THANKS GOD FOR FULFILLING THE 2 PROMISES THAT ISRAEL WILL ALWAYS BE A NATION AND THAT JERUSALEM WILL ALWAYS BE THE ISRAELI CAPITAL AND THEN THE WORLD CAPITAL FOREVER.
1-Jerry Falwell dead at age 73. 2-EU wants credibility of World Bank reinstated. 3-EU states forge defence links on military research. 4-AMERICA IS IN DIRE & IMMINENT DANGER. 5-Jerusalem Day Being Boycotted by George Bush. 6-Will America Recognize G-d? 7-Radical Muslim Paramilitary Compound Flourishes in Upper New York State. 8-Will Bush Veto Thought Police?
BREAKING NEWS: Jerry Falwell dead at age 73
Sue Lindsey - Associated Press Writer
OneNewsNow.com - May 15, 2007
LYNCHBURG, Va. Rev. Jerry Falwell, who founded the Moral Majority and built the religious right into a political force, died Tuesday shortly after being found unconscious in his office at Liberty University, a school executive said. He was 73.
Ron Godwin, the university's executive vice president, said Falwell, 73, was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. CPR efforts were unsuccessful, he said.Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but he said Falwell has a history of heart challenges.I had breakfast with him, and he was fine at breakfast, Godwin said. He went to his office, I went to mine, and they foundhimunresponsive.
Falwell had survived two serious health scares in early 2005. He was hospitalized for two weeks with what was described as a viral infection, then was hospitalized again a few weeks later after going into respiratory arrest. Later that year, doctors found a 70 percent blockage in an artery, which they opened with stents. Falwell credited his Moral Majority with getting millions of conservative voters
registered, electing Ronald Reagan and giving Republicans Senate control in 1980.I shudder to think where the country would be right now if the religious right had not evolved, Falwell said when he stepped down as Moral Majority president in 1987.The fundamentalist church that Falwell started in an abandoned bottling plant in 1956 grew into a religious empire that includes the 22,000-member Thomas Road Baptist Church, the Old Time Gospel Hour carried on television stations around the country and 7,700-student Liberty University. He built Christian elementary schools, homes for unwed mothers and a home for alcoholics.
He also founded Liberty University in Lynchburg, which began as Lynchburg Baptist College in 1971.Liberty University's commencement is scheduled for Saturday, with former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich as the featured speaker.In 2006, Falwell marked the 50th anniversary of his church and spoke out on stem cell research, saying he sympathized with people with medical problems, but that any medical research must pass a three-part test: Is it ethically correct? Is it biblically correct? Is it morally correct?
Falwell had once opposed mixing preaching with politics, but he changed his view and in 1979, founded the Moral Majority. The political lobbying organization grew to 6.5 million members and raised $69 million as it supported conservative politicians and campaigned against abortion, homosexuality, pornography and bans on school prayer. Falwell became the face of the religious right, appearing on national magazine covers and on television talk shows. In 1983, U.S. News & World Report named him one of 25 most influential people in America.In 1984, he sued Hustler magazine for $45 million, charging that he was libeled by an ad parody depicting him as an incestuous drunkard. A federal jury found the fake ad did not libel him, but awarded him $200,000 for emotional distress. That verdict was overturned, however, in a landmark 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision that held that even pornographic spoofs about a public figure enjoy First Amendment protection.
The case was depicted in the 1996 movie The People v. Larry Flynt.
With Falwell's high profile came frequent criticism, even from fellow ministers. The Rev. Billy Graham once rebuked him for political sermonizing on non-moral issues. Falwell quit the Moral Majority in 1987, saying he was tired of being a lightning rod and wanted to devote his time to his ministry and Liberty University. But he remained outspoken and continued to draw criticism for his remarks.
Falwell was re-energized after moral values issues proved important in the 2004 presidential election. He formed the Faith and Values Coalition as the 21st Century resurrection of the Moral Majority, to seek anti-abortion judges, a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and more conservative elected officials.The big, blue-eyed preacher with a booming voice started his independent Baptist church with 35 members. From his living room, he began broadcasting his message of salvation and raising the donations that helped his ministry grow.He was one of the first to come up with ways to use television to expand his ministry, said Robert Alley, a retired University of Richmond religion professor who studied and criticized Falwell's career.American Family News Network.
EU wants credibility of World Bank reinstated Tue May 15, 11:27 AM ET
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants the World Bank's board to take a quick decision on whether President Paul Wolfowitz should step down to restore the global lender's credibility, Germany's Development minister said on Tuesday. We need a rapid decision from the board, German Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul said after EU development ministers discussed the issue at a regular meeting.All of us development ministers want the integrity and the credibility of the Bank to be maintained and reinstated, she told a news conference. We need a strong Bank, a strong president.Wieczorek-Zeul told Wolfowitz at the bank's spring meeting that he should step down voluntarily. She said on Tuesday that she maintained her position.
But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana appeared to question whether the furor over Wolfowitz's career help for his girlfriend when she was an employee of the bank was harming the institution.I don't think that an institution as established as the World Bank is going to suffer for some debate about an issue that relates to the presidency of the institution, he said.
The White House acknowledged on Tuesday that Wolfowitz erred in the handling of a pay raise and promotion for his companion but said that was not cause for him to be removed from his job.We've made clear that we support Paul Wolfowitz. Furthermore, he has said -- and we agree -- that certainly a lot of mistakes were made in the personnel process. But it's not a firing offense," White House spokesman Tony Snow told reporters.The bank's board was to meet on Tuesday to consider a report by the a panel that Wolfowitz violated ethics rules and that his involvement represented a conflict of interest. The former U.S. deputy defense secretary has rejected the criticism.
EU states forge defence links on military research
15.05.2007 - 09:27 CET | By Lucia Kubosova
EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - EU defence ministers have taken a step towards joint planning on defence expenditure and pooling resources to invest in technologies and military materials.
The initiative has been conducted by member states rather than the European Commission with national governments keen to protect their sovereignty in the area. At a meeting in Brussels on Monday (14 May), the bloc's defence chiefs agreed on a strategy for the future development of Europe's defence industry, pledging more mutual cooperation in both research and production.Nineteen EU member states plus Norway also signed up to a joint investment scheme aimed to pool resources for developing battlefield protection technologies, such as defences against mortar attacks or chemical, biological and radiological weapons.
Defence is a sensitive sector outside the EU's internal market rules, with some critics suggesting the status quo leads to Europe wasting millions of euros a year on duplication and protectionism.While the commission is currently contemplating possible ways of introducing more competition in the area through common EU legislation, member states also take initiatives at intergovernmental level, through
the European Defence Agency (EDA) which stands outside the community institutions. Under a non-binding code of conduct launched by the EDA last year, participating countries have committed to posting tenders for defence contracts on an electronic bulletin board open to companies from across the EU, with tenders worth almost €10 billion currently posted, according to the defence agency. At the moment, 23 out of 27 of the EU's member states have signed up to the code of conduct, with Spain, Denmark, Romania and Bulgaria remaining outside the system.
Non-binding or binding rules?
The strategy defence ministers agreed on Monday argues that member states must take urgent action to stop a decline in Europe's defence technological and industrial base by opening up protected national defence markets. Echoing the statements by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana ahead of the meeting, ministers admitted that the current approach with separate national spending on R&D and procurements in member states strictly opened just to national producers is no longer economically sustainable.They singled out the US as a key competitor against which Europe has been performing poorly, suggesting they should work more efficiently and cooperate more in order to improve standards.We recognise that the problem of accessing the US defence market and of establishing balanced technology exchange across the Atlantic, make it natural and necessary for Europeans to cooperate more closely, writes the agreed document. The European Parliament's security and defence subcommittee expressed similar feelings in a special report on the issue published last year, arguing that although EU governments spend €250 billion on defence which is half the amount Americans do, their defence capacities are only about 10 percent as efficient as the US.
The study pointed out that there are 23 parallel programmes for armoured vehicles, three new parallel programmes for combat aircraft and 89 European weapons programmes while the US, by contrast, has 27 programmes.But while the defence ministers acknowledge the same problems as the EU's executive and parliamentarians in their new strategy, they remain reluctant to give any extra powers to Brussels in this area.
CARMEL COMMENT EXTRA: AMERICA IS IN DIRE & IMMINENT DANGER MAY 15,07
It takes a serious situation to cause me to send out a mid week Carmel Alert. Two weeks ago, the Carmel Comment was entitled Israel Is In Dire & Immenent Danger. Israel's threat is from our demonically inspired Islamic neighbours. The title of this comment is inspired by several news items I have received this week concerning the USA. Unlike the threat to Israel that is external, the USA's problem is internal - America Is In Dire & Imminent Danger ..... from herself. The purpose of this email is not to bash President Bush or America, but to stir up Christians in the USA and the other nations to pray and fast for the United States. What ever happens in the USA will affect the rest of the World. I believe that the USA has a mandate from YHVH to stand with Israel and for the Bible and I want to see America rise up and fulfill this calling for her own sake and for the sake of the Kingdom
of God.
The root of the problem lies in three main areas - Israel, the Muslims, and this idiotic Political Correctness, particularly when it comes to the homosexual lobby. In addition I just saw a report on the 700 Club that in several US universities it is illegal to speak against Evolution. What ever happened to freedom of speech ?
The following news items should concern all of us, because sooner or later they WILL concern ALL of us.
PLEASE READ, DIGEST, WATCH, & PRAY ..............
JERUSALEM
1 King 11:36 ...... my servant David may always have a lamp before Me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen for Myself, to put My name there. (NKJ)
Ps 137:5-6 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! If I do not remember you, let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth-- if I do not exalt Jerusalem above my chief joy. (NKJ)
Zechariah 12:3 And it shall happen in that day that I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples; all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces, though all nations of the earth are gathered against it. (NKJ)
Jerusalem Day Being Boycotted by George Bush. The Golden Report 5-14-07
Jerusalem Day is this Wednesday; It is our 40th celebration of victory over the Jordanians who occupied Judea, Samaria and East Jerusalem including the Old City of Jerusalem from 1948 until 1967. For those 19 years Jews were not allowed in the Old City of Jerusalem, or to their Holiest sites the Temple Mount and the Western Wall. The Jordanians destroyed every Synagogue in the Old City turned most of them into toilets, and made it almost impossible for Christians to visit their Holy Sites.
By a miracle of God a small newly formed IDF in an act of self defense was able to defeat Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria in what is now known as the 6-day war.
We took back our Holy City of Jerusalem and cleaned it up, we didn’t run the Arabs out, instead we allowed them to live in the Old City and only took our precious Jewish Quarters back and rebuilt it and our Synagogues, in doing this we didn’t destroy their mosques instead we helped them rebuild them as well, Christians were now allowed to come and go freely to their Holy Sites.
Years ago the United States agreed that Jerusalem was the Capital of Israel and said they would move their Embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. When Bush took office he said he would move the US Embassy to Jerusalem. But today George Bush says that the United States will not take part in the Jerusalem Day Celebrations and they are joining the EU in their boycott of Jerusalem being the Jewish Capital because Bush says we are occupying East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. It becomes easier every day to see that his intention is too destroy the Jewish State in favor of his Saudi friends, what I can’t understand is why so many Christians in the US can’t now see what this man really is.
Many are calling me a Bush basher, I think I am a truth teller, I have only been reporting to you what Bush is doing that you may not hear on US TV.
David's Note: This is very serious - To oppose Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of Israel is to oppose God Himself. He has warned us in Joel 3 that He will judge the nations on account of how they behave towards Israel.
What An Israeli American Says - Will America Recognize G-d? by Gary Cooperburg - Hevron MAY 15,07
Christian Zionists seem to know, more than most other people, that Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish State. I am sure that American Christian supporters of the Jewish State are outraged that the US ambassador to Israel, Richard Jones, will not participate in tomorrows Jerusalem Day ceremony at the Knesset. I would also assume that most Americans must be quite frustrated at the fact that even though the American legislature passed a law authorizing the moving of the American Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and nearly every President has pledged to fulfill this law, to this date no progress has been made in fulfilling it.
No country in the world has the right to dictate to any legitimate nation where its capital should or shouldnt be. The PLO is not a nation. It has no legitimate claim on any part of the Land of Israel. Anyone who has read the Bible knows that Jerusalem has always been the capital of the Jewish nation.
No other nation has ever held sovereignty over this nation or this city. How dare any world leader, especially the President of the United States, refuse to recognize the only city in the world whose identity can never be denied as being the legitimate capital of the Jewish State?
Today all nations are being judged by our Creator by how they relate to His People in His Land. In spite of our feeble and foolish leaders, our nation is under the protection of our Creator and simply cannot be destroyed even by the most powerful nations in the world. We suffer from terror in this country only because our leaders refuse to recognize their obligations as Jews. We have no right to negotiate one grain of sand on the Gaza beach. It is our obligation to develop and build all of our homeland and to inhabit it with our people.
As an Israeli, I couldnt care less if Richard Jones refuses to attend our ceremonies. But as an American I am outraged that the leadership of the USA would place that nation in danger by snubbing the nation of G-d. This too will bring Divine Wrath upon America. If the American People want to continue to have a country in which they can be proud to be Americans, they must find a leadership which will return that country to the respect for our Creator that its founding fathers once had.
TWO STATE SOLUTION
The US State Department under the authority of President Bush and Condalesa Rice are forcing the Israelis and the so called Palestinians to conform to the US plan for the creation of a Palestinian State, not side by side, but inside the Jewish State, on the land that God promised to Abraham and his descendants ( thru Issac not Ishmael ). The US has informed both sides that their plan and timing is not negotiable. Who do they think they are ? Both Bush and Rice claim to be Christians I wonder what Bible they read ! Not the same one I read that is for sure !
At the same time that the USA was once again pushing Israel to give away her covenant land, and at the same time the Anti Hate law that also flies against the Word of God in condoning and protecting idolaters, adulterers, abortionists ( murderers ) and sodomites, raging fires destroyed large parts of Florida and California, and raging floodwaters destroyed towns in other parts of the USA.One has to ask IS GOD TALKING TO THE USA ? & IS ANYBODY LISTENING ?
THE MUSLIMS
Radical Muslim Paramilitary Compound Flourishes in Upper New York State
By Paul L. Williams Ph.D., (author of THE DAY OF ISLAM) Friday, May 11, 2007
http://www.canadafreepress.com
Situated within a dense forest at the foothills of the Catskill Mountains on the outskirts of Hancock, New York, Islamberg is not an ideal place for a summer vacation unless, of course, you are an exponent of the Jihad or a fan of Osama bin Laden. The 70 acre complex is surrounded with No trespassing signs; the rocky terrain is infested with rattlesnakes; and the woods are home to black bears, coyotes, wolves, and a few bobcats. The entrance to the community is at the bottom of a very steep hill that is difficult to navigate even on a bright sunny day in May. The road, dubbed Muslim Lane, is unpaved and marred by deep crevices that have been created by torrential downpours. On a wintry day, few, save those with all terrain vehicles, could venture forth from the remote encampment.
A sentry post has been established at the base of the hill.
The sentry, at the time of this visit, is an African American dressed in Islamic garb a skull cap, a prayer shawl, and a loose fitting shalwat kameez. He instructs us to turn around and leave. Our community is not open to visitors, he says. Behind the sentry and across a small stream stand dozens of inhabitants of the compound the men wearing skull caps and loose fitting tunics, the women in full burqa. They appear ready to deal with any unauthorized intruders. The hillside is blighted by
rusty trailers that appear to be without power or running water and a number of outhouses. The scent of raw sewage is in the air.
The place is even off limits to the local undertaker who says that he has delivered bodies to the complex but has never been granted entrance. They come and take the bodies from my hearse. They won't allow me to get past the sentry post. They say that they want to prepare the bodies for burial.
But I never get the bodies back. I don't know what's going on there but I don't think it's legal. It is home to hundreds all in Islamic attire, and all African-Americans. Most drive late model SUVs with license plates from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, and Tennessee. The locals say that some work as tollbooth operators for the New York State Thruway, while others are employed at a credit card processing center that maintains confidential financial records.
