented his credentials to President Reuven Rivlin at a ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, officially marking the start of his tenure as the American envoy to the Jewish state.Israel’s Channel 2 reported that when the Israeli national anthem was played at the ceremony, Friedman initially murmured along — “familiar habit” from years of Israel events, said the TV reporter — before realizing that this might not be appropriate.Friedman’s arrival in Israel on Monday came amid calls by Netanyahu and several Israeli lawmakers for the US to move its embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv, following comments by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Sunday that Trump is weighing whether the move would help or harm the prospects of reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.Despite promising during the 2016 presidential campaign that he would move the US embassy, Trump has since hedged on the plan amid his increasing efforts to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.Friedman’s arrival also came during an unusual diplomatic spat between US and Israeli officials surrounding Trump’s planned visit to the Western Wall next week.According to Channel 2, a US official involved in making preparations for Trump’s visit angrily rejected a request that Netanyahu accompany the president when he visits the Jewish holy site in Jerusalem, and then sniped at his Israeli counterparts that the Western Wall is “not your territory. It’s part of the West Bank.”In response, the Prime Minister’s Office said it believed the comments did not represent the president’s position, an assertion confirmed by a senior Trump administration officials hours later.“The comments about the Western Wall were not authorized communication and they do not represent the position of the United States and certainly not of the president,” the official told The Times of Israel.Despite his pledge to work from Jerusalem, Friedman — who also owns an apartment in Jerusalem — will work out of the Tel Aviv embassy and live at the ambassador’s official residence in Herzliya. In addition, he will use an office at the King David Hotel in West Jerusalem, as many of his predecessors have.Alexander Fulbright contributed to this report.

