PA Demands Rachel's Tomb be Recognized as a Mosque!

This is unbelievable!!!

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted recently to officially declare Rachel's Tomb to be a mosque. UNESCO director Irena Bokova had previously stated “concern” at Israel's decision to treat the tomb as a heritage site.

The vote called for Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs – to be removed from Israel's National Heritage list.

The Palestinian Authority has claimed that Rachel's Tomb is holy to Muslims as the site of a mosque called the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque. The PA demands control over both the tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron, as well as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

UNESCO appeared to support the PA demand for the Temple Mount as well, asking that Muslim officials be allowed to examine the Mughrabi Gate near the Western Wall (Kotel). Muslim leaders have accused Israel of attempting to damage the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount under the guise of repairs to the Mugrabi Gate. Israeli officials have warned that if the gate is not repaired, it could collapse, putting worshipers at the Western Wall at risk.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, Rabbi of the Western Wall, termed the decision “outrageous.”

“They have never said in the past that this was a Muslim holy site. The [UN] organization responsible for heritage has turned heritage into politics.” Israel should think carefully about whether or not to cooperate with UNESCO in the future, he said.

Israel's Foreign Ministry denounced the UNESCO ruling.
Tens of thousands of Jews recently visited Rachel's Tomb to mark the biblical matriarch's Yartzheit (anniversary of death). The tomb is located within Bethlehem city limits, but remained under Israeli control when the rest of Bethlehem was transferred to Palestinian Authority control.

Journalist Nadav Shragai, writing for Yisrael Hayom, noted that Muslims living in the land of Israel have historically referred to Rachel's Tomb as “Kubat Rahel,” the Arabic term for “Rachel's Tomb.” Under Ottoman rule, Rachel's Tomb was a Jewish site.

Only in 1996 did the PA begin to call the site the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque, he said

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Ancient Tzfat: Fighting a War Against Saudi Money

by Gil Ronen

 

Tzfat's chief rabbi, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, explained Wednesday that the ancient city is fighting a Saudi-financed invasion, after Labor MK Daniel Ben-Simon launched an unprecedentedly rude attack on the rabbi. 
 
Speaking in the Knesset plenum, Ben Simon said: “This rabbi... this insane rabbi... this recidivist... every once in a while he comes out with his mantra in a city in which people coexist.” Ben-Simon said Rabbi Eliyahu should be “isolated” because of his opinions regarding Arabs. Ben-Simon may be referencing Israeli journalists' undeclared decision in 1984 to cease reporting about Rabbi Meir Kahane when he became too powerful, in their opinion.    

Ben-Simon's attack reflects the Israeli Left's long-held view that any criticism of Arabs by Jews is motivated by “racism.” The Left often equates the Jewish-Arab struggle in Israel to tensions in the segregated South in the US, or to the South African apartheid regime, with Jews in the role of whites.
 
Rabbi Eliyahu appeared unfazed by the vitriol. “Some people,” he said, “are swept away by the UN motto that Zionism is a form of racism.”
 
"People need to know that there is a quiet war going on here,” he told Arutz Sheva's Hebrew-language news magazine. “The war today is a war against Saudi and anti-Semitic money and they are buying another parcel of land, another house and another goat” [a reference to the old-time Zionist precept of patiently redeeming the Land of Israel with “another parcel of land and another goat. - ed.].
 
"They are trying to break us with this money. The state is doing nothing. We cannot sit back passively when they are trying to take us over and offering endless sums of money for every apartment in Tzfat and other places.”
 
“The law does not apply” to the Arabs in the Negev and Galilee either, he said with pained sarcasm, “and Jewish MKs attack whoever defends them instead of giving him a hand.”
 
"The same thing happened with soldiers in 'Cast Lead,' the soldiers who fought on board the Marmara... [the leftists] fight against anyone who struggles for the Jewish identity of the Land.”
 
"We are not taken aback,” he intoned. “We hurt for them, we are sorry about them. In our eyes, Zionism is a source of pride, it is an expression of the Torah. I am proud that I was attacked over uttering words of Torah.”

MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) had words of support for Rabbi Eliyahu and the Jewish residents of Tzfat Wednesday. He said that “the Tzfat affair is not the first of its kind in the Galilee.”
 
"The ongoing taking over of Jewish land in Tzfat and the Galilee is not sporadic," he said, "but a trend that is funded by the Islamic Movement, which wants to see Israel destroyed.” 
  
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Message to World: Jerusalem Gets Top Priority Development Status!

 by Hillel Fendel     





(It's about time! Psalm 122:6  Mid)
The ministerial committee for legislation approved a bill that will grant special benefits to the capital, including incentives for construction in western, eastern and northern Jerusalem.

The committee’s approval means the bill will have official government support when it comes up for its Knesset votes. Some 45 MKs are signed on the proposal, which should have no trouble passing in the Knesset.

The bill calls for an annual government grant to Jerusalem, as well as an upgrade of its status for the encouragement of investments in education, housing, and employment. Jerusalem will now enjoy the highest-priority classification in the country, with the goal of stopping the recent exodus of young couples – and strengthening the city’s Israeli status.

The upgrade in Jerusalem's city status was initiated by MK Uri Ariel (National Union), who said, “The true message given by the passage of this bill is the government’s change of direction regarding Jerusalem, and a signal that construction in the city will soon be unfrozen.”

The bill, which is a set of changes and emendations to the existing Jerusalem Law, specifically encourages the construction of “affordable housing complexes,” to be accomplished by simplifying the planning and approval processes. Many of the city’s reserves for future housing lie in neighborhoods such as Pisgat Ze’ev, Gilo, Ramot, N’vei Yaakov and Har Homa – which were liberated in the Six Day War in 1967 – and therefore some international condemnation of the bill is expected.