Islamberg is not as benign as a Buddhist monastery or a Carmelite convent. Nearly every weekend, neighbors hear sounds of gunfire. Some, including a combat veteran of the Vietnam War, have heard the bang of small explosives. None of the neighbors wished to be identified for fear of retaliation. We don't even dare to slow down when we drive by, one resident said. They own the mountain and they know it and there is nothing we can do about it but move, and we can't even do that. Who wants to buy a property near that? Islamberg's Grocery Store The complex serves to scare the bejeesus out of the local residents. If you go there, you better wear body armor, a customer at the Circle E Diner in Hancock said. They have armed guards and if they shoot you, nobody will find your body. At Cousins, a watering hole in nearby Deposit, a barfly, who didn't wish to be identified, said: The place is dangerous. You can hear gunfire up there. I can't understand why the FBI won't shut it down.
Islamberg is a branch of Muslims of the Americas Inc., a tax-exempt organization formed in 1980 by Pakistani cleric Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, who refers to himself as the sixth Sultan Ul Faqr, Gilani, has been directly linked by court documents to Jamaat ul-Fuqra or ommunity of the impoverished, an organization that seeks to purify Islam through violence. Though primarily based in Lahore, Pakistan, Jamaat ul-Fuqra has operational headquarters in New York and openly recruits through various social service organizations in the U.S., including the prison system. Members live in hamaats or compounds, such as Islamberg, where they agree to abide by the laws of Jamaat ul-Fuqra, which are considered to be above local, state and federal authority. Additional hamaats have been established in Hyattsville, Maryland; Red House, Virginia; Falls Church, Virginia; Macon, Georgia; York, South Carolina; Dover, Tennessee; Buena Vista, Colorado; Talihina, Oklahoma; Tulane Country, California; Commerce, California; and Onalaska, Washington. Others are being built, including an expansive facility in Sherman, Pennsylvania.
Before becoming a citizen of Islamberg or any of the other Fuqra compounds, the recruits primarily inner city black men who became converts in prison are compelled to sign an oath that reads: I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah's sake. In the past, thousands of members of the U.S. branches of Jamaat ul-Fuqra traveled to Pakistan for paramilitary training, but encampments, such as Islamberg, are now capable of providing boot-camp training so raw recruits are no longer required to travel abroad amidst the increased scrutiny of post 9/11.
Over the years, numerous members of Jamaat ul-Fuqra have been convicted in US courts of such crimes as conspiracy to commit murder, firebombing, gun smuggling, and workers' compensation fraud.
Others remain leading suspects in criminal cases throughout the country, including ten unsolved assassinations and seventeen fire-bombings between 1979 and 1990. The criminal charges against the group and the criminal convictions are not things of the past. In 2001, a resident of a California compound was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting of a sheriff's deputy; another was charged with gun-smuggling' and twenty-four members of the Red House community were convicted of firearms violations.
Even though Jamaat ul-Fuqra has been involved in terror attacks and sundry criminal activities, recruited thousands of members from federal and state penal systems, and appears to be operating paramilitary facilities for militant Muslims, it remains to be placed on the official US Terror Watch List. On the contrary, it continues to operate, flourish, and expand as a legitimate nonprofit, tax-deductible charity
David's Note: Why does President Bush wage the War on Terror thousands of miles away in Iraq, but does nothing about an obvious Islamid terror facility on his doorstep ?
HOMOSEXUALS & the THOUGHT POLICE
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BIBLE VERSES ARE NOW CLASSED AS HATE LITERATURE AND ARE OUTLAWED IN MANY WESTERN NATIONS - BEWARE THE THOUGHT POLICE MAY BE MONITORING YOU RIGHT NOW !!!
Lev 18:21-22 I am the LORD. You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. (NKJ)
Rom 1:24-27 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. (AIDS)(NKJ)
Will Bush Veto Thought Police'? World Net Daily
Opponents say hate crimes plan would destroy American freedoms
The nation's largest public policy women's group is asking President Bush to commit to a veto of a hate crimes plan that, as WND has reported, opponents fear would target Christians and be used to demolish both freedom of speech and religion in the United States. Last week the House Judiciary Committee, egged on by radical homosexual groups, passed what can only be called a Thought Crimes bill, said former White House insider Chuck Colson in his Breakpoint commentary. It's called the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. But this bill is not about hate. It's not even about crime. It's about outlawing peaceful speech – speech that asserts that homosexual behavior is morally wrong.
The call for the veto promise came from leaders at Concerned Women for America, who said they have written to the president with their request, because Congress is poised to approve H.R. 1592 as early as today.
This bill would grant individuals who engaged in homosexual behavior (sexual orientation) or those who cross-dress (gender identity) preferential treatment over other citizens by elevating them to a specially protected class of victim, the organization said. The 14th Amendment guarantees all citizens equal protection under the law, regardless of their chosen sexual behaviors.
There is no evidence to suggest that homosexuals or cross-dresser do not receive equal protection under the law, the CWFA said.
Victims are – and should be – treated equally in the justice system, regardless of their sexual orientation. This hate crimes bill would overturn this balance, creating second-class victims and a federal justice system that discriminates against grandmothers, children, women and men simply because they are heterosexual, said CWFA President Wendy Wright. We cannot imagine that President Bush would sign a bill that would create a two-tiered justice system that discriminates against grandmothers, she said.
Some say we need this law to prevent attacks on homosexuals. But we already have laws against assaults on people and property, Colson continued. Moreover, according to the FBI, crimes against homosexuals in the United States have dropped dramatically in recent years. In 2005, out of 863,000 cases of aggravated assault, just 177 cases were crimes of bias against homosexuals…He noted, that in other locations, such as England, Sweden, Canada, and even Philadelphia, where similar laws have been approved, the Thought Police already have prosecuted Christians. In Philadelphia, a grandmother was hauled to jail and threatened with 47 years in prison for proclaiming her Christianity on a public street. One Philadelphia woman, Arlene Elshinnawy, 75, and grandmother of three, was holding a sign: Truth is hate to those who hate the truth, before she was hauled off by police officers.
If this dangerous law passes, pastors who preach sermons giving the biblical view of homosexuality could be prosecuted. Christian businessmen who refuse to print pro-gay literature could be prosecuted. Groups like Exodus International, which offer therapy to those with unwanted same-sex attraction, could be shut down, Colson warned. In classic 1984 fashion, peaceful speech will be redefined as a violent attack worthy of punishment. He said that's known because during debate over the plan, U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., offered an amendment to assure that the law would not be used to limit the religious freedom of any person or group, and majority Democrats on the committee refused it.
It also refused to adopt amendments protecting other groups from hate crimes – like members of the military, who are often targets of verbal attacks and spitting. They also shot down amendments that would protect the homeless and senior citizens … Nothing doing, the committee said – the only group they wanted to protect: homosexuals.
Clearly, the intent of this law is not to prevent crime, but to shut down freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of thought, he said. Matt Barber, CWA's policy director for cultural issues, said such narrow focus by Democrats makes clear the exclusionary and discriminatory nature of this bill. The concerns also were echoed by Peter LaBarbera of Americans for Truth. This is really about getting the heavy hand of the federal government in promoting homosexuality as a civil right, he said.
Observers at the committee debate over the bill noted that nowhere in the bill are the terms sexual orientation or gender identity defined, but Democrats declined to even include that in the proposal.
Rev. Ted Pike, of The National Prayer Network, said reality needs to be faced. Not only do pro -hate bill Democrats have 34 more votes than the Republicans, but at least several dozen Republicans are probably committed to vote for the hate bill. This means that in order to even have a tie in the House more than 55 members would have to cancel their pledge to vote for the hate bill. Not a good possibility, he said.
However, the Senate is different. The pro-hate bill forces may have as many as 65 votes, more than the 60 necessary to win. This includes about 14 Republicans; but if six Republicans are dissuaded from supporting the hate bill, [the plan] will not pass. The federal hate bill would be destroyed, at least for this session of Congress, he said. Glen Lavy, of the Alliance Defense Fund, earlier wrote to Congress warning the plan would criminalize thoughts and beliefs. This is a terrible thing, to criminalize thought or emotion or even speech, Lavy told WND. And Bishop Harry Jackson, chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, said the plan, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Protection Act of 2007, is no more than a surreptitious attempt by some in Congress to strip the nation of religious freedom and the ability to preach the gospel from our church pulpits. It will stamp all over our doctrine and practice of our faith, he said. We believe what the Bible says. If you start there we've got a major problem.
WND columnist Janet Folge r earlier warned in a commentary called Pastors: Act now or prepare for jail, that in New Hampshire, a crime that typically carries a sentence of 3 1/2 years was enhanced to 30 years because a robber shouted an anti-homosexual name at his victim. Folger's organization, Faith2Action, is the group that was launched the ads about Philadelphia grandmothers who were thrown in jail in Pennsylvania under that state's hate crimes law.
The proposal is by U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., the head of the House Judiciary Committee. Pike said technically, the proposal would make it federally indictable to…attempt to…intimidate' a homosexual from believing that he (even if he has AIDS or hepatitis) has the right to work in a restaurant, be employed as a police officer or summer camp counselor, or has equal rights to housing and employment anywhere he wishes. A pastor, Christian broadcaster or publisher who verbally attempts to intimidate homosexuals by describing homosexuality as an abomination (Lev. 18:22) are thus high-profile targets for indictment under this legislation, he said.
AMERICA IS IN DIRE & IMMINENT DANGER - PRAY ! PRAY ! PRAY !
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 . Do not be silent, but share this to 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.
Shalom .. . David & Josie
CANADIAN REPRESENTATIVE: Peter Robertson ph 250 6490714 peterrobertson@shaw.ca
Please make your checks payable to Out of Zion Canada and mail to Out of Zion Canada Box 2199, MacKenzie, BC, V0J 2CO
David & Josie Silver - Out of Zion Ministries - Mt Carmel Israel
www.out-of-zion.com
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
5 SIGNS OF MAHDI'S RETURN
2ND CORINTHIANS 5:6-8 JERRY INSTANTLY WAS TAKEN BY ANGELS TO GOD AT DEATH
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
BREAKING NEWS
PRAY FOR JERRY FALDWELL HE WAS FOUND UNCONCIOUS IN HIS OFFICE IN LINCHBERG VIRGINIA.
HES IN GRAVE CONDITION REPORTS.
JERRY FALWELL HAS DIED. ITS 1:30 IN THE AFTERNOON. 73 YEAR OLD JERRY HAS DIED. A SAD DAY IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY JERRY WAS A MORAL LEADER.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
PSALMS 122:2-9
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
PSALMS 137:5-7
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom (Jordon) in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
AT 6:00 PM ISRAEL CELEBRATES JERUSALEM DAY. THE DAY GOD GAVE JERUSALEM FOREVER TO ISRAEL AND SOON TO BE THE WORLD CAPITAL.
THERE ARE 2 ELECTS THE CHURCH AND ISRAEL.
ISRAEL ON EARTH DURING TRIBULATION 7 YR PEACE TREATY
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, (Israel) in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect (Israel) shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ROMANS 11:28
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, (Israel) they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
THE CHURCH ELECT
1 PETER 1:2
1:2 Elect (Christians) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Thousands of youngsters evacuated from moorland amid flood fears. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Hamas kills 8 at Gaza border crossing. 5-Jordan's king set to meet Olmert. 6-Anti-Semitism on rise in parts of Europe: study. 7-Muslim Religious Ban on Leaving Israel. 8-Artifacts From Time of Kings David and Solomon Revealed. 9-Five signs of the Mahdi's return?
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Tue May 15 11:00 AM EDT
MAY 15,07
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
MAP 3.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAY 14,07
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.5 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.0 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 VERMONT
MAP 3.1 BERING SEA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 2.7 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
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.
Thousands of youngsters evacuated from moorland amid flood fears Sun May 13, 7:11 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - The army said it was evacuating thousands of youngsters, many of them by helicopter, from moorland in southwest England on Sunday after their annual trek was called off due to concerns about rain-swollen rivers. Some are friends of Charlotte Shaw, a 14-year-old girl who died after falling into a swollen stream on March 4 during training for the two-day, army organised expedition on Dartmoor which involves 2,400 youngsters nationwide.Four hundred teams, each with six members, began long treks Saturday over rugged terrain, but the army, citing deteriorating weather conditions and a high dropout rate of 15 percent, called off the event late Saturday.The weather forecast indicates that the rivers, which are already at their peak, will become increasingly swollen, it said in a statement.Around 200 youngsters have already been evacuated from the moor by two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters, with the rest waiting in their tents or walking back, the army said.
The helicopters carrying the teams were arriving back into Okehampton battle camp at regular intervals from 6 am (0500 GMT) Sunday and all the youngsters were expected to have left the moor by mid-afternoon.Army spokesman David Hamilton said more than 700 personnel, including military and the Dartmoor Rescue Group, were involved in the weekend's activities and the recovery of the teams.Jenna Drew, 17, was on a team completing a 55-mile (88-kilometre) route, the longest of three possible treks, when she was airlifted back to camp early Sunday.I'm really, really devastated. We really wanted to finish. I think we could have done it if we had been allowed to go on. Obviously the safety of everyone is their main priority, Drew said.The annual treks began in 1959 after several officers in the army, which has used Dartmoor for training for years, decided it would be a good challenge for young civilians.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Tue May 15, 5:59 AM ET
A balmy day dawned over the Northeast and Southwest early Tuesday, while storms stalked the Great Lakes, Rockies and Mississippi Valley. A stormy system was expected to push through the Great Lakes toward the Northeast, with a cold front sweeping across the Plains, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys.Apart from the rain, cooler air was expected to spread across the Midwest. The stormy weather should move to the East Coast and Gulf States on Wednesday.Low pressure was to remain in the Gulf of Mexico, keeping scattered showers and thunderstorms over southern Florida.
Out West, mostly sunny skies with seasonal temperatures was expected. The California coast was to be cool and clear, while the Desert Southwest was to remain hot and dry.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Monday ranged from a low of 22 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS)whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
CIVIL WAR BREAKING OUT IN GAZA NOW, WATCH FOR THE EU TO BRING IN THEIR RAPID REACTION TEAM AT SOME POINT TO GUARENTEE THE PEACE OF ISRAEL AND THE ARABS.
Hamas kills 8 at Gaza border crossing By IBRAHIM BARZAK, AP MAY 15,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas gunmen on Tuesday ambushed rival Fatah forces near a key crossing along the Israeli border, killing eight people in the deadliest battle yet in three days of factional fighting. The incident briefly drew Israeli gunfire, threatening to drag Israel into the conflict at a time when its prime minister said his country was ready to discuss an Arab initiative that offers peace for land.At least 20 people, including 11 total on Tuesday, have died in the fighting, bringing life in Gaza to a standstill and pushing the fragile Palestinian unity government closer to collapse. Hamas and Fatah formed the union to end months of violence. Tuesday's fighting began when Hamas gunmen approached a training base used by Fatah forces that guard the crossing, officials said.
The base was set up in part by a U.S. security team sent to train Palestinians on how to check cargo and bags at crossings.
The Islamic militant Hamas force attacked the base with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, said Ahmed al-Kaisi, spokesman for the pro-Fatah Presidential Guard: We consider this a serious provocation and a crime committed in cold blood.When another Fatah security unit arrived to provide backup, they were ambushed by Hamas gunmen, witnesses said.A jeep full of security men that came under fire veered off the road and crashed. Hamas forces then riddled it with gunfire, said one witness, who gave only his first name, Jamil, out of fear for his safety.Hospital and security officials said eight men were killed in the ambush.As the fighting raged, Israeli troops opened fire at two gunmen who approached the border, the army said. Palestinian officials said one man was killed.
He was identified as a member of the Presidential Guard, who apparently was trying to help his comrades.Witnesses also said three Israeli tanks approached Karni, and the Hamas force quickly withdrew. Israel also closed the crossing, which is the passage for cargo going in and out of Gaza.Hours after the Karni incident, another security officer loyal to Fatah was killed in a clash with Hamas gunmen in Gaza City, Fatah officials said. Another man was killed in a separate fight, but it was not immediately known to which side he belonged.Israel has remained silent throughout the latest Palestinian infighting, but the border incident illustrated how fragile the situation is. Israel has been debating whether to take large-scale military action in Gaza in response to repeated rocket fire aimed at southern Israel.In Jordan, King Abdullah ll held high-level talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert aimed at breathing life into an Arab peace initiative that offers Israel recognition in return for land.