Obama came as a candidate; George H.W. Bush as Veep; George W. before; Clinton before and after, but not during-Trump set to become first sitting US president to visit Western Wall-As candidates, many US politicians stop by the Jerusalem holy site, but once in the White House, they’ve all stayed away-By Raphael Ahren May 15, 2017, 11:41 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Donald Trump is slated to become the first incumbent US president to visit the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all have visited the Jewish holy site, but either before or after their tenures as president.“I don’t recall ever hearing of a sitting US president visiting the Western Wall,” said Shlomo Slonim, a professor emeritus of American history and the former chairman of Hebrew University’s Department of American Studies. Trump’s anticipated, but as of this writing unconfirmed, visit to the site would be “an innovation,” he added.The White House has yet to publish the itinerary for Trump’s May 22-23 visit to Israel — the 11th presidential trip to the country since Richard Nixon came in 1974 — but according to sources involved in planning the trip, he is set to visit the Western Wall. If he indeed goes to the site, it would likely be interpreted by some as akin to an American recognition of Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem. (Despite some reports to the contrary, Trump has never visited Israel before.)-During the 1967 Six Day War, Israel captured the eastern part of Jerusalem, which until then had been under Jordanian administration. In 1980, Israel formally annexed East Jerusalem, which includes the Old City with the Western Wall, the Temple Mount, the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. So far, the entire international community has adamantly refused to recognize Israel’s claim to that part of the city, arguing that the final status of Jerusalem is subject to negotiations with the Palestinians.It has been rumored in some quarters that Trump, on the occasion of his visit — which coincides with the week in which Israel celebrates the 50th anniversary of the city’s reunification — will recognize a united Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state. But, for now, that remains speculative.During his election campaign, the former Manhattan real estate developer vowed emphatically to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an act that would have been seen as tacit recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the city. “We will move the American embassy to the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Jerusalem,” Trump promised in an address at AIPAC’s annual policy conference in March 2016.But that plan has since been put on the back burner. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday that the president was still weighing whether such a move would help or hurt his efforts to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.As a matter of standard diplomatic procedure, Western dignitaries usually do not visit the Old City and East Jerusalem in any official capacity. If they want to visit the Western Wall or other sites in that part of the city, they do so privately and without being accompanied by Israeli officials.In recent years, however, an increasing number of foreign dignitaries have ignored this unwritten rule, especially leaders of African and East European countries. Polish prime minister Donald Tusk went to the Wall in 2008; President Vladimir Putin of Russia visited the site in 2012.In 2013, then-Canadian foreign minister John Baird caused a diplomatic brouhaha when he visited Israel’s justice minister in her office on Salah al-Din Street in East Jerusalem. Although Baird asserted that his meeting didn’t “signal a change in Canadian foreign policy,” Palestinian officials were furious.The first sitting US president to visit Israel was Richard Nixon, who arrived on June 16, 1974, and met with president Efraim Katzir and prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.According to Denis Brian’s 2012 “The Elected and the Chosen: Why American Presidents Have Supported Jews and Israel,” Nixon’s two-day visit was a “vain attempt to rescue his presidency, endangered by the Watergate scandal, his efforts to cover it up, and a growing demand among his political enemies to impeach him.”In March 1979, Jimmy Carter became the second US president to visit Israel. He met with president Yitzhak Navon and prime minister Menachem Begin, assuring them that the US would provide the Jewish state — which had just returned the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt — with oil for the next 15 years, Brian writes. Carter also addressed the Knesset and visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and the graves of David Ben-Gurion and Zeev Jabotinsky.It would take 15 years for the third US presidential visit to Israel (although a vice president — future president George H.W. Bush — visited in Israel, including the Western Wall, in 1986).In October 1994, Bill Clinton arrived for the first of four trips taken during his two terms, celebrating the Israel-Jordan peace agreement he had helped broker.A year later, Clinton — who had first visited Israel, including the Western Wall, as an Arkansas state governor in 1980 — came to Israel again, to attend the funeral of slain prime minister Rabin.In March 1996, amid a series of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, Clinton traveled to the Jewish state once more, to discuss “cooperation against terrorism with senior Israeli officials,” according to the State Department’s Office of the Historian.Two and a half years later, following the signing of the Wye River Agreement, Clinton arrived in Israel for the fourth and final time in office, meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also toured Masada in the Judean desert, a site Trump is said to be considering as a venue for a speech nest week.Since leaving the White House, Clinton has returned to Jerusalem on several occasions, and has also stopped by the Western Wall.In 2008, George W. Bush, during the last year of his two-term presidency, visited Israel twice. During his first trip in January, he met president Shimon Peres and prime minister Ehud Olmert and he went to Yad Vashem.“I’ve really been looking forward to coming back,” he said at the arrival ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport, referring to his first trip in 1998, during which he visited the Western Wall. “Truth of the matter is, when I was here last time, I really didn’t think I’d be coming back as president of the United States. But I knew I’d come back, because Israel is a special place. And it’s a great honor to make my first visit as the president of the United States.”Five months later, Bush returned to Israel on the occasion of the state’s 60th birthday. During the two-day visit, he also went to Masada and addressed the Knesset — but again steered clear of the Western Wall (though his wife Laura visited).Obama’s first presidential visit to Israel took place in March 2013. He went to Yad Vashem and the Israel Museum. At the iconic Shrine of the Books, he saw the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the oldest surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, some of them 2,400 years old.He returned three years later for a whirlwind visit to attend the funeral of Shimon Peres.On neither trip did he visit the Western Wall, a site he doubtless remembered well from his visit there in 2008.At the time, the Illinois senator and presidential candidate was heckled by locals, with one man shouting at him for minutes on end: “Obama, Jerusalem is our land! Obama, Jerusalem is not for sale!”As per Jewish custom, the Illinois senator also placed a note in one of the cracks of the Wall. Nosy Israeli reporters took it out and published it, causing a small scandal. The note reportedly stated: “Lord — protect my family and me. Forgive my sins, and help me guard against pride and despair. Give me the wisdom to do what is right and just. And make me an instrument of your will.”“I was expecting more reverence,” Obama complained later.