Jerusalem, Complete and United

Though visitors to the city can detect no difference between the built-up neighborhoods that were always part of Jerusalem and those that joined 43 years ago, many in the international community still regard the latter as “settlements.” However, Israel’s "Basic Law: Jerusalem, Capital of Israel,” passed in 1980, begins with these words: ”Jerusalem, complete and united, is the capital of Israel.”

Mayor Nir Barkat, who worked hard for the bill’s passage, thanked the ministerial committee for legislation, and said, “The Knesset’s and government’s formal recognition of the need to strengthen Jerusalem is critical for the city’s future and continued growth. This decision will help Jerusalem to continue to be attractive to the young, to tourists, and to investors.”

“This is a first step towards returning Jerusalem to the map of Israel,” MK Ariel said, “in terms of young couples and small and medium businesses. It will encourage housing starts in the capital; until now the policy has been to freeze and neglect Jerusalem, and this will hopefully signal a turnaround and new construction in the capital.”

Communications Minister Moshe Kachlon of the Likud said, “Whoever among the Palestinians and the world expects the present Government of Israel to recognize foreign claims of sovereignty in our capital – is mistaken and misleading.” 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Vatican WRONG on Issue of Israel/Chosen People

headline in the Jerusalem Post reads: “Vatican synod calls for end to Israel’s ‘occupation’: At conference on Christians in the Middle East, US Melkite archbishop says: ‘There is no longer a chosen people.’” With all due respect, the Vatican is wrong on this issue. The entire Bible — from Genesis to Revelation — makes crystal clear again and again the Lord’s love for the Jewish people, His decision to choose Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants for His very own, and His eternal promise to give the Holy Land to the Jewish people.
As such, it is the duty of all true followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to bless Israel and reaffirm her fundamental legitimacy and right to the Land. Yes, we should bless and love the Palestinians, as well, because our Lord Jesus said as a Jew living in Israel, “Love your neighbor,” and, “Love your enemies.” But we should never accept the false teaching that God has rejected the Jewish people or rescinded His promises to the nation of Israel. That simply is not Biblical.
In Genesis chapter 12:1-3, the Lord makes it clear He has chosen Abram to “make a great nation” and the Lord says to him, “I will bless you and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” In Genesis 13:14-18, the Lord specifically takes Abraham to the land we now call Israel and said, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are (the Jordan Valley), northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever.”
Doesn’t “forever” mean forever?
This promise is reaffirmed to Isaac, and later to Jacob, whose name the Lord changes to “Israel.” For example, in Deuteronomy 7:6-8, the Lord says to the children of Israel, “The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The Lord didn not set His love on you nor choose you because  you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the Lord loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers.”
In Genesis 48:3-4, Jacob tells his son Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan and blessed me, and He said to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful and numerous, and I will make you a company of peoples, and will give this land to your descendants after you an everlasting possession.”
Doesn’t everlasting mean everlasting?
Interestingly, the Apostle Paul prophetically anticipated that the Christians in Rome would one day think that God would reject the Jewish people and His promises to them because many Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah. So Paul wrote this in his letter to the Romans, chapter 11, verse 1 and 2: “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.  God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew.”
The New Testament again and again affirms the Lord’s love for the Jewish people and for the nation of Israel. Indeed, in the Book of Revelation, we specifically see the nation of Israel regathered and playing a key role in the End Times. God defends Israel. God fights for Israel against her enemies. God blesses Israel and the Jewish people. And then the Lord Jesus Christ Himself comes with His saints to reign from Jerusalem. To deny such truths is to deeply and fundamentally misunderstand the Word of God.
May I encourage you, brothers and sisters, to share this message with others. Be kind towards the Catholic leaders. Let us show them the mistakes they are making, but do so in love. Let us also teach followers of Jesus Christ around the world the Lord’s deep love and compassion for the Jewish people, and His desire that they — and all people — come to faith in Messiah Jesus.
At the same time, please prayerfully consider becoming involved in The Joshua Fund to bless Israel and her neighbors in the name of Jesus in real and practical ways. And please prayerfully consider coming to Israel and the Epicenter Conference in Israel next May. Thank you, and God bless you.

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Vatican body asks UN to 'end Israeli occupation'

The following are excerpts from the original story source

In final statement of two-week conference, bishops' synod urges international community to take 'necessary legal steps to put an end to the occupation of the different Arab territories'.

Israel cannot use the Biblical concept of a promised land or a chosen people to justify new "settlements" in Jerusalem or territorial claims, a Vatican synod on the Middle East said on Saturday.

In its concluding message after two weeks of meetings, the synod of bishops from the Middle East also said it hoped a two-state solution for peace between Israel and the Palestinians could be lifted from dream to reality and called for peaceful conditions that would stop a Christian exodus from the region.

"We have meditated on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem. We are anxious about the unilateral initiatives that threaten its composition and risk to change its demographic balance," the message said.

In a separate part of the document -- a section on cooperation with Jews -- the synod fathers also took issue with Jews who use the Bible to justify settlements in the West Bank, which Israel captured in 1967.

"Recourse to theological and biblical positions which use the Word of God to wrongly justify injustices is not acceptable," the document said.

Many Jewish settlers and right-wing Israelis claim a biblical birthright to the West Bank, which they call Judea and Samaria and regard as a part of historical, ancient Israel given to the Jews by God.

Asked about the passage at a news conference, Greek-Melchite Archbishop Cyrille Salim Bustros, said:

"We Christians cannot speak about the promised land for the Jewish people. There is no longer a chosen people. All men and women of all countries have become the chosen people.

"The concept of the promised land cannot be used as a base for the justification of the return of Jews to Israel and the displacement of Palestinians," he added. "The justification of Israel's occupation of the land of Palestine cannot be based on sacred scriptures."