Olmert said his country was ready to discuss the initiative, but Abdullah told him that Israel first had to take concrete steps to improve relations with the Palestinians, and urged him to set a firm timetable for doing that, said Amjad Adayleh, information director at Jordan's royal palace.
The plan would give Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several provisions.The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.Abdullah also told the Israeli leader at their meeting in the seaside resort of Aqaba that he was worried about reports Israel is planning new settlements or to expand existing ones, Adayleh said, but Olmert called such reports baseless.Abdullah also urged Olmert to lift an economic blockade on Palestinians, making it easier for them to cross borders and immediately unfreeze all Palestinian money held by Israel. Adayleh said the meeting focused on the Arab land-for-recognition plan and Abdullah told Olmert that all the Arabs are committed to the peace initiative and they have a real intention for a comprehensive peace if Israel accepts that.Before the talks with Abdullah, Olmert told a conference in Petra, Jordan, of Nobel laureates and Israeli and Arab youth that Israel was ready to listen to Arab views.
We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully, he said. In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the immediate implementation of a security plan to halt the internal fighting. We must do that ... without any reluctance or delay, to put an end to civil strife and the ghost of internal fighting, he said in a speech marking the anniversary of the uprooting of many Palestinians in the 1948 Mideast War fought over Israel's founding. The plan calls for rival security forces to operate under a joint command. A majority of the 80,000 security officers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are loyal to Abbas, while Hamas set up its own 6,000-member militia last year. Associated Press Writer Jamal Halaby contributed to this report in Petra, Jordan.
Jordan's king set to meet Olmert By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 15, 6:58 AM ET
PETRA, Jordan - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his country's readiness Tuesday to discuss an Arab peace initiative and find ways to implement such a plan. Olmert said after arriving for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II that Israel was ready to sit down and talk about it carefully and was willing to listen to Arab views.We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully, he told a conference in this ancient city.Describing the plan as very interesting, Olmert said we are ready to cooperate to find the appropriate manner to implement. If the Arab countries want to present their peace initiative, we will be more than happy to sit down and listen carefully.Olmert invited the 22 leaders of the Arab nations that are ready to make that kind of peace with Israel, to come to Israel, where ever they want and to sit down with us and start talk and present their ideas.
He added that if they were willing to invite him somewhere for talks, then I'm ready to come.Olmert arrived in Petra for a rare high-level meeting with Abdullah on the sidelines of a conference involving Nobel Laureates and Israeli and Arab youth on ways to solve conflicts in the Mideast.We are ready to come and to invite Arab leaders without preconditions from us or their side, Olmert said.The Petra meetings came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for immediate implementation of the government's security plan to halt lawlessness and internal fighting.Earlier, Hamas gunmen attacked rival Fatah forces at a key crossing along the Israeli border, killing seven people and drawing fire from nearby Israeli troops.
Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, urged rival Palestinian factions on Tuesday to end the chaos that threatens to unravel the Palestinian unity government. Ahead of the meeting, however, the Palestinians indicated it would take time to set up a meeting between Olmert and Abbas.I think it will take time before they meet again. The Israelis are not ready. All we've been told it that they are willing to prepare for the next meeting, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.Jordan, along with Egypt, were the first Arab countries to make peace with Israel and are charged with promoting the Arab-initiated peace deal to the Jewish State, which has welcomed it as a good starting point but objects to several key provisions.The peace process is frozen, but what we are looking for is seeing a real serious step from the Israeli side to sit at the table to negotiate what the roads map and the Arab peace initiative are calling for, Rdeneh added.Ahead of Olmert's meeting with Abdullah, his spokeswoman Miri Eisin said the two leaders planned to break away from the conference and travel to the king's palace in the southern Jordanian resort of Aqaba for their talks.
Abdullah regards the Arab peace plan as a historic chance and will make it the focus of his talks with Olmert.The Arab peace plan offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a full withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations but has objected to several key provisions. The Arab peace plan was proposed in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.
While saying it has positive elements, Israel has objected to major provisions of the plan, including the call to evacuate all captured lands and to repatriate millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Israel says such a large influx of Palestinians would destroy Israel's character as a Jewish state. Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2000 after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising
against Israel. Subsequent efforts to restart peace talks, including the 2003 U.S.-backed road map peace plan and a recent U.S. push to bring the sides back to the negotiating table, have made little progress.
Progress on Arab-Israeli peace could be a welcome boost for Olmert who has been under increasing criticism back home after a scathing government commission report on his performance during Israel's summer war with Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla. There have been widespread calls for him to resign. The conference in Petra, a city carved into rose-red stone and built by the Nabataean culture some 2,000 years ago, is hosted jointly by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and the New York-based Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Four Israeli schoolchildren hand picked by their government will join Palestinian students and youth from Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt.
No details were provided about the youth. Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Dale Gavlak contributed to this report. On the Net: King Abdullah II Fund for Development: http://www.kafd.jo Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity: http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org Petra conference: http://www.petranobel.com
Anti-Semitism on rise in parts of Europe: study By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
Mon May 14, 9:01 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An increasing number of Europeans believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their home countries and have too much influence in world finance, a U.S. group monitoring anti-Semitism said on Monday. A large number of Europeans continue to be infected with anti-Jewish attitudes, holding on to classic anti-Semitic canards and conspiracy theories, Abraham Foxman, director of the Washington-based Anti-Defamation League, told reporters.These attitudes help legitimize anti-Semitism, including violence against Jews, and give us great concern, he said.
A survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in France, Spain, German, Poland and Italy in March and April found that negative stereotypes about Jews had gained ground in these countries since 2005.The study measured responses to these statements: that Jews are more loyal to Israel than their country, that they have too much power in the business world and financial markets and that they talk too much about the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two.
In all countries studied, with the exception of Italy, the poll found an increase since a survey in 2005 in the percentage of Europeans who felt Jews held Israel above their own states.
In Poland and Spain, about 60 percent of those surveyed expressed that sentiment, up from about 50 percent two years ago. In Germany the figure was 51 percent, with 48 percent in Italy and 39 percent in France.Foxman called the dual loyalty allegation a classical canard of anti-Semitism and a tenet of Hitler's ideology that Jews had sold out Germany for their own interests.One in four of the some 2,700 people surveyed said their attitudes toward Jews are colored by events in the Middle East, Foxman added.
Of these, 52 percent said they held a lower opinion of Jews as a result.Foxman pointed to what he called an emergence of a significant relationship between anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiments or criticism. But he said it was too soon to draw any direct parallels from the survey.The study did not tabulate incidents of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. Tel Aviv University in Israel said in findings
published in April that the numbers of attacks against Jews had doubled worldwide last year compared with 2005.Most of the rise in violence was reported in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and France, the Tel Aviv study said.
Muslim Religious Ban on Leaving Israel
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 15,07
Yet another Islamic religious ruling forbidding Moslems from leaving the Holy Land has been issued, this time from the Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine. Recently, the Hamas-affiliated Association of Religious Sages of Palestine publicized its ruling forbidding emigration from the lands of the Palestinian Authority. The Mufti of Jerusalem has now joined in with his own ban, released on Monday, May 14. The rulings are an indication of the great fear in the Arab world that young people from the Palestinian Authority are increasingly seeking their fortunes abroad. The latest ruling, entitled, No permission to emigrate from the land of Palestine, reads as follows:
There is much talk these days in our land of Palestine about emigration, and especially among the young, and this because of the difficult security and economic situation, and out of a desire to find a living in other lands.
Expression of this can be found in the rush to the gates of the embassies and consulates of the Western nations with requests for visas in order to reside permanently in those countries Based on [the ruling of the prophet Muhammed and his friends], emigration from the blessed lands to live permanently in other countries is not permitted in terms of religious law. The people living in these areas must remain in their places of residence, and not leave them to infiltrators and conquerors, and they will thus perform an act of honor, and will be a support for the Al-Aqsa mosque... and will merit the good tiding of the prophet...Regarding temporary travel to other lands for the purpose of study and work, this is permitted as long as there is a determination to return and live in the blessed lands after the stage of study and work.
Tens of Thousands
PA officials reported last November that in the preceding four months, foreign and Arab diplomats had authorized the entry of 10,000 PA residents to their countries, and that another 45,000 emigration requests were under similar consideration. Similar statements were made in October.
Artifacts From Time of Kings David and Solomon Revealed
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (INN) MAY 15,07
In honor of Jerusalem Day, which begins Tuesday night, archaeologists revealed a number of seals from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon. The seals, along with other recently uncovered artifacts, were displayed for the first time on Monday, at a conference marking 40 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem by the modern State of Israel. The City of David area was a commercial and trading center.The Bible-period artifacts were unearthed during archaeological excavations underway in Ir David, the City of David, below Jerusalems Old City to the east. The specific artifacts on display on Monday were found at the Beit HaMaayan (well-house) dig, overseen by Haifa University's Archaeology Department Director, Professor Ronny Reich. The greatest scientific and public interest was focused on more than 100 seals and signet rings, used as a means of authentication for written papyrus documents, from the time of the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. The seals bear various markings that, when deciphered, indicate the sender of the document and his or her location. The large number of such seals, archaeologists explained, indicate that the City of David area was a commercial and trading center.
Several hundred leaders of Israel's industry and the economy took part in the Jerusalem gathering at which the artifacts were displayed. Similar seals and signets have been found at various excavation sites around Jerusalem over the past decade. Some of those seals bear names of royal advisors and servants mentioned in various Biblical accounts of the reigns of Jewish monarchs. In 2005, a Hebrew University archaeologist and a leading authority on ancient Jerusalem,Some seals bear the names of royal advisors mentioned in various Biblical accounts.Dr. Eilat Mazar uncovered a clay seal in what she claimed served as the residential palace of Jewish kings from King David until the destruction of the First Temple, for a period of 450 years. That seal, dated from about 580 BCE, bears the name Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya, who is identified as a royal envoy and court minister sent by King Zedekiah to the prophet Jeremiah (in chapters 37 and 38 of the Bible's Book of Jeremiah).
Several years earlier, another circa-580 BCE royal seal was found at the same site. It had the name of Gemaryahu, son of Shafan, who is also mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah, and who was a top official in the court of King Zedekiah's predecessor, King Yehoyachim. Another seal found among dozens of others bears the name of Azaryahu Ben-Hilkiyahu, a member of a priestly family, who served in the Temple before Jerusalem's destruction (according to I Chronicles, 9:10).
NEW DETAILS OF AHMADINEJAD'S APOCALYPTIC BELIEFS:
Five signs of the Mahdi's return? Also, part two of Dobson interview runs today.
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(Washington, D.C., May 15, 2007) First, the good news: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet today in Petra and Aqaba to discuss peace.
Olmert is expected to personally invite the King to visit Jerusalem to discuss the future of the region. Now, the bad news: Olmert will return from Jordan to oversee a major IDF war games exercise as Israeli intelligence officials warn him that this summer could see a major war. Latest warning signs: The New York Times is reporting this morning that Iran is enriching uranium faster and on a much larger scale than previously known. According to a new report by the IAEA, Iran could have 3,000 centrifuges operating by June - enough to make one bomb's worth of material every year. Tehran may...be able to build an additional 5,000 centrifuges by the end of the year, for a total of 8,000.
There are new reports this week that Iran may join Central Asian military alliance with Russia. Syria has just moved up its schedule for a major military exercise. It was planned for the late summer and early fall. Now it will begin in May and run through July. This has intensified speculation among intelligence analysts that Syria could be preparing for a summer war. Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, are marking the catastrophe of Israel's rebirth by vowing to recapture Jerusalem. The European Union is boycotting Jerusalem Day, which marks the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem coming back under Jewish control for the first time in 2,000 years. Meanwhile, an Israeli newspaper is running a big story this morning entitled, If the Bomb drops..., giving people details of how to protect oneself in case of a nuclear attack. In that context, if you're looking for some light summer reading, you might want to skip The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran by Yossi Melman, a leading Israeli investigative journalist, and Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Mideast analyst who works closely with the BBC, Voice of America and the Los Angeles Times. But if you're interesting in revealing new insights into Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic religious beliefs, look no further.
Major American news outlets like CBS's 60 Minutes, NBC News, CNN and Time have covered Ahmadinejad extensively -- even interviewed him exclusively this year -- yet keep missing the big story: the end of the world theology driving his foreign policy. But Melman and Javedanfar get it and report it in detail.
Excerpts from their new book:
* Ahmadinejad is the first Muslim leader who has prayed for the hastening of the return of the Shiite Messiah, known as the Mahdi, at teh U.N. General Assembly, an act that reinforced his conviction that he was carrying God's words and acting on behalf of the Messiah....Never before had an Iranian leader so publicly acknowledged his messianic beliefs. (p. 42)
* The Ayandeye Roshan (Bright Future) Institute, based in Qom, specializes in theological research about the Mahdi. It points to at least five 'distinct signs' that need to happen before the Mahdi appears. (p. 43-44)
1. The first is the rise of a fighter from Yemen called the Yamani, who attacks the enemies of Islam.
2. The second sign is the rise of an anti-Mahdi militant leader named Osman Ben Anbase, who will also be known as the Sofiani. He will be joined by another anti-Mahdi militant called Dajal, whom many Muslims clerics have compared to the Antichrist. The uprising of Sofiani will precede the appearance of the Mahdi in Mecca by exactly six months. These two forces, known as the forces of evil, will occupy Syria and Jordan and advance from there....[for] an epic battle near the city of Kufa, in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq.
3. The third distinct sign will be voices from the sky. The most distinct voice will be that of the Angel Gabriel, who will call the faithful to gather around the Mahdi.
4. The fourth sign will entail the destruction of Sofiani's army.
5. The fifth and final sign is the death of a holy man by the name of Muhammed bin Hassan, called Nafse Zakiye, or the pure soul. Fifteen days after he is killed, the Mahdi will appear in Mecca. The Mahdi will appoint Jesus Christ as his deputy. People will recognize the Mahdi because there will be an angel above his head shouting, This is the Mahdi. Follow him. The Mahdi will be wearing a ring that belonged to King Solomon and will hold the wooden stick that Moses held when he parted the Red Sea. His army of 313 will grow into 10,000, fifty of whom will be women.An additional indicator of the Mahdi's arrival, say the religious scholars to whom Ahmadinejad is listening, will be the death of 80 percent of the world's population in a massive war.The authors note that Ahmadinejad is telling associates time is very short, noting that in 2005, he made the timetable more specific, saying the Mahdi would reappear in 2007. He thus increased government funding for the leading Islamic school that teaches about the coming of the Mahdi by 1,000% to $3.5 million.
With Iran now able to enrich uranium, it could become nuclear in 2007, the authors conclude. If that happens, Iran's nuclear arsenal might give the regime the confidence it needs to start a war, which could then become the 'platform' that Ahmadinejad has said he wants to create for the reappearance of the Mahdi.NOTE: I leave Thursday for a week in Israel. Will send updates on the situation from there. WEBLOG with the latest on events in the Middle East and Russia, including links to articles mentioned in this story, and a link to the audio of my interviews with Dr. Dobson on radical Islam.
www.joelrosenberg.com www.joshuafund.net (new and completely re-designed)
6 Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
7 (For we walk by faith, not by sight:)
8 We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
BREAKING NEWS
PRAY FOR JERRY FALDWELL HE WAS FOUND UNCONCIOUS IN HIS OFFICE IN LINCHBERG VIRGINIA.
HES IN GRAVE CONDITION REPORTS.
JERRY FALWELL HAS DIED. ITS 1:30 IN THE AFTERNOON. 73 YEAR OLD JERRY HAS DIED. A SAD DAY IN CHRISTIAN HISTORY JERRY WAS A MORAL LEADER.
SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (NOT THE WORLD) THE WORLD GOES ON FOREVER.
GENESIS 1:5,14
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:(ISRAELS HOLY DAYS AND SABBATH STARTS AT 6PM) And for SIGNS (PROPHECY SIGNS TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE, OUR DAY)
REBUILT 3RD TEMPLE
REVELATION 11:1-2
1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
DANIEL 9:27
27 And he( THE EU PRESIDENT) shall confirm the covenant with many for one week:(1X7=7 YEARS) and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,(3 1/2 yrs in TEMPLE SACRIFICES STOPPED) and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
PSALMS 122:2-9
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together:
4 Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the LORD, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the LORD.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces.