Pope plans to avoid politics, seek common ground in Trump meet-Ahead of hosting US president, Francis says he’ll search for ‘open door’ despite disagreements over immigration, climate change-By AP May 14, 2017, 12:26 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis says he won’t try to convince US President Donald Trump to soften his policies on immigration and the environment when they meet this month, but wants instead to find common ground and work for peace.Francis said proselytizing isn’t his style — in politics or religion.Speaking to reporters while traveling home Saturday from a trip to Portugal, Francis said he would say what he thinks sincerely to Trump and listen respectfully to what Trump has to say.“I never make a judgment about a person without hearing him out,” the pope said.Speculation has swirled about what Trump and Francis will discuss during their May 24 audience, given Francis has already said anyone who wants to build walls to keep out migrants is “not Christian.”Trump, who made building a wall along the border with Mexico a signature campaign promise, responded by saying it was “disgraceful” that the pope would question his faith.Francis said that in talks, he always tries to find “doors that are at least a little bit open” where common ground can be found, particularly in peace-building.“Peace is artisanal. You do it every day,” he said.Asked specifically if he would try to soften Trump’s policies, Francis said: “That is a political calculation that I don’t allow myself to make. Also in the religious sphere: I don’t proselytize.”Trump will call on Francis mid-way through his first foreign trip, after visiting Saudi Arabia and Israel and before attending a NATO summit in Brussels and a G-7 summit in Italy.

Israeli intelligence source: We must reassess what info we share with US – report-‘We can’t hand over our crown jewels,’ an official says following allegations that US president relayed sensitive Israeli information to Russia-By Jacob Magid May 17, 2017, 12:00 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

Israeli intelligence is reassessing what information they choose to share with the country’s “greatest ally,” the United States, according to a Wednesday report in the Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth.“We can’t hand over our crown jewels,” an intelligence source warned following Monday’s bombshell Washington Post story revealing that US President Donald Trump had disclosed highly classified intelligence to Russians officials in the White House last week.The country supplying the intelligence to the US was identified in the Post story only as “an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State.” Sources told The New York Times on Tuesday that Israel was that country.The Yedioth source assessed that the “highly sensitive” information disclosed by Trump to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and its US ambassador Sergey Kislyak was handed over recently in several meetings with US officials on the situation in Syria. The intelligence officials speculate that Trump presented this information as a reprimand to the Russians.As a result of the information leaked by Trump, an Israeli spy’s life is believed to be at risk, according to a Tuesday ABC news report.The spy is said to have tipped handlers off about an Islamic State plan to blow up a passenger plane headed for the US by hiding a bomb in a laptop, said the station, quoting current and former US officials.The US already prohibits 10 mainly Middle Eastern airports from allowing laptops on board US-bound flights. US and European officials were set Wednesday to discuss plans to broaden the ban to include planes from Europe.They added that the intelligence provided by the spy was so sensitive that it was shared only with the US and was conditioned on the source remaining secret.Trump acknowledged in a series of tweets that he passed on the information to Russia. “As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”While not commenting directly on the Post and Times reports, Israel’s ambassador to the US Ron Dermer stood by the US president in a Monday statement.“Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump,” Dermer said.BuzzFeed quoted what it described as two unnamed Israeli intelligence officers saying that the incident represented Israel’s “worst fears confirmed.”“We have an arrangement with America which is unique to the world of intelligence sharing. We do not have this relationship with any other country,” said one officer.“There is a special understanding of security cooperation between our countries,” he said. “To know that this intelligence is shared with others, without our prior knowledge? That is, for us, our worst fears confirmed.”A report earlier in the year foreshadowed just such an incident as well as the growing concerns within the intelligence community regarding the new US president.In January, Yedioth revealed that US intelligence officials warned their Israeli counterparts that Trump’s ties to Russia could pose a security threat, and described a meeting between US and Israeli intelligence officials in which the Americans indicated to Israel they should be cautious in sharing information with Trump’s White House. The paper reported that the Americans had assessed that Russia had some kind of leverage over Trump, but did not go into details.Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.

