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When the wicked rule
Jul 31st, 2009
CommentaryWND David Welch
Categories: Exhortation;Warning

Are you mourning yet over the spiritual, moral, cultural and political direction of our nation?

"When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn." (Proverbs 29:2)

Why do you suppose the people mourn – literally in "physical or mental distress" – when the wicked rule, as Scripture describes? Renowned biblical commentator Matthew Henry wrote about this passage that:

The people will have cause to rejoice or mourn according as their rulers are righteous or wicked; for, if the righteous be in authority, sin will be punished and restrained, religion and virtue will be supported and kept in reputation; but, if the wicked get power in their hands, wickedness will abound, religion and religious people will be persecuted, and so the ends of government will be perverted.

Wicked rulers reject God, embrace evil and impose theft, death and destruction upon the people.

Sounding familiar?

The latest in governmental wickedness gone wild is the 63-28 passage in the U.S. Senate of S. 909, the "Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act", although its service as a gateway to oppression of freedom of speech and religion is only the secondary effect. Since all law is "legislating morality" and establishing what We the People collectively determine as the standard of right and wrong, this legislation if signed into law will take us to new depths of depravity.

I refer specifically to the inclusion of "actual or perceived … gender, sexual orientation, gender identity. …" (emphasis added) Also notice the inclusion of both gender and "gender identity" in addition to "sexual orientation." For the first time in federal criminal law we have not only codified the official acceptance and protection of any and every possible form of sexual deviancy, but have assured that there can be no firm definition.

A federal "hate crimes" bill in and of itself is just plain bad law from biblical, constitutional and criminal-justice perspectives. As John Whitehead, constitutional attorney and president of the Rutherford Institute states, "Hate crime legislation on the whole is riddled with problems – and that was the case even before protections for sexual orientation were included." His reasons include:

• First, hate crime laws are shortsighted in that they favor a particular class of individuals for protection and seek to punish certain prejudices.
  
  
• Second, the ramifications go far beyond the intended purpose of dissuading acts of violence against a protected class to actually chilling free speech.
  
  
• Third, this expanded hate crime law creates a whole new class of investigative techniques by government agents and the police.

Anything other than equal penalties for equal crimes is a perversion of justice and creates favored classes of citizens, the opposite of what hate crimes proponents claim to be their objective.

The "adding insult to injury" element is that a major milestone of the "gay rights" movement for 30 years will have been achieved by making sexual behavior a "suspect class" or in more common lingo, granting it minority status. Their goal has been no secret, their strategy has been incredibly effective, and, perhaps most importantly for their success, their chief opposition has been neutralized.

That, of course, would be us – We, the Church.

The theological liberalism of the mainline denominations, the trend to socialism and "feel good" teaching of major evangelical pastors, institutions and publications, as well as the politics" is a distraction to the church" nonsense of even most conservative churches have created this perfect storm.

Legitimately caring, concerned and conservative Christians of any denomination and ethnic background are indeed approaching "physical or mental distress" over the rapid and rabid imposition of ungodly, wicked laws and policies by our current elected federal leadership. What we have to recognize is that just as surely as the sun rises in the east, ungodly lawmakers produce ungodly laws.

We have two effective long-term political solutions: change the hearts and minds of the lawmakers by spiritual and moral regeneration through faith in Jesus Christ, or replace the lawmakers – the "rulers" – with those who are already on that Transformation Road.

We do both by having tens of thousands of local churches, led by their pastors, effectively and consistently engaged in political awareness, education and action to promote God's priorities. This transcends the politics of personal, partisan, ethnic or any other thinking that violates His standards.

Our "mourning" should be fostered by hearts broken with the recognition of our own disobedience and our rejoicing should be inspired in that we not only serve a God of mercy and grace but that we still have the means within our hands to remove the wicked rulers and restore His righteousness. That is, if we love Him, love our families, care for the oppressed and have the will to do so.

