Re: ISRAEL BREAKING NEWS

Admin Mon 12 Jan 2015, 12:46 pm

The Islamic Tsunami Strikes Again
By David Rubin January 8, 2015 , 12:37 pm
By: David Rubin
Twelve people have been murdered in Paris in a vicious terrorist attack in the offices of a newspaper...France and the EU need to understand that the Islamic world perceives political pandering to their demands as weakness, and pounces on it with a vengeance.
Twelve people have been murdered in Paris in a vicious terrorist attack in the offices of a newspaper. What was their crime? They dared to publish satirical cartoons about Islam.
Obviously, the rapidly increasing Muslim population in France is feeding the voracious Islamic appetite to gradually conquer Europe through terrorist intimidation, to be followed by demographic dominance.
In my book, “The Islamic Tsunami”, I speak of two Islamic tsunamis. The first is the tsunami of terrorism, which is designed to frighten people into submission (which is the literal meaning of the word Islam), so that they will be afraid to speak out about the second tsunami, quieter but more ominous – the plan that is being gradually implemented, to change Western civilization into an Islamic caliphate.
The terrorist attack in Paris is a clear example of this strategy, which is shared by all of the Islamic fundamentalist ideologues of all shades and hues. These ideologues are represented by and/or work in coordination with the multiple Islamic terrorist organizations, such as Islamic Jihad, Hamas (in partnership with Fatah), ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Hezbollah, Taliban, and all the others.
Furthermore, France and the EU need to understand that the Islamic world perceives political pandering to their demands as weakness, and pounces on it with a vengeance. Case in point this sequence of recent events:
December, 2014 – France’s lower house of parliament votes 339 to 151 to recognize “State of Palestine”.
December, 2014 – The European Union Court removes Hamas from its terrorist list.
December, 2014 – The European Parliament adopts a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood in principle.
December, 2014 – France Votes for Palestine sovereignty deadline resolution in the UN Security Council.
Warning: These repeated acts of appeasement will encourage and embolden the enemies of freedom and the friends of Jihad. The terror threat will increase proportionately with each act of Western weakness and the pathetic pandering to Islamic demands.

Reprinted with author’s permission from Arutz Sheva
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/27245/the-islamic-tsunami-strikes-again-opinion/#SdYUwkaI7HECwOXT.99

Thousand Churches Destroyed in Nigeria
By: Raymond Ibrahim
In just two months, from August to October, nearly 200 Christian churches were destroyed in Nigeria by the Islamic organization Boko Haram and its Muslim allies, after their capture of towns and villages in the north-eastern states of Borno and Adamawa.
Muslim Persecution of Christians, October 2014
A court in Pakistan upheld the death penalty for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother of four. She is accused of having made derogatory remarks about Islam after neighbors objected to her drinking water from their glass, because she was not a Muslim and therefore “unclean.”
A successful Christian school in the United Kingdom was warned that it would be downgraded by inspectors and might even face closure after failing to invite a leader from another religion, such as a Muslim imam, to lead assemblies. “A Government consultation paper… makes clear that even taking children on trips to different places of worship would not be enough to be judged compliant.”
“They then told me that since I refused to [convert to Islam] they would kill me…. They pinned me down and told me they will make death painful and slow, as they are not prepared to waste bullets on me. They said, ‘Be warned that if any of you Muslims dares to assist him, he is also an infidel and we shall make sure that he too is killed.’” — Adamu, a Christian; Nigeria.
They are searching [for me] to cut my throat. When I go to mass, I say I am going to English classes because I plan to travel.” — “Tarek,” a convert to Christianity in Lebanon.
The police, far from interfering, actually incited the Muslim man.
“With no one on hand to know what is going on, it’s easier to mistreat them.” — Jason Demars, President, Present Truth Ministries.
READ MORE

Obama's 'Islamic Republic' Doctrine: Trust in Iran Creates a Dangerous Mess
By: Ben Cohen
When Obama began his first term as president...foreign policy chatter was prone to including terms like “regime change” and “axis of evil” in discussions about Iran. But as Obama sought to break decisively with the legacy of his predecessor...he moved rapidly in the opposite direction, offering an olive branch to the Iranian regime within a few weeks of assuming office.
In March 2009, Obama delivered a message to mark the Persian New Year in which he said, “The United States wants the Islamic Republic of Iran to take its rightful place in the community of nations. You have that right, but it comes with real responsibilities. And that place cannot be reached through terror or arms, but rather through peaceful ac-tions that demonstrate the true greatness of the Iranian people and civilization.”
As a declaration of policy intent, those remarks were refreshingly free of ambiguity. The reference to Iran as an “Islamic Republic” indicated that Washington’s goal from that point forward would not be getting rid of the regime that seized power during the 1979 revolution, but rather stabilizing it and encouraging it to behave more responsibly.
By the close of 2014, though, it was abundantly clear that America’s Iran policy—based on Obama’s “Islamic Republic” doctrine of trust in the regime—was in a dangerous mess. The nuclear negotiations between Iran and Western powers have yielded not a single gain, allowing the Iranians to continue with their uranium enrichment program while the International Atomic Energy Agency frets about the likely prospect that Tehran is contin-uing to operate clandestine nuclear facilities.

READ MORE

What About Arab War Crimes Against Palestinians?
By: Khaled Abu Toameh
And who ever heard of the case of Zaki al-Hobby, a 17-year old Palestinian who was shot and killed last weekend by Egyptian border guards? Had he been shot by Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border, the EU and UN would have called for an international commission of inquiry.
The stories of the Palestinians tortured to death in an Arab prison have also failed to win the attention of the Western media. Nor have the EU and the UN, which called for an investigation into the death of Abu Ein — who died of a heart attack while in a confrontation with an Israeli soldier — deemed it necessary to tackle the plight of the Palestinians being killed and tortured to death in Syria and other Arab countries.
As far as the PA is concerned - and the media, the EU, the UN and human rights groups - the only “war crimes” are being committed by Israelis, and not by Arabs who are killing, torturing and displacing tens of thousands of Palestinians. And all this is happening while the international community and media continue to display an obsession only with everything connected to Israel.
More than 2,500 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in Syria three years ago, according to a report published this week by the Working Group for Palestinians in Syria. It revealed that 2,596 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the conflict in that country in 2011.
READ MORE

A Weapon Israel Refuses to Use
By: Earl Cox
Almost before the last blast cooled from Israel’s 50-day “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza this past summer, Palestinians posted on social media pictures of their colorfully dressed children waving bright signs with the Temple Mount in the background. What was the symbolic message? We Won! Did the Palestinians win? No!
I was on the ground in Israel during this war and other past wars and carefully observed, from the front lines, the actions of the IDF. In general, Israelis are the most moral people on the planet and the IDF (Israel Defense Force) plan their maneuvers and retaliatory strikes to minimize civilian casualties even if it means placing their own people at greater risk. You see, in Jewish law, the saving of a human life takes special precedence. You can violate just about all the other commandments if you can save a life – even if it is the life of an enemy.
During “Operation Protective Edge,” from the center of Europe to Poland, demonstrators chanted slogans and waved placards with messages such as “Israel is a Terror State” and “1, 2, 3, 4 Occupation No More.” Does Israel “occupy” land which she does not rightfully own? No! Is she a terror state? No! And, to further wound the innocent, there was this blatant anti-Semitic placard: “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas!” Hate speech and hate crimes.
There are laws against both so why aren’t the UN and other world bodies speaking out against such evil rhetoric?
READ MORE

How to Travel like a CIA Spy
By: Daniel Pipes
I unreservedly condemn Edward Snowden’s massive release of important U.S. government secrets. Once they’re out, though, it makes no sense to ignore the information now available.
A 14-page document from the Central Intelligence Agency carrying the arduous bureaucratic title of “Surviving Secondary: An Identity Threat Assessment of Secondary Screening Procedures at International Airports” offers a case in point. Translated into normal English, this means, “How undercover agents can avoid trouble when going through passport and custom controls.”
I unreservedly condemn Edward Snowden’s massive release of important U.S. government secrets. Once they’re out, though, it makes no sense to ignore the information now available.
A 14-page document from the Central Intelligence Agency carrying the arduous bureaucratic title of “Surviving Secondary: An Identity Threat Assessment of Secondary Screening Procedures at International Airports” offers a case in point. Translated into normal English, this means, “How undercover agents can avoid trouble when going through passport and custom controls.”
Although the study deals narrowly with the CIA’s concern that its clandestine agents will be stopped in passport checks and their false identities exposed, its information holds interest to anyone who travels internationally. Indeed, it’s a useful guide precisely to what not to do when landing in a foreign airport. I plan to adopt its advice for my own trips, and, as a public service, I offer some of its main points to other lawful travelers so that they too can better avoid what’s known as “secondary screening” — or being plucked from the primary (or routine) line for additional questioning.
Travelers sent to secondary screening can enter a Kafkaesque world, potentially for days, in which the usual rules of due process are suspended. Agents may snoop into anything they wish, from copying to confiscating personal electronic devices, from intrusive reviews of one’s life to intrusive inspections of one’s body. Avoiding such experiences should rank high on any traveler’s wish list.
READ MORE

Admin Sun 11 Jan 2015, 5:26 pm

#Je Suis Juif (I Am A Jew)
By: Phyllis Chesler
Four French Jewish hostages, probably shopping for the Sabbath, were killed by Jihadists before the French police stormed the kosher supermarket. The male and female pair of jihadists were demanding the freedom of the Charlie Hebdo jihadists.
Four French Jewish hostages, probably shopping for the Sabbath, were killed by Jihadists before the French police stormed the kosher supermarket. The male and female pair of jihadists were demanding the freedom of the Charlie Hebdo jihadists.
Simultaneously, the police also stormed the building in north Paris where the Charlie Hebdojihadists were holding a hostage; they apparently freed that hostage and killed the terrorists.

I am launching a #Je Suis Juif hashtag, not only in honor of these latest Jewish victims, but in honor of all the Jewish victims whose deaths have met with the hashtag world’s indifference.
Yesterday, a colleague challenged me. She agreed that the murder of twelve French journalists was horrendous– barbaric– but she was bitter and was not going to be using the hashtag “#Je Suis Charlie Hebdo.”
And why not?
Because, she said, no one had created hashtags or marches on behalf of any of the many Israeli Jewish civilians, women, children, the elderly, who were targeted and murdered by Islamic terrorists. No one had agreed to “ride the buses” the year that terrorist were blowing them up in Jerusalem.
I told her she had a point but I asked her to consider this: The Jews are often the first to model the future, the first to model how to respond to a situation. If the world callously looks away, if people believe that the sacrifice of the Jews will save all the non-Jews; if the world does not learn to identify with the plight of Jews—the world will reap a similar whirlwind.

Ironically, France gave asylum to Arafat and his family and the government behaved with enormous respect towards him and his murderous enterprise. This, and other grievous appeasements, have not spared France from a raging Intifada launched by its Muslim citizens.
I also told my colleague that the Jews have a sacred mission; withdrawing entirely unto themselves, refusing to understand their role in humanity’s drama, is not entirely “Jewish.”
Today, I think my colleague has a point. Today, two more Muslim terrorists held civilians hostage in a French kosher supermarket. I assumed these people. Four have been killed. This pair of Jihadists were demanding the safe release of the two terrorists being sought in the murder of the CharlieHebdo journalists.
Today, I am waiting for people to launch the hashtag: “Je suis Juif”.
I am waiting for France to make the connection between “Israel,” and “humanity,” to comprehend that Israel is a symbol for the West; to understand that Arab Jews and Arab Christians were at the mercy of such Muslim barbarians for millennia; that the state of Israel “provoked” the age-old Islamic hatred of infidels and that the Jihad against the Jews has been going on since the beginning of the 20th century.
A sovereign Jewish state has “provoked” those Muslim terrorists who believe that the entire world should be Muslim and ruled by Sharia law. And, the Western world is now in their gun-sights.
In the last fourteen years, non-Israeli Jews, French Jews, have been mocked, followed, literally tortured, stabbed, raped, robbed, shot down, stoned, and blown up. And today, they are being held hostage in a Kosher supermarket in France.
Today, I am a Jew, “#Je Suis Juif.”
Reprinted with author’s permission from Arutz Sheva,

Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/27352/je-suis-juif-i-am-a-jew-opinion/#BMxxVHGZRK8wrlrH.99

Admin Sun 11 Jan 2015, 5:17 pm

Amid Attacks, Christian-Jewish Aid Group Exploring Ways to Help French Jews Make Aliyah
“In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him; the Lord protects him and keeps him alive; he is called blessed in the land; you do not give him up to the will of his enemies.” (Psalm 41:1-3)

People hold drawings and placards which translate as “I am Charlie” during a gathering in solidarity with French newspaper Charlie Hebdo at the “Maison de France” in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv-Yaffo on January 8, 2015, a day after two gunmen killed 12 people in an Islamist attack at Charlie Hebdo’s editorial office in Paris. (Photo: Amir Levy/Flash90)

Reporting by: Sean Savage
In the wake of Islamist terror attacks that killed a combined 16 people at the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine and a kosher supermarket in Paris, the leader of a prominent Christian-Jewish aid group told JNS.org that he is exploring ways to help French Jews immigrate to Israel.
Brothers Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, the two Muslim terrorists suspected to have carried out the Charlie Hebdo shooting, were killed Friday in a police raid on a printing shop in the Paris suburb of Dammartin-en-Goele, where the Kouachi brothers had taken one man hostage. A separate but simultaneous raid killed Islamist terrorist Amedy Coulibaly, who took nearly 20 hostages at Hyper Cacher (the kosher supermarket) on Friday and had killed a female police officer on Thursday. According to French police, Coulibaly was a close associate of Cherif Kouachi and may have been involved in the Charlie Hebdo attack.
“There’s no question in my mind that incidents like this [and] the many others recently are increasing the risk for the Jewish community in France and their desire to leave,” Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder and president of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), told JNS.org.
France, which has both the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in western Europe, saw a dramatic rise in anti-Semitism in 2014, especially in reaction Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against the Hamas terrorist group last summer. France’s Jewish community suffered several violent attacks, including a recent home invasion and rape in which the attackers referenced the victims’ Jewish faith.
According to Israeli government statistics, France was the leading country for aliyah to Israel in 2014 with new 7,000 arrivals, up from 3,400 in 2013.
While Eckstein said that it is not his organization’s role to take over the responsibility of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency for Israel in facilitate the aliyah of French Jews, he acknowledged that his organization is exploring ways that it can help.
“If we can make a difference in more Jews coming out of France, then yes, we will get involved,” Eckstein said.
Founded in 1983, IFCJ promotes understanding between Jews and Christians. The group has raised more than a billion dollars, mostly from Christian donors, for Jewish immigration, social programs in Israel, and struggling Jewish communities around the world.
Eckstein said that his organization remains focused on helping facilitate the aliyah of Ukraine’s beleaguered Jewish community.
In October, IFCJ announced it would significantly step up efforts to increase immigration to Israel, especially from countries in the former Soviet Union. IFCJ hired the former head of the Jewish Agency’s aliyah department, Eli Cohen, to head the initiative.