Five Palestinians arrested for making pipe bombs out of fireworks-Men arrested after allegedly manufacturing explosives, using them in attacks on soldiers in northern West Bank-By Judah Ari Gross May 17, 2017, 9:46 am-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

The Israel Defense Forces broke up a cell of Palestinian men who are suspected of making pipe bombs and using them in several attacks in the northern West Bank, an army officer said Tuesday.Last month, the army arrested a group of four Palestinian men who had made and used pipe bombs in attacks on Israeli troops in the Tulkarem area.During their interrogations, the four suspects revealed the origins of their homemade explosive devices: an illegal fireworks dealer.According to the IDF officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the suspects’ testimonies led the security services to a fifth Palestinian man in the Tulkarem area who was selling large quantities of fireworks in the knowledge that they were being used for terror attacks, “not for something innocent.”The army raided the building from which the fireworks dealer was peddling his goods on Thursday and found 10 boxes of pyrotechnics, the officer said.Fireworks are illegal to own in the West Bank. The army is now investigating how the dealer acquired the merchandise.According to the officer, the four suspects used the explosives inside the fireworks to craft “classic” pipe bombs.“They made bombs with a very, very large amount of the explosives from the fireworks, cramming it into pipes and sealing it on both sides with screwed-on caps,” the officer said.The four Palestinian men are suspected of using these pipe bombs in the weeks before their arrest to attack military positions in the northern West Bank, not in attacks against civilians, the IDF official said.No soldiers were seriously wounded in these attacks; however these kinds of pipe bombs have been known to cause serious injury and even death in the past.Last year, an IDF officer was seriously injured in a pipe bomb attack that was perpetrated by a group of five Palestinian men.The four suspects in the Tulkarem area were not trained members of a terrorist group, though they did have some connections with one, the officer said.“But I can’t say which as it’s still being investigated,” he added.In their interrogations, the suspects said they carried out their attacks out of a combination of nationalistic motivations, as well as a general sense of frustration with the situation in the West Bank, the officer said.The suspects, all of them between the ages of 17 and 24, were residents of the city of Tulkarem and the Nur a-Shams refugee camp, he said.

Trump, Netanyahu speak by phone, but reportedly don’t discuss leaks-Prime Minister’s Office confirms conversation, says leaders spoke only about US president’s upcoming visit to Israel-By AFP and Raphael Ahren May 17, 2017, 12:51 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have spoken by phone, an Israeli spokesman said Wednesday, as controversy brewed over the US president’s sharing of intelligence with Russia that came from Israel.A spokesman in Netanyahu’s office confirmed the phone call took place on Tuesday afternoon but did not say who initiated it.Trump is due to visit Israel next week.“There was a call yesterday between the president and prime minister for about 20 minutes,” the spokesman said. “The only topic discussed was the upcoming visit.”Israel meanwhile sought to contain fallout from Trump’s sharing of its intelligence with Russia, while not commenting directly on the move.Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman lauded security ties between the United States and his country, saying it would continue to be “unprecedented” in scope.But he made no mention of Trump divulging intelligence to Russia that a US administration official said had originally come from Israel.The United States is Israel’s most important ally, providing it with more than $3 billion in defense aid each year.The Washington Post reported late Monday that Trump revealed what it said was highly classified information on the Islamic State group (IS) during a meeting last week with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Moscow’s Washington ambassador Sergey Kislyak.It said that Trump told Lavrov about a specific IS bomb threat.A US administration official confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity that the original intelligence came from Israel, which was initially reported by the New York Times.