Art's Commentary.....The above article is a good assessment of our situation, however I believe the solution is faulty. We cannot bring lasting change to our society in the area of morality and righteousness through lobbying and politics. We have seen 50 years of such attempts without any real, lasting effect. It is the very essence of New Evangelicalism to bring about change by external methods. This is contary to what God's Word calls for, we are called to preach repentance. Righteousness can only come to a nation through a recognition of sin,  a turning away from sin and a turning back to God. This process is an individual matter, it only has a national effect as a large number of people experience this revival in their souls.

Jeremiah tells us that there came a time in Israel when the hearts of the people were hardened by sin and rebellion against God, just like our own day. God withdrew His mercy from Israel and all that was left to Israel at that time was judgment. God said to Jeremiah, "...Pray not for thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee," Jer. 7:16.  Whether that is the case in America and Canada today we cannot be sure, however the problem is sin and rebellion against God. The solution is not a change of government policy, the solution is found in genuine spiritual revival. It is with God we have to do, not governments. It is the essence of New Evangelicalism to try to relate to the world instead of obeying God's Word and crying out against the world and its sin. We are not here to change society, we are here to bring the message of God's Word to a lost and rebellious world.

THE OLD MAN. (Ephesians 4:22)
Jul 31st, 2009
Morning MeditationF. B. Meyer
Categories: Meditation;Inspirational;Book Study

The old man is the aggregate of habits and methods of life, which marked us before conversion. The phrase describes the impression which we produced as men and women upon our fellows. What we were wont to be, and say, and do. That form of character and life which was ours before the great change operated through faith in Jesus.

It is called the old man, as if there were but one, because the habits and tastes, the thoughts and acts of men, before conversion, have much in common. There is not much to choose between them. It is one evil nature; one likeness to fallen Adam; one type of evil, though its forms are slightly modified in different temperaments and by special circumstances.

It is under the control of deceitful lusts. In other words, it is shaped by the passionate desires which have their origin in the strong natural tendencies of our being. These were given us by God to be the motive-forces of our nature, but not to rule. For when once they are permitted to usurp this position, corruption ensues, and the nature rots piecemeal before their insidious action --as the body of the leper beneath the living death that eats away his flesh. Ah, deceitful lusts! promising liberty, and happiness, and joy, but resembling the Syren sisters, whose upper form was fair, but whose lower extremities were foul; whilst whose sweet songs allured the unwary mariner only to ruin.

We must not defer this "putting off." The tense indicates the sudden resolve of the will, inspired and empowered by the Holy Spirit to be no longer under the dominion of these terrible passions. Once and for ever let us divest ourselves of them; as the beggar his rags, or as Lazarus the cerements of death.

The Islamic Movement in Israel says that seminars on the Jewish temple are a danger to the Islamic holy site
Jul 31st, 2009
News UpdateJimmy DeYoung
Categories: Jimmy DeYoung News

Islamic movement spokesman Zahi Nujidat says seminars offered by a Jewish organization on the third Temple endangers the al Aqsa Mosque, a holy site for the Islamic world.

This three-part seminar held throughout Israel with tens of thousands in attendance, included a virtual tour of the Temple Mount, an explanation of the daily Temple life as well as a job description for the kohanim, the priests. The Islamic spokesman said the seminars are a serious threat and a drastic move toward the establishment of a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in place of al Aqsa Mosque which is the third holiest site in Islam.

Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News

The Islamic outcry over seminars on the third Temple, being attended by tens of thousands of Jews in Israel, is a precursor to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy

An ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement has been holding seminars on the third Jewish Temple that have angered the Islamic movement in Israel who claims these seminars present a danger to their Islamic holy site, the al Aqsa Mosque. Al Aqsa is the third holiest site in Islam, while at the same time it is the holiest site in Judaism and the location of the next Jewish Temple that is being prepared for right now. Both Islam and Judaism say they cannot share the Temple Mount. Only one religion can control the worship on this sacred piece of real estate; therefore, there will be a conflict over this site as was foretold by the ancient Jewish prophets.