IFCJ said it is providing a special grant of $1,000 for each adult and $500 for each child to Ukrainian Jews who come to Israel, and that it is sponsoring a flight each month for the rest of the year to facilitate their aliyah.
“One of the things that we can provide to French Jews that the Israeli government and Jewish agency can’t provide is funds,” Eckstein said.
Eckstein, however, admitted that the situation facing French Jews is different than the plight of Ukrainian Jews.
Pictured is David (identified only by his first name), a 59-year-old Jewish teacher who was severely beaten in Paris in 2014. The attackers drew a swastika on David's chest. (Photo: David via The Algemeiner)
Pictured is David (identified only by his first name), a 59-year-old Jewish teacher who was severely beaten in Paris in 2014. The attackers drew a swastika on David’s chest. (Photo: David via The Algemeiner)
“I am not sure if that incentive program can work for French Jews, it is more complicated as their economic situation is different,” he said. “They want to know things like if their medical diploma is valid in Israel. We are exploring that, and if we can make a difference, then we will, God willing, get involved [in France].”
Simone Rodan-Benazquen, director of the Paris branch of the American Jewish Committee, told JNS.org that she understands the rationale of “members of our community when they are thinking of leaving France, because many of us are wondering whether we are responsible parents to stay.”
“As a Jew and as a mother, I do not want my children to live in a climate where being Jewish means to be in danger for their physical safety, but also for their identity,” she said. “The question remains. We just hope that we have our [security] alert system sufficiently in place. It also helps that the [French] government is on our side and recognizes the immensity of the problem, and is prepared to fight it. But more needs to be done. If the situation doesn’t change I fear that many more will want to leave.”
As the situation in France continues to unfold and Jews face new threats from Muslim extremists, Eckstein said that he is reminded of the stories of early Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky warning Jews to flee Europe before the Holocaust.
“I have these thoughts of Jabotinsky going around Europe before the Holocaust and telling Jews to flee to Israel while they can,” he said. “As long the governments of Europe can ensure and want to ensure the security of Jews, then they are okay. [But] unless the governments of Europe significantly step up and fight anti-Semitism, I’d certainly rather be identified as someone like Jabotinsky, who is warning Jews to get out and come to Israel.”
LISTEN BELOW: Is Political Correctness Undermining France’s Ability To Fight Terror?
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/27366/is-political-correctness-undermining-frances-ability-to-fight-terror-israel-radio/#LHyRuIHi2YtOB8Vl.97

Admin Sun 11 Jan 2015, 4:53 pm

Netanyahu Tells Jews Time Has Come to Leave France
In Wake of Attacks, Netanyahu Tells Jews Time Has Come to Leave France
By Lea Speyer January 11, 2015 , 11:54 am
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with French Ambassador to Israel Patrick Maisonnave, January 9, 2015, following terror attacks in France. (Photo: Haim Zach/ GPO)
In the wake of two terror attacks that claimed the lives of 17 people, France is gearing up for a giant unity rally on Sunday with world leaders expected to attend. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli governmental leaders will be in attendance.
On Friday, shortly before the start of the Sabbath, four Jewish men were killed when an Islamic terrorist, Amedy Coulibaly, took hostages in a kosher supermarket in Paris.
The men were identified Saturday Yohan Cohen, 22, an employee of the HyperCacher store; Phillipe Barham, 45, father and an IT executive; Yoav Hattab, 21, a student from Tunis who is said to be the son of the chief rabbi of Tunis; and François-Michel Saada, 64, retired father of two.
After initially opting out from attending the rally due to security concerns, the Prime Minister’s Office confirmed that Netanyahu would leave for Paris on Sunday. The prime minister is to be accompanied by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, will take part in the march paying homage to the terror victims and to express their support of the French people and their leaders,” a statement by the Israeli Embassy read.
In an address Saturday night, Netanyahu urged French Jews to leave France and move to the safety of Israel. “Israel is your home,” he stated.
According to reports, Hattab managed to snatch one of the terrorist’s guns and attempted to shoot him before realizing it was jammed. Coulibaly executed Hattab on the spot. A survivor of the attack, Rudy Hadad, told Channel 2 that Coulibaly “showed no mercy, he was there to kill people. He was firing everywhere.”

Coulibaly is said to have told French Journalists that he deliberately chose the kosher supermarket since he wanted to target Jews. “He explained his target, why this kosher store: because he was targeting Jews,” French BFM-TV journalist Sarah-Lou Cohen said.
Coulibaly reportedly told BFM-TV journalists that he was a member of ISIS and that he planned his attack with the Kouachi brothers – the gunmen who killed 12 people at the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical magazine that published caricatures of Mohammed.
“He explained also why he did this: to defend oppressed Muslims, he said, notably in Palestine,” Cohen added.
Some 15-30 shoppers are said to have hid in a freezer in the basement of the supermarket for hours. A Muslim employee of the supermarket, Lassana Bathily, told Metronews that he led shoppers into the freezer and told them to hide.
“I opened the door of the freezer and a number of people went inside. I turned off the lights and the freezer itself,” he told the paper. Bathily managed to escape the store and notified security forces of what was happening inside the store.

Before departing for Paris, Netanyahu said that Israel would welcome French Jews “with open arms.” He added that he was flying to Paris to join “the renewed fight against Islamist terror which threatens all of humanity, something that for many years I have called for.”
Sunday’s rally is expected to host hundreds of thousands of people. More than 2,000 French police officers are being deployed to the rally site, in addition to tens of thousands of officers who are guarding religious sites across France.
LISTEN BELOW: What’s Driving Islamic Terror in Europe?
http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/27350/whats-driving-islamic-terror-in-europe-israel-radio/#WJstO2k9zWF1Pvsj.97

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 10:15 pm

United Hatzalah Braving Winter Storm for Safety of Those in Israel
By Danielle Reisman January 9, 2015 , 8:59 am
“Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm 82:4)
While not as extreme as last year’s blizzard, the current winter storm hitting Israel has left various parts of the country in need of major assistance.
The all-volunteer EMS organization United Hatzalah operated across the country, assisting in emergency situations caused by the storm. From a building collapse in the Old City of Jerusalem to over 17,000 homes left without power, United Hatzalah volunteers have been working around the clock, braving the frigid cold and gusting wind to keep Israel safe.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Jerusalem’s emergency headquarters Tuesday, stating, “We have three tasks. The first task is to save lives, the second is to make sure that vital services remain in operation, and the third is mutual assistance – residents helping residents – mutual responsibility.”
“Besides the actions that the state is taking and will take, besides what the municipalities are doing and will do, I ask that the citizens of Israel simply keep an eye on their neighbors and help. The people of Israel excel at doing that,” he said.
United Hatzalah is made up of dedicated residential volunteers who provide rapid medical response free of charge around the clock.
“United Hatzalah responded to 360 calls in the Jerusalem district during between Wednesday and Thursday morning,” explained a United Hatzalah spokesperson to Breaking Israel News. “The tasks included patient transport, police assistance, transportation of medical personnel, and the rescue of vehicles and civilians.”
READ MORE

A Moment of Silence for Charlie Hebdo Victims in Jerusalem
By Anav Silverman January 9, 2015 , 9:10 am
“And the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7)
Demonstrators in Jerusalem at solidarity rally for Charlie Hebdo victims on Thursday night, January 8. (Photo: Anav Silverman/Tazpit News Agency)
The heartrending massacre of the 10 journalists and two police officers at the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine on Wednesday morning during an editorial meeting sent shock waves reverberating across the world.
In Jerusalem, on a cold rainy night, nearly 100 people gathered together at the French consulate to pay homage to the victims of the deadly terror attack. Carrying ‘Je Suis Charlie’ signs and memorial candles, the demonstrators held a two minute silence.
“Unfortunately in Jerusalem, we know too well the very difficult tragedy that the French people are going through now,” said the event organizer, Danielle Kriegel in an interview with Tazpit News Agency.
“We are here today to show our unity and solidarity with the people of France, with all those who make up the fabric of French society including Muslims, Jews and Christians.”
“As a proud French and Israeli citizen, I am very saddened and shocked by what happened,” said Kriegel, who made aliyah from France 45 years ago and has raised her family in Israel. “I felt that organizing this rally was something that I had to do – to show the people of France that we are all one and that Jerusalem is united with them,” she told Tazpit.
READ MORE

Jewish Cartoonist Confronts 'Holocaust' of Mideast Christians
By Chris Mitchell January 9, 2015 , 7:30 am
“Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life.” (Psalm 54:4)
An Israeli soldier helps to smuggle out a priest and a nun from the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on April 7, 2002. That year, a siege by Palestinian militants on the Church of the Nativity persisted from April 2 to May 10—just days after Easter on the Eastern Orthodox calendar. (Photo: Flash90)
One of the more well-known political cartoons in the world comes from Israel.
Dry Bones appears in the Jerusalem Post and has been reprinted in newspapers from The New York Times to the Wall Street Journal.
For more than 40 years, Jewish cartoonist Yaakov Kirschen has aimed his political commentary at topics like Islamic terrorism and anti-Semitism.
Now, he’s targeting what he calls one of the worst problems in the world today: persecution of Middle East Christians.
“Christian communities being totally slaughtered and murdered and driven out and a whole ethnic cleansing of the Middle East, to wipe out Christianity and Western leaders just look the other way,” he remarked.
In just one recent example, this past summer ISIS drove tens of thousands of Christians out of their ancient homes and gave them the choice to either convert or die.
Another example is a burned out church in Minya, Egypt, by the Muslim Brotherhood. Kirschen said he can’t understand the apathy in the West to what he calls a holocaust facing Middle Eastern Christians.
“I think the unusual thing is the apathy,” he told CBN News. “It’s totally crazy that the churches are not speaking out; that the politicians are not speaking out; that there aren’t demonstrations in the street.”
READ MORE

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 10:01 pm

PA Gives Green Light to ICC to Investigate Israel for "War Crimes"
By Lea Speyer January 9, 2015 , 10:07 am
“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)
The Palestinian Authority has given the International Criminal Court (ICC) the green light to begin investigating Israel for alleged war crimes.
PA representative at the UN Riyad Mansour told the media that the PA’s formal acceptance to the court gives ICC prosecutor Fatour Bensouda the means to take up the investigation against Israel without waiting for the PA to be a formal member on April 1.
“It is within her discretion that she can do that,” Mansour said, according to the Associated Press.
Fadi El Abdallah, a spokesman for the ICC in The Hague, confirmed that the prosecutor could begin any “preliminary examination” of potential cases brought to the court by the PA.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced that the “State of Palestine” will become an official member of the ICC on April 1. The announcement came days after PA President Mahmoud Abbas signed requests to join several international treaties, including the Rome Statute which establishes membership to the ICC.
On Thursday, IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz expressed disappointment with the PA’s decision to pursue war crimes charges against Israel at the ICC.