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee.
9 Because of the house of the LORD our God I will seek thy good.
PSALMS 137:5-7
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning.
6 If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom (Jordon) in the day of Jerusalem; who said, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof.
AT 6:00 PM ISRAEL CELEBRATES JERUSALEM DAY. THE DAY GOD GAVE JERUSALEM FOREVER TO ISRAEL AND SOON TO BE THE WORLD CAPITAL.
THERE ARE 2 ELECTS THE CHURCH AND ISRAEL.
ISRAEL ON EARTH DURING TRIBULATION 7 YR PEACE TREATY
ISAIAH 42:1
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, (Israel) in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
ISAIAH 45:4
4 For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel mine elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have surnamed thee, though thou hast not known me.
ISAIAH 65:9,22
9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect (Israel) shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
22 They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
ROMANS 11:28
28 As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, (Israel) they are beloved for the fathers' sakes.
THE CHURCH ELECT
1 PETER 1:2
1:2 Elect (Christians) according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-Thousands of youngsters evacuated from moorland amid flood fears. 3-The Nation's Weather. 4-Hamas kills 8 at Gaza border crossing. 5-Jordan's king set to meet Olmert. 6-Anti-Semitism on rise in parts of Europe: study. 7-Muslim Religious Ban on Leaving Israel. 8-Artifacts From Time of Kings David and Solomon Revealed. 9-Five signs of the Mahdi's return?
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Tue May 15 11:00 AM EDT
MAY 15,07
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 GULF OF ALASKA
MAP 5.0 SOLOMON ISLANDS
MAP 4.8 BONIN ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 5.3 KURIL ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 4.6 NEAR THE COAST OF NICARAGUA
MAP 3.6 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 FOX ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 5.2 PACIFIC-ANTARCTIC RIDGE
MAP 3.1 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAY 14,07
MAP 2.8 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 RAT ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN ISLANDS, ALASKA
MAP 2.8 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.8 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.5 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.0 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 2.5 VERMONT
MAP 3.1 BERING SEA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 2.7 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
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.
Thousands of youngsters evacuated from moorland amid flood fears Sun May 13, 7:11 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - The army said it was evacuating thousands of youngsters, many of them by helicopter, from moorland in southwest England on Sunday after their annual trek was called off due to concerns about rain-swollen rivers. Some are friends of Charlotte Shaw, a 14-year-old girl who died after falling into a swollen stream on March 4 during training for the two-day, army organised expedition on Dartmoor which involves 2,400 youngsters nationwide.Four hundred teams, each with six members, began long treks Saturday over rugged terrain, but the army, citing deteriorating weather conditions and a high dropout rate of 15 percent, called off the event late Saturday.The weather forecast indicates that the rivers, which are already at their peak, will become increasingly swollen, it said in a statement.Around 200 youngsters have already been evacuated from the moor by two Royal Navy Sea King helicopters, with the rest waiting in their tents or walking back, the army said.
The helicopters carrying the teams were arriving back into Okehampton battle camp at regular intervals from 6 am (0500 GMT) Sunday and all the youngsters were expected to have left the moor by mid-afternoon.Army spokesman David Hamilton said more than 700 personnel, including military and the Dartmoor Rescue Group, were involved in the weekend's activities and the recovery of the teams.Jenna Drew, 17, was on a team completing a 55-mile (88-kilometre) route, the longest of three possible treks, when she was airlifted back to camp early Sunday.I'm really, really devastated. We really wanted to finish. I think we could have done it if we had been allowed to go on. Obviously the safety of everyone is their main priority, Drew said.The annual treks began in 1959 after several officers in the army, which has used Dartmoor for training for years, decided it would be a good challenge for young civilians.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Tue May 15, 5:59 AM ET
A balmy day dawned over the Northeast and Southwest early Tuesday, while storms stalked the Great Lakes, Rockies and Mississippi Valley. A stormy system was expected to push through the Great Lakes toward the Northeast, with a cold front sweeping across the Plains, Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee valleys.Apart from the rain, cooler air was expected to spread across the Midwest. The stormy weather should move to the East Coast and Gulf States on Wednesday.Low pressure was to remain in the Gulf of Mexico, keeping scattered showers and thunderstorms over southern Florida.
Out West, mostly sunny skies with seasonal temperatures was expected. The California coast was to be cool and clear, while the Desert Southwest was to remain hot and dry.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states on Monday ranged from a low of 22 degrees at Stanley, Idaho, to a high of 109 degrees at Death Valley, Calif.
EUROPEAN UNION ARMY
DANIEL 7:23-25
23 Thus he said, The fourth beast (EU,REVIVED ROME) shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth,(7TH WORLD EMPIRE) which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces.(TRADING BLOCKS)
24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings(10 NATIONS) that shall arise: and another shall rise after them;(#11 SPAIN) and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.( BE HEAD OF 3 NATIONS)
25 And he (EU PRESIDENT) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.(3 1/2 YRS)
DANIEL 8:23-25
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king (EU DICTATOR) of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences,(FROM THE OCCULT) shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power:(SATANS POWER) and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes;(JESUS) but he shall be broken without hand.
DANIEL 11:36-39
36 And the king (EU DICTATOR) shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done.
37 Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers,(THIS EU DICTATOR IS JEWISH) nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all.(CLAIM TO BE GOD)
38 But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces:(WAR) and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things.
39 Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god,(DESTROY TERROR GROUPS)whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many,(HIS ARMY LEADERS) and shall divide the land for gain.
REVELATION 19:19
19 And I saw the beast,(EU LEADER) and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse,(JESUS) and against his army.(THE RAPTURED CHRISTIANS)
CIVIL WAR BREAKING OUT IN GAZA NOW, WATCH FOR THE EU TO BRING IN THEIR RAPID REACTION TEAM AT SOME POINT TO GUARENTEE THE PEACE OF ISRAEL AND THE ARABS.
Hamas kills 8 at Gaza border crossing By IBRAHIM BARZAK, AP MAY 15,07
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas gunmen on Tuesday ambushed rival Fatah forces near a key crossing along the Israeli border, killing eight people in the deadliest battle yet in three days of factional fighting. The incident briefly drew Israeli gunfire, threatening to drag Israel into the conflict at a time when its prime minister said his country was ready to discuss an Arab initiative that offers peace for land.At least 20 people, including 11 total on Tuesday, have died in the fighting, bringing life in Gaza to a standstill and pushing the fragile Palestinian unity government closer to collapse. Hamas and Fatah formed the union to end months of violence. Tuesday's fighting began when Hamas gunmen approached a training base used by Fatah forces that guard the crossing, officials said.
The base was set up in part by a U.S. security team sent to train Palestinians on how to check cargo and bags at crossings.
The Islamic militant Hamas force attacked the base with rockets, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars, said Ahmed al-Kaisi, spokesman for the pro-Fatah Presidential Guard: We consider this a serious provocation and a crime committed in cold blood.When another Fatah security unit arrived to provide backup, they were ambushed by Hamas gunmen, witnesses said.A jeep full of security men that came under fire veered off the road and crashed. Hamas forces then riddled it with gunfire, said one witness, who gave only his first name, Jamil, out of fear for his safety.Hospital and security officials said eight men were killed in the ambush.As the fighting raged, Israeli troops opened fire at two gunmen who approached the border, the army said. Palestinian officials said one man was killed.
He was identified as a member of the Presidential Guard, who apparently was trying to help his comrades.Witnesses also said three Israeli tanks approached Karni, and the Hamas force quickly withdrew. Israel also closed the crossing, which is the passage for cargo going in and out of Gaza.Hours after the Karni incident, another security officer loyal to Fatah was killed in a clash with Hamas gunmen in Gaza City, Fatah officials said. Another man was killed in a separate fight, but it was not immediately known to which side he belonged.Israel has remained silent throughout the latest Palestinian infighting, but the border incident illustrated how fragile the situation is. Israel has been debating whether to take large-scale military action in Gaza in response to repeated rocket fire aimed at southern Israel.In Jordan, King Abdullah ll held high-level talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert aimed at breathing life into an Arab peace initiative that offers Israel recognition in return for land.
Olmert said his country was ready to discuss the initiative, but Abdullah told him that Israel first had to take concrete steps to improve relations with the Palestinians, and urged him to set a firm timetable for doing that, said Amjad Adayleh, information director at Jordan's royal palace.
The plan would give Israel full recognition in exchange for a total withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations, but objects to several provisions.The Arab peace plan was first floated by Saudi Arabia in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.Abdullah also told the Israeli leader at their meeting in the seaside resort of Aqaba that he was worried about reports Israel is planning new settlements or to expand existing ones, Adayleh said, but Olmert called such reports baseless.Abdullah also urged Olmert to lift an economic blockade on Palestinians, making it easier for them to cross borders and immediately unfreeze all Palestinian money held by Israel. Adayleh said the meeting focused on the Arab land-for-recognition plan and Abdullah told Olmert that all the Arabs are committed to the peace initiative and they have a real intention for a comprehensive peace if Israel accepts that.Before the talks with Abdullah, Olmert told a conference in Petra, Jordan, of Nobel laureates and Israeli and Arab youth that Israel was ready to listen to Arab views.
We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully, he said. In the West Bank, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged the immediate implementation of a security plan to halt the internal fighting. We must do that ... without any reluctance or delay, to put an end to civil strife and the ghost of internal fighting, he said in a speech marking the anniversary of the uprooting of many Palestinians in the 1948 Mideast War fought over Israel's founding. The plan calls for rival security forces to operate under a joint command. A majority of the 80,000 security officers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are loyal to Abbas, while Hamas set up its own 6,000-member militia last year. Associated Press Writer Jamal Halaby contributed to this report in Petra, Jordan.
Jordan's king set to meet Olmert By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer
Tue May 15, 6:58 AM ET
PETRA, Jordan - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed his country's readiness Tuesday to discuss an Arab peace initiative and find ways to implement such a plan. Olmert said after arriving for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II that Israel was ready to sit down and talk about it carefully and was willing to listen to Arab views.We heard about the Arab peace initiative and we say come and present it to us. You want to talk to us about it, we are ready to sit down and talk about it carefully, he told a conference in this ancient city.Describing the plan as very interesting, Olmert said we are ready to cooperate to find the appropriate manner to implement. If the Arab countries want to present their peace initiative, we will be more than happy to sit down and listen carefully.Olmert invited the 22 leaders of the Arab nations that are ready to make that kind of peace with Israel, to come to Israel, where ever they want and to sit down with us and start talk and present their ideas.
He added that if they were willing to invite him somewhere for talks, then I'm ready to come.Olmert arrived in Petra for a rare high-level meeting with Abdullah on the sidelines of a conference involving Nobel Laureates and Israeli and Arab youth on ways to solve conflicts in the Mideast.We are ready to come and to invite Arab leaders without preconditions from us or their side, Olmert said.The Petra meetings came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for immediate implementation of the government's security plan to halt lawlessness and internal fighting.Earlier, Hamas gunmen attacked rival Fatah forces at a key crossing along the Israeli border, killing seven people and drawing fire from nearby Israeli troops.
Javier Solana, the EU's foreign policy chief, urged rival Palestinian factions on Tuesday to end the chaos that threatens to unravel the Palestinian unity government. Ahead of the meeting, however, the Palestinians indicated it would take time to set up a meeting between Olmert and Abbas.I think it will take time before they meet again. The Israelis are not ready. All we've been told it that they are willing to prepare for the next meeting, Palestinian Authority spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh said.Jordan, along with Egypt, were the first Arab countries to make peace with Israel and are charged with promoting the Arab-initiated peace deal to the Jewish State, which has welcomed it as a good starting point but objects to several key provisions.The peace process is frozen, but what we are looking for is seeing a real serious step from the Israeli side to sit at the table to negotiate what the roads map and the Arab peace initiative are calling for, Rdeneh added.Ahead of Olmert's meeting with Abdullah, his spokeswoman Miri Eisin said the two leaders planned to break away from the conference and travel to the king's palace in the southern Jordanian resort of Aqaba for their talks.
Abdullah regards the Arab peace plan as a historic chance and will make it the focus of his talks with Olmert.The Arab peace plan offers Israel full recognition in exchange for a full withdrawal from lands it captured in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of a Palestinian state. Israel has welcomed the plan as a good starting point for negotiations but has objected to several key provisions. The Arab peace plan was proposed in 2002 and renewed in March at a meeting of the Arab League in Saudi Arabia. Arab leaders have urged Israel to seize the new opportunity.
While saying it has positive elements, Israel has objected to major provisions of the plan, including the call to evacuate all captured lands and to repatriate millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants. Israel says such a large influx of Palestinians would destroy Israel's character as a Jewish state. Israeli-Palestinian talks collapsed in 2000 after the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising
against Israel. Subsequent efforts to restart peace talks, including the 2003 U.S.-backed road map peace plan and a recent U.S. push to bring the sides back to the negotiating table, have made little progress.
Progress on Arab-Israeli peace could be a welcome boost for Olmert who has been under increasing criticism back home after a scathing government commission report on his performance during Israel's summer war with Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrilla. There have been widespread calls for him to resign. The conference in Petra, a city carved into rose-red stone and built by the Nabataean culture some 2,000 years ago, is hosted jointly by the King Abdullah II Fund for Development and the New York-based Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity. Four Israeli schoolchildren hand picked by their government will join Palestinian students and youth from Kuwait, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt.
No details were provided about the youth. Associated Press writers Amy Teibel and Dale Gavlak contributed to this report. On the Net: King Abdullah II Fund for Development: http://www.kafd.jo Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity: http://www.eliewieselfoundation.org Petra conference: http://www.petranobel.com
Anti-Semitism on rise in parts of Europe: study By Allyn Fisher-Ilan
Mon May 14, 9:01 AM ET
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An increasing number of Europeans believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to their home countries and have too much influence in world finance, a U.S. group monitoring anti-Semitism said on Monday. A large number of Europeans continue to be infected with anti-Jewish attitudes, holding on to classic anti-Semitic canards and conspiracy theories, Abraham Foxman, director of the Washington-based Anti-Defamation League, told reporters.These attitudes help legitimize anti-Semitism, including violence against Jews, and give us great concern, he said.
A survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in France, Spain, German, Poland and Italy in March and April found that negative stereotypes about Jews had gained ground in these countries since 2005.The study measured responses to these statements: that Jews are more loyal to Israel than their country, that they have too much power in the business world and financial markets and that they talk too much about the Nazi Holocaust of World War Two.
In all countries studied, with the exception of Italy, the poll found an increase since a survey in 2005 in the percentage of Europeans who felt Jews held Israel above their own states.
In Poland and Spain, about 60 percent of those surveyed expressed that sentiment, up from about 50 percent two years ago. In Germany the figure was 51 percent, with 48 percent in Italy and 39 percent in France.Foxman called the dual loyalty allegation a classical canard of anti-Semitism and a tenet of Hitler's ideology that Jews had sold out Germany for their own interests.One in four of the some 2,700 people surveyed said their attitudes toward Jews are colored by events in the Middle East, Foxman added.
Of these, 52 percent said they held a lower opinion of Jews as a result.Foxman pointed to what he called an emergence of a significant relationship between anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiments or criticism. But he said it was too soon to draw any direct parallels from the survey.The study did not tabulate incidents of anti-Semitic violence in Europe. Tel Aviv University in Israel said in findings
published in April that the numbers of attacks against Jews had doubled worldwide last year compared with 2005.Most of the rise in violence was reported in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and France, the Tel Aviv study said.
Muslim Religious Ban on Leaving Israel
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 15,07
Yet another Islamic religious ruling forbidding Moslems from leaving the Holy Land has been issued, this time from the Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine. Recently, the Hamas-affiliated Association of Religious Sages of Palestine publicized its ruling forbidding emigration from the lands of the Palestinian Authority. The Mufti of Jerusalem has now joined in with his own ban, released on Monday, May 14. The rulings are an indication of the great fear in the Arab world that young people from the Palestinian Authority are increasingly seeking their fortunes abroad. The latest ruling, entitled, No permission to emigrate from the land of Palestine, reads as follows:
There is much talk these days in our land of Palestine about emigration, and especially among the young, and this because of the difficult security and economic situation, and out of a desire to find a living in other lands.