Zechariah wrote 2,500 years ago that the Temple Mount would become intoxicating to those who control this spot and it would be a burdensome weight, Zechariah 12:2-3. The Psalmist wrote that the Lord has chosen this spot to dwell among the Jewish people forever, Psalm 132:13-14. Jesus will come to build His Temple on the Temple Mount, Zechariah 6:12, just after the Antichrist has built a Temple there and desecrated it, Daniel 9:27.

Conflict over the Temple Mount and a coming Temple does indeed set the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.

Temple Altar Construction Begins on Day of Destruction
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsIsraelNN - Yehudah Lev Kay
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The Temple Institute began work on the sacrificial altar Thursday, Tisha B’av, the day the Second Temple was destroyed almost 2,000 years ago.

The Temple Institute has already built several of the Temple vessels such as the Ark and the menorah, and has now embarked on an ambitious project to build the altar, which will ultimately measure 3 meters wide by 3 meters long and 2 meters tall.

During Thursday’s ceremony, which took place in Mitzpe Yericho just east of Jerusalem, the Temple Institute laid the cornerstone for the altar and demonstrated how tar will be used to cement the stones together. The Institute plans on bringing the altar to its proper place on the Temple Mount when the Temple is rebuilt.

“Today, Tisha B’av, is not just a time to mourn the destruction of the Temple,” said Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, the head of the Temple Institute. “It is also a time to build.”

Rabbi Ariel thanked the more than 100 people who came to the event despite their fasting for Tisha B’Av, and despite the hot weather. The main force behind the construction of the altar, Yonaton Tzadok, was also on hand to explain why its stones were taken straight from the Dead Sea.

“The altar is supposed to represent going back to our roots, to the time of creation when everything was pure,” he said. “We took rocks from the Dead Sea, where it is likely that they were never touched by human hands.”

During the ceremony, many people who came to watch were surprised when they were invited to take part and pour tar onto the cornerstones. Rabbi Ariel first asked if there were any Kohanim (priests) in the crowd, and asked them start. When a woman requested to join in, Rabbi Ariel said "of course" and emphasized that women are commanded to build the Temple as well.

With the sun setting, Tzadok asked for volunteers to come back another day to help build the altar. “Carrying rocks and pouring tar is a lot of work,” he said. “We could use a few hundred people to help.”

Obama Hit Man Emanuel Splitting US American Jewey
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Tzvi Ben Gadalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has denied calling White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior Obama advisor David Axelrod “self-hating Jews." The alleged use of that term is particularly timely as Jews mourn on Thursday the destruction of the First and Second Holy Temples; Judaism teaches that “causeless hatred” among Jews was the reason for the fall of the Second Temple.

Whether or not the Prime Minister used the term, increasing criticism by American Jews of U.S. President Barack Obama signals a split in the American Jewish community.

The trigger for the growing crisis between Israel and the U.S., and among American Jews, is the issue of “settlements,” which President Obama labeled as “illegitimate” in his speech in Cairo nearly two months ago. He later included Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem as part of the “settlement” label.

President Obama revealed this week that his White House advisor Rahm Emanuel, whose father was an Israeli and part of the underground resistance movement under the British Mandate, tells him everything he needs to know about Israel.

Emanuel also is the man who choreographed the handshake between former President Bill Clinton, former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin and Yasser Arafat on the White House lawn.

He has pushed the president into a head-on collision with the Netanyahu government, but there is a growing opinion that he has also left the president out on a limb. Emanuel’s strategy was to demonstrate that the pro-Israel lobby American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) no longer speaks for American Jewry.

Mondoweis Blogger Philip Weis, who continually attacks a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem, wrote last month, “Obama's game is to defeat the Israel lobby from within. He could not defeat the lobby from outside it…. But now he is cracking it like a nut, and counting on Jews to do the cracking.”

That strategy has turned into a wall of opposition, both in Israel, where the president’s popularity rating is near-zero, in the U.S. where Emanuel has simply ignored opposing views of major Jewish organizations, and in the normally anti-settlement American press.