While on a visit to the United States, Gantz said that the IDF works exceptionally hard to prevent civilian casualties. He called the charges against Israel an unnecessary, unilateral step that will only deter the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
The PA has requested that the ICC investigate war crimes by Israel which they say were committed during the recent summer war in Gaza. Should they open the case, Hamas, the governing partner of the PA, could be investigated and sued for the thousands of missiles it fired indiscriminately into Israel.
On Monday, in a preemptive move meant to deter the PA from filing charges against Israel at the ICC, the legal rights group Shurat HaDin (Israel Law Center) filed war crimes lawsuits against three Palestinian leaders.
Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, founder of Shurat HaDin, told Breaking Israel News that “while you can’t prevent the Palestinians from going to the ICC, you can deter them.”
In November, Shurat HaDin filed lawsuits against Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal on charges of war crimes. “I want the Palestinians to know that once they get to the court, we are waiting for you there,” Darshan-Leitner explained.
“What the Palestinians did during the intifada is the war crime – crimes against humanity, the crime of genocide. Palestinian leaders need to answer for these crimes.”
LISTEN BELOW: The Consequences of Challenging Israel at the International Criminal Court
click here

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 3:38 pm

UNITED WITH ISRAEL
PROMINENT MEDIA OUTLETS SUBMIT TO MUSLIM TERROR
In response to Wednesday’s terror attack in France, some prominent media outlets have chosen to submit to Muslim terror rather than defend free speech.
(Photo: shutterstock)
Associated Press (AP), one of the world’s most prestigious media outlets, has caved in to Muslim terror and censorship, the Daily Beast reports.
On Wednesday, terrorists murdered 12 people and wounded several others outside Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris because the satirical magazine had published caricatures of the prophet Mohammed, which they consider to be sacrilege.
AP announced Wednesday, shortly after the massacre in Paris, that its policy is to not show images of the Prophet Mohammed. “None of the images distributed by AP showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed,” said spokesman Paul Colford, telling the Daily Beast that several photos from the French SIPA agency were automatically sent to the AP’s commercial photo unit but have since been removed.
A photo of Stéphane Charbonnier, Charlie Hebdo‘s murdered editor, holding a cartoon of Mohammed, was deliberately cropped. “It’s been our policy for years that we refrain from moving deliberately provocative images,” the AP spokesman added.
The New York Daily News published a grisly photo of the terrorists shooting a French policeman in the head as he lay on the sidewalk, but they likewise censored the photo of Charbonnier, cutting out the Charlie Hebdo magazine that he was holding.
Several other news organizations, including the London Telegraph, also edited out Charlie Hebdo magazine covers displaying Mohammed, the Daily Beast adds.
The Daily Beast, on its part, has chosen to display some of the most controversial covers on its site.
Blaming the Victims for Provoking Muslims
Writing for The Gatestone Institute, Douglas Murray says that the media seems to prefer coerced self-censorship. By doing so, they are stating that “it is your own fault if you get hurt, [and] none of this would be happening to you if you had only kept your mouth shut.”
He points out that the press is already blaming the victims. Commentators on CNN opined that Charlie Hebdo had been “provoking Muslims” for some time.
“Perhaps they assume that it is easier to force good people to keep quiet, or keep their own media offices from being attacked, than to tackle the problem of Islamic extremism head-on,” Murray states sarcastically.
Relating to the NY Daily News censorship of the Charbonnier photo, he writes that “the paper was willing to show a man who had been alive that morning in the process of being murdered. But they chose not to publish a cartoon of a historical figure who died 1400 years ago.”
Murray is concerned about the media succumbing to terror and Islamic pressure, and he concludes by warning that “if those in positions of influence do not deal with this problem now, we will not like those who deal with it later.”
By: United with Israel Staff
Sign the Petition to Unite Against Islamic Terror
Islamic State terrorists. (Photo: nrg.co.il)Islamic terror poses the greatest threat to the free world. The Islamic State (ISIS), Iran and Hamas all want the same thing: a world dominated by extremist interpretations of Islam.
Tell our leaders that we demand they fight ISIS alongside trusted allies that share our values. Iran, Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah and those who support terrorism are the enemy.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP ISLAMIC TERROR.
http://stopislamicterror.org/?utm_campaign=Stop%20Islamic%20Terror&utm_source=UWI%20article&utm_medium=article

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 3:37 pm

State Dept.: PA Not a “Sovereign State,” Ineligible to Join ICC
by TheTower.org Staff | 01.08.15 10:03 am
The Palestinian Authority (PA) is ineligible to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) because it is not a “sovereign state,” spokesperson Jen Psaki said at yesterday’s State Department’s daily press briefing:
Well, let me give you a short answer and then let me take part of this, because there’s a legal answer to this that we can provide to all of you in a more extensive way after the briefing. The United States does not believe that the state of Palestine qualifies as a sovereign state and does not recognize it as such and does not believe that it is eligible to accede to the Rome Statute. There are obviously legal parts of that, so we will send that out to all of you after.
Psaki also the United Nations Secretary-General’s approval of the application was “purely administrative” and “not a judgment on eligibility.”
When asked about Sen. Rand Paul’s (R – Ky.) proposed bill to condition American funding of the PA on the organization’s withdrawing its application for the ICC, Psaki responded, “I will say that obviously there are – we’re taking a look at the law. There’s no question that we will be complying with all laws as it relates to our assistance, of course.”
A report in The Times of Israel clarified Psaki’s remarks:
While Palestinian membership in the court doesn’t automatically incur US punishment, existing law says any Palestinian case against Israel at the court would trigger an immediate cutoff of US financial support. Paul’s bill would ban assistance until Palestine stops its move to become a member of the court.
After his failed bid last week to have terms of a final-status agreement imposed upon Israel by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas applied to join the ICC in a bid to prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes. The move, which was immediately condemned by the United States, carries certain risks. Earlier this week, the State Department said that it would be up to Congress to pass any laws that could reduce or cancel aid to the Palestinians, for defying the United States and applying to the court. In addition, ascension to the ICC would open the PA up to possible prosecution for war crimes. Already the NGO Shurat Hadin has filed complaints against Abbas and other PA officials, who are Jordanian citizens and thus under the jurisdiction of the court, which Jordan joined in 2002.
[Photo: WochitGeneralNews / YouTube ]

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 1:03 am

The Islamization of France in 2014
By: Soeren Kern
The Muslim population of France reached an estimated 6.5 million in 2014...This implies that the Muslim population of France is now roughly 10% of the country’s total population of 66 million. In real terms, France has the largest Muslim population in the European Union.
According to a confidential French intelligence document leaked to Le Figaro, a form of Muslim ghettoization is gaining ground within the French school system. The report says that Muslim students are effectively establishing an Islamic parallel society completely cut off from non-Muslim students.
More than 1000 French supermarkets, including major chains such as Carrefour, have been selling Islamic books that openly call for jihad and the killing of non-Muslims.
A report estimates that 60% of the prison population in France, or 40,000 prisoners, are “culturally or originally” Muslim.
READ MORE

Israel's Power Company Says "Lights Out" to the PA
“You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for the native, for I am the Lord your God.” (Leviticus 24:22)
In a move that many Israelis have hailed as being far too delayed, the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) has given an official warning to Israeli security chiefs that they will be stopping the flow of electricity to the Palestinian Authority, including Gaza, in the near future.
The company’s CEO, Eli Glickman, warned Israel’s security chiefs in a letter this week that the company would begin to limit the electricity that it provides to all territories controlled by the PA and the Jerusalem District Energy Company (JDEC). JDEC purchases electricity from Israel and sells it to various cities in Palestinian areas.
READ MORE

PM Netanyahu's Comments Following Terror Attack in Paris
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the terror attack at the Charlie Hebdo office in Paris which killed 12 people.
WATCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUHsBeoHb5k

Christian vs. Jewish Zionism
Cary Summers explains in a fascinating interview about how he plans on bringing tens of thousands of Christian students to Israel FOR FREE & his plans to launch the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.
Dr. Emmanuel Navon explains how his book ‘The Victory of Israel’ systematically deconstructs Peter Beinart’s post-Zionist manifesto, ‘The Crisis of Israel.’ Ari & Dr. Navon draw the distinction between liberal and leftist and help answer the burning question of why today’s self-proclaimed liberals condemn Israel.
Cary Summers joins Jeremy Gimpel in studio for a fascinating interview about how he plans on bringing tens of thousands of Christian students to Israel FOR FREE & his plans to launch the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC. Does the largest collection of Biblical artifacts in the world, one block away from the Capitol, have the potential to change the United States?
LISTEN

Israeli Counter-Terror Expert: 'France Has a Big Problem'
Dr. Ely Karmon of the IDC’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism tells VOI’s Mordechai Twersky that France - the site of a major terrorist attack on Wednesday - has a “big problem.”
LISTEN

Admin Fri 09 Jan 2015, 12:51 am

Netanyahu:
Paris Massacre Shows Radical Islam "Knows No Border
“The wicked go down to the realm of the dead, all the nations that forget God.” (Psalm 9:17)
Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32 are the suspected shooters, seen in this screenshot of the attack, at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris. (Photo: YouTube Screenshot)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the deadly attack on a French satirical magazine on Wednesday, issuing a statement of solidarity with the French people and offering condolences to the families of the slain.
Earlier in the day, three gunmen stormed the Paris offices of the Charlie Hebdo magazine. Twelve people were methodically killed in cold blood, including a prominent French satirical cartoonist, and many others injured.
“On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I offer condolences to the President of France, the bereaved families and the French people,” the prime minister said in a statement after the attack.
“Israel stands with you on this difficult day. Two years ago we saw a great intensification of international terrorism and terror that originates from radical Islam. Radical Islamic terrorism knows no bounds, and there the struggle which must know no border,” Netanyahu continued.
“I stood at the UN podium a few months ago, and I said that if the terrorist fanatics of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic State and al-Qaeda will not be stopped here, [the attacks] will spread all over the world, and if we do not fight it consistently, determinedly and unitedly, these horrible acts that we have seen today in Paris, will not be the last, and they will be horrible and difficult.”
The prime minister called on all “free societies and all civilized people” to “unite and combat this terrorism.” He added that the motive of radical Islamist terrorists was to “destroy society and nations, to uproot human culture which is based off freedom, and the freedom to choose.”
“Combating them means physically fighting, fighting against their false argument, and under no circumstances accepting the various justifications for their motives,” Netanyahu concluded.
Former president of Israel, Shimon Peres, said that the attack highlighted the need to protect the values of liberty and freedom. “France, a nation that has placed human liberty as its top priority, was attacked today because of its values. We send our condolences to the twelve victims’ families, they are soldiers who guarded freedom and fell in the line of duty,” he said in a statement.
“This is a real battle between the civilized world and the world of darkness which indiscriminately murders. The choice we face is either freedom or terrorism, the two of them together cannot exist,” Peres continued. “I am sure that despite the pain, liberty will prevail, we must all mobile everywhere in every way to cut off the head of the snake.”
French Jewish parliamentarian Meyer Habib said that Wednesday’s massacre was France’s equivalent to the September 11terror attacks, adding that jihadi terrorists seek “to destroy the entire infrastructure of France.”
"100 lashes if you don't die with laughter!"
“100 lashes if you don’t die with laughter!”
The violence is France’s deadliest postwar attack. Shouting “Allahu Akbar!” as they fired AK-47’s inside the Charlie Hebdo offices, the terrorists are said to speak flawless, unaccented French.
Wednesday’s attack claimed the lives of some of France’s best satirical cartoonists. The Charlie Hebdo magazine has a history of publishing cartoons depicting Mohammad, something which is considered forbidden in Islam.
Among the slain were Editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier, known as Chard, and the cartoonists known as Tignous, Cabu and Wolinski, who have published caricatured of the Mohammed. In total, eight journalists, two police officers and a guest of the magazine were killed.
Hours after the attack, three suspects were identified by French authorities. Brothers and Paris-born nationals of Algerian descent Said Kouachi, 34, and Cherif Kouachi, 32 remain at large. Hamyd Mourad surrender to police Wednesday evening after realizing that his name was circulating on social media as a prime suspect.
French officials said that the younger Kouachi brother was an active jihadist working inside France between 2003 and 2005. He attended rallies urging French Muslims to join jihadists in Iraq to fight against the US army, Metronews reported.
French officials said that the younger Kouachi brother was an active jihadist working inside France between 2003 and 2005. He attended rallies urging French Muslims to join jihadists in Iraq to fight against the US army, Metronews reported.(Photo: Paris Police)
(Photo: Paris Police)
In 2008, he was convicted on terrorism related charges and sentences to three years and 18 months in prison.
Hours after the shooting, radical Islamist organizations around the world praised the attack. On social media, ISIS and al-Qaeda sympathizers fought over which group could claim credit for the attack. An al-Qaeda affiliated tweeter told AP that the attack is “inspiring.”
“The lions of Islam have avenged our Prophet,” said Abu Mussab, a Syrian ISIS fighter, to AFP. “These are out lions. It’s the first drops – more will follow…let these crusaders be scared because they should be.” LISTEN BELOW: Israeli Counter-Terror Expert: ‘France Has a Big Problem’

Admin Wed 07 Jan 2015, 9:45 pm

UN Chief: "State of Palestine" Accepted to ICC
By Lea Speyer January 7, 2015 , 11:17 am
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced on Wednesday that “Palestine” will officially join the International Criminal Court (ICC) on April 1.
Acceptance to the ICC will allow the Palestinians to pursue war crimes charges against Israel, a high-stakes move that has been condemned by Israel and the US.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas submitted some 20 applications to international treaties last week, one of them the Rome Statute that established the ICC in 2002. Signing the Rome Statue is the last formal step to becoming a permanent member of the international crimes tribunal.
READ MORE

The Krakow Mezuzah Campaign
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart…You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 4:6-9)
When we speak of the revival of Jewish life in Krakow we often point to the cultural renaissance taking place throughout the city: Jewish festivals, Hebrew and Yiddish language, holidays and Friday night dinners… All this is true and of course there is much more work to be done. Whenever a Jewish Pole hears about the openness of the Jewish community there is an opportunity to facilitate their stronger Jewish identity and their return to a glorious heritage. I continue to see this with young and old who walk through the gates of the Jewish Community Center of Krakow and are mesmerized by the excitement of the story of the return of the Jew.
READ MORE

Fatah Facebook Pic Shows Netanyahu Headed for a Hanging
“They compassed me about also with words of hatred, and fought against me without a cause.” (Psalm 109:3)
An image of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu facing a hangman’s noose has appeared on an official Fatah Facebook page.
The image, bearing the words “coming soon” in Hebrew and Arabic, along with the logo of the International Criminal Court (ICC), was posted on the wall of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s party page.
The picture, which was flagged by Palestinian Media Watch, appears just days after Palestinian officials applied for membership to the ICC. The move is strongly opposed by Israel and the US, which are concerned the PA will use the ICC to bring war crime accusations against the Jewish state or its representatives. Netanyahu vowed to protect Israelis, particularly Israeli soldiers, from prosecution by the ICC.
READ MORE