Expression of this can be found in the rush to the gates of the embassies and consulates of the Western nations with requests for visas in order to reside permanently in those countries Based on [the ruling of the prophet Muhammed and his friends], emigration from the blessed lands to live permanently in other countries is not permitted in terms of religious law. The people living in these areas must remain in their places of residence, and not leave them to infiltrators and conquerors, and they will thus perform an act of honor, and will be a support for the Al-Aqsa mosque... and will merit the good tiding of the prophet...Regarding temporary travel to other lands for the purpose of study and work, this is permitted as long as there is a determination to return and live in the blessed lands after the stage of study and work.
Tens of Thousands
PA officials reported last November that in the preceding four months, foreign and Arab diplomats had authorized the entry of 10,000 PA residents to their countries, and that another 45,000 emigration requests were under similar consideration. Similar statements were made in October.
Artifacts From Time of Kings David and Solomon Revealed
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz (INN) MAY 15,07
In honor of Jerusalem Day, which begins Tuesday night, archaeologists revealed a number of seals from the time of the Biblical Kings David and Solomon. The seals, along with other recently uncovered artifacts, were displayed for the first time on Monday, at a conference marking 40 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem by the modern State of Israel. The City of David area was a commercial and trading center.The Bible-period artifacts were unearthed during archaeological excavations underway in Ir David, the City of David, below Jerusalems Old City to the east. The specific artifacts on display on Monday were found at the Beit HaMaayan (well-house) dig, overseen by Haifa University's Archaeology Department Director, Professor Ronny Reich. The greatest scientific and public interest was focused on more than 100 seals and signet rings, used as a means of authentication for written papyrus documents, from the time of the reigns of Kings David and Solomon. The seals bear various markings that, when deciphered, indicate the sender of the document and his or her location. The large number of such seals, archaeologists explained, indicate that the City of David area was a commercial and trading center.
Several hundred leaders of Israel's industry and the economy took part in the Jerusalem gathering at which the artifacts were displayed. Similar seals and signets have been found at various excavation sites around Jerusalem over the past decade. Some of those seals bear names of royal advisors and servants mentioned in various Biblical accounts of the reigns of Jewish monarchs. In 2005, a Hebrew University archaeologist and a leading authority on ancient Jerusalem,Some seals bear the names of royal advisors mentioned in various Biblical accounts.Dr. Eilat Mazar uncovered a clay seal in what she claimed served as the residential palace of Jewish kings from King David until the destruction of the First Temple, for a period of 450 years. That seal, dated from about 580 BCE, bears the name Yehuchal Ben-Sheleimiya, who is identified as a royal envoy and court minister sent by King Zedekiah to the prophet Jeremiah (in chapters 37 and 38 of the Bible's Book of Jeremiah).
Several years earlier, another circa-580 BCE royal seal was found at the same site. It had the name of Gemaryahu, son of Shafan, who is also mentioned in the Book of Jeremiah, and who was a top official in the court of King Zedekiah's predecessor, King Yehoyachim. Another seal found among dozens of others bears the name of Azaryahu Ben-Hilkiyahu, a member of a priestly family, who served in the Temple before Jerusalem's destruction (according to I Chronicles, 9:10).
NEW DETAILS OF AHMADINEJAD'S APOCALYPTIC BELIEFS:
Five signs of the Mahdi's return? Also, part two of Dobson interview runs today.
By Joel C. Rosenberg
(Washington, D.C., May 15, 2007) First, the good news: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah II will meet today in Petra and Aqaba to discuss peace.
Olmert is expected to personally invite the King to visit Jerusalem to discuss the future of the region. Now, the bad news: Olmert will return from Jordan to oversee a major IDF war games exercise as Israeli intelligence officials warn him that this summer could see a major war. Latest warning signs: The New York Times is reporting this morning that Iran is enriching uranium faster and on a much larger scale than previously known. According to a new report by the IAEA, Iran could have 3,000 centrifuges operating by June - enough to make one bomb's worth of material every year. Tehran may...be able to build an additional 5,000 centrifuges by the end of the year, for a total of 8,000.
There are new reports this week that Iran may join Central Asian military alliance with Russia. Syria has just moved up its schedule for a major military exercise. It was planned for the late summer and early fall. Now it will begin in May and run through July. This has intensified speculation among intelligence analysts that Syria could be preparing for a summer war. Palestinian leaders, meanwhile, are marking the catastrophe of Israel's rebirth by vowing to recapture Jerusalem. The European Union is boycotting Jerusalem Day, which marks the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem coming back under Jewish control for the first time in 2,000 years. Meanwhile, an Israeli newspaper is running a big story this morning entitled, If the Bomb drops..., giving people details of how to protect oneself in case of a nuclear attack. In that context, if you're looking for some light summer reading, you might want to skip The Nuclear Sphinx of Tehran: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the State of Iran by Yossi Melman, a leading Israeli investigative journalist, and Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born Mideast analyst who works closely with the BBC, Voice of America and the Los Angeles Times. But if you're interesting in revealing new insights into Ahmadinejad's apocalyptic religious beliefs, look no further.
Major American news outlets like CBS's 60 Minutes, NBC News, CNN and Time have covered Ahmadinejad extensively -- even interviewed him exclusively this year -- yet keep missing the big story: the end of the world theology driving his foreign policy. But Melman and Javedanfar get it and report it in detail.
Excerpts from their new book:
* Ahmadinejad is the first Muslim leader who has prayed for the hastening of the return of the Shiite Messiah, known as the Mahdi, at teh U.N. General Assembly, an act that reinforced his conviction that he was carrying God's words and acting on behalf of the Messiah....Never before had an Iranian leader so publicly acknowledged his messianic beliefs. (p. 42)
* The Ayandeye Roshan (Bright Future) Institute, based in Qom, specializes in theological research about the Mahdi. It points to at least five 'distinct signs' that need to happen before the Mahdi appears. (p. 43-44)
1. The first is the rise of a fighter from Yemen called the Yamani, who attacks the enemies of Islam.
2. The second sign is the rise of an anti-Mahdi militant leader named Osman Ben Anbase, who will also be known as the Sofiani. He will be joined by another anti-Mahdi militant called Dajal, whom many Muslims clerics have compared to the Antichrist. The uprising of Sofiani will precede the appearance of the Mahdi in Mecca by exactly six months. These two forces, known as the forces of evil, will occupy Syria and Jordan and advance from there....[for] an epic battle near the city of Kufa, in the Shiite heartland of southern Iraq.
3. The third distinct sign will be voices from the sky. The most distinct voice will be that of the Angel Gabriel, who will call the faithful to gather around the Mahdi.
4. The fourth sign will entail the destruction of Sofiani's army.
5. The fifth and final sign is the death of a holy man by the name of Muhammed bin Hassan, called Nafse Zakiye, or the pure soul. Fifteen days after he is killed, the Mahdi will appear in Mecca. The Mahdi will appoint Jesus Christ as his deputy. People will recognize the Mahdi because there will be an angel above his head shouting, This is the Mahdi. Follow him. The Mahdi will be wearing a ring that belonged to King Solomon and will hold the wooden stick that Moses held when he parted the Red Sea. His army of 313 will grow into 10,000, fifty of whom will be women.An additional indicator of the Mahdi's arrival, say the religious scholars to whom Ahmadinejad is listening, will be the death of 80 percent of the world's population in a massive war.The authors note that Ahmadinejad is telling associates time is very short, noting that in 2005, he made the timetable more specific, saying the Mahdi would reappear in 2007. He thus increased government funding for the leading Islamic school that teaches about the coming of the Mahdi by 1,000% to $3.5 million.
With Iran now able to enrich uranium, it could become nuclear in 2007, the authors conclude. If that happens, Iran's nuclear arsenal might give the regime the confidence it needs to start a war, which could then become the 'platform' that Ahmadinejad has said he wants to create for the reappearance of the Mahdi.NOTE: I leave Thursday for a week in Israel. Will send updates on the situation from there. WEBLOG with the latest on events in the Middle East and Russia, including links to articles mentioned in this story, and a link to the audio of my interviews with Dr. Dobson on radical Islam.
www.joelrosenberg.com www.joshuafund.net (new and completely re-designed)
Monday, May 14, 2007
ISRAEL EXISTS 59 YEARS LATER
ISRAEL WILL BECOME A NATION. LITERALLY IN THE SPRING.
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
59 YEARS AGO TODAY BY OUR CALENDAR THE SIX POINTED STAR OF DAVID MADE ITS MIRACULAS APPEARANCE IN ONE DAY. GOD'S PROMISE TO ISRAEL WAS KEPT AND PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED.
Isaiah 66:7-8: Before going into labor, she gave birth; before her pains came, she delivered a male child. Who ever heard of such at thing? Who has ever seen such things? Is a country born in one day? Is a nation brought forth all at once? For as soon as Tziyon went into labor, she brought forth her children. - Stern's Complete Jewish Bible
Isaiah 66:7-8
Israel would reborn in just one day....
Bible passage: Isaiah 66:7-8
Prophet: Isaiah
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: 1948
In Isaiah 66:7-8, the prophet foreshadowed the re-birth of Israel, which happened in 1948. Isaiah describes a woman giving birth before going into labor, and he speaks of a country being born in one day. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 - when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2900 years.
During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel's sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. During a 24-hour span of time, foreign control of the land of Israel had formally ceased, and Israel had declared its independence, and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally was born in a single day.
Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too is precisely what happened. A movement called Zionism began in the 1800s to encourage Jews worldwide to move to Israel, which at that time was called Palestine. Within hours of the declaration of independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by the surrounding countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
When reading Isaiah 66:7-8, keep in mind that Israel's status as a sovereign nation was established and reaffirmed during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one.
OTHER NEWS TODAY
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather.3-Jordan's king warns Cheney on Mideast.4-Pope assails Marxism and capitalism. 5-Israel marks 40 year rule of Arab east Jerusalem. 6-Rabbis Call for Temple Mount Visits. 7-The Six Day War: Not Only Jerusalem. 8-The New Sabbath According to Orlev. 9-Portugal pushes for June treaty deal. 10-Liberal Democrats are out to silence you!
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon May 14 11:00 AM EDT
MAY 14,07
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.5 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.0 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.1 BERING SEA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 2.7 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAY 13,07
MAP 3.0 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.5 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 NICARAGUA
MAP 4.4 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.1 WEST CHILE RISE
MAP 4.4 COSTA RICA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 ALASKA PENINSULA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon May 14, 6:34 AM ET
A storm system moving out of the northern Rockies Monday will speed across the northern Plains, pushing a cold front from Central Colorado to Northern Wisconsin. Thunderstorms are expected to pick up in intensity throughout the day, and while high winds were likely to be the main threat, isolated twisters were possible. Thunderstorms were also likely across Florida. While rain may put out wildfires in the state, winds and lightning could make them worse.The rest of the East as well as the West will have mostly clear skies.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday ranged from a low of 17 degrees at Spincich Lake, MI to a high of 105 degrees at Gila Bend, Ariz.
Iranian leader threatens retaliation By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 14, 7:32 AM ET
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The Iranian president said Monday Iran will retaliate if the U.S. strikes the country — a tough response to recent comments by the Vice President Dick Cheney that Washington would prevent the Islamic republic from dominating the Middle East.
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said Iran had agreed for the benefit of the Iraqi people to meet with the U.S. in Baghdad to discuss security in Iraq.They (the U.S.) cannot strike Iran, he said at a press conference during a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian people can protect themselves and retaliate. The Iranian president's comments followed those on Friday by Cheney, who said from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that the U.S. and its allies would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and dominating the region.Despite the tense words, the U.S. and Iran announced Sunday that they have agreed to meet in Baghdad to discuss security and stability in Iraq.
Both parties have confirmed the talks will take place in Baghdad in the presence of the Iraqi government, Ahmadinejad said Monday. We decided we were ready and prepared to do this to support the Iraqi people.The Iranian president, in a subdued mood after the previous night's raucous anti-American rally in a Dubai soccer stadium, repeated his calls for the United States to leave the Gulf region. Washington holds military bases in all Gulf countries except Saudi Arabia.In stark contrast to Cheney's low-key visit, Ahmadinejad was greeted with fanfare by the top leaders of the Emirates, who apparently had no objection to Sunday's rally.
Ahmadinejad said relations with the Emirates had taken a quantum leap, with the two countries agreeing to create a joint committee headed by their foreign ministers to boost cooperation in tourism, trade, energy and development.There's a willingness on both sides to upgrade relations, he said. Relations between Iran and the UAE can be a model for all the countries of the region.Ahmadinejad appeared to be pushing his agenda at a time when the U.S. administration's popularity in the region is at a low point. He said Iran is ready to band together in a Gulf-wide security alliance with Washington's traditional regional allies.
He also called for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Egypt that were broken in 1979, saying it would strengthen regional security and stability.The U.S. presence in the Gulf, Ahmadinejad said, runs counter to the best interests of the Muslim-majority countries on both sides of the oil-rich sea. Similar pleas for a regional security alliance have come during recent visits by Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and national security adviser Ali Larijani.Ahmadinejad said the Americans had overextended their welcome in the region and were advocating tough actions that reached beyond what their Arab allies wished.What are these others doing in our region? he replied when asking to comment on Cheney's remarks aboard the USS John C. Stennis on Friday. Are they more keen with regard to the nuclear issue than everyone else in the region?
The U.S. has accused Iran of covertly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran has denied the charge, saying its nuclear program is peaceful. Tehran has also objected to U.S. claims that Iran is supplying Iraqi Shiite militias with deadly roadside bombs that kill American troops.Ahmadinejad said the U.S.-allied Emirates backs Iran's position that the U.S. military should leave the Gulf.This region won't allow other powers from thousands of miles away to threaten the region and create enmity, he said. Our talks with our brothers in the United Arab Emirates reiterated this truth again and again.
Emirati officials had no immediate comment. They have previously expressed strong concerns about growing U.S.-Iranian tensions and elevated U.S. rhetoric against Iran, but have shown no indication they intend to ask the U.S. military to leave.
A pair of newspaper editorials in the Dubai pro-government Gulf News expressed concern about Cheney's speech and supported closer relations with Iran. On Sunday, the paper lambasted Cheney for lumping the Gulf Arab countries into his anti-Iran rhetoric, saying he had needlessly stoked tensions with Iran.
Such careless talk by the vice president is not only unwelcome but is likely to have created an all-inclusiveness that is not welcome to the Arab states, the paper said. On Monday, the paper said Ahmadinejad's landmark visit had opened a new page in relations and backed the decision to form a bilateral commission. No Gulf leader has publicly backed Iran's call for a security alliance or for the removal of U.S. troops from the region.
Jordan's king warns Cheney on Mideast By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer Mon May 14, 7:01 AM ET
AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan's king warned visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney Monday that time was running out to use an Arab peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a royal palace statement. King Abdullah II, a moderate Arab leader and a key U.S. ally, also called for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, the statement said.Jordan stands in support of a peaceful resolution to the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities that would spare the region further tensions, Abdullah told Cheney in a closed-door meeting at the king's beachside residence in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.Abdullah said the Arab peace initiative, which was first launched in 2002 and revived at an Arab summit earlier this year, still represented an opportunity to advance peace and end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Time is not on anyone's side, Abdullah warned. He did not elaborate, but he has previously said that the absence of peacemaking is increasing the popularity of extremists across the Muslim world.The Palestinians have embraced the Arab plan, which calls for full peace with all Arab nations if Israel withdraws from territories captured in the 1967 Middle East War and agrees to the creation of a
Palestinian state. It also calls for a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees.Israel and the United States have said the plan could be a basis for reviving the peace process.
But Israel has expressed reservations over many of its provisions, including the call to solve the Palestinian refugee issue.The king suggested to Cheney that there was a need to set a time frame to establish tangible results on the ground related to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.Abdullah also emphasized that the United States plays a key role in helping the Palestinians and Israelis return to the negotiating table to reach a final settlement to the Palestinian issue.
Cheney's visit to Jordan is part of a regional tour that has taken him to Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The vice president is trying to build support for efforts to ease tensions in Iraq, end sectarian violence and encourage national reconciliation between disputing Iraqi factions. Abdullah reiterated the importance of achieving national reconciliation and including all segments of Iraqi society in Iraq's political process a reference to minority Sunnis, who complain they are being sidelined by their Shiite-dominated government.
