Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Revolutionary Guard threatens to crush any further protests
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Iran's Revolutionary Guard on Monday threatened to crush any further opposition protests over the disputed presidential election and warned demonstrators to prepare for a "revolutionary confrontation" if they take to the streets again.

The country's most powerful military force ordered demonstrators to "end the sabotage and rioting activities" and said their resistance was a "conspiracy" against Iran.

A statement posted on the Guard's Web site warned protesters to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces."

Netanyahu believes in peace with Iran
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

  There is no conflict between the Iranian and Israeli people, and under a different regime, peaceful relations could be restored, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the German daily Bild.

In an interview published on Monday, the premier was careful not to endorse reformist presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. When asked if a victory for the Iranian opposition leader would be "good news" for Israel, Netanyahu replied that "a regime that stops crushing dissent, stops supporting terror and stops trying to build nuclear weapons," would be a welcome outcome.

"It would mean a regime that stops denying the Holocaust and stops threatening Israel with destruction. There is no conflict between the Iranian people and the people of Israel, and under a different regime the friendly relations that prevailed in the past could be restored," Netanyahu added.

"I think the true nature of the Iranian regime has been unmasked," the premier said of the recent unfolding events in the Islamic Republic. "This regime is not only a great threat to our existence, but also to moderate Arab countries, the safety of Europe and to the peace in the world."

"If they had a free choice," Netanyahu added in reference to the Iranians, "I have no doubt they would have a different government. What we have seen in Iran is a powerful desire on the part of the Iranian people to be free."

In the interview conducted in Jerusalem, Netanyahu stressed Israel's continuous aspiration for peace, calling it "our hope" and pointing out that agreements had been reached with Jordan and Egypt.

"But we have to ask the question why we have not achieved comprehensive peace while our people are praying for this every day, and while Israel has made concessions that no other country has made for peace," Netanyahu continued "And the honest answer is that there is still a persistent refusal in some quarters of the Arab world and beyond it to recognize the right of a Jewish state to exist here in our ancestral homeland."

"Once this refusal is removed - the door to permanent peace will surely be opened," he ascertained, adding that all other problems, no matter how difficult they might seem, would be solvable.

Islamic Society reaches out to other faiths
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsIndystar.com - Robert King
Categories: Today's Headlines;Rick Warren;One World Church

D.C. convention to feature popular pastor; area group hopes Obama will attend

The Plainfield-based Islamic Society of North America is holding out hope President Barack Obama might make an appearance at its convention this year in Washington, D.C., over the Fourth of July weekend.

But even if Obama doesn't show, the nation's largest Muslim organization already landed a high-profile guest: Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren.

He will join a panel discussion that is the main session of a four-day convention expected to attract 40,000 Muslims from across the country. Warren will be joined on the panel by Islamic Society President Ingrid Mattson and noted Muslim scholar Hamza Yusuf, among others.

"We are living in a pluralist country. It is critical for us to have positive relationships with people of other faiths," said Sayyid Syeed, a longtime leader with the Islamic Society who focuses on building the organization's interfaith ties. "(Warren) realizes that it is equally critical for him to work with people of other faiths."

Syeed invited Warren during a gathering they attended last year at the White House. Since then, the Islamic Society has introduced Warren to Muslim groups in California, where his 20,000-member church is based.

Warren was unavailable for an interview, said Kristin Cole of A. Larry Ross Communications, which handles his media contacts.

While an appearance by the nation's most prominent evangelical pastor at a gathering of its oldest Muslim organization might seem an unlikely pairing, scholars and observers from various perspectives say it makes sense.

"ISNA is very interested in extending their connections with Protestant groups," said Rafia Zakaria, an Indiana lawyer and associate editor at altmuslim.com, a Web site that looks at Muslim issues. "Having a figure as high profile as him gives them legitimacy to extend those kinds of alliances with church groups that have a significant amount of power in the United States."

In the past two years, the Islamic Society has forged friendships with the Union of Reform Judaism and the American Baptist Churches, USA.

Is Obama losing his luster?
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsWND - Jerome R. Corsi
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

President's approval index hits negative digits for 1st time

For the first time in his administration, according to the Rasmussen daily presidential tracking poll, more people strongly disapprove of the job President Barack Obama is doing than strongly approve, giving Obama a presidential approval index of -2, the lowest rating to date and the first time the index has fallen below zero.

According to Rasmussen's telephone surveys, 32 percent of the nation's voters now strongly approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as president, while 34 percent strongly disapprove.

Iran's Guardian Council admits to election irregularities
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsEarth Times
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Tehran - Iran's powerful Guardian Council said Sunday there were some irregularities in the June 12 presidential election, which has been widely disputed and triggered bloody street protests. The Guardian Council admitted that the number of votes collected in 50 cities was more than the number of eligible voters, the council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) channel. He said this amounted to about 3 million questionable votes, but added that "it has yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results."

Ancient Holy Land quarry uncovered, team says
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsReuters
Categories: Today's Headlines;Archaeology;The Nation Of Israel

JERUSALEM  - Israeli archaeologists said on Sunday they had discovered the largest underground quarry in the Holy Land, dating back to the time of Jesus and containing Christian symbols etched into the walls.

The 4,000-square-meter (yard) cavern, buried 10 meters beneath the desert near the ancient West Bank city of Jericho, was dug about 2,000 years ago and was in use for about half a millennium, archaeologist Adam Zertal said.