The synod's concluding message repeated a Vatican call for Jerusalem to have a special status "which respects its particular character" as a city sacred to the three great monotheistic religions -- Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

~ ~ ~

It makes me sick to death to hear of the "creative ways" mankind has attempted to interpret God's Holy Inspired Word in ways to suit their agenda of removing Israel from the face of the earth. God made an everlasting covenant through the line of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the generations that follow them. God is a covenant maker...not a covenant breaker.

Israel and the Jewish people are the apple of God's eye...HIS chosen. Somehow, people can't seem to comprehend that fact.

The article states that, "We have meditated on the situation of the holy city of Jerusalem." Perhaps they should try falling on their knees in fervent prayer asking forgiveness, and then, carefully study the Scriptures to rid themselves of their Spiritual blindness.

The world against Israel is on a sure collision course with God over Israel's covenant land.

Zechariah 12:9
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem."

Don

Islam does not like Christians

by Elad Benari

Jewish Italian MP Fiamma Nirenstein was reconfirmed this week as Vice President of Italy’s Foreign Affairs Committee. In addition, she was also appointed an official consultant on Israel and the international Jewish communities by Italian Foreign Minister Frattini.

Earlier this week, Nirenstein commented on Christian leaders who criticize Israel yet ignore violence by Arabs. She pointed out that “Islam does not like Eastern Christians: it has forced them to flee and now they account for only 6% of the population in the Mideast”, and added that the only country where the number of Christians has grown is Israel, where 163,000 Christians live today, a number which is expected to grow to 187,000 by the year 2020. “In Muslim countries, on the other hand, Christians are on the wane, but the 50 churches present in the Holy Land seem not to notice. They prefer to dump on Israel, where they enjoy full freedom of worship and expression,” said Nirenstein.

Commenting on the Vatican Synod about Middle East taking place in Rome these days, Nirenstein pointed out a document “written in a tone of theological excommunication towards the State of Israel,” which was signed by the Custodian of the Holy Land, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who later denied involvement, saying that “no church in the Holy Land had signed the document.” Nirenstein pointed out, however, that the names of top-level signers are clearly visible on the document which is available on the internet. The document speaks in the name of "us Christian Palestinians," and says that “the military occupation is a sin against God and against man”. It excommunicates Christian supporters of Israel, takes sides against the very presence of Israel, likens the defensive barrier that has blocked 98% of terrorism to apartheid, attacks the communities in Judea and Samaria and essentially cancels the existence of the Jewish state. The document goes so far as to legitimize terrorism when it talks about the “thousands of prisoners who languish in Israeli jails” which are “part of the society around us”. “Resistance to the evil of occupation is a Christian's right and duty," says the document.

 “In the final draft of the appeal which will be voted on Friday, the Synod is once again offering the Catholic Church as the guarantor of freedom of religious and personal freedom for all religions,” wrote Nirenstein. “But if there are no sanctions against what Christians suffer in Islamic countries and if they continue to blame the Jews who have nothing to do with it all, how do they think they will be able—morally and practically—to sustain this?”

Other comments made by Nirenstein this past week addressed remarks made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who said that Germany's multicultural approach to immigration “has failed, utterly failed,” and that in the future, immigrants should be expected to integrate into German culture.

“The point is that certain cultures very often have no intention of mixing in with ours, despite our actions and best intentions,” said Nirenstein in response. “Paris has become a city in which more than 200,000 people live in families where polygamy is common practice. In Italy 30,000 women have been subjected to genital mutilation and Islamic courts—ninety-odd in London alone—inflict sentences that are inconceivable.”

She pointed out that despite the fact that immigrants should have freedom of rights because of democracy, “they have other rules, not the ones of democracy. In Germany, Chancellor Merkel’s homeland, a Berlin lawyer was beaten along with her Muslim client who wanted a divorce; she was also attacked in the subway and was forced to close her practice. Again in Germany, Mozart’s opera, Idomeneo, was cancelled following Islamic threats. By pure luck, the editor-in-chief of Die Welt, Roger Köppel, blocked the hand of a young Muslim who was about to stab him in his office. In Germany, England and France, it is no longer possible to trace the “missing girls” who become slaves following arranged marriages. Giulio Meotti writes that, in Stockholm, the latest fashion is a T-shirt worn by young Muslim on which is written: ‘In 2030 we will take over’. Just some incidents.

“When we are faced by a culture like that of Islam, there are forms of irreducibility that run up against legal and moral issues with a whole range of subtleties,” continued Nirenstein. “For us, ‘immigration’ is a sacred term, filled of a sense of guilt, of generosity, of religion and liberal or left-wing overtones. But democracy is also a sacred term, our most important conquest: the masses of immigrants that do not share our democratic values put it in danger. And while we think that allowing immigration is a duty of democracy, we don’t understand that we are putting it at stake. Perhaps Chancellor Merkel—democratic German, pro-Europe, middle-class, complex-ridden and shy as every cultured German is—has succeeded in posing the question.”

Earlier this month, Nirenstein organized a mass rally-demonstration entitled “For the truth, for Israel” which was held in Rome. 63 speeches were made by personalities, politicians, intellectuals, artists and journalists from all over Europe during the rally which was billed as "the first European, bipartisan event aimed at restoring the truth regarding Israel, putting an end to the barrage of lies that are hurled at Israel every day and to the double standard used by the media and international organizations." According to estimates, 3,000 people attended the rally. 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

PA Wants Statehood Without Making Concessions/Effort Toward Peace

by Hillel Fendel

The New York Times reports that the PA is increasingly considering abandoning negotiations with Israel and seeking international recognition of a PLO state instead.

Correspondent Ethan Bronner, whose son was drafted into the IDF earlier this year for 18 months of service, spoke with PLO officials Hanan Ashrawi and Hanna Amireh. They both implied that negotiations are not working for them, and that therefore they would have to try to get international bodies to intervene for them.