The king said reinforcing security and establishing stability in Iraq is in the interest of the country as well as a key Jordanian interest. Jordan has complained that terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq are infiltrating the Iraqi-Jordanian border to carry out terror attacks in the country.In November 2005, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for Amman's triple hotel blasts, which killed 63 people, including three Iraqi suicide bombers.
Pope assails Marxism and capitalism By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer MAY 14,07
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Pope Benedict XVI lamented the deep divide between rich and poor in Latin America but told priests to steer clear of politics as they work to reverse Roman Catholicism's waning influence in the region.
Wrapping up five-day visit to Brazil, the 80-year-old pontiff denounced Marxism in an hour-long speech Sunday opening a 19-day conference of Latin American bishops in the shrine city of Aparecida.The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit, the pope said.He also warned of unfettered capitalism and globalization. Before boarding a plane for Rome later Sunday, he said the two could give rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity through drugs, alcohol and deceptive illusions of happiness.Marxism still influences some grassroots Catholic activists in Latin America, remnants of the liberation theology movement Benedict worked to crush when he was cardinal. Liberation theology holds that the Christian faith should be reinterpreted specifically to deliver oppressed people from injustice.
Benedict also defended the church's campaign centuries ago to Christianize indigenous people, saying Latin American Indians had been silently longing to become Christians when Spanish and Portuguese conquerors violently took over their native lands centuries ago.In effect, the proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture, he told the bishops.Throughout his first papal visit to the region, Benedict emphasized Catholic moral values as the answer to Latin America's social and economic problems. Returning to that theme Sunday, he warned that legalized contraception and abortion in Latin America threaten the future of the peoples and said the historical Catholic identity of the region is under assault.Speaking in Spanish and Portuguese, the pope called on the bishops to reinvigorate the church, still the dominant faith in the region but rapidly losing ground to evangelical Protestant churches.
He urged bishops to mold a new generation of leaders, saying Latin America needs more dedicated Catholics at high levels in government, the media and at universities. While Brazil is the most populous Roman Catholic country, home to more than 120 million of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, the census shows that people calling themselves Catholics fell to 74 percent in 2000 from 89 percent in 1980.
Those calling themselves evangelical Protestants rose to 15 percent from 7 percent.The pope did not name any countries in his criticism of capitalism and Marxism, but left-leaning leaders govern most of South America. The region's most prominent promoter of Marxism is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose spokesman deflected the criticism on Monday. We all know that the current Pope is characterized as a conservative man, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we must automatically think that any word he utters ... is against Venezuela, Willian Lara said.
Religious experts said Benedict failed to address key challenges to the church in Latin America, including a severe shortage of priests or a specific strategy for how parishes should try win back Catholics who have turned into born-again Protestants or simply stopped going to church. Psychologists say what you don't talk about are often the most important things, and that was the case with the pope, said Fernando Altermeyer, a theology professor at Sao Paulo's Catholic Pontificate University.
Added former Vatican Radio reporter David Gibson: By not looking to the church's structural problems, he's handicapping the chances for success.In events in and near Sao Paulo that attracted more than 1 million people, Benedict criticized the rising tide of Latin Americans flouting the church's prohibition on premarital sex and divorce and told drug dealers they will face divine justice for the misery they cause.Then he headed to the shrine city of Aparecida, telling the bishops to convince Catholics from all walks of life to bring the light of the Gospel into public life, into culture, economics and politics.Benedict called the institution of the family one of the most important treasures of Latin American countries, but said it is threatened by legislation and government policies contrary to church doctrine on marriage, contraception and abortion.Mexico City lawmakers recently legalized abortion and gay civil unions, and the Brazilian government routinely hands out millions of free condoms to prevent AIDS. The pope called the region the continent of hope during a Sunday Mass before 150,000 faithful in front of the mammoth basilica of Aparecida home to the nation's patron saint, a black Virgin Mary. But the turnout fell far short of the 400,000 to 500,000 worshippers local organizers hoped would show up for Benedict's last big public event of the papal tour, his longest since becoming pope two years ago. Waiting to catch a glimpse of the 80-year-old pope at Aparecida's basilica, 68-year-old Maria Costa said she hoped his trip would revitalize the church in Brazil. Catholics weren't feeling very good with the Church, and that's why so many were leaving, she said. I think that could change now. Let's hope so.Associated Press Writers Tales Azzoni and Victor L. Simpson contributed from Aparecida.
THIS IS A DECEPTIVE HEADLINE IT SHOULD READ ISRAEL MARKS 40 YR RULE OF ISRAELI JERUSALEM. ITS ISRAELS CAPITAL NOT THE ARABS.
Israel marks 40 year rule of Arab east Jerusalem Mon May 14, 7:29 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Monday began marking 40 years since it conquered and annexed Arab east Jerusalem but the ceremonies were boycotted by European and US diplomats. The last 40 years were only the beginning, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a special parliamentary session marking the anniversary according to the Hebrew calendar.I believe, I hope and I pray that we will continue to work together to reinforce Jerusalem in order to extend its boundaries.Israel captured Arab east Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, the third day of the six-day Middle East war, and unilaterally annexed the sector in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel in 1980 passed a law declaring Jerusalem the unified and eternal capital of Israel, but the Palestinians want occupied east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future sovereign state.
Israel's unilateral moves in Jerusalem have been condemned by UN Security Council Resolutions, including one in 1980 that resulted in 13 Jerusalem-based foreign embassies being moved to Tel Aviv.
US and EU ambassadors have refused to attend Monday's parliamentary session as well as ceremonies due to be held on Jerusalem Day on Wednesday.They say Jerusalem's fate must be decided as part of final status negotiations to end the Middle East conflict and that in the meantime the status quo should be preserved in accordance with international law.A statement from a group of Israeli left-wing groups issued a statement deploring the deliberate marginalisation of Palestinian districts in Jerusalem by the Israeli authorities since 40 years.
Rabbis Call for Temple Mount Visits
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 14,07
Close to 30 leading religious-Zionist rabbis visited the Temple Mount in purity on Sunday, after taking the necessary Halakhic precautions. The precautions involve immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area. The visit was unique in that it marks the first time such a large group of
rabbis ascended together to the holy site. Among today's visitors were Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Yeshivat Har Etzion Dean Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz of Maaleh Adumim, Rabbi Daniel Shilo of Kedumim, Rabbi Shalom Gold of Har Nof, Jerusalem, and others.
Rabbi Shilo, asked to explain the timing of the visit, told Arutz-7, For one thing, Jerusalem Reunification Day is approaching. In addition, our hold on the Temple Mount is not yet strong among many people of Torah and others, because of halakhic [Jewish-legal] obstructions that we feel are no longer relevant. Biblical law forbids one from entering the holy areas of the Temple Mount, and some feel that the precise boundaries of those areas are not known. However, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel of the Temple Institute has shown that the rock under the Dome of the Rock is in fact the Holy of Holies, and most scholars agree.
Police accompanied the rabbis, and the representatives of the Islamic Waqf [the Moslem body that oversees the site - ed.] looked quite miffed, Rabbi Shilo said. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) expressed approval of the rabbis' move, saying, It appears that the police now understand that the current situation of restricting Jewish presence on the Jews' most sacred site is absurd and must change... This disgrace must be stopped. Jewish prayer must be allowed on the site, in a gradual
manner and in the places permitted by Halakhah.Last week, a group of over 40 rabbis signed a declaration calling upon the religious public - those who know the laws and restrictions - to frequent the permitted sites on the Temple Mount and to arouse love for this holy site in which our prayers are most accepted.Among the signatories are Rabbi Chaim Druckman, head of the Yeshivot Bnei Akiva organization; Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat; Kiryat Shmonah Chief Rabbi Tzefaniah Drori; Rabbi Bnayahu Bruner of Tzfat; Rabbi Re'em HaCohen of Otniel; Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Bat Ayin; Rabbi Chanan Porat of Kfar Etzion; Rabbi Gideon Perl of Alon Shvut; Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel of Bnei Brak; and more. Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, however, issued an opposite call, saying that visits to the Temple Mount could lead to the grave sin of entering forbidden sacred locations.
It's not that anyone is apathetic to our inability to pray on the Temple Mount, his son, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Tzfat said in his father's name. Our pain over this is almost physical. Rabbi M. Eliyahu is of the opinion that a synagogue should be built in a permitted area of the Temple Mount.
The Six Day War: Not Only Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 14,07
There is a purposeful disregard of the liberation of Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War, says geographer and historian Avraham Shvut. Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Shvut author of a work on the modern history of Judea and Samaria said that ignoring these results of the Six Day War means also ignoring the fact that the Six Day War was the finale of the War of Independence. By doing so, they are purposely harming the nation's attitude towards the areas of Judea and Samaria.It's part of our national sickness of ignoring large parts of our Land, the Land of the Bible, Shvut said. Shvut's book HaAliyah El HaHar (The Ascent to the Mountain), published in 2003, reviews the history of Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza in the past 40 years.
Almost immediately after the Six Day War, construction began in the areas of Jerusalem liberated from Jordanian control, leading to the addition of neighborhoods such as Ramat Eshkol, Sanhedria Murhevet, Talpiot, Gilo and others. The other areas redeemed from Jordan - Judea and Samaria - were, in many ways, overlooked and viewed as not to be settled. Then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan even said, We are waiting to negotiate with King Hussein. Years were wasted as the Land of Israel loyalists expected the government to take the lead in inhabiting the areas, as it did in the Golan, the Jordan Valley and even the Sinai Desert. When Judea and Samaria finally began to be settled, it was the first time that modern Israel was settled by a non-political organization - Gush Emunim - essentially a group of private people, as opposed to a government movement. It was also the first time, Shvut noted, that massive settlement began in mountainous regions. In the Galilee, as well, mountainous overlooks were first built around the same time, in the 1970's. Another first-time aspect of the Yesha communities was the lack of dependency on agriculture. Until then, communities were built where the land could be farmed, and much money was spent on preparing the ground, building hothouses, chicken coops and cowsheds. But in Yesha, the new style of communal towns enabled the construction of many of them. All you needed was a few caravans for living and public buildings, and you had a town!
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
WELL ALL I HAVE TO SAY AMERICA ITS GONNA BE A DANGEROUS HURRICANE SEASON THIS YEAR, GOD WILL HAVE THE LAST SAY ON ISRAELS CAPITAL JERUSALEM, NOT THE ARABS CAPITAL.
After 40 Years, U.S. Avoids Jerusalem Reunification Day
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (INN) MAY 14,07
The United States will avoid Jerusalem Reunification Day festivities this week despite a 12-year-old Congressional bill calling for the American embassy to be located in the capital. Since then, every President has exercised a waiver in the bill allowing the move to be deferred for a renewable period of six months.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni insisted that the connection between Israel and Jerusalem is inseparable despite the boycott by the U.S. and most of the international community. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski went further and declared, Anyone who doesn't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel does not recognize the State of Israel.Anyone who doesn't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel does not recognize the State of Israel.American officials, including former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, have stated that moving the embassy is not likely to happen until there is a final peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The U.S. did not issue an official statement explaining why the current Ambassador, Richard Jones will not be attending the ceremonies, but Ambassador Dr. Harald Kindermann from Germany, which heads the European Union (EU) this year, specifically said EU countries will not participate because of Arab claims of sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Old City. The Foreign Ministry said Sunday it is unhappy and disappointed that most delegations announced they were not coming to the festivities but added that officials from several embassies will attend. Two American lawmakers have launched an effort to put a stop to the continuing deferral of the Congressional bill to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. Republican House of Representatives members Joe Wilson and Mike Pence recently introduced a resolution stating that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 40 years.Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 40 years.
The new resolution strongly urges American President George W. Bush to stop exercising the waiver to delay the move of the embassy. It also calls on him and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to repeatedly affirm publicly, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel.The congressmen also noted that the 2003 Foreign Relations
Authorization Act directs that the birth of any U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem should be recorded as Jerusalem, Israel upon the request of the citizen or his or her guardian. That requirement has never been implemented, and the city is listed without its being designated that it is in Israel. Israel officially incorporated all of Jerusalem into the municipality in 1980, a move that caused virtually all of the embassies that had been located in Jerusalem to move away. The last holdouts were El Salvador and Costa Rica, which pulled out several months ago.
The New Sabbath According to Orlev
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAY 14,07
Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev is stepping onto a tightrope by proposing two new laws that could change the face of Israeli society.The pair of bills written by the National Union / National Religious Party Chairman are also likely to reawaken the age-old debate over Israeli laws pertaining to the Sabbath. One bill would change the length of the traditional Israeli weekend; the second would change its character. If passed, they will also change the way Sabbath is traditionally observed in Israeli society, both in the religious and secular populations.One of the bills would end the practice of beginning the regular work week on Sundays. Instead, the weekend break which traditionally begins on Friday afternoon would not end until Monday morning.
Industry and trade will, if the law passes, no longer be completely forbidden on the Sabbath, nor would public or state services, as they are at present. This would allow an increase in recreational and cultural activities, provided they would comply with noise regulations.The main purpose for the change, said MK Orlev, is to allow Sabbath-observant Jews to have a day to travel and enjoy cultural and recreational activities as a family. Due to the six-day work week, this currently causes hardship for the religious population. A worker must use a paid (or unpaid) vacation day and a student must skip school in order for the family to take the day off together.The second proposal would change the public transportation system.If passed, the new law would allow limited public transportation to become available on the Sabbath. At present public transportation is permitted only six days a week Sunday through Friday. The new Sabbath lines would be serviced by vans similar to the private sheirut or mini-buses run by private companies along the regular public bus routes. None would be allowed to travel through religious communities or neighborhoods.
MK Orlev also recommended establishing a committee to oversee the development of Sabbath services under his proposals.According to the Jerusalem Post, a number of senior religious Zionist rabbis and senior members of the Knesset are supporting the proposals; however, MK Orlev could not be reached to confirm the claim.Both bills are expected to face an initial Knesset hearing in the near future. Reactions from Sabbath-observant Knesset members were not long in coming, however. Minister Eli Yishai, Chairman of the Sephardic religious Shas party, slammed the proposals and the NU / NRP parties, saying, Any initiative by parties calling themselves religious and turning reform on Shabbat (Sabbath) matters should be foiled.Meretz Knesset Member Zahav Gal-On had a different take on MK Orlev's motivation for proposing the measures, saying it was a red herring. As long as the religious-rabbinical establishment dictates how we should marry, divorce and what we should eat, she declared, all these proposals are insignificant.
Portugal pushes for June treaty deal
14.05.2007 - 09:18 CET | By Honor Mahony
As incoming EU presidency in the second half of this year, Portugal has made it clear that if there is no significant agreement on a new treaty in six weeks time, it will put the issue on the political back burner for its six month tenure of the bloc.Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates said that Berlin, as current EU presidency, will have to secure a precise mandate during the EU leaders summit on 21-22 June, otherwise Lisbon would not continue individual negotiations with member states. He made the announcement after an informal meeting over the weekend in the Portuguese town of Sintra including German chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to assess the state of play on the treaty negotiations.
While appearing to up the public pressure for a deal, Mr Socrates' words dovetail with Germany's own policy of trying to get as much agreed at the summit as possible. Mrs Merkel is pushing to get all the big issues out of the way in order to have an intergovernmental conference on the rest of the issues during Portugal's presidency - beginning 1 July that is to be as technical as possible, according to diplomats.
The strategy stems in part from the fear that Portugal, followed by Slovenia, taking over the presidency in January 2008, will not have the political clout to force other - bigger - member states to come to a deal.EU presidencies give political guidance to the bloc and are tasked with trying to find agreement among the 27 member states on the issues of the day.
For its part, Germany has also attached significant public importance to the constitutional task seeing its presidency as the last chance to set in motion a timetable that would see all member states ratify a new treaty by mid 2009 the date of the next European elections.Speaking after the Sintra meeting, the German chancellor called on other EU member states to work together on the issue.I am certain that we will accomplish it if we remain united, if we work together, she said, according to AFP. It is in our interest and it is our responsibility to allow Europe to act in the face of the challenges that confront us.According to Spanish daily El Pais, quoting a senior official attending the Sintra meeting, quite some time in the gathering was spent analysing the proposals of French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, the ideas of Gordon Brown, the likely successor to British leader Tony Blair, as well as the difficulties that the Dutch and Polish governments have in relation to a new treaty.