Mastermind Behind 3 Teens Murder Convicted, Sentenced to 75 Years
“Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.” (Psalm 11:6)
The mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers, Hussam Qawasmeh, was convicted and sentenced on Tuesday.
The Israeli military court sentenced Qawasmeh to three life sentences, and ordered him pay NIS 750,000 ($190,000) to the teens families in compensation.
Qawasmeh planned the kidnapping of Israeli teens Naftali Frenkel, Gilad Sha’ar and Eyal Yifrach, which triggered Operation “Brother’s Keeper”.
The teenagers were kidnapped on June 12th 2014, in the Gush-Etzion area. Though murdered within hours of their kidnapping, their bodies were only found 18 days later.
READ MORE

United Muslims Front Against Israel?
“For mine enemies speak concerning me, and they that watch for my soul take counsel together” (Psalm 71:10)
Hezbollah Executive Council chief Sheikh Nabil Qaouk boasted to the Lebanese The Daily Star paper that Hezbollah was preparing for its next confrontation with Israel, and thousands of Sunni fighters will join forces with the Shi’ite terror group at that time.
Shi’ite and Sunni Muslims follow different traditions, and the two groups are often violently at odds with one another. This is no less true in Lebanon, where Hezbollah’s active support for Bashar Assad in Syria’s civil war has heightened sectarian tensions in the country. Qaouk accused Israel of trying to exploit these divisions.
“Hezbollah’s response to Israel’s bet on Sunni-Shi’ite strife is this: The resistance is preparing for the next war with Israel, and thousands of our Sunni brothers in Lebanon will be among the ranks [of the] resistance,” Qaouk said during a Hezbollah ceremony in Sidon.
READ MORE

Do Devout Catholics Believe Jews Will Burn in Hell?
Why would someone choose to live a celibate, solitary lifestyle? What does life look like on a monastery? Is there any common ground between Catholics & Jews.
LISTEN

If ISIS Terrorizes Arabs, Why Do Arabs Support ISIS?
Why does the Arab world overwhelmingly support ISIS despite the fact that they, themselves, are being decapitated and terrorized by the radicalized Islamic organization?
LISTEN

Admin Mon 05 Jan 2015, 10:04 pm

ISIS Terror Cell Busted in Hebron
By Lea Speyer January 5, 2015 , 10:00 am
“Keep me free from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge.” (Psalm 31:4)
The three suspects belonging to the ISIS terror cell in Hebron: Ahmmad Shehadah (L), Qusai Meswadeh (C) and Muhammad Zerrue (R). (Photo: Shin Bet)
Israeli security forces arrested three men who are part of an ISIS affiliated terror cell in Hebron.
The cell members were arrested in November 2014 by the Shin Bet and have been charged with launching an unsuccessful terror attack against IDF soldiers and conspiring to kidnap and kill Israeli civilians and military personnel in Judea and Samaria.
Information regarding the arrests were cleared for publication late Sunday by the Shin Bet after a gag order was lifted.
READ MORE

Analysis: African Christians Saved Israel at the UN
By Lea Speyer January 4, 2015 , 4:01 pm
“Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.” (Proverbs 11:12)
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Jerusalem, October 26, 2014. (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO)
The Palestinians latest attempt towards statehood via the United Nations has ended in humiliation. Why?
In a surprise, last minute move, Nigerian President and devout Christian Goodluck Jonathan thwarted the passing of the resolution by ordering his country’s ambassador to abstain from a vote recognizing the beginnings of a Palestinian state.
Set on using the international community to formally create a “State of Palestine,” Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was rejected by the UN Security Council last week in a stunning, and surprising, victory for Israel
READ MORE

Report: Israel to Ask US to Cut Off All Funding to PA
By Lea Speyer January 5, 2015 , 11:30 am
“Be assured, an evil person will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.” (Proverbs 11:21)
Israel is set to ask the US Congress to halt all funding to the Palestinian Authority in response to the PA’s request to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week.
An Israeli official told Ha’aretz that Jerusalem officials plan to turn to pro-Israel members of Congress to enforce a law banning funding to the PA should it turn to the ICC. The Palestinians receive each year some $400 million in aid from the US.
Congress passed a funding bill last month that contains language which stipulates that the State Department would pull all economic support to the PA if “the Palestinians initiate an International Criminal Court judicially authorized investigation, or actively support such an investigation, that subjects Israeli nationals to an investigation for alleged crimes against Palestinians.”
READ MORE

Jewish Presence in Judea & Samaria Growing Significantly
By Ahuva Balofsky January 5, 2015 , 9:00 am
“Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, by their polls.” (Numbers 1:2)
Former chairman of the Judea and Samaria Council, Dani Dayan, said Friday that the Jewish presence in the region is an “irreversible” fact. His statement came in response to figures released by the Israeli Interior Ministry, showing nearly 400,000 Jews living in Judea and Samaria.
READ MORE

Jerusalem Dateline: Archaeology Confirms History of the Bible (VIDEO)
By Chris Mitchell January 5, 2015 , 8:00 am
“Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there.” (Joshua 21:43)
READ MORE WATCH VIDEO

Israel Considers War Crimes Lawsuits Against Palestinians
By Video Manager January 5, 2015 , 8:30 am
Israel has announced it will freeze tax funds and attempt to bring war crime prosecutions against Palestinian leaders in retaliation to Palestinian moves to join the International Criminal Court.
WATCH

Is Iran Arming Palestinians for a Third Intifada?
Iran is seeking to compensate for Egypt’s crackdown on Hamas in Gaza, and hopes to exploit regional chaos by moving weapons from Jordan into Judea and Samaria to arm Palestinians for a third intifada.
LISTEN

Admin Mon 05 Jan 2015, 3:26 pm

Islamic State Fighters Moving Ever Closer Towards Israel
By: Dr. Jonathan Spyer
Despite setbacks on some fronts, Islamic State continues to advance southward in Syria and move toward the Jordanian and Israeli borders... there are no indications that Islamic State is anywhere close to collapse.
Islamic State has suffered severe losses as a result of coalition air strikes in the last months. Over 1,000 of its fighters have been killed, and Kurdish peshmerga forces have driven the jihadists back on a wide front between the cities of Erbil and Mosul.
The terror movement has also failed to conquer the symbolic town of Kobani (Ayn al-Arab) close to the Syrian-Turkish border (further south, Islamic State losses have been more modest and at least partially reversed).
Yet despite these setbacks, there are no indications that Islamic State is anywhere close to collapse. And while American bombers and Kurdish fighters are preventing its advance further east, there are many indications the jihadists are continuing to advance their presence in a south and westerly direction – from the borders of their entity towards Damascus and Lebanon, and incidentally, in the direction of Israel.
READ MORE

Islamic Law: Girls Can Be Married "Even If They Are in the Cradle"
By: Raymond Ibrahim
Muslim attempts at “reformation” continue to be limited to words not actions. A few days ago, efforts to set a minimum age for marriage in Saudi Arabia “received a blow after the Grand Mufti said there was nothing wrong with girls below 15 getting married.”
Two years earlier, the justice ministry began pushing for setting a minimum age in the Arabian kingdom. According to Gulf News, “It submitted an integrated study on the negative psychological and social effects of underage marriages to religious scholars and requested a fatwa that sets a minimum age.”
However, the ulema—the “religious scholar,” the learned ones of Islamic law—responded by totally ignoring the request. Saudi Arabia’s highest religious authority, its Grand Mufti, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, shrugged the whole matter off by saying “There is currently no intention to discuss the issue.” In other words, case closed.
READ MORE

Does Saudi Arabia Rule the World?
By: Shoshana Bryen
Saudi Arabia does not control the price of oil, but it is trying to manipulate the current, temporary, price decline for its own purposes - and it should be careful. It would be foolish for the U.S. to assume budgetary constraints will rein in Russian - or Iranian - behavior.
Saudi Arabia does not control the price of oil, but it is trying to manipulate the current, temporary, price decline for its own purposes — and it should be careful.
READ MORE

Why Palestinians Opposed Abbas's Statehood Bid
By: Khaled Abu Toameh
The widespread opposition among Palestinians to Abbas’s statehood bid is a clear sign that many Palestinians remain opposed to any form of concessions to Israel. It is also an indication of fierce opposition among Palestinians to the resumption of peace talks with Israel.
“Hamas will not accept anything less than all the lands that were occupied in 1948.” — Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.
READ MORE

Were the Temples Built on the Summit of Mount Moriah?
By: Harry H. Moskoff
When God denied the right to build the Temple, as David said he would do, King David went instead and paid 50 silver shekels to purchase a threshing floor, and later paid 600 gold shekels for the whole mountain where the Temple would subsequently be built.
When God denied the right to build the Temple, as David said he would do, King David went instead and paid 50 silver shekels to purchase a threshing floor, and later paid 600 gold shekels for the whole mountain (see I Chronicles 21:25) where the Temple would subsequently be built. The sacrificial altar and subsequent Temple building were built on this threshing floor and on the mountain we now know as Mount Moriah.
Now, threshing floors are usually round and on a relatively flat area. It is known that the diameters of these floors generally ranged from 12 to 14 meters (Avitsur 1976). They are not usually located on the very top of mountains, but a little below so that the wind will carry away the chaff only and leave the heavier grain. This is a hint that the Temple was built close to the summit of the mountain, but not actually on it.
READ MORE

The Destruction of the Middle East
By: Denis MacEoin
We are living through ferocious times. Stories about the self-proclaimed Islamic State abound in the media, in what has now become a daily round of beheadings, suicide bombings, and general mayhem from Nigeria to Malaysia.
The heritage of centuries has been wiped out in little more than a year.
Eventually the need to wipe out all traces of unbelief becomes obsessive. At one time, for instance, Egyptian law demanded that any house found to contain a copy of The Apology of al-Kindi (a book containing a polemical dialogue between a Muslim and a Christian) would be demolished along with 40 houses around it.
Ethics were defined by what Allah said was good or evil in Sharia law. The Islamic State’s behaviour is solidly rooted in Islamic ideology, law and practice. It is only when this fundamental fact is grasped that we will be able to address what confronts us.
There are many wise and sensible Muslims who favour a shift to a more updated way of thinking. It is their mosques and shrines that are being crushed; it is their heritage. Today, such Muslims use the freedoms bestowed on them in the West to write, network and debate their opposition to fundamentalist interpretation of Islam by the Islamic State and other supporters of murder and destruction.
READ MORE

Israel Freezes PA Funds in Response to ICC Move
Israel froze NIS 500 million ($127 million) in Palestinian tax revenue Saturday in response to the Palestinian Authority’s application to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this week.
The decision to withhold the money was made during a special meeting convened Thursday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the Israeli response to PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s unilateral move, Channel 10 reported.
READ MORE

Vocal Champion of Israel Mike Huckabee Quits Fox News to Mull Presidential Run
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Proverbs 9:10)
Huckabee made the announcement Saturday night during his “Huckabee” show when he said that the broadcast would be his last as he ponders his political future.
Expecting to seek the Republican nomination, Huckabee said, “There’s been a great deal of speculation as to whether I would run for president. And if I were willing to absolutely rule that out, I could keep doing this show. But I can’t make such a declaration.”
READ MORE

DF Adopting Measures to Stave Off Increasing Number of Soldier Suicides
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.” (Psalms 34:17)
Suicides in the Israeli military reached an all time high five years ago. In 2009, the IDF attributed 30 deaths to suicide. Since then, numbers drastically declined with only seven suicides in 2013.
However, in an unfortunate turnaround which has some in the IDF worried, the number of soldier suicides has increased for the first time in 2014-15.
READ MORE

Israel Braces for Major Winter Storm as First Snow Falls on Mt. Hermon
“For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth,’ likewise to the downpour, his mighty downpour.” (Job 37:6)
Saturday saw substantial amounts of rain falling throughout the country. However, the brunt of the storm is expected later this week.
The Israel Meteorological Service has issued warnings for heavy winds and rain in the northern and central part of the country. A strong likelihood of isolated sandstorms and flash flooding are expected throughout the south.
Meteorologists say there is a chance of snowfall in Safed and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem municipality and security agencies are already taking measures to prepare for the stormy weather.
READ MORE

Israel Wiped Off the Map...Literally!
“The integrity of the upright shall guide them; but the perverseness of the faithless shall destroy them.” (Proverbs 11:3)
World-renowned publishing house HarperCollins recently published an atlas for Gulf states which omitted Israel from its map of the Middle East, reported British Catholic weekly The Tablet. However, following public outcry, it has removed the atlas from circulation.
The publishing house is well-respected for its atlases, produced by subsidiary Collins Bartholomew. Yet a representative told The Tablet they had opted to remove all references to Israel from its atlas for English-speaking schools in the Muslim-majority Gulf region due to “local preferences”, which deem any mention of the Jewish state “unacceptable”.
READ MORE

Top 14 PROPHETIC News Items of 2014

1. Obama Abandons Israel
“Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.” (Psalm 34:13)
READ HERE

2. Rumors Abound but God’s Protection of Israel is No Fable
“A land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” (Deuteronomy 11:12)
READ HERE

3. ISIS Swallowing Iraq: ‘They’re Beheading Children’ (Video)
“For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:5)
READ MORE WATCH VIDEO

4. Presbyterian Church USA Voted on Erasing “Israel” from Prayers
“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)
READ MORE

5. White House Halts Transfer of Weapons to Israel
“Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.” (Proverbs 26:12)
READ MORE

6. ISIS Captures City in Lebanon as Threat Moves Closer to Israel
“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.” (Proverbs 24:10)
READ MORE

7. Radical Jihadists Publicly Crucify Syrians
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil…” (Isaiah 5:20)
READ MORE

8. Proof for the Biblical Exodus
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” (Exodus 20:2)
READ MORE

9. US Supreme Court to Decide Status of Jerusalem
“Before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.” (Psalm 98:9)
READ MORE

10. Police in Israel Make Startling Discovery that Leads to a Miracle
“You shall not watch your brother’s donkey or ox fall by the wayside and hide yourself from them, you shall surely help him to lift them up again.” (Deuteronomy 22:4)
READ MORE