“If we cannot stop the settlements through the peace process,” Ashrawi said, “we have to go to the Security Council, the Human Rights Council and every international legal body.”

“We don’t have strong cards,” Amireh told Bronner from his Ramallah office, “but we want to convince the world to take a position and gain recognition of a Palestinian state.”

What the PA is Not Doing...

The ongoing PA incitement against Israel on television and educational programs, its honoring of terrorists who had murdered Jews, its refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, its intransigence on border issues, and other issues were not mentioned in the article. Bronner wrote only that “The Israelis say that what is really going on is a Palestinian effort to secure a state without having to make the difficult decisions on the borders and settlements that negotiations would entail.”

It is noteworthy as well that when providing the background of the situation, Bronner wrote that the direct talks began in September, and added, “But a freeze on West Bank settlement construction by Israel ended four weeks later, and the Palestinians said they would not return to the table without an extension.”  The article did not note that the freeze had been in effect for nine full months beforehand, for the express purpose of enticing the PA to negotiate.

As Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at the time, “For ten months we have been waiting for the Palestinians to please come to the negotiations. They come at the last month - that’s their problem.”

Israeli officials reject the PA bid to detour the negotiations as unacceptable and a violation of the 1993 Oslo accords that govern Israeli-Palestinian relations, the article states.

Israel is attempting to get the Obama Administration on its side in this issue. Abraham H. Foxman, the American national director of the Anti-Defamation League, told the Times, “This is part of the delegitimization campaign against Israel. The Obama administration needs to have the same public moxie on the declaration of a pre-emptive state as it has had on Israeli settlements. All the exit doors have to be closed for the Palestinians so they have no choice but to negotiate.”

Leading Implication

"The United States is pleading with the Palestinians not to give up hope,” the Times article reports, implying that Israel is the impediment to a successful negotiated solution.
Comment on this story 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

More Ezekiel 38 Fulfillment

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 A new preliminary geological survey indicates 26 million barrels of recoverable oil—worth $2 billion—may be sitting underneath the sandy soil in the area of two kibbutzim in the Western Negev, near Gaza.

Energtek announced it has received a geological survey on the Nir-am—Sa'ad block, “identifying the potential for exploitable oil and natural gas reserves.” Its subsidiary Energtek Products has the exclusive license to explore and exploit the resources in the area.

The firm added, “Current estimates will need to be confirmed by additional studies. Additional seismic analysis, modeling and further verifications are required to compile more accurate data on the fields and to provide more accurate reports on actual recoverable reserves.”

Besides the estimates of oil at a depth of 2,000 meters, or approximately a mile and a quarter, the preliminary survey also reports an additional estimate of 12 million barrels of recoverable oil at depths of up to 4,000 meters, worth $900 at current prices.

The area is adjacent to the small Heletz oil field, which so far has produced more than 16 million barrels of oil. If the new field is drilled, it will be the first deep-well drilling in the area in decades.

The announcement of the possible new field comes one day after Israel entered a new era with the beginning of drilling of the huge Leviathan natural gas and oil field off the northern Mediterranean Coast.

Drilling and exploration over the next five months will cost $150 million, according to Delek Energy, the parent of Delek Drilling and partner Avner Oil. American-based Noble is also part of the consortium.  

“The drilling is intended to examine the potential of the Levantine basin,” according to Delek chief executive officer Gideon Tadmor, chief executive officer. “If this drilling project turns out to be a success, it will significantly strengthen Israel’s energy independence.”

Noble also operates the nearby Tamar gas field, which it said may hold twice the reserves of reserves in Britain and can supply Israel with enough gas for decades.

This continues to be exciting times as we watch fulfillment of prophesy concerning Israel's natural wealth and her status among her enemies... Keep Praying! Shalu shalom Yerushalayim!
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

'We'll never sign agreement recognizing Jewish state'

By JPOST.COM STAFF
10/15/2010 19:15

Any peace agreement which requires the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state or an exchange of land is out of the question, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday.

In a Ramallah meeting with Hadash party Knesset members, Abbas said that it was now up to Israel to recognize a Palestinian state with 1967 borders, and that the PA had already recognised Israel back in 1993, thus negating the need for any further acknowledgment.

On Monday, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at the opening of the Knesset's winter session.

In his speech, the prime minister challenged his Palestinian counterparts to continue the peace talks by saying he would initiate a cabinet proposal to renew a settlement moratorium if the Palestinian Authority would declare its recognition of Israel as a national home for the Jewish people.

"A Palestinian state could be a cause of continued conflict and terror if it is not handled responsibly." The prime minister said.

"Palestinian recognition of Israel as a Jewish state is central to the dispute between us [and is necessary for its resolution]. If the Palestinians expect a national state, we can expect our own national state for the Jewish people."

Story source here



The pattern being played out is all too familiar. Israel will likely give up more land...the Palestinians will make more promises which they will break...followed by more riots and terrorism under the pretext that Israel has not given up enough. Then, all will agree to more talks replaying the pattern again.

To Israel's enemies, the talks and agreements are simply incremental steps toward their goal of annihilating the Jewish state.

However, all of Israel belongs to the Jewish people and always will. The Lord God said Israel will never be driven from their land again.

Amos 9:14-15 KJV
And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.

Although Israel formally re-gained her God-given land on May 14, 1948 and took control of Jerusalem on June 13, 1967, there will never be a lasting peace until the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ, returns to rule and reign in His Millennial Kingdom. That glorious day will soon be here!

Don

3-D Map Explains What Words Can't !!

by Hillel Fendel

 

The Yesha Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria has published a new, colorful, 3-D map of Israel, topographically depicting the dangers of a Palestinian state overlooking Tel Aviv.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the feeling at the Yesha Council is that a 3-D map is worth a million words – and can explain with a glance how Judea and Samaria tower above the Gush Dan (Tel Aviv) area of Israel, in which live millions of Israelis.