Germany revived negotiations on a new-look treaty for the bloc at the beginning of the year following 18 months of almost complete political silence after France and the Netherlands rejected the EU constitution in mid-2005.In order to get a deal, Berlin has to keep as much of the original treaty as possible intact to please the 18 countries that have already largely ratified the document, while taking into account the sceptical public in many of the remaining nine countries.However, this delicate balancing act looks to be upset by two key member states – Poland, which wants to renegotiate the voting system and the UK which wants as small a treaty as possible, keeping member states' right to veto in as many areas as possible.
Liberal Democrats are out to silence you! MAY 14,07
Urgent Telephone Alert on the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093)!
Dear Stan,
I wrote to you in January about legislation in the U.S. Senate that could have silenced grassroots communication from groups like American Family Association. Thankfully, that part of the legislation was defeated after you and other concerned citizens let your voices be heard.
Unfortunately, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to reconsider the grassroots gag order when the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093) will be offered on Tuesday, May 15, during debate on a broader lobbying reform bill. This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.), would establish, for the first time, federal regulatory authority over efforts aimed at motivating citizens to communicate with their representatives about bills moving in Congress.This threat is so serious that American Family Association has joined with other pro-family groups, as well as organizations from the left of the political spectrum, including the ACLU, to oppose the bill. Last week, we signed a joint letter calling on members of Congress to reject this dangerous effort to exclude men and women like you from the democratic process. The full House of Representatives is expected to act on the lobbying reform legislation on May 22. Depending on what happens in the Judiciary Committee on May 15, the full House may also vote on whether to include the Meehan provision in the broader bill.
Take Action
To be shown the phone number for your representative's office, and an appropriate suggested message -- one message if he is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and a different message if he is not. This is urgent -- please act today!
http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/callalert/index.tt?alertid=9738911&type=TA
If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved. Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
EZEKIEL 36:24
24 For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
EZEKIEL 37:9-28
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds,(ALL THE WORLD) O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.(COME TO LIFE)
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.(ISRAEL WILL HAVE A POWERFUL ARMY)
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.(BURNED BY HITLER)
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.(THE DRY BONES COME TO LIFE IN ISRAEL)
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.
15 The word of the LORD came again unto me, saying,
16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his companions:
17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.
18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?
19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.
20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.
21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:
22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all:
23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.
24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children’s children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.
26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
28 And the heathen shall know that I the LORD do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.
MATTHEW 24:32
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:(ISRAEL WAS LITERALLY REBORN JUST BEFORE SUMMER,MAY 14,1948).
MARK 13:28
28 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:
DANIEL 9:24
24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.
ISRAEL WILL BE IN CONTROL OF JERUSALEM, THE SIGN OF THE START OF THE LAST GENERATION.
LUKE 21:24
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
59 YEARS AGO TODAY BY OUR CALENDAR THE SIX POINTED STAR OF DAVID MADE ITS MIRACULAS APPEARANCE IN ONE DAY. GOD'S PROMISE TO ISRAEL WAS KEPT AND PROPHECY WAS FULFILLED.
Isaiah 66:7-8: Before going into labor, she gave birth; before her pains came, she delivered a male child. Who ever heard of such at thing? Who has ever seen such things? Is a country born in one day? Is a nation brought forth all at once? For as soon as Tziyon went into labor, she brought forth her children. - Stern's Complete Jewish Bible
Isaiah 66:7-8
Israel would reborn in just one day....
Bible passage: Isaiah 66:7-8
Prophet: Isaiah
Written: perhaps between 701-681 BC
Fulfilled: 1948
In Isaiah 66:7-8, the prophet foreshadowed the re-birth of Israel, which happened in 1948. Isaiah describes a woman giving birth before going into labor, and he speaks of a country being born in one day. This accurately describes what happened on May 14, 1948 - when the Jews declared independence for Israel as a united and sovereign nation for the first time in 2900 years.
During that same day, the United States issued a statement recognizing Israel's sovereignty. And, only hours beforehand, a United Nations mandate expired, ending British control of the land. During a 24-hour span of time, foreign control of the land of Israel had formally ceased, and Israel had declared its independence, and its independence was acknowledged by other nations. Modern Israel was literally was born in a single day.
Isaiah said the birth would take place before there would be labor pains. And that too is precisely what happened. A movement called Zionism began in the 1800s to encourage Jews worldwide to move to Israel, which at that time was called Palestine. Within hours of the declaration of independence in 1948, Israel was attacked by the surrounding countries of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.
When reading Isaiah 66:7-8, keep in mind that Israel's status as a sovereign nation was established and reaffirmed during the course of a single day, and that it was born of a movement called Zionism, and that its declaration of independence was not the result of a war but rather the cause of one.
OTHER NEWS TODAY
1-WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS.2-The Nation's Weather.3-Jordan's king warns Cheney on Mideast.4-Pope assails Marxism and capitalism. 5-Israel marks 40 year rule of Arab east Jerusalem. 6-Rabbis Call for Temple Mount Visits. 7-The Six Day War: Not Only Jerusalem. 8-The New Sabbath According to Orlev. 9-Portugal pushes for June treaty deal. 10-Liberal Democrats are out to silence you!
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
WORLD QUAKES LAST 2 DAYS (USGS)
Update time = Mon May 14 11:00 AM EDT
MAY 14,07
MAP 2.7 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.2 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.7 KENAI PENINSULA, ALASKA
MAP 4.9 IZU ISLANDS, JAPAN REGION
MAP 2.5 CENTRAL CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.5 NIAS REGION, INDONESIA
MAP 5.0 PHILIPPINE ISLANDS REGION
MAP 3.1 BERING SEA
MAP 5.2 MOLUCCA SEA
MAP 2.6 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 2.7 SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI
MAP 3.1 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.7 SOUTH OF THE FIJI ISLANDS
MAP 2.9 CENTRAL ALASKA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAY 13,07
MAP 3.0 GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 3.0 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 2.5 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.7 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 2.9 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 2.6 ANDREANOF ISLANDS, ALEUTIAN IS., ALASKA
MAP 3.0 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 ALASKA PENINSULA
MAP 4.5 HINDU KUSH REGION, AFGHANISTAN
MAP 2.5 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 5.3 FIJI REGION
MAP 2.5 ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII
MAP 3.0 OFFSHORE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 4.4 NICARAGUA
MAP 4.4 FIJI REGION
MAP 3.1 SOUTHERN ALASKA
MAP 4.9 FIJI REGION
MAP 5.1 WEST CHILE RISE
MAP 4.4 COSTA RICA
MAP 3.1 NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
MAP 3.3 ALASKA PENINSULA
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.
The Nation's Weather By WEATHER UNDERGROUND, For The Associated Press
Mon May 14, 6:34 AM ET
A storm system moving out of the northern Rockies Monday will speed across the northern Plains, pushing a cold front from Central Colorado to Northern Wisconsin. Thunderstorms are expected to pick up in intensity throughout the day, and while high winds were likely to be the main threat, isolated twisters were possible. Thunderstorms were also likely across Florida. While rain may put out wildfires in the state, winds and lightning could make them worse.The rest of the East as well as the West will have mostly clear skies.Temperatures in the Lower 48 states Sunday ranged from a low of 17 degrees at Spincich Lake, MI to a high of 105 degrees at Gila Bend, Ariz.
Iranian leader threatens retaliation By JIM KRANE, Associated Press Writer
Mon May 14, 7:32 AM ET
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates - The Iranian president said Monday Iran will retaliate if the U.S. strikes the country — a tough response to recent comments by the Vice President Dick Cheney that Washington would prevent the Islamic republic from dominating the Middle East.
Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said Iran had agreed for the benefit of the Iraqi people to meet with the U.S. in Baghdad to discuss security in Iraq.They (the U.S.) cannot strike Iran, he said at a press conference during a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates. The Iranian people can protect themselves and retaliate. The Iranian president's comments followed those on Friday by Cheney, who said from the deck of an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf that the U.S. and its allies would prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and dominating the region.Despite the tense words, the U.S. and Iran announced Sunday that they have agreed to meet in Baghdad to discuss security and stability in Iraq.
Both parties have confirmed the talks will take place in Baghdad in the presence of the Iraqi government, Ahmadinejad said Monday. We decided we were ready and prepared to do this to support the Iraqi people.The Iranian president, in a subdued mood after the previous night's raucous anti-American rally in a Dubai soccer stadium, repeated his calls for the United States to leave the Gulf region. Washington holds military bases in all Gulf countries except Saudi Arabia.In stark contrast to Cheney's low-key visit, Ahmadinejad was greeted with fanfare by the top leaders of the Emirates, who apparently had no objection to Sunday's rally.
Ahmadinejad said relations with the Emirates had taken a quantum leap, with the two countries agreeing to create a joint committee headed by their foreign ministers to boost cooperation in tourism, trade, energy and development.There's a willingness on both sides to upgrade relations, he said. Relations between Iran and the UAE can be a model for all the countries of the region.Ahmadinejad appeared to be pushing his agenda at a time when the U.S. administration's popularity in the region is at a low point. He said Iran is ready to band together in a Gulf-wide security alliance with Washington's traditional regional allies.
He also called for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Egypt that were broken in 1979, saying it would strengthen regional security and stability.The U.S. presence in the Gulf, Ahmadinejad said, runs counter to the best interests of the Muslim-majority countries on both sides of the oil-rich sea. Similar pleas for a regional security alliance have come during recent visits by Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and national security adviser Ali Larijani.Ahmadinejad said the Americans had overextended their welcome in the region and were advocating tough actions that reached beyond what their Arab allies wished.What are these others doing in our region? he replied when asking to comment on Cheney's remarks aboard the USS John C. Stennis on Friday. Are they more keen with regard to the nuclear issue than everyone else in the region?
The U.S. has accused Iran of covertly developing nuclear weapons, but Iran has denied the charge, saying its nuclear program is peaceful. Tehran has also objected to U.S. claims that Iran is supplying Iraqi Shiite militias with deadly roadside bombs that kill American troops.Ahmadinejad said the U.S.-allied Emirates backs Iran's position that the U.S. military should leave the Gulf.This region won't allow other powers from thousands of miles away to threaten the region and create enmity, he said. Our talks with our brothers in the United Arab Emirates reiterated this truth again and again.
Emirati officials had no immediate comment. They have previously expressed strong concerns about growing U.S.-Iranian tensions and elevated U.S. rhetoric against Iran, but have shown no indication they intend to ask the U.S. military to leave.
A pair of newspaper editorials in the Dubai pro-government Gulf News expressed concern about Cheney's speech and supported closer relations with Iran. On Sunday, the paper lambasted Cheney for lumping the Gulf Arab countries into his anti-Iran rhetoric, saying he had needlessly stoked tensions with Iran.
Such careless talk by the vice president is not only unwelcome but is likely to have created an all-inclusiveness that is not welcome to the Arab states, the paper said. On Monday, the paper said Ahmadinejad's landmark visit had opened a new page in relations and backed the decision to form a bilateral commission. No Gulf leader has publicly backed Iran's call for a security alliance or for the removal of U.S. troops from the region.
Jordan's king warns Cheney on Mideast By JAMAL HALABY, Associated Press Writer Mon May 14, 7:01 AM ET
AMMAN, Jordan - Jordan's king warned visiting U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney Monday that time was running out to use an Arab peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a royal palace statement. King Abdullah II, a moderate Arab leader and a key U.S. ally, also called for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, the statement said.Jordan stands in support of a peaceful resolution to the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities that would spare the region further tensions, Abdullah told Cheney in a closed-door meeting at the king's beachside residence in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.Abdullah said the Arab peace initiative, which was first launched in 2002 and revived at an Arab summit earlier this year, still represented an opportunity to advance peace and end the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Time is not on anyone's side, Abdullah warned. He did not elaborate, but he has previously said that the absence of peacemaking is increasing the popularity of extremists across the Muslim world.The Palestinians have embraced the Arab plan, which calls for full peace with all Arab nations if Israel withdraws from territories captured in the 1967 Middle East War and agrees to the creation of a
Palestinian state. It also calls for a just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees.Israel and the United States have said the plan could be a basis for reviving the peace process.
But Israel has expressed reservations over many of its provisions, including the call to solve the Palestinian refugee issue.The king suggested to Cheney that there was a need to set a time frame to establish tangible results on the ground related to Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.Abdullah also emphasized that the United States plays a key role in helping the Palestinians and Israelis return to the negotiating table to reach a final settlement to the Palestinian issue.
Cheney's visit to Jordan is part of a regional tour that has taken him to Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The vice president is trying to build support for efforts to ease tensions in Iraq, end sectarian violence and encourage national reconciliation between disputing Iraqi factions. Abdullah reiterated the importance of achieving national reconciliation and including all segments of Iraqi society in Iraq's political process a reference to minority Sunnis, who complain they are being sidelined by their Shiite-dominated government.
The king said reinforcing security and establishing stability in Iraq is in the interest of the country as well as a key Jordanian interest. Jordan has complained that terrorists affiliated with al-Qaida in Iraq are infiltrating the Iraqi-Jordanian border to carry out terror attacks in the country.In November 2005, al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for Amman's triple hotel blasts, which killed 63 people, including three Iraqi suicide bombers.
Pope assails Marxism and capitalism By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer MAY 14,07
SAO PAULO, Brazil - Pope Benedict XVI lamented the deep divide between rich and poor in Latin America but told priests to steer clear of politics as they work to reverse Roman Catholicism's waning influence in the region.
Wrapping up five-day visit to Brazil, the 80-year-old pontiff denounced Marxism in an hour-long speech Sunday opening a 19-day conference of Latin American bishops in the shrine city of Aparecida.The Marxist system, where it found its way into government, not only left a sad heritage of economic and ecological destruction, but also a painful destruction of the human spirit, the pope said.He also warned of unfettered capitalism and globalization. Before boarding a plane for Rome later Sunday, he said the two could give rise to a worrying degradation of personal dignity through drugs, alcohol and deceptive illusions of happiness.Marxism still influences some grassroots Catholic activists in Latin America, remnants of the liberation theology movement Benedict worked to crush when he was cardinal. Liberation theology holds that the Christian faith should be reinterpreted specifically to deliver oppressed people from injustice.
Benedict also defended the church's campaign centuries ago to Christianize indigenous people, saying Latin American Indians had been silently longing to become Christians when Spanish and Portuguese conquerors violently took over their native lands centuries ago.In effect, the proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture, he told the bishops.Throughout his first papal visit to the region, Benedict emphasized Catholic moral values as the answer to Latin America's social and economic problems. Returning to that theme Sunday, he warned that legalized contraception and abortion in Latin America threaten the future of the peoples and said the historical Catholic identity of the region is under assault.Speaking in Spanish and Portuguese, the pope called on the bishops to reinvigorate the church, still the dominant faith in the region but rapidly losing ground to evangelical Protestant churches.
He urged bishops to mold a new generation of leaders, saying Latin America needs more dedicated Catholics at high levels in government, the media and at universities. While Brazil is the most populous Roman Catholic country, home to more than 120 million of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, the census shows that people calling themselves Catholics fell to 74 percent in 2000 from 89 percent in 1980.
Those calling themselves evangelical Protestants rose to 15 percent from 7 percent.The pope did not name any countries in his criticism of capitalism and Marxism, but left-leaning leaders govern most of South America. The region's most prominent promoter of Marxism is Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, whose spokesman deflected the criticism on Monday. We all know that the current Pope is characterized as a conservative man, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we must automatically think that any word he utters ... is against Venezuela, Willian Lara said.
Religious experts said Benedict failed to address key challenges to the church in Latin America, including a severe shortage of priests or a specific strategy for how parishes should try win back Catholics who have turned into born-again Protestants or simply stopped going to church. Psychologists say what you don't talk about are often the most important things, and that was the case with the pope, said Fernando Altermeyer, a theology professor at Sao Paulo's Catholic Pontificate University.