Washington Post vs. Obama

The liberal and highly influential Washington Post has criticized President Obama on his policy towards Israel, and an editorial on Thursday went even further. Under the title “Tough on Israel - Why: President Obama's battle against Jewish settlements could prove self-defeating,” the newspaper’s editors wrote:

“One of the more striking results of the Obama administration's first six months is that only one country has worse relations with the United States than it did in January: Israel. The new administration has pushed a reset button with Russia and sent new ambassadors to Syria and Venezuela; it has offered olive branches to Cuba and Burma. But for nearly three months it has been locked in a public confrontation with Israel over Jewish housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank.”

The editorial criticized the president for his “absolutist demand” for a freeze on all building for Jews in Judea and Samaria and eastern Jerusalem. “Palestinian and Arab leaders who had accepted previous compromises immediately hardened their positions; they also balked at delivering the ‘confidence-building’ concessions to Israel that the administration seeks. Israeli public opinion, which normally leans against the settler movement, has rallied behind Mr. Netanyahu.”

The newspaper warned that any compromise by President Obama may leave him “diminished among both Israelis and Arabs.”

The turning point against President Obama may have been the meeting in the White House earlier this month with American Jewish leaders. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations requested a discussion with President Obama, but Emanuel decided who would attend.

He used the opportunity to attempt to create an impression of solid support for President Obama and show off the relative new J Street lobby. Unlike AIPAC, it is active politically and endorsed and campaigned for Congressional candidates who fit their agenda, which includes Israel’s surrendering all of Judea and Samaria and parts of Jerusalem that were restored to the Jewish State in the 1967 Six-Day War.

At the same time, he excluded National Council of Young Israel (NCYI) and the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), both of which support a Jewish presence in all of Israel.

The latest confrontation on a new project for Jews in eastern Jerusalem prompted Alan Solow, chairman of the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, to state this week, "Hundreds of Arab families have moved into Jewish neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the same right should be accorded to Jewish residents to live wherever they choose in Jerusalem. No government of Israel has or can pursue a discriminatory policy that would prevent the legitimate presence of Jews in any area of the capital."

In response, five leftist groups, including Americans for Peace Now and J Street, criticized supporters of Jews’ rights to build in the area. It added, “Unilateral actions that inflame tensions, impair negotiations and make the ultimate resolution of issues surrounding Jerusalem more difficult are unhelpful and should be avoided at this particularly sensitive moment."

While Emanuel is trying to strengthen his position, he faces another challenge on the Obama administration’s health plan. Emanuel’s brother Dr. Ezekiel Emmanuel is Obama’s “health czar,” and the plan is being widely panned in American media, leaving the White House Chief of Staff with two potential failures for the President.

Obama 'like Romans who destroyed Jewish Temples'
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsWND _ Aaron Klein
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Jews read Lamentations at U.S. consulate on religion's saddest day

JERUSALEM – Marking the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, about a thousand Jewish protesters today read the biblical book of Lamentations in front of the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem to protest against the Obama administration's demand to freeze Jewish construction in eastern sections of the city.

Tonight marks the fasting day of Tisha B'Av, or the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av. It commemorates a series of tragedies that befell the Jewish people all on the same day, most significantly the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, which occurred about 656 years apart on the same day. Jewish tradition calls for the reading of Lamentations.

"The Obama administration is following in the footsteps of Rome. He is trying to do what the Romans did, passing anti-Jewish decrees at the time of the destruction of the Temple," Nadia Matar, the protest organizer, told WND.

Matar told WND her group, Women in Green, a popular nationalist organization, decided to recite the Lamentations outside the U.S. consulate this year "because the pressure of the world is once again against us, especially from Obama."

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad, who addressed the crowds at the protest, exclaimed, "If Obama is ready to sacrifice Israel for his interests in the Muslim world, we are here to tell him this is against our interests. We will not commit suicide to please Obama."

Speaking to WND, Eldad added, "I suggested to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tonight to understand that if he will surrender to Obama's pressure he will lose his cabinet. Netanyahu must not take American dictations."