Similarly, the Golan Heights are clearly shown towering above the Galilee, just as the mountains of Jordan stand much higher than the Jordan Valley. The surrounding of Jerusalem on three sides by PA-controlled areas is also plainly depicted.

The map is being or will be disseminated by mail, in schools, and elsewhere, and a Powerpoint presentation is in the works as well.

Yesha Council Director-General Naftali Bennet says, “The map is designed to make clear to the citizens of greater Tel Aviv that Judea and Samaria is not far away, but rather overlooks their back yards. Most of the population is unaware of this, because maps are generally two-dimensional. Residents of Kfar Saba and Raanana might not be happy to find themselves literally under the thumb of a State of Palestine, and it’s time they knew of this danger.”

Work is underway on an English version of the map. The Hebrew edition is currently available; see for details.

The flip-side of the map contains the following 11 points that the Yesha Council feels must be emphasized: The area of Judea and Samaria comprises 23% of the State of Israel. The area is full of cities and sites from various periods in Jewish history, including Hevron, the Herodion, Beit El, Shilo, Shechem, etc. Some 330,000 Jews live in Judea and Samaria, divided approximately equally among hareidim, religious-Zionist, and secular. Only 3% of the area of Judea and Samaria is built up. Areas of Judea and Samaria surround Jerusalem on three sides. 43% of Judea and Samaria are under either full Palestinian Authority control or administrative PA control. Over 90% of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria live under PA control and vote for the PA parliament. The mountains of Judea and Samaria are the central mountain range of the Land of Israel, running 140 kilometers from the Jezreel Valley in the north to the Arad Valley in the Negev. The width of the Judea and Samaria mountains is 55 kilometers, and the width of Israel’s coastal plane near Tel Aviv is only 16 kilometers. Yesha’s main north-south route, Highway 60, is also the national watershed line, and runs mostly along the same route taken by the Patriarchs in the Bible. The mountain aquifer, which supplies half of Israel’s water, is in Judea and Samaria. 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Israeli military 'stronger than ever' despite threat of 5-front missile war

This story has been out for one week, but has received very little attention. Go Israel!!!

Don


WorldTribune.com
Thursday, October 7, 2010

TEL AVIV — Israel's intelligence community has assessed that the Jewish state was equal to the task of confronting a five-front missile war.

Israeli military intelligence Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said Israel could face missile salvos from the Gaza Strip, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. Yadlin said the main target of the four adversaries would be Tel Aviv, regarded as Israel's economic capital, Middle East Newsline reported.

So far, Yadlin said, Israel's military has become stronger than ever. He said Israel's deterrence has also reached unprecedented levels despite the buildup in Iran, Lebanon, Syria and the Gaza Strip.

"I need to explain the probability for war and I can safely say that Israel's deterrence and the Israel Defense Forces's might are stronger than ever," Yadlin said. "We do not sit idly by, and we constantly check the situation to see whether this is the calm before the storm or a direct result of our actions."

"They are trying to increase their missile arrays in terms of range and accuracy," Yadlin said.

In an address on Oct. 4, Yadlin said Hamas, Hizbullah, Iran and Syria were amassing huge missile and rocket arsenals for any next war. But the general, scheduled to leave his post over the next few weeks, said missiles would not decide any war against Israel.

"Tens of thousands of missiles are weapons of terror, not the kind you can conquer land or win a war with," Yadlin said.

The intelligence chief said his main challenge has been monitoring both preparations and intent for a war against Israel. He said Iran, which has been developing nuclear weapons, has been the most dangerous threat.

"This is a radical regime which publicly negates Israel's right to exist, calls for its annihilation, denies the Holocaust and calls for acts of terror against it," Yadlin said.

The fifth front could come from the Palestinians in the West Bank. Yadlin said this war could be fought from Palestinian towns and cities.

"We are facing five fronts," Yadlin said. "And we follow each of them closely."

Another senior Israeli commander said the military has sought to increase the nation's readiness for missile attacks. Home Front Command chief Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said the campaign would include preparing civilians for biological, chemical and nuclear attacks.

"Israel has developed capabilities in detection and interception of non-conventional weapons," Golan said. "At this time we do not know if Hizbullah possesses non-conventional weapons, nor do we know about such intentions, but we are prepared for such a situation."


Story source here

Building Resumes in Jerusalem!!!

 If I could dance on the wall, I would !!! Mid

by Maayana Miskin

The Housing Ministry has approved the construction of 240 homes in northern Jerusalem, after several months with no construction in Jewish neighborhoods east of the 1949 armistice line. While there was no official Jerusalem building freeze, and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu assured Israelis that there would be no Jerusalem freeze, in practice, no new building permits were issued for some time.

The new Jerusalem homes will be built in the neighborhoods of Ramot and Pisgat Zeev. They were approved along with more than 3,700 housing units elsewhere in the country.

Major construction projects were approved in Netanya, Ashdod, and Tel Aviv, which are expected to get 1,100, 480, and 450 new housing units respectively. Housing Minister Ariel Attias (Shas) said his ministry is working to close the gap between demand and supply, particularly in central Israel.

Members of Knesset Zeev Elkin (Likud) and Aryeh Eldad (Ichud Leumi – National Union) of the Knesset Lobby for the Land of Israel welcomed the step to resume building, but warned that it would not be enough. “The capital of Israel and its 700,000 residents need many more housing units just to meet the minimal demands of natural growth,” they said. “The Lobby insists that thousands more units be built, in both Israel's capital and Judea and Samaria.”