11. Hamas Attacking Soldiers with Gun in One Hand, Baby in the Other
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
READ MORE

12. 5 Times Netanyahu Brought Biblical Prophecy to Life at the UN
“Righteous lips are the delight of a king, and he loves him who speaks what is right.” (Proverbs 16:13)put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)
READ MORE

13. UN: Israel’s Refusal to Share Iron Dome with Hamas a War Crime
“Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7)
READ MORE

14. Ebola Cure In Sight in Israeli Lab
“.... ‘Thus saith the LORD: Set thy house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.’…And Isaiah said: ‘Take a cake of figs.’ And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.” (2 Kings 20:1-7)
READ MORE

Admin Sat 03 Jan 2015, 2:14 pm

After UN Defeat, Palestinian Unilateralism Seen as 'Losing its Luster'
By JNS January 2, 2015 , 8:00 am
“Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.” (Leviticus 26:8)
Several months of campaigning for unilateral Palestinian statehood recognition culminated in a diplomatic blitz by the Palestinian Authority during the last few days of 2014. But the campaign ground to a halt on Dec. 30, when the United Nations Security Council rejected a Palestinian resolution that called for an Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank by 2017 and the establishment of a Palestinian state with borders based on the pre-1967 lines.
It was the second such defeat for the Palestinians at the Security Council, the first coming in 2011.
“[The resolution’s failure] is no great surprise, since the United States has a veto [at the Security Council],” Jonathan Schanzer, vice president for research at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS.org. “However, it was somewhat surprising that the Palestinians failed to garner the nine ‘yes’ votes to force a U.S. veto. This seems to suggest that the Palestinians failed to do enough diplomatic legwork before pushing for a last-minute vote at the Security Council.”
READ MORE

Palestinians: We Will Outnumber Jews by 2020
By Ahuva Balofsky January 2, 2015 , 7:30 am
“And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; swarm in the earth, and multiply therein.” (Genesis 9:7)
A new census, published this week by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), claims the number of Palestinians living in “historical Palestine” (Israel, Gaza and the West Bank) is nearly equal to the number of Jews, and will eclipse that number by 2020, Ma’an News Agency reported. This is not surprising, however, as the Palestinians have been making similar claims for over a decade.
According to the census results, 6.08 million Palestinians live in the region, as compared to 6.10 million Jews. Taking the current birth rates into account, the PCBS predicts by 2016 the Palestinian population will equal that of the Jews living there, at about 6.42 million, and surpass the Jewish population by 2020, with 7.14 million Palestinians to only 6.87 million Jews.
There are, however, glaring differences in the statistics reported by the PCBS and that of Israel’s Central Bureau for Statistics, reports The Times of Israel. For example, CBS listed 6.218 million Jews in Israel at the end of 2014, a discrepancy of 118,000 from the PCBS numbers. CBS numbered 1.713 million Palestinians living in Israel while the PCBS noted only 1.46 million, a difference that can be account for by East Jerusalem, which each group considers part of its own territory.
Following the Oslo Accords in 1995, Israel stopped keeping statistics on the Palestinian population living under the Palestinian Authority, and the PA established the PCBS, which published its first census result in 1997. Since then, the PCBS has been predicting an imminent Jewish-Palestinian demographic shift every year, adjusting the date of the anticipated change by a year or two as needed.
READ MORE

The Improbable Romance Between Israel and Azerbaijan
By JNS January 2, 2015 , 7:00 am
“For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!” (Ecclesiastes 4:10)
Since its founding in 1948, Israel has found Muslim-majority allies hard to come by. Yet an improbable romance continues to develop between the Jewish state and Azerbaijan.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon took a surprise trip to Azerbaijan in September, marking the first-ever visit by the holder of his position to a Muslim-majority nation in the Southern Caucasus region. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and former president Shimon Peres have also visited Azerbaijan, and Azeri dignitaries have made the trip to Israel. Though it is most often attributed to a shared interest in combating the threat posed by Iran, experts say the blooming Israeli-Azeri friendship goes much deeper.
“Having a close link with a Shiite-majority nation helps shatter the notion of an Islamic rejectionist front against Israel,” said American Jewish Committee (AJC) Executive Director David Harris, who in 2012 received the “Dostlug” Order of Friendship, Azerbaijan’s highest honor for a foreign citizen, from Azeri President Ilham Aliyev. “For Azerbaijan, located in a tough neighborhood, Israel is a very valued source of economic and strategic assistance.”
READ MORE

Female Fighter Pilots Taking Off in the IAF
By Raphael Poch January 2, 2015 , 8:30 am
“And she said, I will surely go with you; however the journey that you take shall not be for your honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” (Judges 4:9)
The cadets of IAF Pilot Course 169 receive their pilot wings. (Photo: IAF)
It has been two decades since Alice Miller took her case to the Supreme Court of Israel and demanded that females be allowed to become fighter pilots in the Israeli Air Force. Since that fateful day, 38 women have completed the rigorous course to become a pilot, making up just ten percent of those who begin the course.
The newest member of that illustrious team graduated her IAF training course this past December.
According to the Israeli military magazine BaMachane, 31 of those women are still serving in the IDF in active duty, while another five are in active reserves. Of the last graduating class of pilots, women represented seven percent of the total graduating class.
During the recent IAF graduation, the Air Force held exercises for the 169th pilot’s training program. 400 recruits began the course, which was completed by 37 pilots. Of the graduates, seven will fly helicopters, three are fighter pilots, 16 are navigators for fighter pilots, six will pilot cargo planes, three are navigators for cargo planes, and three are standby pilots.
85 percent of the graduates will serve in mandatory service and 15 percent are in the reserves. One of the graduating female pilots is also religiously observant.
READ MORE

Netanyahu Wins Likud Nomination Ahead of Israel General Election
By Video Manager January 2, 2015 , 8:40 am
Israeli Prime Minister was elected to the top seat of the Likud party, paving the way for Netanyahu to become prime minister once again.
WATCH CLICK HERE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSm9gCACdF4

The Secret Wish of Many Secular Muslims
By Voice of Israel December 31, 2014 , 3:00 pm
VOI Arab Affairs Analyst Bassem Eid says that many secular Muslims across the Middle East would prefer to live under Jewish sovereignty than under Muslim control due to Islamic massacres across the region.
LISTEN CLICK HERE

The ‘Gunness Book of Records’ – UNRWA Taken to Task
By Voice of Israel December 30, 2014 , 12:00 pm
David Bedein, Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research tells VOI’s Josh Hasten that UNRWA and its spokesman, Chris Gunness continue to brand those who point out UNRWA/Hamas connections as ‘liars,’ yet they lack evidence to disprove that theory. Bedein also says that Saudi Arabia is the latest country to contribute to the huge UNRWA budget, which Bedein says goes towards perpetuating the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ instead of improving the lives of Palestinians living in Gaza and across the Middle East.
LISTEN CLICK HERE

Admin Sat 03 Jan 2015, 12:13 pm

Jerusalem at War: Firebombing Jewish Homes Newest Trend
By Lea Speyer January 2, 2015 , 9:06 am
“Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come!” (Amos 6:1)

In what many living in Jerusalem say is the government’s attempt at hushing up the mini-war waged by Palestinians against Israel, the increasing number of attacks against Jewish targets can no longer be ignored.
Thursday evening, Palestinian terrorists threw three Molotov cocktails at Jewish residences on the Mount of Olives. No one was injured in the attack.
Light damage was caused to the buildings and surround area, located in the East Jerusalem Ma’ale Hazeitim neighborhood, Israel Radio reported.
The suspects of the attack escaped.
The latest in a string of firebombing attacks, Thursday’s incident is not an isolated event. On Saturday evening, a Jewish apartment in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Armon Hanatziv was firebombed.
Palestinian terrorists threw the bomb directly onto the balcony of the apartment, causing damage to the home.
Saturday’s attack came on the heels of another firebombing incident last week, in which 11-year-old Ayala Shapira and her father were attacked when a Molotov cocktail hit their car in Samaria.

Ayala suffered third-degree burns over most of her body, including her face, and remains in serious but stable condition. She was placed in a medically induced coma in the intensive care unit.
Two Palestinian teens confessed to the attack and remain in IDF custody.
The Shapira family car after the firebombing attack.
However, firebombing is not the only kind of attack now favored by Palestinian terrorists. Close-combat style attacks, such as stabbings, are becoming more prevalent in Jerusalem.
IDF troops arrested a Palestinian man overnight Thursday-Friday who was responsible for stabbing two Border Police officers last Friday outside the Old City of Jerusalem.
The IDF said Mohammed al-Ajlouni, a resident of East Jerusalem, was arrested in a surprise raid on his house in Ramallah, where he escaped to after the attack.
During the arrest, two soldiers were lightly wounded in clashes with Arab residents, who attacked IDF forces.
The attack, which took place at the Lion’s Gate in the Old City, left both officers lightly injured. One of the officers, 19 years old, was stabbed in the neck. The second officer, 35, was stabbed in the hand as he struggled with the attacker.
The attack occurred as worshipers were leaving Friday prayers from the Temple Mount complex. The Lion’s Gate leads directly into the Muslim Quarter.

Admin Thu 01 Jan 2015, 7:51 pm

Abbas Signs Treaty to Join ICC, Prosecute Israel for War Crimes
By Lea Speyer January 1, 2015 , 11:14 am
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:33)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and Palestinian chief peace negotiator Saeb Erekat, signs an application to the U.N. agencies in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. (Photo: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) and Palestinian chief peace negotiator Saeb Erekat, signs an application to the U.N. agencies in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Tuesday, April 1, 2014. (Photo: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
Following a stinging defeat at the UN Security Council, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed appeals to join 20 international treaties, including the Rome Statute, the first step in joining the International Criminal Court (ICC).
During a live, televised meeting with Palestinian leadership officials in Ramallah on Wednesday, Abbas signed the requests, saying: “They attack us and our land every day, to whom are we to complain? The Security Council let us down – where are we to go?”
The Rome Statute of the ICC is part of a non-binding international treaty that forms the jurisdiction, function and structure of the court at The Hague. Currently, the treaty has 139 signatories, with 122 of those classified as States Parties.
READ MORE

From Heartland of Israel, Indiana Governor Affirms US-Israel Bond
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
Indiana Governor Mike Pence meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem. (Photo: Facebook Page of Mike Pence)
Indiana Governor Mike Pence joins a growing list of well-respected US government officials and potential presidential candidates expressing strong support for the State of Israel. During a nine-day visit to the small country, Pence met with its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, while rejecting an invitation to Christmas dinner with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence (c) visits the Western Wall with Israeli Ambassador to Israel Ron Dermer. (Photo: Facebook Page Mike Pence)
The Republican former congressman, who spent 12 years serving on Capitol Hill, traveled to Israel with a two-pronged agenda: a cultural aspect, which includes such sites as the National Holocaust Museum Yad Vashem and the Western Wall; and an economic aspect, to strengthen economic ties between Indiana and Israel.
READ MORE

Did Winston Churchill Almost Convert to Islam?
“....‘Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them’; thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams…” (Deuteronomy 13:2-4)
A letter uncovered during research into the life of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reveals that members of his family feared his fascination with Islam would lead him to convert, British media reported.
The letter was discovered at the University of Cambridge by Dr. Warren Dockter, a historian researching Churchill’s life. Sent by Churchill’s sister-in-law-to-be, Lady Gwendoline Bertie, it reads, “Please don’t become converted to Islam; I have noticed in your disposition a tendency to orientalise, Pasha-like tendencies, I really have.”
“If you come into contact with Islam your conversion might be effected with greater ease than you might have supposed, call of the blood, don’t you know what I mean, do fight against it,” Bertie, who later married Chuchill’s brother, Jack, urged.
Dockter was conducting research for his upcoming book, Winston Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle East, when he came across the letter. Despite Bertie’s anxiety, however, he believes the influential World War II leader would not really have converted.
“[Lady Gwendoline Bertie] would have been worried because Churchill was leaving for an African tour and she would have known Churchill had been seeing his friend, Wilfrid S. Blunt, who was a renowned Arabist, anti-imperialist and poet. Though he and Churchill were friends and dressed in Arabian dress at times for Blunt’s eccentric parties, they rarely agreed,” Dockter told The Independent.
READ MORE

Israel's Bedouin Schools Flourish in Negev Desert
“For the protection of wisdom is like the protection of money, and the advantage of knowledge is that wisdom preserves the life of him who has it.” (Ecclesiastes 7:12)
In the sandy dunes of the northern Negev desert between Arad and Be’er Sheva, 130 students who belong to a local Bedouin tribe study at the Al-Sayed Technological School. One of the eight schools that the Israel Sci-Tech Schools Network operates for the Bedouins of Israel’s Negev desert, the high school was built in 2010. The school’s curriculum, which includes general studies, also has a special focus on electrician studies for boys and child daycare classes for girls.
“Before this high school and others that were established for the Bedouin community through the Israel Sci-Tech Network, many in the Bedouin population in the Negev simply didn’t have a high school education available to them,” said Shai Lewinsohn, the sci-tech network’s director of Resource Development and External Affairs.
READ MORE

Gazans Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Fatah
Palestinians in Gaza City attended a rally marking the 50th anniversary of the Fatah movement’s creation. Fatah was founded by the late Yasser Arafat and formally launched its armed struggle against Israel on January 1, 1965.
WATCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDtafyd4cYE

Israel, PA, Greece, Spain Collaborate on Medicinal Plant Exploration
Meet Bio-Xplore, a collaborative project between Israel,the Palestinian Authority, Greece and Spain, which is exploring the medicinal use of plants in the Mediterranean Sea Basin region.
LISTEN HERE

Admin Wed 31 Dec 2014, 2:09 pm

UNITED WITH ISRAEL
Important Update Regarding the 'Palestinian State'‏
Dear Elaine,
The people of Israel are thankful that the UN Security Council rejected the Palestinians' one-sided bid for a state. The resolution completely ignored Israel's legitimate rights and security concerns.
Israel's defense minister correctly stated that the Palestinians are only interested in "provocations and acts of delegitimization against the State of Israel."