The cave's main hall, about three meters tall, is supported by some 20 stone pillars and has a variety of symbols etched into the walls, including crosses dating back to about AD 350 and Roman legionary emblems.

Zertal said his team from Haifa University first discovered the site three months ago while they were putting together a detailed archaeological map of the area.

"We saw a hole in the ground ... and went down and discovered this giant cavern, originally a quarry, built uniquely with hall after hall," Zertal told Reuters.

The team believes the stones were used in buildings and churches in the region, but Zertal said further research was necessary.

The site may eventually be turned into one of the largest underground tourist sites in the Holy Land, he said.

Analysis: Most Arabs won't miss Iran's ayatollahs if they fall
Jun 22nd, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Many Arab governments, including the Palestinian Authority, are quietly hoping that the latest crisis in Iran will mark the beginning of the end of the radical regime of the ayatollahs and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Frustrated with Teheran's long-standing policy of meddling in their internal affairs, representatives of the relatively moderate, pro-Western governments in Ramallah, Cairo, Beirut, Riyadh and other Arab capitals are hoping that regime change in Iran would undermine radical Islamic groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbullah.

These proxy groups, together with Syria - Iran's strategic ally and facilitator in the Arab world - have long been viewed as a main source of instability in the Middle East.

Yet the Arab heads of state and their government officials appear to be doing their utmost to downplay the Iran crisis. They are obviously concerned that their constituents would follow suit and demand reforms and free elections.

Invoking Palestinian terminology, Arab editors and columnists have been describing the anti-government protests in Iran as an intifada.

"The pro-Iran camp in the Arab world is very worried," said Abdel Rahman Rashed in an op-ed in the London-based Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. "It's natural for Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other pro-Iran groups to be afraid because their existence depends solely on the radical regime in Iran. If anything bad happens to this regime, they will suffer even more."

Rashed hailed the Iranian protesters for opposing their government's policy of funding Hizbullah and Hamas at a time when the economy in Iran is not doing well.

A number of Palestinian officials in Ramallah said they expected the collapse of the regime in Iran to have a "positive" impact on what's happening in the PA-controlled territories. "The Hamas leaders must be in a state of panic," said an adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas. "Without Iran's support, Hamas couldn't have staged a coup in the Gaza Strip two years ago."

The official claimed that the Iranian government had given Hamas more than $150 million in the past three years, enabling the radical Islamic movement to maintain its tight grip on the Gaza Strip. He said that more than 80% of Hamas's weapons come from the Iranians.

"Ahmadinejad and the Ayatollahs have long been working hard to export their radical Shi'ite ideology to Palestine," said another PA official in Ramallah. "We will be more than happy to see the regime in Teheran disappear, together with Hamas and Islamic Jihad."

But there is also concern in Ramallah that the crisis would force US President Barack Obama to focus on Iran rather than the Israeli-Arab conflict.

The "intifada" in Iran erupted just when it seemed that the issues of West Bank settlements and the two-state solution had been placed, thanks to the Obama administration, at the top of the world's agenda.

Unlike former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, Ahmadinejad never succeeded in winning the hearts and minds of the Palestinian masses despite his fiery rhetoric and threats to eliminate Israel.

Teheran's open support for Hamas in the power struggle with Fatah, as well as its continued attempts to undermine the relatively moderate regimes in Egypt, Jordan and the Gulf countries, have alienated many Palestinians. Echoing these sentiments, Hafez Barghouti, editor of the PA-funded Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, held Teheran responsible for the ongoing sharp differences between Hamas and Fatah.

Egyptian mediation efforts between the two rival parties have failed because of the Iranians, who have turned Khaled Mashaal into another ayatollah, he said, referring sarcastically to the Syrian-based Hamas leader as "Ayatollah Mashalati."

Like many of his colleagues throughout the Arab world, Barghouti expected the crisis in Iran to escalate, resulting ultimately in the downfall of the ayatollahs. "The winds of change will eventually reach the top brass of the Iranian regime," remarked Palestinian columnist Muwafak Matar. "What's happening there is more than a power struggle in the regime. It could be the beginning of a new era of awareness among the young people, who are aspiring for stability and rejoining the international community. They want a new Iran that does not interfere in the internal affairs of its neighbors or countries that are far away."

Noting that Teheran had been meddling in the internal affairs of the Palestinians, Lebanese and Egyptians over the past few years, another Palestinian columnist, Rajab Abu Siriyyeh, said he did not rule out the possibility that Obama's conciliatory approach to the Arabs and Muslims could have been one of the main reasons why tens of thousands of Iranians decided to take to the streets.

"They see the last election as an opportunity for real change in Iran," he said. "Ahmadinejad's policies have strained relations between his country and the Arab countries. We saw how Teheran recently dispatched a Hizbullah cell to attack Egypt."

Abu Siriyyeh said that the Arab world, which is worried about Iran's territorial ambitions in the Middle East, would not tolerate another four years of Ahmadinejad's rule.

"The Arab countries will benefit in many aspects from the collapse of the current regime in Iran," said Mohammed Husseini, secretary-general of the Arabic-Islamic Council in Lebanon. "The demise of the regime will remove a real threat to Arab national security and put an end to Teheran's meddling in the internal affairs of others."

Husseini voiced hope that the next regime in Iran would learn from the mistakes of its predecessors and refrain from "sticking its nose" into the Arab people's affairs. He said that Iran's proxy groups in the Arab world will then realize that they had made a "huge mistake" by placing Teheran's interests above the interests of their own people.