While Jerusalem has historically been a Jewish city, many Jerusalem neighborhoods fell into Jordanian hands in the 1948 War of Independence. They remained under Jordanian occupation until 1967, when Israel won the Six Day War. Formerly occupied neighborhoods in eastern, northern and southern Jerusalem were soon officially annexed, and the united city became Israel's capital again.

The Palestinian Authority and Arab countries reject Israel's claim to Jerusalem and have demanded that all parts of the city that were once under Jordanian control be given to the PA to be used as the capital of a new Arab state. The PA's seat of power is currently in Ramallah.

Under the Obama administration, the United States has largely backed PA demands, and has criticized Israel for allowing Jews to build new homes throughout the city.

United States officials claimed in May that Netanyahu had given in to demands and had agreed not to build new Jewish homes in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Shlomo for two years. Netanyahu denied the report
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Between A Few Rocks and a Hard Place

Here's the thing about Israel... they are favored by God and hated by the world. Kind of puts their Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu on the spot. While the world plays hate games with Israel's government, her long time (former?) ally, America, is leaving Jews wondering if any one at all is on their side. And maybe this is just where God wants them. They will have to come to the place where they trust Him alone to protect them from their surrounding enemies. And surrounded they are: Iran and Lebanon have formed an unholy alliance, and Iran has now set its sights on South American interests as well. Talk has been of an Iran, Turkey, Syrian, Lebanese alliance,which could draw in Egypt and Saudi Arabia as well, against Israel. With Russia lurking in the back ground, this sounds like Ezekiel 38 is not that far off. Time is short. Iran's president, Ahmadinejad, is set to visit Lebanon in a show of support for Hezbollah, and also to taunt Israel and possibly draw her into a conflict. This will definitely take the protection of the Lord, if Israel is to survive this kind of onslaught by her sworn enemies. Now is the time to hold Israel up in prayer and plead for the peace of Jerusalem...Shalu shalom Yerushalayim... May this Beloved people turn to their only hope!!
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Jerusalem Arabs Prefer Israeli Sovereignty

by Chana Ya'ar

Jerusalem’s Arab population prefers Israeli sovereignty to the prospect of living under Palestinian Authority rule, according to a column written by popular Arab writer Khaled Abu Toameh.

In a hard-hitting piece published last week in Hudson New York, he contends that any talk of dividing Jerusalem, a “very small city where Jews and Arabs live across the street from each other and on top of each other,” is “completely unrealistic.”

Abu Toameh, a Muslim Arab journalist for nearly three decades, says the PA’s insistence on taking half of Jerusalem for the capital of the new country it wants to create, would turn the city into “a nightmare” of traffic snarls surrounded by security barriers, checkpoints and border crossings.

And just as no one asked the PA Arabs in Judea, Samaria and Gaza for their opinion before the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, it appears that once again, Arab residents’ feelings are being ignored.

But Abu Toameh contends it is only fair to ask the 200,000 Arab residents of Jerusalem whether they actually want to live in a divided city “under the rule of the Palestinian Authority or Hamas.” A majority would likely prefer the status quo to other options, he says, for a number of reasons.

“First, because as holders of Israeli ID cards, they are entitled to many rights and privileges that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip don’t enjoy. They include freedom of movement and social, economic, health and education services that Israeli citizens are entitled to.”

Abu Toameh adds that re-dividing Jerusalem would mean the entry of the PA, or of Hamas, into the city. “The Arab residents of Jerusalem have seen what happened in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past 16 years and are not keen to live under a corrupt authority or a radical Islamist entity,” he says pointedly.

Many, he says, ran away from Judea and Samaria because they did not want to live in areas controlled by “militiamen, armed gangs and corrupt leaders and institutions.”

Those who believe that Jerusalem can realistically be split are “living in an illusion and clearly do not know what they are talking about,” Abu Toameh says.

Instead of talking about tearing the city apart, he suggests, “it would be better if the negotiators started thinking of ways that enable Jews and Arabs to share, and not divide, the city.” 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

Desperation Drives US to Briberies

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

U.S. President Barack Obama may have to pay a heavy price to get out of a tight corner he made for himself—and may return to the same place, says former U.S. Mideast negotiator Aaron Miller.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has frozen the talks because Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not agree to extend the same 10-month building freeze that was instituted to satisfy Abbas’s condition for talks, which he then refused.

American officials are not accepting the “no” as final, and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell remains optimistic he can convince the PA leader to sit down at the same table with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Moreover, the State Department on Friday still insisted that a final agreement for a new Arab state headed by the Palestinian Authority can be concluded within a year.

Miller, who was involved with the Oslo talks and is an old hand at Middle East negotiations, is doubtful. He told the French news agency AFP, "They [the Obama administration] now need to pay or are considering paying both parties for simply sitting down at the table.

"If the price is this steep this early on, you can only imagine what will be required when they truly run into an impasse on the substance," said Miller, now an analyst with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

He explained that U.S. President Barack Obama created his own dilemma by over-hyping the carefully choreographed talks between Abbas and Netanyahu in Washington last month.

Despite State Department claims that the two leaders spoke about core issues, PA officials have said the entire session was devoted to procedural issues—primarily the building freeze on new Jewish homes in Judea and Samaria and which Abbas has insisted be extended.

The “momentum” that was the basis of Mitchell’s strategy died the second the two and a half hour session ended.

"They took on this project in August in order to pre-empt the crisis they now find themselves in," according to Miller. “They hyped, I think, probably unnecessarily, the re-launch of the negotiations in Washington."

The Obama administration reportedly has promised Abbas that Israel’s building in Judea and Samaria will be on a limited basis. Abbas rejected the price.