Both male and female protesters sat down on a lawn across from the U.S. consulate, many brandishing Israeli flags, for the reading of Lamentations. Afterwards, the groups, protected by Israeli police, marched around Jerusalem's Old City walls, concluding the protest just adjacent to the Temple Mount.

"We surrounded the Old City walls like a bride goes around her groom at the marriage canopy (during a Jewish wedding) and the couple pledge allegiance to each other," Matar told WND.

"We are married to the land of Israel and the Temple Mount and Jerusalem, and we are not ever going to give it up," she said.

The Obama administration recently demanded Israel halt all Jewish settlement activity in eastern Jerusalem and the strategic West Bank – areas the Palestinians claim for a state. The U.S. demand includes construction for what is known as natural growth, or accommodating for growth of the existing Jewish population in the areas in question.

Israeli leaders accuse Obama of abrogating a deal made by President Bush to allow for natural growth.

The deal was forged just prior to Israel's 2005 retreat from the Gaza Strip. It was confirmed by Sharon aide Dov Weissglas in 2005 and in several recently U.S. newspaper columns by Elliott Abrams, a former deputy national security adviser to Bush who reportedly negotiated the arrangement. The deal was in line with an official letter from Bush the year before stating Israel cannot be expected to withdraw from the entire West Bank and that the Jewish state would retain major settlement blocs there.

Aside from the destruction of the Jewish Temples, a remarkably large number of massive calamities befell the Jewish people on Tisha B'Av. Jewish rebellion leader Bar Kokhba's famous revolt against Rome failed in 135 B.C. Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the razing of Jerusalem occurred the next year. The first crusade pogrom against Jews in Palestine began on that date in A.D. 1096.

The Jews were expelled from Britain on Tisha B'Av in 1290 and were expelled from Spain that same day in 1492. The Warsaw Ghetto uprising was crushed by the Nazis on that day in May 1943, resulting in the slaughter of about 50,000 Jews.

Nationalists here also mourn the removal of Jews from the Gaza Strip in 2005, which began the day after Tisha B'av.

The book of Lamentations, written in poetic verse, mourns the desolations brought on Jerusalem and the Holy Land by the Chaldeans.

Jewish, Not Arab, Roots in Judea and Samaria
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

 
US Pres. Obama’s demand that Israel not settle Jews in the Biblical areas of Judea and Samaria ignores thoroughly-documented Jewish roots in the Land of Israel, and in Judea/Samaria in particular.

Yoram Ettinger, a former liaison for Congressional affairs in Israel's Washington embassy, lists in the latest of his periodic position papers some of the evidence showing that Judea and Samaria has Jewish, not Arab, roots.

Area Always Known as "Judea and Samaria"

Ettinger negates Obama's claim – enunciated during his June 4, 2009 speech at Cairo University – that "the aspiration for a Jewish homeland is rooted in" the Holocaust. For one thing, Ettinger notes, many world-renowned travelers, historians and archeologists of earlier centuries refer to "Judea and Samaria," while the term "West Bank" was coined only 60 years ago. Jordan gave the region this name when it occupied it after Israel’s War of Independence. No nation on earth other than Britain and Pakistan recognized Jordan’s claim to Judea and Samaria.

Among the travelers, historians and archeologists who referred to Judea and Samaria are H. B. Tristram (The Land of Israel, 1865); Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad, 1867); R.A. MacAlister and Masterman ("Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly"); A.P. Stanley (Sinai and Palestine, 1887); E. Robinson and E. Smith (Biblical Researches in Palestine, 1841); C.W. Van de Velde (Peise durch Syrien und Paletsinea, 1861); and Felix Bovet (Voyage en Taire Sainte, 1864). Even the Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as official British and Ottoman records until 1950, used the term Judea and Samaria, and not the West Bank.

Land Was Named "Palestine" in Order to Erase Jewish Presence

Ettinger goes even further back, and says that the name "Palestine" was given to the Holy Land for the sole purpose of erasing the previous name of the country – Judea – from human memory. The Romans, whose plan this was, similarly sought to extinguish Jewish presence in Jerusalem by renaming it Aelia Capitolina.