Added former Vatican Radio reporter David Gibson: By not looking to the church's structural problems, he's handicapping the chances for success.In events in and near Sao Paulo that attracted more than 1 million people, Benedict criticized the rising tide of Latin Americans flouting the church's prohibition on premarital sex and divorce and told drug dealers they will face divine justice for the misery they cause.Then he headed to the shrine city of Aparecida, telling the bishops to convince Catholics from all walks of life to bring the light of the Gospel into public life, into culture, economics and politics.Benedict called the institution of the family one of the most important treasures of Latin American countries, but said it is threatened by legislation and government policies contrary to church doctrine on marriage, contraception and abortion.Mexico City lawmakers recently legalized abortion and gay civil unions, and the Brazilian government routinely hands out millions of free condoms to prevent AIDS. The pope called the region the continent of hope during a Sunday Mass before 150,000 faithful in front of the mammoth basilica of Aparecida home to the nation's patron saint, a black Virgin Mary. But the turnout fell far short of the 400,000 to 500,000 worshippers local organizers hoped would show up for Benedict's last big public event of the papal tour, his longest since becoming pope two years ago. Waiting to catch a glimpse of the 80-year-old pope at Aparecida's basilica, 68-year-old Maria Costa said she hoped his trip would revitalize the church in Brazil. Catholics weren't feeling very good with the Church, and that's why so many were leaving, she said. I think that could change now. Let's hope so.Associated Press Writers Tales Azzoni and Victor L. Simpson contributed from Aparecida.
THIS IS A DECEPTIVE HEADLINE IT SHOULD READ ISRAEL MARKS 40 YR RULE OF ISRAELI JERUSALEM. ITS ISRAELS CAPITAL NOT THE ARABS.
Israel marks 40 year rule of Arab east Jerusalem Mon May 14, 7:29 AM ET
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Monday began marking 40 years since it conquered and annexed Arab east Jerusalem but the ceremonies were boycotted by European and US diplomats. The last 40 years were only the beginning, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a special parliamentary session marking the anniversary according to the Hebrew calendar.I believe, I hope and I pray that we will continue to work together to reinforce Jerusalem in order to extend its boundaries.Israel captured Arab east Jerusalem on June 7, 1967, the third day of the six-day Middle East war, and unilaterally annexed the sector in a move not recognised by the international community.Israel in 1980 passed a law declaring Jerusalem the unified and eternal capital of Israel, but the Palestinians want occupied east Jerusalem to be the capital of their future sovereign state.
Israel's unilateral moves in Jerusalem have been condemned by UN Security Council Resolutions, including one in 1980 that resulted in 13 Jerusalem-based foreign embassies being moved to Tel Aviv.
US and EU ambassadors have refused to attend Monday's parliamentary session as well as ceremonies due to be held on Jerusalem Day on Wednesday.They say Jerusalem's fate must be decided as part of final status negotiations to end the Middle East conflict and that in the meantime the status quo should be preserved in accordance with international law.A statement from a group of Israeli left-wing groups issued a statement deploring the deliberate marginalisation of Palestinian districts in Jerusalem by the Israeli authorities since 40 years.
Rabbis Call for Temple Mount Visits
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 14,07
Close to 30 leading religious-Zionist rabbis visited the Temple Mount in purity on Sunday, after taking the necessary Halakhic precautions. The precautions involve immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area. The visit was unique in that it marks the first time such a large group of
rabbis ascended together to the holy site. Among today's visitors were Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Yeshivat Har Etzion Dean Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz of Maaleh Adumim, Rabbi Daniel Shilo of Kedumim, Rabbi Shalom Gold of Har Nof, Jerusalem, and others.
Rabbi Shilo, asked to explain the timing of the visit, told Arutz-7, For one thing, Jerusalem Reunification Day is approaching. In addition, our hold on the Temple Mount is not yet strong among many people of Torah and others, because of halakhic [Jewish-legal] obstructions that we feel are no longer relevant. Biblical law forbids one from entering the holy areas of the Temple Mount, and some feel that the precise boundaries of those areas are not known. However, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel of the Temple Institute has shown that the rock under the Dome of the Rock is in fact the Holy of Holies, and most scholars agree.
Police accompanied the rabbis, and the representatives of the Islamic Waqf [the Moslem body that oversees the site - ed.] looked quite miffed, Rabbi Shilo said. MK Uri Ariel (National Union) expressed approval of the rabbis' move, saying, It appears that the police now understand that the current situation of restricting Jewish presence on the Jews' most sacred site is absurd and must change... This disgrace must be stopped. Jewish prayer must be allowed on the site, in a gradual
manner and in the places permitted by Halakhah.Last week, a group of over 40 rabbis signed a declaration calling upon the religious public - those who know the laws and restrictions - to frequent the permitted sites on the Temple Mount and to arouse love for this holy site in which our prayers are most accepted.Among the signatories are Rabbi Chaim Druckman, head of the Yeshivot Bnei Akiva organization; Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat; Kiryat Shmonah Chief Rabbi Tzefaniah Drori; Rabbi Bnayahu Bruner of Tzfat; Rabbi Re'em HaCohen of Otniel; Rabbi Daniel Cohen of Bat Ayin; Rabbi Chanan Porat of Kfar Etzion; Rabbi Gideon Perl of Alon Shvut; Rabbi Moshe Tzuriel of Bnei Brak; and more. Former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, however, issued an opposite call, saying that visits to the Temple Mount could lead to the grave sin of entering forbidden sacred locations.
It's not that anyone is apathetic to our inability to pray on the Temple Mount, his son, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Tzfat said in his father's name. Our pain over this is almost physical. Rabbi M. Eliyahu is of the opinion that a synagogue should be built in a permitted area of the Temple Mount.
The Six Day War: Not Only Jerusalem
by Hillel Fendel (INN) MAY 14,07
There is a purposeful disregard of the liberation of Judea and Samaria during the Six Day War, says geographer and historian Avraham Shvut. Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Shvut author of a work on the modern history of Judea and Samaria said that ignoring these results of the Six Day War means also ignoring the fact that the Six Day War was the finale of the War of Independence. By doing so, they are purposely harming the nation's attitude towards the areas of Judea and Samaria.It's part of our national sickness of ignoring large parts of our Land, the Land of the Bible, Shvut said. Shvut's book HaAliyah El HaHar (The Ascent to the Mountain), published in 2003, reviews the history of Jewish settlement in Judea, Samaria and Gaza in the past 40 years.
Almost immediately after the Six Day War, construction began in the areas of Jerusalem liberated from Jordanian control, leading to the addition of neighborhoods such as Ramat Eshkol, Sanhedria Murhevet, Talpiot, Gilo and others. The other areas redeemed from Jordan - Judea and Samaria - were, in many ways, overlooked and viewed as not to be settled. Then-Defense Minister Moshe Dayan even said, We are waiting to negotiate with King Hussein. Years were wasted as the Land of Israel loyalists expected the government to take the lead in inhabiting the areas, as it did in the Golan, the Jordan Valley and even the Sinai Desert. When Judea and Samaria finally began to be settled, it was the first time that modern Israel was settled by a non-political organization - Gush Emunim - essentially a group of private people, as opposed to a government movement. It was also the first time, Shvut noted, that massive settlement began in mountainous regions. In the Galilee, as well, mountainous overlooks were first built around the same time, in the 1970's. Another first-time aspect of the Yesha communities was the lack of dependency on agriculture. Until then, communities were built where the land could be farmed, and much money was spent on preparing the ground, building hothouses, chicken coops and cowsheds. But in Yesha, the new style of communal towns enabled the construction of many of them. All you needed was a few caravans for living and public buildings, and you had a town!
GENESIS 12:1-3
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram,(CHANGED TO ABRAHAM LATER) Get thee out of thy
country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:(PALESTINE,ISRAEL)
2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
WELL ALL I HAVE TO SAY AMERICA ITS GONNA BE A DANGEROUS HURRICANE SEASON THIS YEAR, GOD WILL HAVE THE LAST SAY ON ISRAELS CAPITAL JERUSALEM, NOT THE ARABS CAPITAL.
After 40 Years, U.S. Avoids Jerusalem Reunification Day
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (INN) MAY 14,07
The United States will avoid Jerusalem Reunification Day festivities this week despite a 12-year-old Congressional bill calling for the American embassy to be located in the capital. Since then, every President has exercised a waiver in the bill allowing the move to be deferred for a renewable period of six months.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni insisted that the connection between Israel and Jerusalem is inseparable despite the boycott by the U.S. and most of the international community. Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski went further and declared, Anyone who doesn't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel does not recognize the State of Israel.Anyone who doesn't recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel does not recognize the State of Israel.American officials, including former Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk, have stated that moving the embassy is not likely to happen until there is a final peace agreement with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The U.S. did not issue an official statement explaining why the current Ambassador, Richard Jones will not be attending the ceremonies, but Ambassador Dr. Harald Kindermann from Germany, which heads the European Union (EU) this year, specifically said EU countries will not participate because of Arab claims of sovereignty over eastern Jerusalem, which includes the Old City. The Foreign Ministry said Sunday it is unhappy and disappointed that most delegations announced they were not coming to the festivities but added that officials from several embassies will attend. Two American lawmakers have launched an effort to put a stop to the continuing deferral of the Congressional bill to move the embassy from Tel Aviv. Republican House of Representatives members Joe Wilson and Mike Pence recently introduced a resolution stating that Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 40 years.Jerusalem must remain an undivided city in which the rights of every ethnic and religious group are protected as they have been by Israel during the past 40 years.
The new resolution strongly urges American President George W. Bush to stop exercising the waiver to delay the move of the embassy. It also calls on him and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to repeatedly affirm publicly, as a matter of United States policy, that Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of the State of Israel.The congressmen also noted that the 2003 Foreign Relations
Authorization Act directs that the birth of any U.S. citizen born in Jerusalem should be recorded as Jerusalem, Israel upon the request of the citizen or his or her guardian. That requirement has never been implemented, and the city is listed without its being designated that it is in Israel. Israel officially incorporated all of Jerusalem into the municipality in 1980, a move that caused virtually all of the embassies that had been located in Jerusalem to move away. The last holdouts were El Salvador and Costa Rica, which pulled out several months ago.
The New Sabbath According to Orlev
by Hana Levi Julian (INN) MAY 14,07
Knesset Member Zevulun Orlev is stepping onto a tightrope by proposing two new laws that could change the face of Israeli society.The pair of bills written by the National Union / National Religious Party Chairman are also likely to reawaken the age-old debate over Israeli laws pertaining to the Sabbath. One bill would change the length of the traditional Israeli weekend; the second would change its character. If passed, they will also change the way Sabbath is traditionally observed in Israeli society, both in the religious and secular populations.One of the bills would end the practice of beginning the regular work week on Sundays. Instead, the weekend break which traditionally begins on Friday afternoon would not end until Monday morning.
Industry and trade will, if the law passes, no longer be completely forbidden on the Sabbath, nor would public or state services, as they are at present. This would allow an increase in recreational and cultural activities, provided they would comply with noise regulations.The main purpose for the change, said MK Orlev, is to allow Sabbath-observant Jews to have a day to travel and enjoy cultural and recreational activities as a family. Due to the six-day work week, this currently causes hardship for the religious population. A worker must use a paid (or unpaid) vacation day and a student must skip school in order for the family to take the day off together.The second proposal would change the public transportation system.If passed, the new law would allow limited public transportation to become available on the Sabbath. At present public transportation is permitted only six days a week Sunday through Friday. The new Sabbath lines would be serviced by vans similar to the private sheirut or mini-buses run by private companies along the regular public bus routes. None would be allowed to travel through religious communities or neighborhoods.
MK Orlev also recommended establishing a committee to oversee the development of Sabbath services under his proposals.According to the Jerusalem Post, a number of senior religious Zionist rabbis and senior members of the Knesset are supporting the proposals; however, MK Orlev could not be reached to confirm the claim.Both bills are expected to face an initial Knesset hearing in the near future. Reactions from Sabbath-observant Knesset members were not long in coming, however. Minister Eli Yishai, Chairman of the Sephardic religious Shas party, slammed the proposals and the NU / NRP parties, saying, Any initiative by parties calling themselves religious and turning reform on Shabbat (Sabbath) matters should be foiled.Meretz Knesset Member Zahav Gal-On had a different take on MK Orlev's motivation for proposing the measures, saying it was a red herring. As long as the religious-rabbinical establishment dictates how we should marry, divorce and what we should eat, she declared, all these proposals are insignificant.
Portugal pushes for June treaty deal
14.05.2007 - 09:18 CET | By Honor Mahony
As incoming EU presidency in the second half of this year, Portugal has made it clear that if there is no significant agreement on a new treaty in six weeks time, it will put the issue on the political back burner for its six month tenure of the bloc.Portuguese prime minister Jose Socrates said that Berlin, as current EU presidency, will have to secure a precise mandate during the EU leaders summit on 21-22 June, otherwise Lisbon would not continue individual negotiations with member states. He made the announcement after an informal meeting over the weekend in the Portuguese town of Sintra including German chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso to assess the state of play on the treaty negotiations.
While appearing to up the public pressure for a deal, Mr Socrates' words dovetail with Germany's own policy of trying to get as much agreed at the summit as possible. Mrs Merkel is pushing to get all the big issues out of the way in order to have an intergovernmental conference on the rest of the issues during Portugal's presidency - beginning 1 July that is to be as technical as possible, according to diplomats.
The strategy stems in part from the fear that Portugal, followed by Slovenia, taking over the presidency in January 2008, will not have the political clout to force other - bigger - member states to come to a deal.EU presidencies give political guidance to the bloc and are tasked with trying to find agreement among the 27 member states on the issues of the day.
For its part, Germany has also attached significant public importance to the constitutional task seeing its presidency as the last chance to set in motion a timetable that would see all member states ratify a new treaty by mid 2009 the date of the next European elections.Speaking after the Sintra meeting, the German chancellor called on other EU member states to work together on the issue.I am certain that we will accomplish it if we remain united, if we work together, she said, according to AFP. It is in our interest and it is our responsibility to allow Europe to act in the face of the challenges that confront us.According to Spanish daily El Pais, quoting a senior official attending the Sintra meeting, quite some time in the gathering was spent analysing the proposals of French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, the ideas of Gordon Brown, the likely successor to British leader Tony Blair, as well as the difficulties that the Dutch and Polish governments have in relation to a new treaty.
Germany revived negotiations on a new-look treaty for the bloc at the beginning of the year following 18 months of almost complete political silence after France and the Netherlands rejected the EU constitution in mid-2005.In order to get a deal, Berlin has to keep as much of the original treaty as possible intact to please the 18 countries that have already largely ratified the document, while taking into account the sceptical public in many of the remaining nine countries.However, this delicate balancing act looks to be upset by two key member states – Poland, which wants to renegotiate the voting system and the UK which wants as small a treaty as possible, keeping member states' right to veto in as many areas as possible.
Liberal Democrats are out to silence you! MAY 14,07
Urgent Telephone Alert on the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093)!
Dear Stan,
I wrote to you in January about legislation in the U.S. Senate that could have silenced grassroots communication from groups like American Family Association. Thankfully, that part of the legislation was defeated after you and other concerned citizens let your voices be heard.
Unfortunately, the House Judiciary Committee is expected to reconsider the grassroots gag order when the Meehan Amendment (H.R. 2093) will be offered on Tuesday, May 15, during debate on a broader lobbying reform bill. This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Martin Meehan (D-Mass.), would establish, for the first time, federal regulatory authority over efforts aimed at motivating citizens to communicate with their representatives about bills moving in Congress.This threat is so serious that American Family Association has joined with other pro-family groups, as well as organizations from the left of the political spectrum, including the ACLU, to oppose the bill. Last week, we signed a joint letter calling on members of Congress to reject this dangerous effort to exclude men and women like you from the democratic process. The full House of Representatives is expected to act on the lobbying reform legislation on May 22. Depending on what happens in the Judiciary Committee on May 15, the full House may also vote on whether to include the Meehan provision in the broader bill.
Take Action
To be shown the phone number for your representative's office, and an appropriate suggested message -- one message if he is a member of the Judiciary Committee, and a different message if he is not. This is urgent -- please act today!
http://www3.capwiz.com/afanet/callalert/index.tt?alertid=9738911&type=TA
If you think our efforts are worthy, would you please support us with a small gift? Thank you for caring enough to get involved. Sincerely,
Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association
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