The Two-Phase Plan for 'Arab Palestine'
The Palestinian goal is to force Israel to give up large portions of its homeland and to turn Jerusalem into the capital of the Arab 'State of Palestine'...
... And then Phase 2 - taking over Haifa, Netanya and Tel Aviv.

Appreciation Alongside Cynical Irony
A special thanks goes to the USA and Australia, who rejected the PA's cynical bid. However, most votes were in favor, including France and Russia. In fact, the majority of countries in the world are strong supporters of the Palestinian position.
How ironic is it that after witnessing the most brutal forms of Palestinian terror against Israeli citizens, including innocent teenagers, rabbis and infants, most countries continue to adamantly support a Palestinian state in the heart of Israel!

Israel Needs More Support
Now more than ever, Israel needs strong support from all of its friends.
Friends like you enable United with Israel to utilize the full power of the internet to spread the truth about Israel to millions of people around the world.
Support Israel with a 2014 Tax-Deductible Donation

While the brave soldiers of the IDF protect Israeli citizens from their enemies on the battlefield, we are fighting the battle of public opinion in homes, cafes and universities throughout the world.
The need to fight anti-Israel media is never-ending. United with Israel uses the very latest technology to turn our supporters into effective advocates for Israel.
We are proud of our vibrant Spanish-speaking community and are expanding our foreign language initiative to reach millions more in their native tongues.
The enemies of Israel have spent billions to spread lies and demonize the State of Israel. Now it's our turn to fight back...
Make a Year-End Tax-Deductible Donation in Support of Israel
At this time more than ever, your support is needed to build massive grassroots support for Israel around the world.
You can help us raise the funds needed to maintain and expand our professional staff of writers, translators, videographers, graphic artists, programmers, marketing wizards, SEO specialists, social media gurus and much more.
With your valued support, we can empower millions more around the world to become global advocates for the People, Country and Land of Israel.
Click Here to Make Your 2014 Tax-Deductible Donation
The People of Israel thank you for your kindness and generosity. We wish you a wonderful 2015 - full of peace, prosperity and joy.
With Blessings from Israel,
The United with Israel Family
PS - We ask you to forward this email to your family and friends. They, too, deserve the opportunity to make a real difference by standing United with Israel.
Click Here to Become a Partner in Support of Israel
Checks can be mailed to the USA:
Americans United with Israel
PO Box 73071
Marietta, GA 30007-3071
United States
Checks can be mailed directly to Israel:
United with Israel
8/19 Nachal Maor St.
Box 71530
Bet Shemesh 99623
ISRAEL
To donate by phone please call:
+1-888-946-6613 (USA)
+1-646-213-4003 (International)
+972-2-533-7841 (Israel)

Admin Wed 31 Dec 2014, 1:51 pm

Top 10 Worst Anti-Semitic Acts of 2014
“Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me.” (Psalm 41:10)
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has released a list of its top 10 worst anti-Semitic offenses of 2014. Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the organization, told The Jerusalem Post that in ranking the list this year, they tried to highlight how “rhetoric at the top has filtered down to average people.” Repeat offenders such as Arab leaders or Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were left out for that reason.
READ MORE

Spiritual Leader of Black Hebrew Community Dies
“And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, and there they wailed with a very great and sore wailing; and he made a mourning for his father seven days.” (Genesis 50:10)
Ben Ammi leader of the comunity in Shavuot (Feast of Weeks) Celebration of The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem in Dimona. The African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem are comprised of approximately 2,000 men, women and children residing in three development towns – - Dimona, Arad and Mitzpe Ramon – - in southern Israel. They arrive in Israel in 1969 and since then they maintain a vibrant culture which includes a communal lifestyle, a vegan diet, a system of preventive health care and high moral standards. They belive in the Torah and in poligamy marriages. During Shavuot the members of the community performe the annual “Dance for the Land” featuring an elaborate display of sound and motion celebrating their joy at being back in their ancestral land. June 3, 2012. (Photo: Jorge Novominsky/Flash 90)
Ben Ammi Ben Israel, spiritual leader of Israel’s Black Hebrew community in Dimona, passed away Saturday, the group announced. He was 75.
READ MORE

Palestinian UN Bid Aims to Force Solution on Israel
Jordan is calling on Israel to give up the land it won in 1967 as part of the latest UN resolution presented to the UN Security Council.
WATCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKnTuotZNjM

Is Gaza the Next Startup Nation?
Iliana Montauk, Director of Gaza Sky Geeks, the first and only start-up accelerator in Gaza, shares the challenges of working under fire and describes the people behind Gaza’s high tech hopes for the future.
VOI’s Molly Livingstone speaks with Iliana Montauk, Director of Gaza Sky Geeks, the first and only start-up accelerator in Gaza. Iliana shares the challenges of working under fire; what it was like in Gaza during last summer’s Gaza Operation and describes the people behind Gaza’s high tech hopes for the future.
LISTEN

MDA Paramedics Save Palestinian Baby who Suffered Heart Attack
“I seek my brothers.” (Genesis 37:16)
Paramedics from Israel’s emergency ambulance services, together with soldiers of the IDF, saved the life of a Palestinian baby who collapsed at the border crossing with Jordan.
The family of the 6-month-old baby was taking their child, who suffers from a heart condition, across the border to Jordan over the weekend for medical treatment, Ynet reported. While at the border, the baby suffered what is believed to be a heart attack.
The family, who came from the Palestinian city of Kfar Tubas, saw a local doctor and were told to immediately take the child for emergency check up to a hospital in Jordan. One of the border guards saw that the child was losing consciousness, and immediately called emergency services to treat the child.
READ MORE

Admin Wed 31 Dec 2014, 1:12 pm

PA Submits Resolution to UN for Statehood Despite US Veto Threat
By Lea Speyer December 30, 2014 , 11:44 am
“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6)
(Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
A draft resolution calling for a full Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria by the end of 2017 was submitted to the UN Security Council late Monday.

The resolution was presented by Jordan on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and included revised language that asks to declare East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
Arab ambassadors endorsed the resolution, which had last-minute amendments added to it.

The US had previously made clear it would not support the resolution and would use its veto power at the Security Council to block its passing.

The draft resolution states the need for “a just, lasting and comprehensive peaceful solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within 12 months. It calls for an independent Palestinian state within pre-1967 borders. Security arrangements are to be made “through a third-party presence.”
The resolution also demands “a just solution” to issues of Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails, access to water, and the return of Palestinians to Israel.
One of the newly added eight amendments called on the Security Council to declare the security barrier between Israel and Palestinian territories illegal. The authors of the resolution have also demanded that all Israeli construction in East Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria end.
While no date has been set on when the Security Council will vote on the draft resolution, Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar said that Palestinian and Jordanian leaders are in couch on how “to find the best time to cast the vote in the Security Council on the amended version.”

PA UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour told reporters that the vote “could happen tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow.”
According to the current make-up of the Security Council, five of the newly elected members to the council are supportive of the Palestinians, giving rise to speculation that the draft resolution could receive nine “yes” votes out of a total of 15.
Should the Palestinians receive a majority of “yes” votes from the Security Council, the US would be forced to use its veto power.
US State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke informed reporters on Monday that the draft resolution “is not something that we would support, and other countries share the same concerns we have.”
“We don’t think this resolution is constructive. We think it sets arbitrary deadlines for reaching a peace agreement and for Israel’s withdrawal from the West Bank, and those are more likely to curtail useful negotiations than to bring them to a successful conclusion,” he said.
“Further, we think that the resolution fails to account for Israel’s legitimate security needs,” Rathke added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Monday that regardless of how the vote concludes, “we will” reject the resolution.
The prime minister added that the PA is “seeking to impose on us a diktat that would undermine Israel’s security, put its future in peril…Israel will oppose conditions that endanger our future.”
LISTEN BELOW: UN To Decide Palestinian Statehood: What Will It Mean?
UN To Decide Palestinian Statehood: What Will It Mean?
By Voice of Israel December 30, 2014 , 11:50 am
Why is PA President Mahmoud Abbas pushing forward with his resolution for Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council when he seems to have so much to lose? How will Israel respond? How will it affect the upcoming Israeli elections? After 11 year-old Ayala Shapiro was seriously burned when a firebomb was thrown into her car on Thursday evening, is it surprising that a Palestinian teen throwing rocks at cars today was killed by the IDF?
And is it surprising that the IDF is investigating the teen’s death? Thirty-seven Gazan children, all of whom lost a parent in last summer’s Gaza War, were scheduled to come to Israel to meet Israeli children. Hamas canceled the event at the last minute in order to prevent ‘normalization with the Zionist occupation.’ Could this event have had a positive effect? What is Hamas afraid of.
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/26668/un-to-decide-palestinian-statehood-what-will-it-mean-israel-radio/#eMYu9bxKEF4ktbek.99

Admin Mon 29 Dec 2014, 11:05 am

Republican Senators Seek to Change Unpopular Obama Policies on Israel
By Ahuva Balofsky December 28, 2014 , 11:17 am
“A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US Senator Lindsey Graham in Jerusalem, December 27, 2014. (Photo: Amos Ben Gershom/ GPO)
Two Republican Senators have expressed strong support for Israel in recent days, in spite of what they consider to be words and deeds that undermine the US-Israel relationship by President Barack Obama.
Both Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) vowed to stand behind Israel against a UN Security Council resolution which seeks to force Israel’s hand on Palestinian statehood, as well as against a bad nuclear deal with Iran.
McConnell, who is set to become Senate majority leader in January and is one of the most influential people in Washington today, spoke to Israel HaYom in Washington last week, following the announced US-Cuba thaw. He spoke of his skepticism regarding Obama and Israel.
READ MORE

Presbyterian Church Voted on Erasing "Israel" from Prayers
“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)
In a narrow vote, Presbyterian Church USA voted at its annual assembly to support the BDS movement against Israel on June, 2014. (Photo: Presbyterian Church USA/ Facebook)
As if actively supporting a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel wasn’t enough, turns out the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) considered banning the word “Israel” from its prayers.
In a report on the Algemeiner, a resolution was presented but ultimately rejected by the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA to “distinguish between the biblical terms that refer to the ancient land of Israel and the modern political State of Israel.”
To carry out such a plan, the resolution called for the development of “educational materials, with the help of our Presbyterian seminaries, for clergy, church musicians, worship leaders, and Christian educators regarding ‘ancient Israel/modern Israel’ distinction.”
The impetus behind the proposal to completely erase Israel from prayers was caused by “a section of hymns under the unfortunate heading: ‘God’s covenant with Israel.’”
READ MORE

Anti-Israel NGOs Hijack Santa to Spread Message of Hate
“Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:16)
A Palestinian protester wearing Santa Claus costumes use a slingshot to hold a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during a protest against Israel’s separation barrier outside the West Bank village of Bilin, near Ramallah, Friday, December 26, 2014. (Photo: STR/Flash90)
According to a report released Tuesday by NGO Monitor, anti-Israel NGOs are using Christmas motifs to propagate anti-Semitic messages and drum up support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, Arutz Sheva reported.
NGO Monitor studied Christmas cards, nativity scenes and holiday messages by some of the most notorious NGOs, such as Pax Christi, Sabeel, and Kairos Palestine, finding religious motifs being used to slander the Jewish State.
“The recurring exploitation of religious holidays and theological language to advance discriminatory anti-Israel campaigns shows that nothing is holy for the BDS movement,” said Naftali Balanson, managing editor of NGO Monitor. “The church groups that support these NGOs, as well as the governments that fund them, must immediately repudiate the disturbing anti-Semitism emanating from NGOs that purport to promote human rights.” Some examples cited include comparing the modern Jewish state of Israel to the Roman Empire of the 1st century CE, which occupied Israel and oppressed its Jews, implying Israel was doing the same to “Palestine”; and stating or suggesting Jesus would have been persecuted by Israel if he were born today.
READ MORE

WATCH: Hamas Releases Instruction Video on "How to Stab Correctly"
“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:17)
A new viral video produced by Hamas is making the rounds on social media. Title “How to stab correctly,” the step-by-step instructional video shows prospective attackers the most lethal ways to stab a person.
The video has widely circulated on Facebook and Twitter amongst Palestinian groups, NRG reported.
The release of the 72-second video comes as stabbing attacks are becoming more frequent in Israel. On Friday, two Border Police guards were stabbed by a Palestinian attacker as they stood guard outside the Lions Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem.
The video ends with the message: “What are you waiting for? Rise up and stab.”
MORE

Israel Refuses to Issue Support of US-Cuba Thaw
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:…a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing…” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5)
Fearing backlash from its strongest allies in US Congress, Israel has decided not to issue a statement in support of warming relations between the US and Cuba, Haaretz reported. The decision, announced last Wednesday by senior Israeli officials, comes despite a request from Washington for that support.
Israel has long backed America’s embargo against Cuba in the United Nations, where an annual vote is held on a resolution to end it. Some years, including this past vote in October, Israel has been the sole voice of support on the American side. Israeli officials were surprised, therefore, when the US announced its reconciliation with Cuba without warning.
“They didn’t even give us a few minutes’ notice,” a senior Israeli official told the Israeli paper.
READ MORE

Put Down Your Phones! New Campaign Calls for Return to Family Through Sabbath
“Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” (Exodus 20:11)
A new ad, originally aimed at promoting the values of Jewish tradition, has caused some people to rethink what the value of the Sabbath means to them. While the ad angered some secular Jews across Israel, it was aimed at promoting the idea of familial bonding time as well as reflecting upon a deeper sense of spirituality over the course of the sanctified day.
READ MORE