Arabs Came in the Last 150 Years

When speaking of “Palestinian national rights,” it must be similarly kept in mind, Ettinger notes, that most Arabs residing today in Israel – anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean - have their origin in a massive 19th-20th century migration from Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and other Moslem countries.

Town Names Betray Their True History

Finally, Ettinger says that almost all Arab localities in Judea and Samaria have retained Biblical Jewish names, thus reaffirming their Jewish roots. Examples include the following: Anata is Biblical (and contemporary) Anatot, the dwelling of the Prophet Jeremiah. Batir is Biblical (and contemporary) Beitar, the headquarters of Bar Kochba, the leader of the Great Rebellion against the Roman Empire, which was suppressed in 135CE. Beit-Hur is the biblical (and contemporary) Beit Horon, site of Judah the Maccabee's victory over the Assyrians. Beitin is biblical (and contemporary) Beit El, a site of the Holy Ark and Prophet Samuel's court. Bethlehem is mentioned 44 times in the Bible and is the birth place of King David. Beit Jalla is biblical (and contemporary) Gilo, in southern Jerusalem, where Sennacherib set his camp, while besieging Jerusalem. El-Jib is biblical (and contemporary) Gibeon, Joshua's battleground known for his command to stop the sun and moon (Joshua 10:12). Jaba' is the biblical (and contemporary) Geva, site of King Saul’s son Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines. Jenin is the biblical (and contemporary) Ein Ganim, a Levite town within the tribe of Issachar. Mukhmas is biblical (and contemporary) Mikhmash, residence of Jonathan the Maccabee and site of King Saul's fortress. Seilun is biblical (and contemporary) Shilo, a site of Joshua's tabernacle and the Holy Ark and Samuel's youth. Tequa is biblical (and contemporary) Tekoa, hometown of the Prophet Amos.

Arabs Never Wanted Palestinian State

In another of his posts, Ettinger has negated the US government position that a Palestinian state is the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict and that its formation would resolve the situation. He cites proofs from recent history showing that Arab antipathy to Israel not only predates Palestinian concerns, but often sidesteps such interests.

Israel's war for its independence in 1948-9, for instance, was conducted by the Arab countries at the expense of Palestinian aspirations. Though Egypt conquered Gaza, and Jordan took Judea and Samaria, and Syria claimed the Golan, in none of these areas was a Palestinian government allowed.

When Egypt conquered the Gaza Strip, it proceeded to prohibit Palestinian national activities and expel Palestinian leadership. Not only did Jordan not grant Palestinian independence to Judea and Samaria, it actually annexed these areas to its own country. When Syria occupied and annexed the Hama area in the Golan Heights, the Arab League outlawed a provisional Palestinian government there.

In short, it can be concluded that Arab "rights" to a state in Judea and Samaria are historically weak and were long ignored by other Arab countries.

Israel defends Gaza invasion
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsIsrael Today
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

Israel's government on Thursday released a 160-page report answering charges by the Palestinians, the UN and human rights groups that its military incursion into the Gaza Strip in late December and early January was characterized by war crimes and other violations of international law.

The report first and foremost served to remind the international community that Israeli forces only entered Gaza in what was dubbed "Operation Cast Lead" after weeks of incessant and escalating Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel. During that period, the world did little or nothing to rein in Hamas and bring an end to the rocket attacks.

When Israeli forces did enter, they were determined to not repeat the mistakes made in southern Lebanon that lead to a large number of Israeli casualties. Warplanes, artillery and tanks were used liberally to ensure the safety of Israeli ground forces, and that use of force resulted in 1,100 Palestinians killed, according to Palestinian sources.

But the report noted that Israel's use of force was by no means disproportionate or unprecedented. When American and other allied forces recently invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, they employed far greater force against civilian areas used as cover by terrorist forces in order to keep their own casualties low.

Indeed, according to the actual international rules of war as contained in the Geneva Conventions, civilian areas are not to be exempt from the use of overwhelming force if they are being used as cover or bases of operations by enemy combatants.