On the other side, Israel reportedly was offered a guarantee that the extension of the freeze would be for only 60 days. David Makovsky, a widely respected analyst with close ties to Dennis Ross, one of the Oslo negotiators and who now works with President Obama, posted online a list of other guarantees:

“The United States will veto any U.N. Security Council initiative - Arab or otherwise - relating to Arab-Israeli peace during the agreed one-year negotiating period. Third, Washington pledged to accept the legitimacy of existing Israeli security needs and not seek to redefine them. In this context, the letter explicitly mentions the need to ensure a complete ban on the smuggling of rockets, mortars, arms, and related items, as well as the infiltration of terrorists into Israel…. The letter offers to help maintain a transitional period for Jordan Valley security that is longer than any other aspect of a negotiated peace - an apparent allusion to keeping Israeli troops in that region for an extended period of time.



“Washington pledges to engage Israel and Arab states in discussions of a ‘regional security architecture,’ addressing the need for more consultations on Iran….

“Finally, the letter explicitly discusses the need to enhance Israel's defense capabilities in the event that the parties reach security arrangements…. The Obama administration realizes that these needs would mean an unspecified increase in U.S. security assistance to Israel once a peace agreement is concluded.”

Like Abbas, Prime Minister Netanyahu also said “no," reflecting a growing distrust of Washington both by Israel as well as the Arab world.

If Mitchell succeeds in bringing Abbas back to the table, the Obama administration eventually will face a likely worse dilemma—failure to achieve an agreement on security for Israel and borders for the proposed PA state.

Virtually all State Department reporters are extremely skeptical of an accord in one year, if at all.

One reporter asked U.S. State Department spokesman Philip Crowley last week, “You’ve spent several months addressing the settlements issue and it’s not solved yet. How can you achieve a peace agreement in one year and you didn’t discuss yet the core issues?”

Crowley replied he does “not agree” with the assessment and claimed that the core issues are being discussed.

Meanwhile, Mitchell traveled to Egypt on Sunday and Abbas traveled to Jordan as all sides prepare for the next episode in President Obama's endeavor to prove he can convince Israel and the Arab world to sign an agreement. 
Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

White House offers Israel a carrot for peace talks

By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 30, 2010; 9:55 PM

In its scramble to salvage Middle East peace talks, the Obama administration has dangled incentives before the Israeli government that touch on some of the most sensitive issues of final status talks between the two sides, administration sources said.

Among other inducements, the administration has proposed that there be a lengthy "transitional period" for security on the eastern border of a future Palestinian state, a plan that would presumably include Israeli troops. The United States would also promise military hardware and pledge to veto U.N. resolutions relating to Arab-Israeli peace for a year.

As part of the package, Israel would agree to extend a partial freeze on settlement growth for 60 days. A 10-month moratorium expired earlier this week, and Palestinian officials have said they will not return to the talks unless some sort of extension is arranged. Israeli media reports, however, said Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu was inclined to reject the U.S. proposal.

The detailed offer - first outlined in an article by David Makovsky of the Washington Institute for Near East Affairs - struck some analysts as an unusual gambit that might leave the impression that Washington wants the talks more than either of the two sides negotiating. The inducements offered to Israel also might undercut the Palestinian negotiating position, though Makovsky suggested that if Israel balked at the proposal, similar inducements might flow to the Palestinian side.

The latest moves also suggest the administration may have miscalculated when it assumed that momentum from the talks would keep them going, even if a freeze was not maintained. Both sides appear to have hardened their positions in recent days, though Palestinians have held off on a final decision until a meeting of the Arab League next Wednesday.

Makovsky is a respected analyst who co-authored a book with Dennis Ross, now the White House point man for the Middle East. The account has the imprimatur of an official leak, perhaps to show Israel's supporters that the administration is being supportive of Israeli negotiating needs.

Administration sources confirmed Makovsky's account was largely accurate. Officially, a State Department spokesman denied there was any "letter" outlining such terms, as Makovsky wrote.

The draft letter, he wrote, details a list of assurances, including a lengthy "transitional period" for Jordan Valley security, which Makovsky called "an apparent allusion to keeping Israeli troops in that region for an extended period of time."

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said that "once we reach the final agreement there won't be any Israeli on Palestinian soil, but we accept third-party sharing with us on the security issues."

Rudieneh and other senior Palestinian officials said they has seen media reports on the assurances but had heard nothing from the Americans. President Obama's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, met with Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, but officials said no parallel assurances were offered to the Palestinians.

By some accounts, administration officials are surprised Netanyahu would reject what they see as a generous offer. But Netanyahu may also view such written assurances from Americans with skepticism. When Obama took office, his administration refused to acknowledge written assurances that President George W. Bush had given Israel in 2004.

Story source here



This seems to be just another attempt to get Israel to make more concessions. When will the U.S. ever learn? It is foolish to mess with God's chosen people and His covenant land - period!

Don

Maybe They Should Listen to Lieberman!!!

Listen to Lieberman

Op-ed: Maligned foreign minister’s plan better than current notion of two-state solution

Haim Misgav

Published:  09.30.10, 15:10 / Israel Opinion

All those people who are now calling for Avigdor Lieberman to quit, or be fired, should know that we’ve seen similar conduct by previous foreign ministers. For example, once upon a time we had Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who worked behind his prime minister’s back and formulated the contemptible Oslo Accords without the PM’s knowledge.

I cannot recall what all those people who currently seek Lieberman’s head thought about Peres’ abovementioned move, undertaken with the help of his adjutant, Yossi Beilin. However, I’m certain that they did not demand PM Rabin fire the two, despite the diplomatic folly they dragged him into.

I have one question for all those people who now seek to crucify the foreign minister for daring to present his plan (and keep in mind this is no more than a plan at this time) – did they stop for a moment to examine it? That is, perhaps it includes some measure of logic?

In fact, what did Avigdor Lieberman tell us? The “Palestinian people” wants, in practice, a “Palestinian state” clear of any Jews (in German this was called Judenrein) in Judea and Samaria, another such state in the Gaza Strip, and yet another one, similar to the other two, across the Jordan River.