Childhood in Gaza Under Hamas' Rule
From a young age, children in Gaza are are subjected to Hamas’ oppressive authoritarian rule that deprives them of a real education and teaches them violence and hatred.
WATCH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86PdF6tXh9A

Why is ISIS Popularity Spreading Across the Middle East?
In Iraq, churches are bring converted into torture chambers, and ISIS is growing increasingly popular across the Middle East. What is the mindset of ISIS and why is the Arab world supporting them?
In Iraq, churches are bring converted into torture chambers, and ISIS is growing increasingly popular in Syria and across the Middle East. VOI Arab Affairs Analyst Bassem Eid joins Jeremy Gimpel in-studio to analyze the mindset of ISIS and why the Arab world is supporting them.
Then, Sherkoh Abbas, Chariman of the Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria discusses Kurdish resistance against ISIS, their fight for a national homeland, and a unique appreciation of the Jewish State of Israel.
Plus, Simcha Gluck, an American-born Israeli entrepreneur joins Jeremy Gimpel in-studio to discuss his new book ‘The New Entrepreneurz’ and the magic behind Israeli innovation. Gluck explains how he plans on teaching the world how to create new businesses and bring new ideas to fruition.
LISTEN

Admin Sun 28 Dec 2014, 10:47 pm

US senator Graham threatens to defund UN over Palestine bid
Netanyahu tells visiting Republican lawmaker that Israel will stand firm against effort to impose statehood terms
BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF AND AFP December 27, 2014, 10:08 pm
isiting US Senator Lindsey Graham threatened Saturday to withhold US funding from the UN, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Palestinian Authority, a day after a senior Palestinian official said the PA will push for a UN vote on the Palestinian statehood bid by Monday.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email
and never miss our top stories FREE SIGN UP!
“This is the same PA that joins hands with Hamas, incites constantly against Israel, the same PA is going to try to bring to the UN Security Council a resolution that seeks to impose on us conditions that will undermine our security,” the prime minister charged on Saturday at a press conference in Jerusalem with the Republican senator from South Carolina.
“We will stand firmly and reject such a diktat,” Netanyahu said.
Graham, a staunch pro-Israel senator, expressed support for the PM’s position, declaring that Congress would not “sit back and allow the United Nations to take over the peace process.”
Graham went so far as to say that “any effort by the French, the Jordanians or anyone to avoid direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians over the peace process, anyone who tries to take this to the UN Security Council” will be met with “a violent backlash by the Congress that could include suspending funding to the United Nations. We will not sit back and allow the United Nations to take over the peace process.”
He also said the US Congress “has your back, in a very bipartisan way. The Republican Party now runs the House and the Senate, and things will be a bit different. But one thing will be constant: There will be bipartisan support” for Israel.
VIDEO
Netanyahu also spoke about Iran and tied reports that the Islamic republic developed a new type of drone to the threat of their nuclear program: “Iran today conducted an exercise with a suicide drone. I don’t have to convince you, Senator, that the most important task before us is to prevent this dangerous regime from having nuclear weapons. And I believe that what is required are more sanctions, and stronger sanctions.”
Graham responded that the US Congress would follow Netanyahu’s lead with regard to the ongoing negotiations between the P5+1 and Tehran on reining in Iran’s nuclear program.
“If Iran walks away from the table, sanctions will be re-imposed,” said Graham. “If Iran cheats regarding any deal that we enter to the Iranians, sanctions will be re-imposed. It is important to let the Iranians know that from an American point of view, sanctions are alive and well. So we will be following your counsel and advice,” he told Netanyahu.
“You will see a very vigorous Congress, when it comes to Iran,” Graham went on. “You will see a Congress making sure sanctions are real and will be re-imposed at the drop of a hat. You will see Congress wanting to have a say about any final deal.”
Graham, as chairman of the foreign operations subcommittee of the incoming Senate’s Appropriations Committee, will wield considerable power in foreign policy.
Last month, he told an audience at the inaugural conference of the Israeli American Council. that Republican majority in the Senate will advance a bill that would subject any Iran nuclear deal to congressional review.
Statehood bid
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Friday that the Palestinian Authority will ask the United Nations Security Council to vote on a statehood bid by Monday at the latest.
The bid calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state and an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 lines by 2017. The draft resolution sets a 12-month deadline for wrapping up negotiations on a final settlement. A final peace deal would pave the way to the creation of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as a shared capital, according to the text.
Erekat indicated that some revisions were made to the Jordanian-drafted text but it is not yet clear what items appeared on the finalized version, Israel Radio reported. The document has not been made public yet.
Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator, during a news conference in Ramallah in the West Bank on January 2, 2012 (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90)
Saeb Erekat, chief Palestinian negotiator (photo credit: Issam Rimawi/Flash90/File)
As of last week, France, working with Britain and Germany, was pressing on with a separate text on reviving the peace process, but it was unclear when that effort would yield results or if the Jordanian bid incorporated elements from the trio’s draft.
The Palestinian Authority has refused to postpone the vote until after Israel’s March 17 elections, despite international pressure. Recent reports indicated that Kerry had been pushing for the Palestinians to delay the vote, worrying that it could strengthen the Israeli right wing ahead of election day.
Earlier this week, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned that his administration would “no longer deal” with Israel if the United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a final peace deal fails.
JTA contributed to this report.

Admin Sun 28 Dec 2014, 11:36 am

EU Gives Hamas Green Light to Attack Israel
By: Khaled Abu Toameh
Hours before the EU court’s decision was made public, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar announced that his movement would never recognize Israel, and that Hamas seeks to overthrow the Palestinian Authority and seize control of the West Bank.
The EU court’s decision represents a “severe blow to the Palestinian Authority and Egypt,” according to Palestinian political analyst Raed Abu Dayer.
The EU court’s decision also coincided with a rapprochement between Hamas and Iran. Now, the Iranians and other countries, such as Turkey and Qatar, are likely to interpret the EU court’s decision as a green light to resume financial and military aid, including rockets and missiles, to Hamas — not only to Gaza but to the West Bank as well — to support those Palestinians whose aim it is to eliminate Israel.
Any victory for Hamas, albeit a small and symbolic one, is a victory for the Islamic State, Al-Qaeda, Islamic Jihad, the Muslim Brotherhood and other fundamentalist groups, and causes tremendous damage to those Muslims who are opposed to radical Islam.
READ MORE

Chutzpah Redefined
By: Sarah N. Stern
In September 1993, when Yasser Arafat was recast from the role of “granddaddy of terrorism” to that of “peacemaker,” the Oslo Accords were marketed to the Israeli public and to world Jewry wrapped in the package of “reversibility.” I remember clearly when a friend of mine, a leftist television personality, assured me: “Don’t worry, Sarah. We will be watching Arafat very closely. It all depends on his compliance with our strict guidelines. He has to stop all the incitement and all the terror. It’s only Gaza and Jericho first. If it doesn’t work, we can always go back and retrieve it.”
Not a day goes by without another fiery Palestinian Authority incident of incitement...This hatred has metastasized like a cancer and an entire generation has grown up steeped in it. The horrific result is the vast number of Israelis murdered at the hands of Palestinian terrorists.
This past week Khalil Shikaki from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research conducted a poll which indicated that a full 80 percent of Palestinians support stepping up violent attacks against Israelis, including random stabbings and traffic attacks. Over 86 percent believe that Haram al-Sharif (or the Temple Mount, where Al-Aqsa mosque is located) is in danger.
READ MORE

Cuba and the 'State of Palestine'
By: Shoshana Bryen
They arrest you for having an opinion – any that isn’t theirs. They arrest you for demanding elections; the last thing they want is to know you want different leadership...They have a heavy fist...Cuba or Palestine? Does it matter? No.
They arrest you for having a Facebook page that is out of step, or you don’t have Facebook at all. Demanding accountability, transparency, clean government is certainly grounds for arrest. Reading the wrong books. Talking to the wrong people. Propaganda passing for news, often anti-American. They sponsor terrorism, provide intelligence for terrorism, condone and approve of terrorism. They have a heavy fist.
And yet they are the darlings of Europe and America. They are invited to sit in the halls of democratic institutions. The internal vileness of the regime is overlooked to provide a good photo op, a backhand at an opponent, an increase in the number of countries in good standing in the world.
READ MORE

As Palestinian-State Fest Continues, So Do the Atrocities
By: P. David Hornik
The drift is clear. A Palestinian state is seen as a good thing, the so-called Israeli “occupation” as a bad thing. What actually happens on the ground makes no difference.
There was a flurry of pro-Palestinian-state international activity this week. It basically happened in dizzying succession in the space of one day—Wednesday.
This was also a week in which two Islamic terrorist incidents, one in Australia and one in Pakistan, got some airplay. Seemingly the fact that the leading Palestinian movement is currently Hamas, an Islamic terrorist organization, should put a damper on pro-Palestinian-state activity. But it doesn’t—in the least.
READ MORE

How Western Media Enable Islamic Terrorism
By: Raymond Ibrahim
As the West experiences a rise in the sort of terror attacks that are endemic to the Islamic world—church attacks, sex-slavery and beheadings—it is only natural that the same mainstream media that habitually conceals such atrocities “over there,” especially against Christians and other minorities under Islam.
[T]he level of the [media] grovelling after the tragic and deadly saga in Sydney Australia over the last 24 hours has been astounding.
At the time of writing, the lead story on the BBC website is of course about that very tragedy, in which an Islamist fanatic took a random group hostage in a cafe, ultimately killing two of them.
He did this in the name of Islam. But you wouldn’t get that impression if you started to read the BBC’s lead story, which astoundingly managed to avoid mentioning the words Islam, Islamic, Islamist, Muslim, or any derivations thereof for a full 16 paragraphs. The New York Times, which led by calling the terrorist, Man Haron Monis an “armed man”,
waited until paragraph 11.
READ MORE

Admin Sun 28 Dec 2014, 11:25 am

What if Jesus Were Born Now?
By: Jonathan Feldstein
The recent wave of terrorist incidents that has Israelis looking over their shoulders...overlapping with the holiday season, got me thinking: What if Jesus were born today? As 2014 ends, Israelis have been plagued with war, increased terrorism, and an ongoing incitement of violence and worse.
Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a Jewish mother, lived what we would call today an Orthodox Jewish life, brought offerings to and worshipped at the Temple, affirmed Himself that he was not to replace the law but to fulfill it, and in doing so his lineage was traced back to the Jewish King David.
So what would happen if a young Jewish couple, dressed in clothes that are identifiable as those of Orthodox Jews, were to pass through Bethlehem today? How would they be greeted? Would they be welcomed and given a place to stay if all Bethlehem’s hotels were overbooked?
First of all, on the approach to Bethlehem, they would encounter a sign telling them that as Israelis, it’s illegal and unsafe for them to continue to Area A (under full control of the Palestinian Authority, of which Bethlehem is part according to the 1990s Oslo agreement).
If they proceeded anyway, whether by foot, bicycle, car or donkey—given the current state of affairs—they would likely be met with problems from the get go, including possibly being stoned, firebombed, shot at or lynched. Recent instances of Israeli Jews going into or near other Palestinian Arab communities have played this out.
Yes, the town in which an Orthodox Jewish boy was born a little more than 2,000 years ago has become hostile and inhospitable—and, in fact, dangerous—to Jews today. Yet as much as Jew hatred is common in the region here today, it’s not much more hospitable to Christians. Recently the Pope decried the situation that Christians face from throughout the Islamic Middle East as did the Vicar of Baghdad. Bethlehem is no better.
The 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity by Palestinian Arab terrorists, desecrating the place and the faith, is a distant memory. However, the ideology and thugery behind that remains.
As a result, the town that is not just the birthplace of Jesus but arguably of Christianity, has seen a decrease in its Christian population from 70 percent just decades ago to about 30 percent today. This is not because of Israel’s “occupation” or other problems blamed on Israel, but because life in Bethlehem as a Christian is hostile and inhospitable at best, and even downright dangerous.
Christians are threatened, intimidated and forced to leave. Churches have become de-licensed by the Palestinian Authority and therefore have no legal standing. It’s terribly scary to think that in the birthplace of Christianity, in the coming generations it’s possible for Christians to become extinct.
It’s not surprising that as Christmas is approaching, remarkably Jesus is missing from Bethlehem’s preparation and decoration for the holiday celebrating his birth. According to a Christian Arab friend who spends a good deal of time in Bethlehem and has trouble sharing what’s really going on publicly due to threats against him, Christmas has become so devoid of Jesus there that Muslims celebrate it!
So glaring is Jesus’ absence from Bethlehem this season, one ministry paid to put up a “radical” billboard celebrating Jesus. But they also had to rent a generator and full-time security people because no private companies would provide electricity to light up the sign, and for fear that someone would deface it or burn it down.
What’s behind all of this? How is the situation going from bad to worse? I asked a Christian friend who had spent considerable time in Bethlehem until called in by police and told he was at risk and they couldn’t protect him. He packed and left, and I drove him to my home where he couldn’t be threatened.
First, he explained, the overall problem is the dominance of extremist and intolerant Islam. As a result, most Christians in Bethlehem have adopted and internalized theirdhimi status, that of a “protected” but not equal minority. But he observed those, like him, who don’t toe the party line, or who have the audacity to express their biblical support of Israel, are not protected at all.
Ultimately, it’s the culture that overlays replacement theology with Palestinian-Arab liberation theology that’s anti-Jewish, anti-biblical, anti-Christian and anti-God that is dictating this atmosphere. This denies the foundation of both Judaism and Christianity.
They claim that Jesus was a “Palestinian” and that the Palestinian Arabs—the majority of whom are Muslim—are the heirs of the land and God’s promise to Abraham. With this, they hijack everything sacred and true about God and the Bible.
I live in a town literally across the valley from Bethlehem. I see into Bethlehem from my bedroom window. I have been curious to visit in general, and especially Christian-Arab friends who live there, to show them support. It’s a 10-minute car ride, maybe less. Sadly, for a number of reasons, I have concluded that it’s just not safe, or worth it.
I hear the Islamic call to prayer broadcast five times a day. I also hear church bells and every time I do I utter a silent prayer that they will never go silent. Because the day that Christianity is eradicated from Bethlehem would be bad enough, but it will be a foreboding of worse things to come for us as Israeli Jews.
I guess it’s a good thing my name isn’t Joseph, and I am not looking for a place for myself and my pregnant wife to stay on a cold winter night. Things could get very ugly.
If Jesus were born in Bethlehem today, it’s likely he’d not have lived to do what he did and be crucified at the hand of the Romans. The world would be a very different place. Sadly, with the rise of extremist and intolerant Islam as depicted in Bethlehem and elsewhere, the world is a very different place