Israel said to be the source of intel Trump gave to Russians-NY Times warns info could find its way to Iran; Ambassador Dermer says ‘Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with US’-By Times of Israel staff and Agencies May 16, 2017, 10:02 pm

Israel was the country that provided the US with the classified intelligence that President Donald Trump shared with the Russians, The New York Times reported Tuesday, casting a dark shadow over one of the closest intelligence-sharing partnerships.According to a Washington Post report on Monday, Trump disclosed top secret intelligence to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Moscow’s ambassador to the US, Sergey Kislyak concerning a terror plot by the Islamic State involving the use of laptops on aircraft.Some of that intelligence came from Israel, unnamed US officials told the Times.The Times reported that, according to a current and a former American official, it was information that Israel relayed to the United States. The intelligence was deemed too classified to share with other United States allies, let alone a rival state like Russia, the Washington Post’s sources said. Russia is the main supporter of Syrian President Bashar Assad, and an ally of Iran, one of Israel’s principal adversaries.The country supplying the intelligence to the United States was identified in the Post story only as “an ally that has access to the inner workings of the Islamic State.”Israel and the United States are close allies whose leaders often refer to the countries’ “special relationship.” The United States provides Israel with some $4 billion of defense assistance annually, and the countries share intelligence and participate in joint military exercises. Trump will be visiting Israel next week on his first foreign trip as president.Ron Dermer, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, did not comment directly on the report.“Israel has full confidence in our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States and looks forward to deepening that relationship in the years ahead under President Trump,” Dermer said in a statement.“The revelation that Mr. Trump boasted about some of Israel’s most sensitive information to the Russians could damage the relationship between the two countries,” The Times said. “It also raises the possibility that the information could be passed to Iran, Russia’s close ally and Israel’s main threat in the Middle East.”BuzzFeed quoted what it described as two unnamed Israeli intelligence officers saying that the incident represented Israel’s “worst fears confirmed.”“We have an arrangement with America which is unique to the world of intelligence sharing. We do not have this relationship with any other country,” said one officer.“There is a special understanding of security cooperation between our countries,” he said. “To know that this intelligence is shared with others, without our prior knowledge? That is, for us, our worst fears confirmed.”A report earlier in the year foreshadowed just such an incident and concerns in the intelligence community.In January, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in Israel reported that US intelligence officials warned their Israeli counterparts that Trump’s ties to Russia could pose a security threat, and described a meeting between US and Israeli intelligence officials in which the Americans indicated to Israel they should be cautious in sharing information with Trump’s White House. The paper reported that the Americans assessed that Russia had some kind of leverage over Trump, but did not go into details.On Tuesday, US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said in a White House briefing that Trump was not aware of the source of the intelligence that he disclosed to the Russians, suggesting that Trump could not have compromised confidential sources.McMaster added that none of the US officials present for the president’s Oval Office meeting with Lavrov last week “felt in any way that that conversation was inappropriate.” He used the words “wholly appropriate” nine separate times.“In the context of that discussion, what the president discussed with the foreign minister was wholly appropriate to that conversation and is consistent with the routine sharing of information between the president and any leaders with whom he is engaged,” he said.He also cast some of Trump’s revelations as information that was available from publicly available “open-source reporting.”Earlier Tuesday, Trump took to Twitter to defend his reported decision to give classified intelligence information to Russia, in a statement that appeared to contradict earlier denials by White House officials, who had said he had not let slip any secrets.Trump said he has “the absolute right” to share information and had done so in order to encourage the Russians to “greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining….— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017-…to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 16, 2017-The information Trump disclosed, according to the Washington Post, was provided by an unnamed US partner — now said to be Israel — through an intelligence-sharing arrangement so secret, its details are unknown to some within the government. The officials said Trump’s revelations endangered cooperation with the US ally, which is reported to have access to the workings of the Islamic State.“If that partner learned we’d given this to Russia without their knowledge or asking first, that is a blow to that relationship,” a US official told the Washington Post.The New York Times, which later picked up the story, said the ally had previously shared information with the US only to see it leaked, and had warned US officials that it may cut off access to such information if it is shared too widely.Trump “revealed more information to the Russian ambassador than we have shared with our own allies,” another US official said.The bombshell Washington Post report came as Moscow’s alleged interference in last year’s US presidential election was back in the spotlight following Trump’s shock firing of FBI chief James Comey, whose agency was investigating Russia’s possible collusion with aides to the Republican billionaire.