The report flat-out rejected charges that Israeli warplanes and artillery engaged in indiscriminate firing at Palestinian civilian areas or that they intentionally targeted and killed Palestinian civilians.

The government did say that more than a dozen criminal inquiries have been opened against individual soldiers or units for abuses committed during the fighting, but insisted that is by no means an indictment of the entire IDF or the nation of Israel.

Holy Temple Festival in Samaria
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Hillel Fendel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

 
A first-of-its-kind all-night Holy Temple Festival will be held Saturday night in the Jewish town of Tapuach in Samaria (Shomron).

Beginning 10 PM and ending after morning prayers at sunrise, the motto of the festival will be, “Trust in G-d, not in Obama.” The participants will leave after the prayers for Jerusalem, traveling in a convoy via the youngest start-up neighborhoods in the Shomron and Binyamin. Once in Jerusalem, the participants will immerse in a mikveh (ritual bath) and ascend to the Halakhically-permitted (according to some rabbis) areas of the Temple Mount.

Among the participants will be Temple Movement leader Rabbi Yosef Elboim of the hareidi-religious sector, who has been a Temple Mount activist since the Six Day War, as well as MK Dr. Michael Ben-Ari and Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Dov Shurin, Sinai Tor, Aharon Raz’el, and more.

“During these days of intense pressure upon Israel to freeze all building and stifle all Jewish life in Judea, Samaria and parts of Jerusalem," says organizer Moshe Kahn, an attendee of the original Woodstock event in 1969, "it’s only fitting to respond with an event that brings tens of thousands of proud Jews together to gather strength and encouragement from one another and prepare for the struggle ahead. Music alone has the strength to accomplish that.”

“We are not coming just for an extraordinary night of music and Torah lectures,” says Yekutiel Ben-Yaakov of Tapuach, another organizer, “but rather to show that the Temple Mount is where it all begins. We are a sovereign Jewish nation, free to live and build wherever we want in our land, and especially on Judaism’s holiest site in the world. We demand our basic civil rights on the Temple Mount, and we want our message to be heard in Washington and around the world: We have returned to the hills of Shomron for eternity, and the Land of Israel is not for sale.”

“Yes to the hilltops and the Temple Mount, no to Capitol Hill and Washington,” Ben-Yaakov concluded. “We want G-d to look down on us and see us fulfilling His trust in us.”

'Normalization when construction stops'
Jul 31st, 2009
Daily NewsJpost
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Peace Process

Arab countries are reluctant to respond positively to recent overtures from the Obama administration on normalization of ties with Israel, according to a Thursday report in Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat.

The article quoted Arab diplomatic sources "familiar with the substance of [US Mideast envoy George] Mitchell's talks," as saying that Arab states were "annoyed" by US pressure to take steps towards improving ties with Israel, and considered the moves "premature."

Asharq Al-Awsat reported that Mitchell had put pressure on Arab states to take measures so that the US would not look like it was "pressuring Israel only," as well as urging them to restart the Arab peace initiative.

In Jerusalem on Monday, Mitchell said Israel must start "dealing" with its West Bank settlements as a step toward bringing a comprehensive peace to the Middle East. The Palestinians have refused to restart negotiations with Israel unless Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu freezes all settlement activity.

A high-ranking Arab official quoted in the Asharq Al-Awsat report said that while Arab states "will not reject the US request," they intend to respond with certain conditions.

First, he said, Arab states will wait to check that US moves bear fruit, especially in terms of bringing about a halt to settlement construction. He emphasized that normalization would only come after Israel ceases construction in the West Bank.

Additionally, the official said that Arab states would push for Israel to improve living standards of West Bank Palestinians.

The official went on to point out that in the last 15 years, many Arab states had improved trade and semi-diplomatic relations with Israel.

The Arab stance, according to the official quoted by Asharq Al-Awsat, would not constitute a unified front, and individual states will be free to respond to US requests however they please. In other words, no collective position would be promoted by the Arab League.