Admin Fri 26 Dec 2014, 5:57 pm

Wave of Terror: Border Officer Stabbed, Firebombing Attack Leaves Young Girl Fighting for Life
By Lea Speyer December 26, 2014 , 8:38 am
“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.” (Jeremiah 33:6)
Israeli border policemen stand near the Lions Gate in the old city of Jerusalem. (Photo: Orel Cohen/Flash90)
Two Border Police officers were stabbed outside the Old City of Jerusalem Friday morning in what is the second terror attack in less than 24 hours.
The incident occurred outside the Lion’s Gate in East Jerusalem as Muslim worshippers were leaving the Temple Mount after morning prayers.
The attacker approached one of the officers, aged 19, and stabbed him in the neck. A second officer, 35, came to the aid of his fellow officer and was stabbed in the hand as he struggled to subdue the attacker.
READ MORE

IDF's "Rising Demands" on Use of Drones in Battle
“Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not.” (Isaiah 40:9)
Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), have become quite the fashion for the Israeli military of late, and other armies have taken notice.
The IDF has created more instructional courses for soldiers to learn how to operate drones than any other army in the world and is training an increasing number of cadets in the field. Drone use is on the rise in the IDF as well.
The commander of the Air Force Drone Training Center at Palmahim Base told the Jerusalem Post in a recent interview that they will be “holding more annual courses than ever before, to meet the IDF’s rising demand for the drones.”
READ MORE

Nearly 1 in 3 Israelis Living in Poverty
“And if thy brother be waxen poor, and his means fail with thee; then thou shalt uphold him: as a stranger and a settler shall he live with thee.” (Leviticus 25:35)
A new report on the state of poverty in Israel reveals a more troubling picture than official reports would suggest.
According to the recently published Alternative Poverty Report by the Latet NGO, over 2.5 million Israelis live below the poverty line, including nearly 1 million children. The official report by the National Insurance Institute (NII) last week stated the poverty rate was in decline.
According to the NII, 21.8 percent, or 1,658,200 Israelis, lived in poverty in 2013, including 432,600 families and 756,900 children – a decline from 23.5 percent in 2012. However, Latet uses different metrics to determine poverty, claiming to project a more accurate picture of the struggles of Israelis.
READ MORE

Is Cuba Rapprochement a Bellwether for Obama's Forthcoming Mideast Policy?
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.” (Psalm 32:8)
After being released from prison in Cuba, Alan Gross speaks on the phone with President Barack Obama during his flight back to the U.S. on Dec. 17. (Photo: White House)
By Maayan Jaffe
Jewish-American aid worker Alan Gross arrived home to celebrate Hanukkah after five years in a Cuban prison, prompting the Jewish world to both celebrate and breathe a collective sigh of relief. But analysts say Gross’s humanitarian release and the subsequent U.S.-Cuba prisoner swap have little to do with the prisoners and everything to do with the Obama administration’s final two years—and the reverberations might be felt as far away as the Middle East.
“You could say the president was saving face [by renewing diplomacy with Cuba],” said Reese Erlich, who has been covering Cuba as an international affairs journalist since 1968. “The Obama administration had been under a lot of pressure [about Cuba].”
U.S.-Cuba relations—which are being thawed by a loosening of travel and trade restrictions—have been a stitch in America’s side ever since the U.S. put its first embargo on the Caribbean nation in 1960. Each year from its 46th to 60th sessions, the United Nations General Assembly voted to condemn the American commercial, economic, and financial embargo, with only Israel voting against the condemnation.
Now, with two years left in office and a below-average approval rating (according to Gallup polling), President Barack Obama is “looking for a legacy,” said Washington, DC-based lawyer Robert Muse, who has decades of experience in U.S. laws relating to Cuba.
READ MORE

At Christmas, Displaced Iraqi Christians Face Ambiguous Future
By JNS December 26, 2014 , 7:00 am
“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble.” (Psalm 107:2Displaced Christians in cramped living conditions in Erbil, the largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan. (Photo: ACN)
By Sean SavageAs Christians throughout the world gather with family and friends to celebrate the Christmas holiday and the New Year, Christians in the Middle East are under the threat of extinction. The past year was arguably one of the worst in recent memory for many members of the region’s beleaguered Christian minority, as hundreds of thousands were forced by the Islamic State terror group to flee their homes in what is being described as a genocide. “It is genocide when you take over an area and strip people of their homes [and] their lives, and send them to an ambiguous future,” said Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, the largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan.Warda, an Iraqi-born Christian who presides over 200,000 Christians and heads up church-run relief efforts in the region, spoke with JNS.org on Christmas Eve from his post just miles from the frontline of the battle against Islamic State.
READ MORE
ISIS Sex Slaves Driven to Suicide
“Cursed be the day wherein I was born; the day wherein my mother bore me, let it not be blessed.” (Jeremiah 20:14)
Islamic State practice of abducting girls and forcing them into sexual slavery has driven some to suicide.
Reports of IS abuses have been pouring into Western media for months now, each a fresh horror. IS has seized control over wide swathes of land in Iraq and Syria, capturing those it considers non-believers and killing or enslaving them.
One group that has been particularly targeted are Yazidis, a religious minority from Iraq. On Tuesday, Amnesty International called the IS actions ethnic cleansing.
READ MORE

New York Times Editorial Board:Unfair to Israel Says Media Watchdog
The NYT editorial board ignores the Israeli narrative and expresses opinions not from an outsiders perspective, but from within. Yarden Frankel of HonestReporting weighs in.
Yarden Frankel of HonestReporting joins VOI’s Josh Hasten in studio to discuss the failings of a recent New York Times editorial titled ‘The Embattled Dream of Palestine.’ Frankl is adamant that the editorial ignores the Israeli narrative. Most troubling, Frankl points out that the opinions expressed are not from an outside contributor but are representative of New York Times editorial policy.
LISTEN

Admin Wed 24 Dec 2014, 8:01 pm

Lost & Hidden Jews Around the World Share the Light of Hanukkah
By Raphael Poch December 24, 2014 , 8:00 am
“A great miracle occurred here.” (Traditional Hanukkah Song)
Lost and hidden Jews all over the world, in places as remote as El Salvador, India and Poland, are reconnecting to their Jewish roots and rekindling the Jewish spark in their souls.
On one of the most widely celebrated Jewish holidays of the yearly cycle, the lost Jews are reviving their spiritual connection to Judaism with the help of the Israel Returns organization.
“We remember the miracles that took place when a few Jewish soldiers overcame the mighty enemy armies, and we see spiritual miracles today as lost and hidden Jews find their way home,” a post by the organization explains.
READ MORE

Who Were the Maccabees?
“For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4)
You’ve probably been hearing about the Maccabees since you were kid, and if you’re like me, there’s a good chance that the way you imagined them in preschool is how you still picture them: A troop of five loyal brothers, lean, bronzed, and bearded, and their aged but still vivacious father, swords on their hips, spears in their hands, taking down an entire army of enemy soldiers piece by piece by being bold and sneaky, like Benjamin Martin in “The Patriot.”
The real story of the Maccabees is not quite as action-movie-esque, but still quite interesting and exciting.
READ MORE
IDF Soldiers in Hebron Stunned at Outpouring of Love & Support Over Hanukkah (PHOTOS & VIDEO)
“For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing praises to your name.” (2 Samuel 22:50)
Over Hanukkah, LIBI USA teamed up with the 4 the IDF organization to say thanks to soldiers stationed in Hebron in a special way.
With winter in full swing in Israel and nights that can reach frigid temperatures, over 200 soldiers and border guards were given sets of much needed winter gear including warm socks, thermals, pants, shirts, gloves, hats and neck warmers, all in army green.
In addition, the soldiers feasted on sufganiyot, traditional Hanukkah doughnuts, in a surprise holiday party thrown in their honor
READ VIEW MORE HERE

A Kuwaiti Muslim’s Journey to Chanukah
“Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” (Psalm 22:3)
When Mark Halawa lights his family’s menorah during Chanukah, it is not without recalling his unique journey as a Kuwaiti Muslim to Orthodox Judaism. The 38-year-old businessman, who lives today in Jerusalem with his wife and family, keeping Shabbat and kosher dietary laws, began his journey 12 years ago in Canada.
“I was born to a secular Muslim family in Kuwait,” Halawa told Tazpit News Agency in an exclusive interview. “We didn’t strictly follow Muslim traditions, but I would accompany my grandfather, who was religious, to the local mosque.”
Halawa spent a lot of time with his grandparents and knew early on that his maternal grandmother came from a Jewish family. “We knew that our grandmother’s family was Jewish but it never meant anything more,” said Halawa.
READ MORE

Holiday Message from the Mayor of Sderot: “Israel Will Become Stronger”
“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” (Psalm 17:8)
Last week, Israel365 and the Ayalim organization, presented Mayor of Sderot Alon Davidi with over 8,000 signatures from around the world, standing in solidarity with the city during Hanukkah.
Located less than a mile from the border of Gaza, the people of Sderot are fulfilling the biblical commandment “to possess and settle the land” despite danger to their life.
READ MORE

The IDF Lights Up Hanukkah for Foster Children in Israel
“I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them.” (Isaiah 42:16)
Bringing light to Israel’s foster children who have been through many troubled homes is not always something that is easy to do.
The IDF is used to tackling problems that are not easy, and this year, for the second time in a row, the IDF will team up with The Summit Institute to spread some light and joy this Hanukkah to foster children in Israel.
READ MORE

Remains of Ancient Olive Oil Discovered in the Lower Galilee (PHOTOS)
“Then Your children entered the shrine of Your House, cleansed Your Temple, purified Your Sanctuary, kindled lights in Your holy courtyards…” (Al Hanisim Hanukkah Prayer)
The earliest evidence for the use of olive oil in the country, and possibly the entire Middle East, was revealed at an antiquities site in the Lower Galilee. Researchers from the Israel Antiquities Authority contend that olive oil was already being used in the country 8,000 years ago in a recently published article appearing in the Israel Journal of Plant Sciences.
READ MORE

Nourishing the Roots of Life in Israel (VIDEO)
“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
READ VIEW MORE HERE

IDF Soldier Seriously Injured in Terrorist Sniper Attack
By Lea Speyer December 24, 2014 , 12:39 pm
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1)
IDF reserve commanders train for service at Gaza’s border. (Photo: IDF)
Terrorists opened fire on an IDF patrol late Wednesday morning along the southern border with the Gaza Strip, the IDF confirmed.
The patrol was on the Israeli side of the border near Kibbutz Kissufim when it came under machine gun and sniper fire. An IDF soldier was seriously injured in the attack.
Reports indicate that heavy fire was exchanged between the two sides, with an IDF tank firing at targets eat of Khan Younis. Israeli Air Force warplanes also struck targets in Gaza.
“In response to the firing at our forces who were east of the fence in the southern Gaza Strip, we carried out immediate attacks against the relevant targets,” the IDF said in a statement.
Israel Radio reported that the commander of Hamas’s surveillance unit, who was operating in the area, was killed by the IDF.
Tayseer al-Ismary, 33, died after being hit with a bullet. Hamas sources said that al-Ismary was part of Hamas’s armed military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
READ MORE

Presbyterian Church USA Voted on Erasing "Israel" from Prayer Books
“Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.” (Proverbs 10:12)
As if actively supporting a boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel wasn’t enough, turns out the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) considered banning the word “Israel” from its prayers.
In a report on the Algemeiner, a resolution was presented by ultimately rejected by the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church USA to “distinguish between the biblical terms that refer to the ancient land of Israel and the modern political State of Israel.”
To carry out such a plan, the resolution called for the development of “educational materials, with the help of our Presbyterian seminaries, for clergy, church musicians, worship leaders, and Christian educators regarding ‘ancient Israel/modern Israel’ distinction.”
The impetus behind the proposal to completely erase Israel from prayers was caused by “a section of hymns under the unfortunate heading: ‘God’s covenant with Israel.’”
READ WATCH CLICK HERE

WikiLeaks Strikes Again! CIA "How To Guide" on Sneaking Past Ben Gurion Security
“Curse not the king, no, not in thy thought, and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber; for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” (Ecclesiastes 10:20)
WikiLeaks strikes again: a CIA document dated September 2011 has been leaked, detailing how to get past security at a number of international airports, including Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport.
The document, entitled “CIA Assessment on Surviving Secondary Screening at Airports While Maintaining Cover”, is aimed at CIA agents and undercover operatives travelling abroad on the job.
Secondary screening refers to the more detailed inspection carried out on anyone who does not pass muster at the initial screening by airport security. The pamphlet calls it a “potentially lengthy and detailed” process which “can significantly stress the identities of operational travelers…
“Referral to secondary screening can occur if irregularities or questions arise during any stage of airport processing — immigration, customs, or security — and regardless of whether the traveler is arriving, in transit, or departing. Officials may also randomly select travelers.”
READ MORE

Sponsored content