Syrians brave mines, execution to flee Islamic State in Raqqa-Displaced people arriving at camp in Ain Issa say jihadists preparing for determined fight to keep stronghold-By Ayham al-Mohammad May 17, 2017, 1:20 pm-THE TIMES OF ISRAEL

AIN ISSA, Syria (AFP) — The main section of a camp for the displaced in the northern Syrian town of Ain Issa is full, but civilians fleeing the Islamic State group keep on arriving.The camp is a stark affair, with dusty tents flapping in the wind atop white gravel that covers inhabitants in a fine white dust.People have been arriving at the camp for months, but the pace has picked up as the Syrian Democratic Forces militia presses its offensive against IS.The US-backed alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters is pushing towards Raqqa city, IS’s most important remaining bastion in Syria.The newest arrivals at the central camp are forced to take refuge beyond the bounds of the established tented area, even setting up along the side of the nearby road.“There are more than 20,000 people in the camp now, and the numbers are growing by the hour,” camp director Jalal al-Ayyaf told AFP.“Since the beginning of the battle of Raqqa six months ago, more than 100,000 people have arrived at the camp, some of whom have now gone back to their villages and others have gone to stay with relatives in other areas,” he added.He urged international aid groups to “increase assistance for the displaced, whose numbers have exceeded the capacity of the city’s local council.”Hundreds of men and women crowded round a truck distributing rations, with one woman carrying away a box of World Food Programme items on her head.-Far from the horror-Elsewhere, women gathered at a red water tank to wash clothes, and two young boys struggled to carry a jerrycan of water together.Children throng the camp, among them a toddler sitting in the gravel and chewing a piece of plastic, seemingly oblivious to the white dust coating his red trousers.Nearby, two boys played on a makeshift swing, sitting on loops of yellow rope tied to a metal frame.And in a tent, a family tried to use a pink pacifier to settle a baby crying inside a bundle of blankets stuffed into a wire rocking crib.But despite all the hardships, the camp is safe, and far from the horrors residents say they endured under IS control and during their escape.New arrival Abu Ahmed, 47, fled from the Al-Rashid Farms area north of Raqqa city and described a harrowing journey.“They fired on our vehicles and set fire to our tents while we were fleeing,” he said.“They mined the bridges, and mined areas before they withdrew from them,” he told AFP.Khalid, a resident of Al-Sabahiya district in Raqa, arrived at the camp two days earlier and still looked exhausted.“We couldn’t believe that we had arrived here,” he said.“Daesh prevents those who want to come here — it damages their vehicles to stop them escaping,” he added, using the Arabic acronym for IS.-“Looking for safety”-“They executed several people who tried to escape a few days ago.”Another Raqqa resident, Talal, said IS fighters were keeping an eye out for people with tents that could be used to camp along an escape route.“The situation is very bad,” the 36-year-old said.“Everyone in the city is looking for safety.”SDF fighters are just a few kilometers (miles) from Raqqa city to the north and east, but are still working to encircle it from the west and south.They have said a final assault could begin next month, and Washington has pledged additional support to bolster the militia ahead of time.Hamza al-Hussein, a resident of Raqa’s Al-Daraiya neighborhood, said IS fighters were hunkering down for a battle.“They’ve surrounded the area with mines and put up wooden frames they brought from Iraq,” he said.The frames are erected over streets and covered with cloth to block the view of US-led coalition aircraft overhead.“They’ve even blocked off streets with berms of earth and cement,” he added.He said his nephew was killed by a mine blast as they escaped the city.“We brought him with us and buried him here.”Khalid said there was no more local support for IS, and residents were waiting for the city to be liberated.“No one can stand them any more,” he said.“Everyone is looking for a way to be rid of them.”