At the same time, the Palestinians (who were not recognized as a people by the nations of the world until 1967) want the State of Israel to be a bi-national state, or a multicultural one (to borrow a phrase from the anarchists from the leftist anti-Zionist camp) that would be home to a very large Arab majority, which is already demanding cultural autonomy, as well as to hundreds of thousands of refugees (and possibly many more) who shall return to their villages and to the communities they left in 1948.

This is, in fact, what Avigdor Lieberman seeks to avert.

Clearly marked borders
If there is no solution, he says, let’s turn the two states – the State of Israel and Palestine – into nation-states that are only home to the nationalities they were established for. Such solution is only possible if we see the tradeoff of populated areas. The Triangle area in northern Israel, for example, with its land and homes and residents, would be handed over to the Palestinian Authority, while areas such as Gush Etzion, Ariel, and Maale Adumim, with their residents, shall shift into the State of Israel’s territory.

We shall see clearly marked borders. All the Jews would be on one side of the border, and all the Arabs would be on the other side. A homogenous Jewish parliament without Ahmad Tibi and Taleb al-Sana. What could be bad about that?

I’m not saying this should be the solution, or that there are no other possible solutions, such as one federation from Sea to River that has two houses of parliament, a Jewish and an Arab one, as is the case in other places in the world.

I don’t know what the best, safest solution is for us Jews, who already experienced quite a few pogroms and Holocausts, not only at the hands of the Muslims but mostly at the hands of European nations. Yet I’m certain about one thing: The “solution” being offered today, premised on the current “two states vision,” would bring about the Jewish state’s demise within a very short period of time.

No security arrangements would prevent the Iranians, for example, from deploying missiles on the eastern boundaries of central Israel towns. They already did it in the Gaza Strip and in southern Lebanon after the IDF foolishly withdraw from there.

Ahmad Tibi and Taleb al-Sana will apparently be happy with such solution. But we must not agree to even hold a real public debate on issues that are crucial to our existence. And so, automatically disqualifying Avigdor Lieberman is a move that must not succeed.

Ynet

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua

The Furious Insignificance of Hamas

Palestinian Hamas security officer Abu Abdallah Lafi, displays a part of a navigation system which Hamas alleges were found in the possession of Palestinians collaborating with Israel, during a press conference in Gaza City, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. Hamas has sentenced a Gaza man to death on suspicion of spying for Israel, the latest step in its secretive campaign to rid the territory of alleged collaborators. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

 

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Macbeth, Act 5, scene 5

These words, written four centuries ago, describe Hamas and life in the Gaza Strip today.
People hear news from the Middle East, and they ask me, “Mosab, what is Hamas doing? Where are they going?” And I tell them that Hamas is doing nothing and going nowhere, because Hamas, for all its zealots and college graduates, is ignorant.
This doesn’t mean it’s not dangerous. But the most dangerous thing about Hamas is that it doesn’t know. It doesn’t know it’s going nowhere. It doesn’t know how to build anything more than a little clinic with only one doctor and insufficient medicine, which only gives it a humanitarian face, concealing its true identity.
It doesn’t know how to govern itself, much less a nation. It’s not that its members are uneducated; they’re just ignorant. They have no wisdom or common sense. They are unteachable, unreachable and unimpeachable, because their mind is made up and they will hear nothing except what comes out of their own mouths. Hamas believes it is right and the rest of the world is wrong. That it is righteous and everybody else is bad, because Allah said so.
When I was in the Israeli prison at Megiddo, Hamas behaved like a mini-regime, controlled by thugs and tyrants. The maj’d, its security wing, tortured men until they made up anything, denounced anyone to make the pain stop. And the maj’d were so stupid that they believed the confessions. I read those confessions. They were ridiculous, and virtually all of them were eventually disproved. I remember wondering what it would be like if Hamas ever gained control of the government in Palestine.
I don’t wonder anymore.
Nearly five years ago, they won the elections. When the international community refused to recognize the legitimacy of their victory, a furious Hamas soaked the streets with Fatah blood.
And what have they done with Gaza since then? Nothing. They have built no infrastructure and formed no government departments. They have not advanced Palestinian culture or improved Palestinian society. Prime Minister Ismail Haniya was responsible for the maj’d in prison, and he rules Gaza the same way today.
Everyone is gagged and crippled by fear. For my people in Gaza, Hamas police are like Hitler’s Wafen-SS, Mao’s Red Guard, the Kremlin’s KGB or Ceaucescu’s Securitate. Anyone can be kidnapped and tortured into confessing that they are collaborating with Israel.

In a recent news conference, Abu Abdallah Lafi, a Hamas internal security official, said, “we have arrested many,” including women, who he called “a real danger to the unity of the people and their resistance” against Israel. Hamas spokesman Ehab Al-Ghsain boasted that his people had obtained “serious confessions and uncovered many collaborators who stood behind assassinations of some leaders of resistance and implemented policies of the enemy's intelligence service against our people.”
I promise you that all of these “serious confessions” were obtained by unrestricted torture. And the “collaborators” have absolutely nothing to do with the Shin Bet.
Al-Ghsain told reporters that these collaborators planted bombs at training camps and government offices and helped to coordinate IDF raids and assassinations. But I know from 10 years working in the highest levels of the Shin Bet that this is not how Israeli intelligence operates. Hamas knows nothing of Israel. It does not know how to govern. It does not know how to create or build. It understands nothing about human rights. It knows only how to destroy. Hamas is a colony of hornets in a sack. And Gaza is the sack.
“Nothing is more terrible,” said German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “than ignorance in action.”
To be continued  by Mosab Hassan Yusef

Baruch atem b'Shem, Yeshua